DATA TRANSMISSION APPARATUS AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A system comprising a data collector and a plurality of end consumers connected to and supplied with a utility by a utility distribution station,wherein each end consumer comprises a metering device arranged to meter the end consumer'"'"'s consumption of the utility supplied by the distribution station, wherein the metering device is arranged to:
- report consumption data to the data collector using a high frequency ID, the high frequency ID being anonymous so that the consumption data reported by the metering device together with the high frequency ID is not able to be associated to a particular metering device,report the consumption data to the data collector using a low frequency ID so that the consumption data reported by the metering device together with the low frequency ID is able to be attributed to a particular metering device, andwherein the data collector stores IDs and is arranged to only accept consumption data carrying a said stored ID.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system comprising a data collector and a plurality of end consumers connected to and supplied with a utility by a utility distribution station. Each end consumer comprises a metering device arranged to meter the end consumer'"'"'s consumption of the utility supplied by the distribution station. The metering device is arranged to report consumption data to the data collector using a high frequency ID, the high frequency ID being anonymous so that the consumption data reported by the metering device together with the high frequency ID is not able to be associated to a particular metering device and to report the consumption data to the data collector using a low frequency ID so that the consumption data reported by the metering device together with the low frequency ID is able to be attributed to a particular metering device. The data collector stores IDs and is arranged to only accept consumption data carrying a said stored ID.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A system comprising a data collector and a plurality of end consumers connected to and supplied with a utility by a utility distribution station,
wherein each end consumer comprises a metering device arranged to meter the end consumer'"'"'s consumption of the utility supplied by the distribution station, wherein the metering device is arranged to: -
report consumption data to the data collector using a high frequency ID, the high frequency ID being anonymous so that the consumption data reported by the metering device together with the high frequency ID is not able to be associated to a particular metering device, report the consumption data to the data collector using a low frequency ID so that the consumption data reported by the metering device together with the low frequency ID is able to be attributed to a particular metering device, and wherein the data collector stores IDs and is arranged to only accept consumption data carrying a said stored ID. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A metering device arranged to meter an end consumer'"'"'s consumption of a utility supplied by a distribution station, wherein the metering device is arranged to:
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report consumption data to a data collector using a high frequency ID, the high frequency ID being anonymous so that the consumption data reported by the metering device together with the high frequency ID is not able to be associated to a particular metering device; and report the consumption data to the data collector using a low frequency ID so that the consumption data reported by the metering device together with the low frequency ID is able to be attributed to a particular metering devices. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A data collector storing a one or more IDs that are attributed to a physical metering device and a plurality of IDs that are not attributed to any physical metering devices, the data collector further comprising an input for receiving a message comprising data and a sender ID,
the device arranged to compare a received sender ID with the stored IDs and to provide the received data to a first communication channel if the received sender ID corresponds to a stored low frequency ID that is attributed to a physical metering device and to a second communication channel if the received sender ID corresponds to a stored high frequency ID that is not attributed to a physical metering device.
Specification