Meter data collection

• US 9,432,747 B2
• Filed: 10/26/2012
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elster Solutions LLC (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Elster Solutions LLC (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Gustafsson, Henrik, Borleske, Andrew J., Holman, Mark, Yee, Roberta, Fountas, Nicholas, Bailey, Jonathan H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Girma, Fekadeselassie
• Assistant Examiner(s): Eustaquio, Cal
• Application Number:
  US13/662,056
• Publication Number:
  US 20130106616A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,404 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/60 for transmitting utility meters data, i.e. transmission of data from the reader of the utility meter
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A metering device may be configured to communicate with other devices in an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system. For example, a metering device may be configured to communicate with a collection device. To enable such communications, a collection device may send a wake-up-tone and/or a request message to a metering device. Based on the request message, a metering device may send data to the collection device. Metering communication networks may be mobile and/or fixed. For example, a mobile collection device may use a wireless signal to interrogate a metering device to retrieve data from the metering device.

Claims

1. In an advanced metering infrastructure system in which a collection device can retrieve data from a plurality of metering devices, a method comprising:

receiving, by a first metering device of the plurality of metering devices, a signal having a carrier frequency;

determining whether the received signal is a valid wake-up tone based at least on whether a measured signal strength of the received signal is greater than a predetermined threshold and whether an address encoded within the received signal matches a wake-up address of the first metering device;

if the address encoded within the received signal matches the wake-up address receiving, by the first metering device of the plurality of metering devices, a request message via the collection device, the request message comprising response parameters that comprise a first endpoint identifier;

determining, based on at least one of the response parameters in the request message, a first time slot in which to respond to the request message;

determining, based on at least one of the response parameters in the request message, a first frequency channel for responding to the request message; and

responding, by the first metering device associated with the endpoint identifier, to the request message during the determined first time slot and at the determined first frequency channel such that the collection device retrieves at least a first portion of the data.

2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the response parameters comprise at least one of a preamble length, a guard time, a time slot length, a number of channels per time slot, a number of endpoints, an endpoint list, or an application layer request.

3. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the request message further comprises a second endpoint identifier, the method further comprising:

determining, by a second metering device of the plurality of metering devices based on at least one of the parameters in the request message, a second frequency channel for responding to the request message; and

responding, by the second metering device associated with the second endpoint identifier, to the request message during the determined first time slot and at the determined second frequency channel such that the collection device retrieves at least a second portion of the data.

4. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the request message further comprises a second endpoint identifier, the method further comprising:

determining, by a second metering device of the plurality of metering devices based on at least one of the parameters in the request message, a second time slot in which to respond to the request message; and

responding, by the second metering device-having the second endpoint identifier, to the request message during the determined second time slot and at the determined first frequency channel such that the collection device retrieves at least a second portion of the data.

5. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the response parameters comprise an application layer request, the method further comprising:

based on the application layer request, retrieving the first portion of the data from an ANSI C12.19-compliant data table.

6. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the collection device comprises a number of receivers, and wherein the response parameters comprise a number of channels per time slot, the number of channels per time slot equivalent to the number of receivers.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the measured signal strength is not greater than the predetermined threshold, then determining that the received signal is not a valid wake-up tone.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the address encoded within the received signal does not match a wake-up address of the first metering device, then determining that the received signal is not a valid wake-up tone.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the measured signal strength is greater than the predetermined threshold and if the address encoded within the received signal matches a wake-up address of the first metering device, then determining that the received signal is a valid wake-up tone.

10. A metering device that measures consumption of a commodity, the metering device associated with an endpoint identifier, the metering device comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive a signal having a carrier frequency, and

if the received signal is a valid wake-up tone receive a request message from a collection device, the request message comprising response parameters that comprise the endpoint identifier;

a memory containing one or more ANSI C12.19-compliant data tables; and

a processor that operates to;

determine whether the received signal is a valid wake-up tone based at least on whether a measured signal strength of the received signal is greater than a predetermined threshold and whether an address encoded within the received signal matches a wake-up address of the first metering device;

determine, based on at least one of the response parameters in the request message, a first time slot in which to respond to the request message; and

determine, based on at least one of the response parameters in the request message, a first frequency channel for responding to the request message.

11. The metering device recited in claim 10, wherein the communication interface is further configured to respond to the request message during the determined first time slot and at the determined first frequency channel.

12. The metering device recited in claim 10, wherein the response parameters comprise at least one of a preamble length, a guard time, a time slot length, a number of channels per time slot, a number of endpoints, an endpoint list, or an application layer request.

13. The metering device recited in claim 10, wherein the response parameters comprise an application layer request, the processor further configured to:

retrieve, based on the application layer request, data from an ANSI C12.19-compliant data table, the data corresponding to data requested by the collection device.

14. The metering device recited in claim 10, wherein the processor further operates to:

measure a signal strength of the received signal having the carrier frequency;

determine whether the received signal is a valid wake-up tone based at least in part on whether the measured signal strength is greater than a predetermined threshold; and

determine whether the received signal is a valid wake-up tone based on whether an address encoded within the received signal matches a wake-up address of the metering device.

15. In an advanced metering infrastructure system in which a mobile interrogator vehicle communicates with a plurality of metering devices to retrieve data, a method of controlling the plurality of metering devices, the method comprising:

the mobile interrogator vehicle traveling in a direction;

based on the direction, determining a group of transponders that are within a range for interrogation, each transponder in the group corresponding to a metering device of the plurality of metering devices;

determining an identity associated with each transponder in the group of transponders, each identity associated with each transponder associated with an endpoint identifier;

transmitting a request message to the group, the request message comprising a request for the data;

assigning, via the request message, each transponder in the group to a respective frequency and a respective time slot;

receiving the requested data, via the transponders, at the assigned frequencies and time slots;

encoding a wake-up tone with a wake-up address corresponding to at least one of the transponders in the group; and

transmitting, by the mobile interrogator vehicle, the wake-up tone to the at least one transponder, such that a measured signal strength of the wake-up tone is greater than a predetermined threshold, thereby waking a metering device that corresponds to the at least one transponder before transmitting the request message to the metering device.