SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UTILITY METER ACTIVATION

• US 20140097965A1
• Filed: 10/08/2012
• Published: 04/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Bharat, Bruce, Yasko, Christopher Charles
• Granted Patent: US 9,294,825 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/870.02
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/002 Remote reading of utility meters
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/008 Modifications to installed utility meters to enable remote reading
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/50 using a mobile data collecting device, e.g. walk by or drive by
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/60 for transmitting utility meters data, i.e. transmission of data from the reader of the utility meter
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

A utility network includes a utility meter capable of measuring a property of the network once installed and capable of communicating the measurement to a server once activated. The network also includes an access point configured to communicatively couple to the utility meter and to the server and configured to notify the server when the utility meter has been bound to the access point. The network further includes a mobile device configured to notify the server when the utility meter has been installed, configured to request the server to add the utility meter to a queue of utility meters to be activated by the server, and configured to receive a response from the server when the utility meter is activated.

Claims

1. A utility network, comprising:

a utility meter capable of measuring a property of the network once installed and capable of communicating the measurement to a server once activated;

an access point configured to communicatively couple to the utility meter and to the server and configured to notify the server when the utility meter has been bound to the access point; and

a mobile device configured to notify the server when the utility meter has been installed, configured to request the server to add the utility meter to a queue of utility meters to be activated by the server, and configured to receive a response from the server when the utility meter is activated.

2. The network of claim 1, comprising the server configured to activate the queue of utility meters and to notify the mobile device when the utility meter has been activated.

3. The network of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is configured to receive at least a portion of the queue from the server.

4. The network of claim 3, wherein the mobile device is configured to receive periodic updates of at least the portion of the queue from the server.

5. The network of claim 1, wherein the utility meter and the access point are configured to communicatively couple to one another using a wired, wireless, or using a power-line communication technique.

6. The network of claim 1, wherein the utility meter is configured to only directly bind to the access point and no other devices.

7. The network of claim 1, wherein the utility meter and the access point are configured to communicate with one another over an encrypted channel after exchanging security credentials.

8. The network of claim 1, wherein the access point and the server are configured to communicatively couple to one another via a private wide area network (WAN), a cellular data WAN, or a combination thereof.

9. The network of claim 1, wherein the utility meter, the access point, or both, are configured to detect unauthorized access or unauthorized communication, and configured to notify the server of the unauthorized access or unauthorized communication.

10. The network of claim 1, wherein the server comprises an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) server.

11. A method, comprising:

receiving instructions to activate a utility meter that has been installed in a network;

adding the utility meter to a queue of utility meters to be activated;

receiving notification from an access point that the utility meter has been bound by the access point;

activating the utility meter, wherein activating the utility meter comprises establishing communication with the utility meter via the access point; and

updating the queue of utility meters to be activated to indicate an activation status of the utility meter.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving instructions comprises receiving instructions from a mobile device.

13. The method of claim 12, comprising notifying the mobile device of the activation status of the utility meter.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein notifying the mobile device comprises sending to the mobile device the updated queue, wherein the activation status of the meter comprises successfully activated, unsuccessfully activated, and pending.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the mobile device is not configured to bind to the utility meter.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving notification from the access point comprises receiving information from the access point via a public or private wide area network.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein activating the utility meter comprises sending activation information to the utility meter.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the utility meter comprises a power meter and the network comprises a power distribution network.

19. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions executable by a processor of an electronic device, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive user input when a utility meter has been installed in a utility network;

instructions to notify a server that the utility meter has been installed;

instructions to receive notification from the server that the utility meter has been added to a list of utility meters to be activated by the server;

instructions to provide user notification that the utility meter has been added to the list;

instructions to receive notification from the server that the utility meter has been activated by the server; and

instructions to provide user notification that the utility meter has been activated.

20. The medium of claim 19, wherein the utility meter comprises a power meter, the network comprises a power distribution network, and the server comprises an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) server.