System and method for improved transmission of meter data
First Claim
1. A method for collecting a device record generated at a first device, the device record comprising a sequence number identifying a sequence in which the device record is generated, the method comprising:
- receiving the device record at a collector;
determining whether the received device record has a same data format as an existing device record from the first device already stored at the collector;
if not, then storing the received device record at the collector;
if so, then;
comparing the sequence number of the received device record with a sequence number of the existing device record;
storing the received device record at the collector if the sequence number of the received device record is greater than the sequence number of the existing device record; and
discarding the received device record if the sequence number of the received device record is less than the sequence number of the existing device record.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The system includes a number of first meters, which are typically battery powered transmit only devices. The system includes a number of two-way meters, which are operable to both transmit and receive data. The first meters transmit their data to the collector either directly or indirectly via the two-way meters, which serve as intermediaries. Multiple records from each first meter may be stored at each of the two-way meters, thereby ensuring that records from a one-way meter will not be blocked when an attempt is made to forward them to the collector. Furthermore, multiple records from each first meter may be stored at the collector, thereby enabling the transmission and storage of meter records in a number of different formats. Additionally, records from each first meter are marked to reflect a sequence in which they are generated, thereby ensuring that the collector will store the most recent data records available.
374 Citations
51 Claims
-
1. A method for collecting a device record generated at a first device, the device record comprising a sequence number identifying a sequence in which the device record is generated, the method comprising:
-
receiving the device record at a collector; determining whether the received device record has a same data format as an existing device record from the first device already stored at the collector; if not, then storing the received device record at the collector; if so, then; comparing the sequence number of the received device record with a sequence number of the existing device record; storing the received device record at the collector if the sequence number of the received device record is greater than the sequence number of the existing device record; and discarding the received device record if the sequence number of the received device record is less than the sequence number of the existing device record. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method for transmitting a device record generated at a first device, the method comprising:
-
receiving the device record at a two-way device from the first device; storing the device record at the two-way device in one of a plurality of memory locations implemented as a circular table whereby a number of memory writes to each particular memory location is minimized; transmitting from the two-way device to the collector an exception message that includes the device record, the exception message being allocated an exception window that is subset of a repeating time interval; if the exception message is successfully received by the collector, then receiving from the collector an acknowledgement of successful receipt; and if the exception message is not successfully received by the collector, then the receiving from the collector a request for the device record, the request being issued as part of the collector'"'"'s periodic read of data from both two-way and one-way device records. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. An automated device reading system comprising:
-
a first device that generates and transmits a device record comprising a sequence number identifying a sequence in which the device record is generated; and a collector that receives the device record from the one way device, compares a data format of the received device record to a data format of an existing device record from the first device already stored at the collector, stores the received device record if it has a different data format than the existing device record, stores the received device record if it has a same data format as the existing device record and its sequence number is greater than a sequence number of the existing device record, and discards the received device record if it has the same data format as the existing device record and its the sequence number is less than the sequence number of the existing device record. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. An automated device reading system comprising:
-
a first device that generates and transmits a device record; a two-way device that receives the device record from the first device, stores the device record in one of a plurality of memory locations implemented as a circular table whereby a number of memory writes to each particular memory location is minimized, and transmits to a collector an exception message that includes the device record, the exception message being allocated an exception window that is a subset of a repeating time interval; and the collector configured to communicate with the two-way device whereby, if the collector successfully receives the exception message, then the collector sends to the two-way device an acknowledgement of successful receipt, and, if the collector does not successfully receive the exception message, then the collector issues to the two-way device a request for the device record, the request being issued as part of the collector'"'"'s periodic read of data from both two-way and one-way device records. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A processor-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor at a collector, causing the processor at said collector to:
-
receive a device record generated at a first device, the device record comprising a sequence number identifying a sequence in which the device record is generated; determine whether the received device record has a same data format as an existing device record from the first device already stored at the collector; if not, then storing the received device record at the collector; if so, then; compare the sequence number of the received device record with a sequence number of the existing device record; store the received device record at the collector if the sequence number of the received device record is greater than the sequence number of the existing device record; and discard the received device record if the sequence number of the received device record is less than the sequence number of the existing device record. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
-
-
47. A processor-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor at a two-way device, causing the processor at said two-way device to:
-
receive a device record generated at a first device; store the device record in one of a plurality of memory locations implemented as a circular table whereby a number of memory writes to each particular memory location is minimized; transmitting from the two-way device to the collector an exception message that includes the device record, the exception message being allocated an exception window that is subset of a repeating time interval; if the exception message is successfully received by the collector, then receiving from the collector an acknowledgement of successful receipt; and if the exception message is not successfully received by the collector, then receiving from the collector a request for the device record, the request being issued as part of the collector'"'"'s periodic read of data from both two-way and one-way device records. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
-
Specification