Bluetooth-enabled intelligent electronic device

• US 9,891,253 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2013
• Issued: 02/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EI Electronics LLC (Hubbell, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electro Industries/Gaugetech
• Inventors: Kagan, Erran
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsvey, Gennadiy
• Application Number:
  US13/968,584
• Publication Number:
  US 20130329768A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,642 Days
• Field of Search: 455 412, 702 62, 702 57, 702189, 702 61, 709220-223, 709217, 709228
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/063 related to remote communication
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/10 using digital techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup

Abstract

An intelligent electronic device (IED), e.g., an electrical power meter, having wireless communication capabilities, e.g., Bluetooth connectivity, for transmitting and receiving data without a hardwire connection is provided. A system and method for retrieving revenue metering data from at least one IED, e.g., a revenue meter, are also provided. The system includes at least one intelligent electronic device including a transceiver configured for receiving calculated energy consumption data from a processor and transmitting the calculated energy consumption data via a spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique; and a data collection device configured for receiving the calculated energy consumption data from the at least one intelligent electronic device in response to supplying a pairing passkey to the intelligent electronic device.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of intelligent electronic devices, each intelligent electronic device including a plurality of sensors configured to sense electrical signals from an electrical distribution system, a plurality of analog-to-digital converters configured to convert the sensed electrical signals to digital signals, a processing device configured to receive the digital signals, a memory, a transceiver, and a cryptographic module, each intelligent electronic device being installed at a specific location associated with a physical address, the processing device of each intelligent electronic device being configured to calculate electrical energy consumption data at the specific location and store the calculated electrical energy consumption data in the memory, the transceiver configured to receive the calculated electrical energy consumption data from the processor and wirelessly transmit the calculated electrical energy consumption data via a spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique, the cryptographic module of each intelligent electronic device being configured to encrypt the calculated electrical energy consumption data, and each intelligent electronic device configured to store a unique identifier and a unique passkey in the memory; and

a portable data collection device comprising a billing module, the portable data collection device configured to be transported throughout an area to automatically collect the calculated electrical energy consumption data from the plurality of intelligent electronic devices via wireless communication with the plurality of intelligent electronic devices;

wherein the billing module of the portable data collection device comprises a database including an entry for each of the intelligent electronic devices, each entry including data associated to each corresponding intelligent electronic device, each entry configured to pre-store the unique identifier for a particular intelligent electronic device, to pre-store the physical address corresponding to the specific location where the particular intelligent electronic device is installed, and to pre-store the passkey for the particular intelligent electronic device, each entry further including a record field for the particular intelligent electronic devices, wherein the database of the billing module is further configured to store calculated electrical energy consumption data received from the plurality of intelligent electronic devices in the corresponding record field for each of the intelligent electronic devices;

wherein, when the portable data collection device is within a range of a first intelligent electronic device of the plurality of intelligent electronic devices, the portable data collection device is configured to auto-negotiate with a transceiver of the first intelligent electronic device to establish a piconet and wirelessly receive from the transceiver of the first intelligent electronic device the unique identifier corresponding to the first intelligent electronic device via the spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique;

wherein, upon receiving the unique identifier corresponding to the first intelligent electronic device, the portable data collection device is further configured to retrieve from the billing module the passkey for the first intelligent electronic device corresponding to the unique identifier;

wherein the portable data collection device is further configured to wirelessly transmit the corresponding passkey for the first intelligent electronic device via the spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique to the transceiver of the first intelligent electronic device;

wherein, upon determining that the passkey received from the portable data collection device is valid, the first intelligent electronic device is configured to retrieve the calculated electrical energy consumption data from the memory and to wirelessly transmit the calculated electrical energy consumption data to the portable data collection device via the spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique;

wherein the portable data collection device is further configured to receive the calculated electrical energy consumption data from the first intelligent electronic device and store the calculated electrical energy consumption data in the record field of the entry in the billing module corresponding to the first intelligent electronic device; and

wherein, contemporaneously with receiving the calculated electrical energy consumption data from the first intelligent electronic device, the portable data collection device is further configured to automatically transmit the calculated electrical energy consumption data corresponding to the first intelligent electronic device to a server.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable data collection device is configured to transmit the calculated electrical energy consumption data to the server via an e-mail protocol.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable data collection device is configured to auto-negotiate with a transceiver of a second intelligent electronic device of the plurality of intelligent electronic devices to add the second intelligent electronic device to the piconet, wirelessly receive from the second intelligent electronic device the unique identifier corresponding to the second intelligent electronic device via a spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique, retrieve from the billing module the passkey for the second intelligent electronic device corresponding to the unique identifier received from the second intelligent electronic device, and wirelessly transmit the corresponding passkey to the second intelligent electronic device via the spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein, upon determining that the passkey received from the portable data collection device is valid, the second intelligent electronic device is configured to wirelessly transmit the calculated electrical energy consumption data to the portable data collection device via the spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each intelligent electronic device is further configured to store at least one protocol stack for enabling the spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one protocol stack is a Bluetooth protocol stack.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable data collection device is further configured to wirelessly transmit upgrade data to the plurality of intelligent electronic devices via a synchronous connection oriented (SCO) type data transmission.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of intelligent electronic devices are configured as at least one of socket-type revenue meters, switchboard panel meters, and circuit breaker mounted meters.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable data collection device is configured to transmit the electrical energy consumption data to the server via a cellular transmission protocol.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the transceiver of each intelligent electronic device transmits on a frequency of about 2.45 gigahertz.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the transceiver of each intelligent electronic device transmits on a frequency of about 2.402 gigahertz to 2.480 gigahertz.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the cryptographic module encrypts the calculated electrical energy consumption data using at least one of security protocols comprising checksum, Data Encryption Standard (DES), Elliptical Curve Encryption (ECC), International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA), Message Digest 5 (MD5), Rivest Cipher, Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA), Rijndael, Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), and/or Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS).

13. A portable data collection device comprising:

a processing device configured to control operations of the portable data collection device;

a billing module having a database including an entry for each of a plurality of intelligent electronic devices installed at a plurality of locations within a geographic area, each entry including data associated to each corresponding intelligent electronic device, each entry configured to pre-store a unique identifier for a particular intelligent electronic device, to pre-store a unique passkey for the particular intelligent electronic device, and to pre-store a unique physical address associated with the particular intelligent electronic device within the geographic area, each entry further including a record field for the particular intelligent electronic device, each of the plurality of intelligent electronic devices being configured to calculate electrical energy consumption data at the respective location, wherein the database of the billing module is further configured to store the calculated electrical energy consumption data received from each of the plurality of intelligent electronic devices in the corresponding record field for each of the intelligent electronic devices;

a short-range transceiver configured such that when the portable data collection device is within a range of a first Intelligent electronic device of the plurality of intelligent electronic devices, the short-range transceiver auto-negotiates with a transceiver of the first Intelligent electronic device to establish a piconet; and

a communication device;

wherein the processing device is configured to determine the unique identifier corresponding to the first intelligent electronic device and retrieve the unique passkey from the database of the billing module corresponding to the first intelligent electronic device;

wherein the short-range transceiver is configured to wirelessly transmit the corresponding unique passkey to the first intelligent electronic device via a spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique and wirelessly receive the calculated energy consumption data from the first intelligent electronic device via the spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique when the transmitted unique passkey is determined to be valid;

wherein the processing device is configured to store the received calculated energy consumption data in the record field of the entry in the billing module corresponding to the first intelligent electronic device; and

wherein, contemporaneously with receiving the calculated electrical energy consumption data from the first intelligent electronic device, the communication device is configured to upload to a server the received energy consumption data calculated by the first intelligent electronic device; and

wherein, the portable data collection device is configured to be transported throughout an area to automatically collect electrical energy consumption data from the plurality of intelligent electronic devices via the short-range transceiver.

14. The portable data collection device of claim 13, wherein the communication device is configured to upload the calculated energy consumption data via a cellular transmission protocol.

15. The portable data collection device of claim 13, wherein the communication device is configured to upload the calculated electrical energy consumption data via an email protocol.

16. The portable data collection device of claim 13 wherein the short-range transceiver is configured to wirelessly transmit upgrade data to one or more of the plurality of intelligent electronic devices via a synchronous connection oriented (SCO) type data transmission.

17. An intelligent electronic device comprising:

at least one sensor coupled to an electrical circuit configured for measuring at least one power parameter of the electrical circuit and generating at least one analog signal indicative of the at least one power parameter;

at least one analog to digital converter coupled to the at least one sensor configured for receiving the at least one analog signal and converting the at least one analog signal to at least one digital signal;

a processor configured for receiving the at least one digital signal and calculating electrical energy consumption data in the electrical circuit;

a transceiver configured for receiving the calculated electrical energy consumption data from the processor and wirelessly transmitting the calculated electrical energy consumption data via a spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique to a portable remote reading device, wherein the portable remote reading device is configured to be carried throughout a particular geographical area and wirelessly communicate with a plurality of intelligent electronic devices located within the particular geographical area to automatically collect electrical energy consumption data from the plurality of intelligent electronic devices via wireless communication with the plurality of intelligent electronic devices, wherein the portable remote reading device is further configured to store an entry for each of the plurality of intelligent electronic devices in the particular geographical area, each entry including data associated to each corresponding intelligent electronic device, wherein each entry includes a unique identifier of a particular intelligent electronic device, a specific location where the particular intelligent electronic device is installed, a passkey for the particular intelligent electronic device, and a record field for the particular intelligent electronic device, wherein each intelligent electronic device has a passkey that is different from the other passkeys, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the calculated electrical energy consumption data to the portable remote reading device in response to the portable remote reading device transmitting a valid passkey corresponding with the respective intelligent electronic device to the transceiver, wherein the portable remote reading device is configured to store the calculated electrical energy consumption data in the record field of the entry corresponding to the intelligent electronic device and, contemporaneously with receiving the calculated electrical energy consumption data from the transceiver, automatically transmit the calculated electrical energy consumption data to a server; and

a cryptographic module configured for encrypting the calculated electrical energy consumption data and establishing a secure wireless communication channel with the portable remote reading device, wherein, when the portable remote reading device Is within a range of the intelligent electronic device, the cryptographic module auto-negotiates with the portable remote reading device to allow communication between the intelligent electronic device and the portable remote reading device, wherein the cryptographic module is further configured to request a respective passkey associated with the intelligent electronic device and establish the secure wireless communication channel with the portable remote reading device after receiving the respective passkey from the portable remote reading device, and wherein the secure wireless communication channel enables the wireless transmission of encrypted calculated electrical energy consumption data.

18. The intelligent electronic device of claim 17, further comprising a memory for storing at least one protocol stack for enabling the spread-spectrum frequency hopping technique.

19. The intelligent electronic device of claim 18, wherein the at least one protocol stack is a Bluetooth protocol stack.

20. The intelligent electronic device of claim 17, wherein the transceiver transmits on a frequency of about 2.45 gigahertz.

21. The intelligent electronic device of claim 17, wherein the transceiver transmits on a frequency of about 2.402 gigahertz to 2.480 gigahertz.

22. The intelligent electronic device of claim 17, wherein the cryptographic module encrypts the calculated electrical energy consumption data using at least one of security protocols comprising checksum, Data Encryption Standard (DES), Elliptical Curve Encryption (ECC), International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA), Message Digest 5 (MD5), Rivest Cipher, Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA), Rijndael, Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), and/or Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS).

23. The intelligent electronic device of claim 17, wherein the intelligent electronic device is configured as a socket-type revenue meter.

24. The intelligent electronic device of claim 17, wherein the intelligent electronic device is configured as a switchboard panel meter.

25. The intelligent electronic device of claim 17, wherein the intelligent electronic device is configured as a circuit breaker mounted meter.