UNIVERSAL RECEIVER
First Claim
1. A universal receiver configured for detecting and decoding unknown signals, said universal receiver comprising:
- a processing device electrically associated with at least one memory, a power source, and at least one communication port configured for communicating with at least one external device;
at least one programmable receiver electrically associated with said processing device and suitable for detecting radio-frequency (RF) transmissions over a wide spectrum of frequencies;
at least one programmable transmitter electrically associated with said processing device and configured to generate and transmit RF signals;
at least one antenna electrically associated with at least one of said at least one programmable receiver and said at least one programmable transmitter;
wherein said processing device is configured to use said at least one programmable receiver to scan a predefine RF spectrum for a RF signal and to a generate a broadcast-profile for a detected RF signal comprising at least one signal-parameter related to said detected RF signal and store said broadcast-profile in said memory;
wherein said processing device is configured to continue to scan said predefined RF Spectrum and update said broadcast-profile for said detected signal when new broadcast events are detected; and
wherein said processing device is further configured to execute predefined decoding algorithms that compare old broadcast-profile data with new broadcast-profile data until said processing device has enough information to decode the detected signal associated with said broadcast-profile.
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Abstract
The invention is a universal receiver that addresses the problem of collecting consumption data from multiple types of utility metering wireless devices that use different and often proprietary protocols where such parameters are unknown to the system owner. The universal receiver automatically detects unknown AMR/AMI broadcasts utilizing know parameters for typical AMR/AMI signals and executing a decoding algorithm that includes series of RF parameter detection, signal characterization, signal decoding, and data qualifying techniques with minimal or no involvement needed by a user.
26 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A universal receiver configured for detecting and decoding unknown signals, said universal receiver comprising:
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a processing device electrically associated with at least one memory, a power source, and at least one communication port configured for communicating with at least one external device; at least one programmable receiver electrically associated with said processing device and suitable for detecting radio-frequency (RF) transmissions over a wide spectrum of frequencies; at least one programmable transmitter electrically associated with said processing device and configured to generate and transmit RF signals; at least one antenna electrically associated with at least one of said at least one programmable receiver and said at least one programmable transmitter; wherein said processing device is configured to use said at least one programmable receiver to scan a predefine RF spectrum for a RF signal and to a generate a broadcast-profile for a detected RF signal comprising at least one signal-parameter related to said detected RF signal and store said broadcast-profile in said memory; wherein said processing device is configured to continue to scan said predefined RF Spectrum and update said broadcast-profile for said detected signal when new broadcast events are detected; and wherein said processing device is further configured to execute predefined decoding algorithms that compare old broadcast-profile data with new broadcast-profile data until said processing device has enough information to decode the detected signal associated with said broadcast-profile. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A universal receiver configured for detecting and decoding unknown signals, said universal receiver comprising:
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a processing device electrically associated with at least one memory, a power source, at least one wired communication port, at least one wireless communication element associated with an antenna, a video port configured for communicating with at least one display device and wherein said processing device is configured for executing user software; at least one programmable frequency hopping spread spectrum receiver (SSR) suitable for detecting digitally encoded radio-frequency (RF) transmissions over a predefined spectrum in a plurality of unknown formats and protocols wherein said SSR is electrically associated with said processing device; at least one programmable transceiver configured to generate and receive RF signals wherein said programmable transceiver is electrically associated with said processing device; at least one antenna electrically associated with at least one of said at least one SSR and said at least one programmable transceiver; wherein said processing device is configured to use said at least one SSR to scan a predefine RF spectrum for a RF signal and wherein said processing device is configured to a generate a histogram for a detected signal and store said histogram in said memory; wherein said processing device continues to scan said predefined RF Spectrum and update the broadcast-profile for said detected signal when new broadcast events are detected; and wherein said processing device is further configured to execute predefined decoding algorithms that compare old broadcast-profile data with newly detected broadcast-profile data until said processing device has enough information to decode the detected signal associated with said broadcast-profile. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A universal receiver configured for detecting and decoding unknown signals, said universal receiver comprising:
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a front end computing system comprising a processing device configured to execute user defined software for communicating with and controlling an enigma receiver element, said enigma element comprising; at least one programmable frequency hopping spread spectrum receiver (SSR) suitable for detecting digitally encoded radio-frequency (RF) transmissions in a plurality of unknown formats and protocols; at least one programmable transceiver configured to generate and receive RF signals; at least one antenna electrically associated with at least one of said at least one SSR and said at least one programmable transceiver; wherein said processing device is configured to use said at least one SSR to scan a predefine RF spectrum for a RF signal and generate a histogram for a detected signal and store said histogram in said memory; wherein said processing device continues to scan said predefined RF Spectrum and updates the broadcast-profile for said detected signal when new broadcast events are detected; and wherein said processing device is further configured to execute predefined decoding algorithms that compare old broadcast-profile data with newly detected until said processing device has enough information to decode the detected signal associated with said broadcast-profile. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification