Consumption meter
DCFirst Claim
1. A meter for monitoring consumption of a resource, the meter comprising:
- processing and memory means for determining and storing a supplier measure of consumption of the resource;
a communication link for enabling a supplier to access the stored supplier measure under the control of a first access control means for preventing unauthorised access to the stored data, the meter further comprising;
consumer data memory for storing consumer data including a consumer measure of consumption; and
second access control means for enabling a consumer to access the stored consumer data without permitting the consumer to modify the stored supplier measure of consumption;
wherein the meter is arranged to store consumer configuration data.
1 Assignment
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A meter for monitoring consumption of a resource, such as water or other fluids, and corresponding methods of configuring and operating the meter are disclosed. The meter includes processing and memory devices for determining and storing a supplier measure of consumption of the resource and a communication link for enabling a supplier to access the stored supplier measure. The supplier access is controlled by a first access control device, which prevents unauthorized access to the stored data. The meter further includes a consumer data memory for storing consumer data including a consumer measure of consumption and second access control device. The second access control device enables a consumer to access the stored consumer data without permitting the consumer to modify the stored supplier measure of consumption.
35 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A meter for monitoring consumption of a resource, the meter comprising:
-
processing and memory means for determining and storing a supplier measure of consumption of the resource; a communication link for enabling a supplier to access the stored supplier measure under the control of a first access control means for preventing unauthorised access to the stored data, the meter further comprising; consumer data memory for storing consumer data including a consumer measure of consumption; and second access control means for enabling a consumer to access the stored consumer data without permitting the consumer to modify the stored supplier measure of consumption; wherein the meter is arranged to store consumer configuration data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A meter for monitoring consumption of a resource,the meter comprising:
-
processing and memory means for determining and storing a supplier measure of consumption of the resource; a communication link for enabling a supplier to access the stored supplier measure under the control of a first access control means for preventing unauthorised access to the stored data, the meter further comprising; consumer data memory for storing consumer data including a consumer measured of consumption; and second access control means for enabling a consumer to access the stored consumer data without permitting the consumer to modify the stored supplier measure of consumption; wherein the meter is further arranged to provide service access under control of a third secure access means, the service access enabling access to parameters which are not adjustable by the supplier access or the consumer access.
-
-
16. A meter for monitoring consumption of a resource, the meter comprising:
-
processing and memory means for determining and storing a supplier measure of consumption of the resource; a communication link for enabling a supplier to access the stored supplier measure under the control of a first access control means for preventing unauthorised access to the stored data, the meter further comprising; consumer data memory for storing consumer data including a consumer measure of consumption; second access control means for enabling a consumer to access the stored consumer data without permitting the consumer to modify the stored supplier measure of consumption; and means for notifying a consumer of an alarm condition wherein the alarm condition comprises a consumption in accordance with a predetermined condition configurable by the consumer.
-
-
17. A method of configuring a meter having a metering assembly, a processor, memory and a communication link, the meter being configured to provide remote access to a stored supplier measure of consumption in the memory by an authorised supplier following supplier authentication, the method comprising configuring the meter to permit remote access to stored data including a consumer measure of consumption by a consumer following consumer authentication, wherein the consumer is not permitted to modify the supplier measure stored in the memory and wherein configuring comprises updating the software of the meter.
Specification