In-home display communicates with a fixed network meter reading system
First Claim
1. A method of providing commodity consumption information to a user via a remote display, comprising:
- communicating with a utility meter associated with the remote display, wherein the associated utility meter is part of a wireless network comprising a collector and a plurality of utility meters that bi-directionally communicate wirelessly with the collector, each of the utility meters having a wireless communication path to the collector that is either a direct communication path to the collector or an indirect communication path through one or more other utility meters that serve as repeaters, and the collector receiving commodity consumption information from the plurality of utility meters;
wirelessly retrieving commodity consumption information from the associated utility meter by the remote display in response to a message from the collector received by the remote display, wherein the message received from the collector controls the time at which commodity consumption information is retrieved from the associated utility meter by the remote display; and
updating the remote display with said commodity consumption information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A display system that communicates with existing automated meter reading communications systems to provide information to a user. The display includes a radio that listens to communications between a utility meter and the reading system. When the display recognizes a particular utility meter identifier, it captures meter read information and stores it in memory. The information may then be presented to the user. Alternatively, a broadcast message may be communicated, that when received by the display, causes the display to extract information from the receiver. A manual override button may be provided to allow a user to manually request information from the meter. The display will extract information from the meter upon receipt of the manual request.
516 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of providing commodity consumption information to a user via a remote display, comprising:
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communicating with a utility meter associated with the remote display, wherein the associated utility meter is part of a wireless network comprising a collector and a plurality of utility meters that bi-directionally communicate wirelessly with the collector, each of the utility meters having a wireless communication path to the collector that is either a direct communication path to the collector or an indirect communication path through one or more other utility meters that serve as repeaters, and the collector receiving commodity consumption information from the plurality of utility meters; wirelessly retrieving commodity consumption information from the associated utility meter by the remote display in response to a message from the collector received by the remote display, wherein the message received from the collector controls the time at which commodity consumption information is retrieved from the associated utility meter by the remote display; and updating the remote display with said commodity consumption information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A remote display that communicates with an automated meter reading system, the automated meter reading system comprising a collector and a plurality of utility meters that bi-directionally communicate wirelessly with the collector, each of the utility meters having a wireless communication path to the collector that is either a direct communication path to the collector or an indirect communication path through one or more other utility meters that serve as repeaters, and the collector receiving commodity consumption information from the plurality of utility meters, the remote display comprising:
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memory for storing commodity consumption data; firmware containing executable instructions for receiving commodity consumption data from an associated utility meter of said automated meter reading system; a microcontroller; and a radio adapted to retrieve commodity consumption data from the utility meter associated with the remote display in response to a message received from the collector of said automated meter reading system, wherein the message received from the collector controls the time at which commodity consumption information is retrieved from the associated utility meter by the remote display. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An automated meter reading system comprising:
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a collector; a plurality of utility meters that bi-directionally communicate wirelessly with the collector, each of the utility meters having a wireless communication path to the collector that is either a direct communication path to the collector or an indirect communications path through one or more other utility meters that serve as repeaters, the plurality of utility meters transmitting commodity consumption data to the collector and the collector transmitting control information to the utility meters; and at least one in-home remote display device comprising; memory for storing commodity consumption data; firmware containing executable instruction for receiving commodity consumption data from an associated utility meter of said automated meter reading system; a microcontroller; and a radio adapted to retrieve commodity consumption data from the utility meter associated with the remote display in response to a message received from the collector of said automated meter reading system, wherein the message received from the collector controls the time at which commodity consumption information is retrieved from the associated utility meter by the remote display. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification