Portable communication gateway for utility metering devices
First Claim
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1. A method of decoding a communication signal from a utility meter, the method comprising:
- receiving a communication from the utility meter at a communication gateway, wherein;
the communication is carried via a signal with a modulated carrier frequency and a spreading sequence comprised of multiple chips, andthe communication includes a packet comprised of multiple data bits, wherein each data bit has (i) a respective level based on an amplitude of the modulated carrier frequency and (ii) a respective boundary and a respective length of time based on a predetermined quantity of the multiple chips, wherein the packet comprises a preamble that includes a predetermined quantity of the multiple data bits, a header that includes information identifying the utility meter, and a body that includes metering information;
filtering the communication to remove the modulated carrier frequency and to extract the metering information without decoding the spreading sequence, wherein extracting the metering information includes;
determining, based on the predetermined quantity of the multiple data bits included in the preamble, the respective boundary and the respective length of time of each data bit included in the communication, anddetermining, based the respective boundary and the respective length of time, the respective level of each data bit included in the communication;
interpreting the metering information; and
transmitting the interpreted metering information to a meter servicing device.
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Abstract
A communication gateway communicates with a utility meter and a meter servicing device. The communication gateway includes a one-way processing module to process communications received from a one-way utility meter and includes a two-way processing module to process communications received from a two-way utility meter. For communications from a one-way utility meter the communication gateway may decode a signal received from the meter to obtain only certain information. For example, metering information may be extracted from the signal, but a spreading sequence may not be decoded.
3 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of decoding a communication signal from a utility meter, the method comprising:
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receiving a communication from the utility meter at a communication gateway, wherein; the communication is carried via a signal with a modulated carrier frequency and a spreading sequence comprised of multiple chips, and the communication includes a packet comprised of multiple data bits, wherein each data bit has (i) a respective level based on an amplitude of the modulated carrier frequency and (ii) a respective boundary and a respective length of time based on a predetermined quantity of the multiple chips, wherein the packet comprises a preamble that includes a predetermined quantity of the multiple data bits, a header that includes information identifying the utility meter, and a body that includes metering information; filtering the communication to remove the modulated carrier frequency and to extract the metering information without decoding the spreading sequence, wherein extracting the metering information includes; determining, based on the predetermined quantity of the multiple data bits included in the preamble, the respective boundary and the respective length of time of each data bit included in the communication, and determining, based the respective boundary and the respective length of time, the respective level of each data bit included in the communication; interpreting the metering information; and transmitting the interpreted metering information to a meter servicing device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for decoding a communication signal from a utility meter, the system comprising:
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a communication gateway configurable to operate in a first operating mode that enables communication with a one-way utility meter or a second operating mode that enables communication with a two-way utility meter; and a meter servicing device in communication with the communication gateway, wherein the meter servicing device transmits a control signal to the communication gateway to configure the communications gateway in the first operating mode or the second operating mode, wherein when the communication gateway is configured in the first operating mode, the communication gateway is operable to; receive a communication from the one-way utility meter, wherein; the communication is carried via a signal with a modulated carrier frequency and a spreading sequence comprised of multiple chips, and the communication includes a packet comprised of multiple data bits, wherein each data bit has (i) a respective level based on an amplitude of the modulated carrier frequency and (ii) a respective boundary and a respective length of time based on a predetermined quantity of the multiple chips, wherein the packet comprises a preamble that includes a predetermined quantity of the multiple data bits, a header that includes information identifying the one-way utility meter, and a body that includes first metering information; decode the communication to extract the first metering information without decoding the spreading sequence, wherein extracting the metering information includes; determining, based on the predetermined quantity of the multiple data bits included in the preamble, the respective boundary and the respective length of time of each data bit included in the communication, and determining, based the respective boundary and the respective length of time, the respective level of each data bit included in the communication; and transmit the first metering information to the meter servicing device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A communication gateway configurable to operate in a first operating mode that enables communication with a one-way utility meter or a second operating mode that enables communication with a two-way utility meter, comprising:
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a front end module that receives a communication from a one-way utility meter, wherein; the communication is carried via a signal with a modulated carrier frequency and a spreading sequence comprised of multiple chips, wherein the front end module amplifies and filters the signal, and the communication includes a packet comprised of multiple data bits, wherein each data bit has (i) a respective level based on an amplitude of the signal and (ii) a respective boundary and a respective length of time based on a predetermined quantity of the multiple chips, wherein the packet comprises a preamble that includes a predetermined quantity of the multiple data bits, a header that includes information identifying the utility meter, and a body that includes metering information; a non-linear logarithmic decoder for filtering out the modulated carrier frequency to extract the metering information without decoding the spreading sequence, wherein extracting the metering information includes; determining, based on the predetermined quantity of the multiple data bits included in the preamble, the respective boundary and the respective length of time of each data bit included in the communication, and determining, based the respective boundary and the respective length of time, the respective level of each data bit included in the communication; a processor for interpreting the metering information; and a communication module for transmitting the metering information to a meter servicing device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification