System and method for simultaneous communication on modbus and DNP 3.0 over Ethernet for electronic power meter

• US 7,609,719 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2005
• Issued: 10/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EI Electronics LLC (Hubbell, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electro Industries/Gaugetech
• Inventors: Wang, Wei, Kagan, Erran, Spanier, Joseph, Slota, Fredrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Rao; Seema S
• Assistant Examiner(s): WONG, XAVIER S
• Application Number:
  US11/087,438
• Publication Number:
  US 20060077999A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,679 Days
• Field of Search: 370465-467, 370/395.5, 37039551-39554, 702/57, 702/60, 702/61, 702/64
• US Class Current: 370/466
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/063 related to remote communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40136 Nodes adapting their rate to the physical link properties LAN switches H04L49/351
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

A system and method is provided for simultaneous communications on Modbus and DNP 3.0 over Ethernet for an electronic power meter. The system incorporates one or more protocol wrappers to provide compatibility with both Modbus and DNP based applications. The system removes the appropriate wrappers and routes the incoming data packet to its destination. Additionally, the system also wraps outgoing response packets with the appropriate protocol wrapper based on the related data packet wrappers.

Claims

1. A method for providing simultaneous communications between an electronic power meter and a plurality of applications, the electronic power meter including a processor, an Ethernet card and a serial channel coupling the processor to the Ethernet card according to a first protocol, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a data packet over an Ethernet connection via the Ethernet card, said data packet using an Ethernet protocol wrapper;

removing said Ethernet protocol wrapper;

determining a secondary protocol used by said data packet by inspecting said data packet after said Ethernet protocol wrapper is removed;

routing said data packet to the processor based on said step of determining said secondary protocol including routing if the determined secondary protocol matches the first protocol;

if during said step of determining the secondary protocol does not match the first protocol, appending a wrapper according to the first protocol to said data packet and routing the data packet to the processor after the wrapper is appended to the data packet;

parsing said data packet;

providing a response packet including electrical energy metering information of said electronic power meter using said first protocol wherein the providing is performed by the processor in the electronic power meter and routing said response packet from the processor in the electronic power meter to the Ethernet card in the electronic power meter;

appending an Ethernet protocol wrapper to said response packet; and

transmitting said response packet over said Ethernet connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said first protocol is a Modbus protocol.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said secondary protocol is a DNP (Distributed Network Protocol) protocol and said data packet is a DNP data packet.

4. The method of claim 3, said routing step further comprising the steps of:

appending a Modbus wrapper to said DNP data packet;

transferring said Modbus wrapped DNP data packet to said processor;

removing said Modbus wrapper from said DNP data packet; and

parsing said DNP data packet.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

appending a Modbus wrapper to said response packet;

transferring said Modbus wrapped response packet to said Ethernet card; and

removing said Modbus wrapper from said response packet prior to the Ethernet protocol wrapper appending step.

6. A system for providing simultaneous communications between an electronic power meter and a plurality of applications, said system comprising:

the plurality of applications each being supported by at least one computing device; and

the electronic power meter operating under a first protocol comprising;

means for receiving a data packet over an Ethernet connection via an Ethernet card, said data packet using an Ethernet protocol wrapper;

means for removing said Ethernet protocol wrapper;

means for determining a secondary protocol used by said data packet by inspecting said data packet after said Ethernet protocol wrapper is removed;

means for routing said data packet to the electronic power meter based on said determining said secondary protocol including means for routing if the determined secondary protocol matches the first protocol;

means for appending a wrapper according to the first protocol to said data packet based on said determining said secondary protocol including means for appending said wrapper according to the first protocol if the secondary protocol does not match the first protocol and means for routing the data packet to the electronic power meter after the wrapper is appended to the data packet;

means for parsing said data packet;

means for providing a response packet including electrical energy metering information of said electronic power meter using said first protocol from the electronic power meter to the Ethernet card;

means for appending an Ethernet protocol wrapper to said response packet; and

means for transmitting said response packet over said Ethernet connection.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said first protocol is a Modbus protocol.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein said secondary protocol is a DNP (Distributed Network Protocol) protocol and said data packet is a DNP data packet.

9. The system of claim 8, the electronic power meter further comprising;

means for appending a Modbus wrapper to said DNP data packet;

means for transferring said Modbus wrapped DNP data packet to a processor of the electronic power meter;

means for removing said Modbus wrapper from said DNP data packet; and

means for parsing said DNP data packet.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

means for appending a Modbus wrapper to said response packet;

means for transferring said Modbus wrapped response packet to said Ethernet card; and

means for removing said Modbus wrapper from said response packet prior to the Ethernet protocol wrapper appending.