Utility Network Communications Using Meter Identifiers
First Claim
1. A method of communicating with utility meters via a network, comprising the following steps:
- receiving, at a node on the network, a request to send a message to a meter;
in response to the received request, verifying whether an identifier for said meter is stored at said node; and
sending the message to said meter if an identifier for said meter is verified to be stored at said node.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic electric meter for use in a networked automatic meter reading environment. The meter includes a meter microcontroller, a measurement microcontroller, a communication microcontroller and spread spectrum processor, and a plurality of other communication interface modules for communicating commodity utilization and power quality data to a utility. The meter measures electricity usage and monitors power quality parameters for transmission to the utility over a spread spectrum local area network (LAN) to a remotely located gateway node. The gateway node transmits this data to the utility over a commercially available fixed wide area network (WAN). The meter also provides direct communication to the utility over a commercially available network interface that plugs into the meter'"'"'s backplane or bus system, bypassing the local area network communication link and gateway node.
55 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of communicating with utility meters via a network, comprising the following steps:
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receiving, at a node on the network, a request to send a message to a meter; in response to the received request, verifying whether an identifier for said meter is stored at said node; and sending the message to said meter if an identifier for said meter is verified to be stored at said node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of obtaining data from utility meters via a network, comprising the following steps:
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storing, in a node on the network, a schedule for sending messages to meters and a respective identifier for each of a plurality of meters; in response to a condition specified in said schedule, retrieving the stored identifier of each meter that is indicated in said schedule as being associated with said condition; and sending a message to each meter whose stored identifier was retrieved. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method of communicating with utility meters via a network, comprising the following steps:
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receiving, at a node on the network, a message from a meter that contains a unique identifier for the meter; in response to the received message, verifying whether the meter identifier contained in said message is stored at said node; and processing the received message at said node if the meter identifier is verified to be stored at said node. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A gateway node in a utility network, comprising:
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a memory; and a processor that is responsive to a request to send a message to a meter, to verify whether an identifier for said meter is stored in said memory, and to send the message to said meter if an identifier for said meter is verified to be stored in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A gateway in a utility network, comprising:
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memory storing a schedule for sending messages to meters and a respective identifier for each of a plurality of meters; and a processor that is responsive to a condition specified in said schedule, to retrieve the stored identifier of meters that are indicated in said schedule as being associated with said condition, and to send a message to each meter whose stored identifier was retrieved. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification