Wide area communications network for remote data generating stations
First Claim
1. A wide area communications network for communicating data obtained from a plurality of utility meters to a central station, comprising:
- a layered wireless network having a hierarchical communications topology, the network having;
a plurality of meter reading units, a certain one of the plurality of meter reading units being associated with a respective one of the plurality of utility meters, the certain meter reading unit being communicatively coupled to the respective utility meter for receiving data from the respective utility meter, the certain meter reading unit wirelessly transmitting meter reading unit reports related to data obtained from the respective utility meter randomly or pseudorandomly at fixed average intervals;
a plurality of fixed receiving stations disposed in a geographic area such that a certain meter reading unit of the plurality of meter reading units is in communication with at least two fixed receiving stations, a certain fixed receiving station of the plurality of fixed receiving stations being in wireless communication with a multiplicity of meter reading units, reports received from the multiplicity of meter reading units being forwarded via a polled radio communications link; and
a plurality of intermediate receiving stations disposed in the geographic area to form a grid overlaying the geographic area for wirelessly communicating with at least two fixed receiving stations to receive the reports transmitted from the fixed receiving stations responsive to a polling signal sent to a certain fixed receiving station, reports received from the multiplicity of fixed receiving stations being forwarded via a polled radio communications link to the central station.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A radio communications network for transmitting data from a plurality of remote stations to a central station is provided. This system is particularly proposed for automatic meter reading systems in which the remote stations are located at utility meters. The system includes an array of receiving stations arranged relative to the remote stations so that the messages from each remote station can be received by at least two and preferably four of the receiving stations providing a high level of duplication of messages. The remote stations transmit utility usage information obtained from a previous time period at a random time subsequent to the time period so that message collisions can occur. High level of duplication provided by the increased number of receiving stations reduces the message loss. A quiet period during which the remote stations are prevented from transmitting can be used for communication between the receiving stations and the central station.
322 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A wide area communications network for communicating data obtained from a plurality of utility meters to a central station, comprising:
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a layered wireless network having a hierarchical communications topology, the network having;
a plurality of meter reading units, a certain one of the plurality of meter reading units being associated with a respective one of the plurality of utility meters, the certain meter reading unit being communicatively coupled to the respective utility meter for receiving data from the respective utility meter, the certain meter reading unit wirelessly transmitting meter reading unit reports related to data obtained from the respective utility meter randomly or pseudorandomly at fixed average intervals;
a plurality of fixed receiving stations disposed in a geographic area such that a certain meter reading unit of the plurality of meter reading units is in communication with at least two fixed receiving stations, a certain fixed receiving station of the plurality of fixed receiving stations being in wireless communication with a multiplicity of meter reading units, reports received from the multiplicity of meter reading units being forwarded via a polled radio communications link; and
a plurality of intermediate receiving stations disposed in the geographic area to form a grid overlaying the geographic area for wirelessly communicating with at least two fixed receiving stations to receive the reports transmitted from the fixed receiving stations responsive to a polling signal sent to a certain fixed receiving station, reports received from the multiplicity of fixed receiving stations being forwarded via a polled radio communications link to the central station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. In a network having a wireless communications network architecture for communicating from a plurality of utility meters to a central station, a method of communicating having the following steps:
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minimizing message loss rate by;
controlling a grid spacing of a plurality of fixed receiving stations relative to a plurality of meter reading units to provide for communications path redundancy between a certain meter reading unit and more than one fixed receiving station; and
transmitting a certain report from a certain meter reading unit for reception by the more than one fixed receiving station, the report being transmitted multiple times in a selected time period. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A communication network for communicating information comprising:
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a plurality of meter reading units for collecting data generated by utility meters, each of the meter reading units having a low-power transmitter for generating data for transmission by wireless radio signals representative of at least a portion of the data;
a modulator for modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranged to form said data into a packet of data and to transmit said data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period; and
an antenna for transmitting multi-directionally the carrier, the radio frequency carrier being the same for each of said meter reading units;
a plurality of fixed receiving stations, the fixed receiving stations being arranged in an array relative to the meter reading units such that each fixed receiving station can receive data from a plurality of said meter reading units and such that the data transmitted by most of said meter reading units can be received by at least a respective two of said fixed receiving stations to generate, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of said meter reading units, duplicate packets of the data at least one of which is redundant, each fixed receiving station comprising;
a receiver for receiving the data from the meter reading units; and
a transmitter for selectively retransmitting the data from the meter reading units;
a central station for receiving and storing the data from the fixed receiving stations; and
means for eliminating any redundant data from the meter reading units such that only one copy of the data is stored in a database maintained by the central station. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. A communication network for communicating information comprising:
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a plurality of meter reading units for collecting data generated by utility meters, each of the meter reading units having means for generating data for transmission by wireless radio signals representative of at least a portion of the data;
control means for modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranged to form said data into a packet of data and to transmit said data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period; and
an antenna for transmitting multi-directionally the carrier, the radio frequency carrier being the same for each of said meter reading units;
a plurality of fixed receiving stations, the fixed receiving stations being arranged in an array relative to the meter reading units such that each fixed receiving station can receive data from a plurality of said meter reading units and such that the data transmitted by most of said meter reading units can be received by at least a respective two of said fixed receiving stations to generate, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of said meter reading units, duplicate packets of the data at least one of which is redundant, each fixed receiving station comprising;
means for receiving the data from the meter reading units; and
means for selectively retransmitting the data from the meter reading units;
a central station for receiving and storing the data from the fixed receiving stations; and
means for eliminating any redundant data from the meter reading units such that only one copy of the data is stored in a database maintained by the central station. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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43. A method for collecting data from a plurality of meter reading units generated by a plurality of utility meters, respectively, located within a geographic area, comprising the steps of:
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generating data at a plurality of utility meters;
collecting the data from the utility meters by a plurality of meter reading units coupled to the utility meters;
modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranging the data into a packet of data for transmitting the data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period;
transmitting, multidirectionally by wireless radio signal, the carrier representing at least a portion of the data collected by the meter reading unit for that utility meter;
receiving, at a plurality of fixed receiving stations, the data transmitted by the meter reading units, with the fixed receiving stations being arranged in an array relative to the meter reading units such that each fixed receiving station can receive data form a plurality of the meter reading units and such that the data transmitted by at least a portion of the meter reading units can be received by at least a plurality of the fixed receiving stations;
generating, by the at least a respective two of the fixed receiving stations, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of the meter reading units, duplicate packets of the data received from the meter reading units, at least one of which is redundant;
selectively transmitting the packets of data from the fixed receiving stations;
receiving the packets of data at a central station; and
storing the packets of data at the central station in a database such that only one copy of any redundant data is stored in the database.
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44. A network for collecting data generated by a plurality of telemetry units, comprising:
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a plurality of telemetry units for collecting data generated by utility meters, each of the telemetry units having a low-power transmitter for generating data for transmission by wireless radio signals representative of at least a portion of the data;
a modulator for modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranged to form said data into a packet of data and to transmit said data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period; and
an antenna for transmitting multi-directionally the carrier, the radio frequency carrier being the same for each of said telemetry units;
a plurality of collection stations, the collection stations being arranged in an array relative to the telemetry units such that each collection station can receive data from a plurality of said telemetry units and such that the data transmitted by most of said telemetry units can be received by at least a respective two of said collection stations to generate, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of said telemetry units, duplicate packets of the data at least one of which is redundant, each collection station comprising;
a receiver for receiving the data from the telemetry units; and
a transmitter for selectively retransmitting the data from the telemetry units; and
a central monitoring station for receiving and storing the data from the collection stations; and
means for eliminating any redundant data from the telemetry units such that only one copy of the data is stored in a database maintained by the central monitoring station. - View Dependent Claims (45)
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46. A network for collecting data generated by a plurality of telemetry units, comprising:
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a plurality of telemetry units for collecting data generated by utility meters, each of the telemetry units having means for generating data for transmission by wireless radio signals representative of at least a portion of the data;
control means for modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranged to form said data into a packet of data and to transmit said data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period; and
an antenna for transmitting multi-directionally the carrier, the radio frequency carrier being the same for each of said telemetry units;
a plurality of collection stations, the collection stations being arranged in an array relative to the telemetry units such that each collection station can receive data from a plurality of said telemetry units and such that the data transmitted by most of said telemetry units can be received by at least a respective two of said collection stations to generate, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of said telemetry units, duplicate packets of the data at least one of which is redundant, each collection station comprising;
means for receiving the data from the telemetry units; and
means for selectively retransmitting the data from the telemetry units; and
a central monitoring station for receiving and storing the data from the collection stations; and
means for eliminating any redundant data from the telemetry units such that only one copy of the data is stored in a database maintained by the central monitoring station. - View Dependent Claims (47)
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48. A method for collecting data from a plurality of telemetry units generated by a plurality of utility meters, respectively, located within a geographic area, comprising the steps of:
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generating data at a plurality of utility meters;
collecting the data from the utility meters by a plurality of telemetry units coupled to the utility meters;
modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranging the data into a packet of data for transmitting the data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period;
transmitting, multidirectionally by wireless radio signal, the carrier representing at least a portion of the data collected by the telemetry unit for that utility meter;
receiving, at a plurality of collection stations, the data transmitted by the telemetry units, with the collection stations being arranged in an array relative to the telemetry units such that each collection station can receive data from a plurality of the telemetry units and such that the data transmitted by most of the telemetry units can be received by at least a respective two of the collection stations;
generating, by the at least a respective two of the collection stations, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of the telemetry units, duplicate packets of the data received from the telemetry units, at least one of which is redundant;
selectively transmitting the packets of data from the collection stations;
receiving the packets of data at a central monitoring station; and
storing the packets of data at the central monitoring station in a database such that only one copy of any redundant data is stored in the database.
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49. An automatic meter reading data communication network for communicating information comprising:
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a plurality of meter interface units for collecting data generated by commodity meters, each of the meter interface units having a low-power transmitter for generating data for transmission by wireless radio signals representative of at least a portion of the data;
a modulator for modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranged to form said data into a packet of data and to transmit said data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period; and
an antenna for transmitting multi-directionally the carrier, the radio frequency carrier being the same for each of said meter interface units;
a plurality of gateway stations, the gateway stations being arranged in an array relative to the meter interface units such that each gateway station can receive data from a plurality of said meter interface units and such that the data transmitted by most of said meter interface units can be received by at least a respective two of said gateway stations to generate, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of said meter interface units, duplicate packets of the data at least one of which is redundant, each gateway station comprising;
a receiver for receiving the data from the meter interface units; and
a transmitter for selectively retransmitting the data from the meter interface units; and
a service provider station for receiving and storing the data from the gateway stations in a database; and
means for eliminating any redundant data from the meter interface units such that only one copy of the data is stored in the database maintained by the service provider station. - View Dependent Claims (50)
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51. An automatic meter reading data communication network for communicating information comprising:
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a plurality of meter interface units for collecting data generated by commodity meters, each of the meter interface units having means for generating data for transmission by wireless radio signals representative of at least a portion of the data;
control means for modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranged to form said data into a packet of data and to transmit said data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period; and
an antenna for transmitting multi-directionally the carrier, the radio frequency carrier being the same for each of said meter interface units;
a plurality of gateway stations, the gateway stations being arranged in an array relative to the meter interface units such that each gateway station can receive data from a plurality of said meter interface units and such that the data transmitted by most of said meter interface units can be received by at least a respective two of said gateway stations to generate, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of said meter interface units, duplicate packets of the data at least one of which is redundant, each gateway station comprising;
means for receiving the data from the meter interface units; and
means for selectively retransmitting the data from the meter interface units; and
a service provider station for receiving and storing the data from the gateway stations in a database; and
means for eliminating any redundant data from the meter interface units such that only one copy of the data is stored in the database maintained by the service provider station. - View Dependent Claims (52)
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53. A method for collecting data from a plurality of meter interface units generated by a plurality of commodity meters, respectively, located within a geographic area, comprising the steps of:
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generating data at a plurality of commodity meters;
collecting the data from the commodity meters by a plurality of meter interface units coupled to the commodity meters;
modulating the data for transmission on a radio frequency carrier and arranging the data into a packet of data for transmitting the data at a specific time which is pseudorandomly selected within a predetermined time period;
transmitting, multidirectionally by wireless radio signal, the carrier representing at least a portion of the data collected by the meter interface unit for that commodity meter;
receiving, at a plurality of gateway stations, the data transmitted by the meter interface units, with the gateway stations being arranged in an array relative to the meter interface units such that each gateway station can receive data form a plurality of the meter interface units and such that the data transmitted by most of the meter interface units can be received by at least a respective two of the gateway stations;
storing the data from the meter interface units at the gateway stations;
generating, by the at least a respective two of the gateway stations, in the absence of collisions between the transmission of separate ones of the meter interface units, duplicate packets of the data received from the meter interface units, at least one of which is redundant;
selectively transmitting the packets of data from the gateway stations;
receiving the packets of data at a service provider station; and
storing the packets of data at the service provider station in a database such that any redundant packets of data are eliminated.
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54. A communication network for collecting data generated by a plurality of utility meters located within a geographic area, comprising:
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a plurality of meter reading units, with each meter reading unit coupled to a respective utility meter and including a low-power transmitter to autonomously transmit by wireless radio signals representative of at least a portion of the data generated by the meter reading unit for that utility meter pseudorandomly at fixed average intervals;
a plurality of fixed receiving stations located within the geographic area, with each fixed receiving station including a receiver that receives signals transmitted from at least one meter reading unit and a transmitter that transmits signals representative of at least a portion of the data generated by at least one meter reading unit; and
a central station having a receiver to receive signals transmitted from each of the plurality of fixed receiving stations, a processor that decodes the signals, and a memory that stores data representative of at least a portion of the decoded signals in a data base.
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Specification