Modular meter based utility gateway enclosure
First Claim
1. A modular meter-based utility gateway enclosure, comprising:
- a removable wide area network (WAN) interface card for communicating with a headend device via a WAN, said WAN employing a WAN protocol;
a plurality of removable local area network (LAN) interface cards for communicating with devices on a plurality of LANs, each of said LAN interface cards being connected to one of said plurality of LANs, each of said LANs employing a corresponding LAN protocol; and
a data bus for transferring data between said WAN interface card and said plurality of LAN interface cards,said WAN interface card being operative to;
receive data from said headend via said WAN, said data including a header and native information;
determine which of said LAN interface cards should receive said data; and
transfer said data to one of said LAN interface cards via said data bus,said LAN interface cards being operative to;
receive said data from WAN interface card;
translate said data to recover said native information; and
transfer said native information to one of said devices on said corresponding LAN.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A modular meter based utility gateway enclosure which resides between a power meter and a meter socket of a residence or other building supports multiple interchangeable local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) interface cards. As a result, multiple LAN and WAN media are simultaneously and interchangeably supported by simply changing interface cards inserted into the slots of the enclosure. The modular meter based utility gateway enclosure includes a WAN card slot for accepting a WAN interface card, multiple LAN card slots for respectively accepting LAN interface cards, and a data bus for enabling communication between the WAN interface card and the LAN interface cards inserted into the WAN and LAN card slots respectively. The modular meter based utility gateway enclosure may also support one or more interdiction cards, and may further include a tamper proof mechanism to prevent unauthorized tampering with the enclosure.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A modular meter-based utility gateway enclosure, comprising:
- a removable wide area network (WAN) interface card for communicating with a headend device via a WAN, said WAN employing a WAN protocol;
a plurality of removable local area network (LAN) interface cards for communicating with devices on a plurality of LANs, each of said LAN interface cards being connected to one of said plurality of LANs, each of said LANs employing a corresponding LAN protocol; and a data bus for transferring data between said WAN interface card and said plurality of LAN interface cards, said WAN interface card being operative to; receive data from said headend via said WAN, said data including a header and native information; determine which of said LAN interface cards should receive said data; and transfer said data to one of said LAN interface cards via said data bus, said LAN interface cards being operative to; receive said data from WAN interface card; translate said data to recover said native information; and transfer said native information to one of said devices on said corresponding LAN. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- a removable wide area network (WAN) interface card for communicating with a headend device via a WAN, said WAN employing a WAN protocol;
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9. A modular meter-based utility gateway, comprising:
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a removable wide area network (WAN) interface card for receiving incoming data packets from a headend terminal and for transmitting outgoing data packets to said headend terminal over a WAN, said WAN employing a WAN protocol; a plurality of removable local area network (LAN) interface cards for receiving incoming communications from downstream user terminals and for transmitting outgoing communications to said downstream users terminal via LANs corresponding to each of said LAN interface cards, each of said LANs employing a corresponding LAN protocol; and a data bus for transferring data between said WAN interface card and said plurality of LAN interface cards, thereby enabling the transfer of data between said headend terminal and said downstream user terminals, said WAN interface card being operative to; receive said incoming data packets from said headend terminal via said WAN, said incoming data packets including a header and native information; determine which of said LAN interface cards should receive said data packet; and transfer said data packet to one of said LAN interface cards via said data bus, and said LAN interface cards being operative to; receive said data packet from WAN interface card; translate said data packet to recover said native information; and transfer said native information to one of said downstream user terminals on said corresponding LAN. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification