Automated meter reading system, communication and control network from automated meter reading, meter data collector, and associated methods
First Claim
1. An automated meter reading network system comprising:
- a plurality of utility meters;
a plurality of sensors each interfaced with and positioned adjacent one of the plurality of utility meters to sense utility usage data therefrom;
a plurality of meter data collectors each defining a node and each associated with a separate one of the plurality of utility meters and positioned spaced apart from and in cross-radio frequency communication with a subset of the other ones of the plurality of meter data collectors to thereby define a mesh communication network, each meter data collector including a microcontroller in communication with at least one of the plurality of sensors to collect the utility usage data, memory positioned to store the collected utility usage data, and a radio frequency telemetry module having a transmission power level setting and positioned to transmit the utility usage data;
a host computer positioned remote from and in communication with the plurality of meter data collectors to receive the utility usage data and having a processor to process the utility usage data and memory in communication with the processor to store the utility usage data; and
meter data collector program product at least partially stored in the memory of the host computer and comprising instructions that when executed by the host computer perform the operations of assembling a protocol message packet to transmit data from the host computer to a selected one of the plurality of nodes defining a destination node according to a first preselected route, receiving and analyzing data in the protocol message packet transmitted to the host computer according to a second preselected route, and determining an optimal transmission power level setting of at least one of the plurality of nodes responsive to the data analysis, the protocol message packet having data elements describing a source node, the destination node, and a plurality of intermediate gateway nodes, the descriptions of the source node and the destination node each including a selected transmission power level setting, a selected receive frequency index, a node identification, and a received signal strength indication describing the received signal strength of a transmission from an adjacent node, and the descriptions of each of the plurality of intermediate gateway nodes including a selected transmission power level setting, a selected receive frequency index describing a receive frequency of an adjacent node, a node identification, a first received signal strength indication describing the received signal strength of a transmission from a first adjacent node, and a second received signal strength indication describing the received signal strength of a transmission from a first adjacent node.
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Abstract
An automated meter reading network system to collect utility usage data from multiple utility meters having utility meter sensors, program product, and associated methods are provided. The system includes multiple meter data collectors each in communication with one or more utility meters to collect utility usage data and forming a wireless communications network. The system also includes a host computer in communication with the meter data collectors either directly or through multiple field host data collectors which can be connected to the host computer through a wide area network. The system also includes a meter data collector program product at least partially stored in the memory of the host computer to manage the communication network. The meter data collector program product is adapted to analyze signal strength between nodes and to dynamically adjust the power level settings of the individual nodes to enhance network performance.
274 Citations
69 Claims
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1. An automated meter reading network system comprising:
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a plurality of utility meters;
a plurality of sensors each interfaced with and positioned adjacent one of the plurality of utility meters to sense utility usage data therefrom;
a plurality of meter data collectors each defining a node and each associated with a separate one of the plurality of utility meters and positioned spaced apart from and in cross-radio frequency communication with a subset of the other ones of the plurality of meter data collectors to thereby define a mesh communication network, each meter data collector including a microcontroller in communication with at least one of the plurality of sensors to collect the utility usage data, memory positioned to store the collected utility usage data, and a radio frequency telemetry module having a transmission power level setting and positioned to transmit the utility usage data;
a host computer positioned remote from and in communication with the plurality of meter data collectors to receive the utility usage data and having a processor to process the utility usage data and memory in communication with the processor to store the utility usage data; and
meter data collector program product at least partially stored in the memory of the host computer and comprising instructions that when executed by the host computer perform the operations of assembling a protocol message packet to transmit data from the host computer to a selected one of the plurality of nodes defining a destination node according to a first preselected route, receiving and analyzing data in the protocol message packet transmitted to the host computer according to a second preselected route, and determining an optimal transmission power level setting of at least one of the plurality of nodes responsive to the data analysis, the protocol message packet having data elements describing a source node, the destination node, and a plurality of intermediate gateway nodes, the descriptions of the source node and the destination node each including a selected transmission power level setting, a selected receive frequency index, a node identification, and a received signal strength indication describing the received signal strength of a transmission from an adjacent node, and the descriptions of each of the plurality of intermediate gateway nodes including a selected transmission power level setting, a selected receive frequency index describing a receive frequency of an adjacent node, a node identification, a first received signal strength indication describing the received signal strength of a transmission from a first adjacent node, and a second received signal strength indication describing the received signal strength of a transmission from a first adjacent node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An automated meter reading network system comprising:
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a plurality of utility meters;
a plurality of meter data collectors each defining a node and each associated with one of the plurality of utility meters and positioned spaced apart from and in cross-radio frequency communication with a subset of the other ones of the plurality of meter data collectors, each meter data collector including a microcontroller adapted to collect the utility usage data, memory to store the collected utility usage data, and a telemetry module to transmit the utility usage data;
a host computer positioned remote from and in communication with the plurality of meter data collectors to receive the utility usage data and having a processor to process the utility usage data and memory in communication with the processor to store the utility usage data; and
meter data collector program product at least partially stored in the memory of the host computer and comprising instructions that when executed by the host computer perform the operations of;
assembling an outbound message packet to transmit data from the host computer to at least one of the plurality nodes, receiving and analyzing data appended to an inbound message packet transmitted from the at least one of the plurality of nodes to the host computer responsive to the outbound message packet, and determining an optimal transmission power level setting of at least one of the plurality of nodes responsive to the data analysis. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of collecting utility meter usage data, the method comprising the steps of:
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assembling a message packet to transmit data from a host computer to a selected one of a plurality of nodes defining a destination node according to a first preselected route to the destination node along at least one other of the plurality of nodes;
receiving and analyzing data in the message packet transmitted to the host computer according to a second preselected route from the destination node; and
determining an optimal transmission power level setting of at least one of the plurality of nodes responsive to the data analysis. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method of collecting utility meter usage data, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a first sequence route from a source node to a destination node through at least one gateway node and a second sequence route from the destination node to the source node;
assigning a transmission power level setting separately to each of the nodes along the first and the second sequence routes;
transmitting a message packet carrying the power level settings to the destination node along the first sequence route; and
determining a received signal strength between each adjacent one of the nodes along at least a portion of at least one of the first and the second sequence routes, the received signal strength indicating that of the received message packet. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of collecting utility meter usage data, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a first sequence route from a source node to a destination node through at least one gateway node and a second sequence route from the destination node to the source node;
assigning a transmission power level setting separately to each of the nodes along the first and the second sequence routes;
transmitting at least one message packet carrying the power level settings along the first sequence route;
determining a first message packet data return rate;
determining a third sequence route having at least one common segment with the first sequence route or the second sequence route;
varying a transmit power level setting of at least one of the nodes associated with the common segment;
transmitting a second message packet carrying the varied power level setting along the third sequence route;
determining a second message packet data return rate;
comparing the first message packet data return rate to the second message packet data return rate; and
selecting the second power level setting for the at least one of the nodes responsive to the comparison when the second message packet data return rate is greater than the first message packet data return rate.
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31. A method of collecting utility meter usage data, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a sequence route from a source node to a destination node through at least one gateway node;
assigning a transmission power level setting separately to each of the nodes; and
transmitting a message packet carrying the power level settings to the destination node along the sequence route. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A method of collecting utility meter usage data, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a sequence route from a source node to a destination node through at least one gateway node and from the destination node to the source node along an alternate pathway;
transmitting a message packet to the destination node along the sequence route;
receiving the message packet transmitted along the sequence route; and
determining a received signal strength at least one of the nodes along the sequence route indicating a signal strength associated with the received message packet when received. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A method of collecting utility meter usage data, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a sequence route from a host computer to a destination meter data collector through at least one intermediate meter data collector;
transmitting a message packet to the destination meter data collector along the sequence route, the message packet having a payload data element including a meter data collector firmware update; and
receiving and storing the firmware update in memory of the destination meter data collector to thereby provide remote firmware management. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of collecting utility meter usage data, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a sequence route from a host computer to a destination meter data collector through at least one intermediate meter data collector;
transmitting a message packet to the destination meter data collector along the sequence route, the message packet having a payload data element including meter data collector memory management parameters; and
transferring data between the volatile and nonvolatile memory elements of the destination meter data collector responsive to the memory management parameters.
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41. A method of collecting utility meter usage data, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a sequence route from a host computer to a destination meter data collector through at least one intermediate meter data collector;
providing a message packet having a payload data element;
loading a history and usage pointer in the payload data element, the history and usage pointer providing indicia of a starting point in memory of the destination meter data collector of unread history and usage data to thereby prevent history and usage data loss resulting from post transmission message packet loss or corruption of a message packet carrying history and usage data, the history and usage data loss resulting in a mismatch between the last history and usage data received by the host computer and the last history and usage data transmitted by the destination meter data collector; and
transmitting the message packet to the destination meter data collector along the sequence route. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. Meter data collector program product for enhancing communication between meter data collectors forming a mesh network, the program product comprising:
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a protocol message packet generator adapted to assemble a protocol message packet including routing instructions between a plurality of meter data collectors, power level settings assignments for the meter data collectors, and receive signal strength indication placeholders to receive from each of the meter data collectors signal strength indications indicating the received signal strength of the protocol message packet;
a protocol message packet validator adapted to perform a validation analysis on a routed version of the protocol message packet to determine if the protocol message packet contains corrupted data;
a received signal strength indication determiner adapted to extract the receive signal strength indication from the protocol message packet responsive to protocol message packet validation; and
a power level settings determiner adapted to determine a substantially optimum power level setting for each of the meter data collectors responsive to the extracted received signal strength indications to thereby enhance individual mesh network segment strength and improve overall network performance. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47)
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48. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer collecting utility usage data, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the following operations:
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assembling a message packet to transmit data to a selected one of a plurality of nodes defining a destination node according to a first preselected route to the destination node along at least one other of the plurality of nodes;
receiving and analyzing data in the message packet transmitted according to a second preselected route from the destination node; and
determining an optimal transmission power level setting of at least one of the plurality of nodes responsive to the data analysis. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51)
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52. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer collecting utility usage data, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the following operations:
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determining a first sequence route from a source node to a destination node through at least one gateway node and a second sequence route from the destination node to the source node;
assigning a transmission power level setting separately to each of the nodes along the first and the second sequence routes;
sending a message packet carrying the power level settings to the destination node along the first sequence route;
receiving and validating the first message packet transmitted along the second sequence route; and
determining a received signal strength between each adjacent one of the nodes along at least a portion of at least one of the first and the second sequence routes, the received signal strengths indicating that of the received message packet. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer collecting utility usage data, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the following operations:
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determining a first sequence route from a source node to a destination node through at least one gateway node and a second sequence route from the destination node to the source node;
assigning a first transmission power level setting separately to each of the nodes along the first and the second sequence routes;
sending at least one message packet carrying the power level settings along the first sequence route;
determining a first message packet data return rate;
determining a third sequence route having at least one common segment with the first sequence route or the second sequence route;
varying a transmit power level setting of at least one of the nodes associated with the common segment to define a second power level setting;
sending a second message packet carrying the varied power level setting along the third sequence route;
determining a second message packet data return rate;
comparing the first message packet data return rate to the second message packet data return rate; and
selecting the second power level setting for the at least one of the nodes responsive to the comparison when the second message packet data return rate is greater than the first message packet data return rate and when the second message packet data return rate is not substantially less than the first message packet data return rate and the second power level setting is less than the first power level setting.
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58. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer collecting utility usage data, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the following operations:
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determining a sequence route from a source node to a destination node through at least one gateway node;
assigning a transmission power level setting separately to each of the nodes; and
sending a message packet carrying the power level settings along the sequence route. - View Dependent Claims (59)
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60. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer collecting utility usage data and a remote controller of a meter data collector, the computer readable medium comprising:
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a first set of instructions that when executed by the computer cause the computer to perform the operations of determining a sequence route from a host computer system to a destination meter data collector through at least one intermediate meter data collector, and sending a message packet to the destination meter data collector along the sequence route, the message packet having a payload data element including a meter data collector firmware update; and
a second set of instructions that when executed by the remote controller cause the computer to perform the operation of receiving and storing the firmware update in memory of the destination meter data collector to thereby provide remote firmware management. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62)
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63. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer collecting utility usage data and a controller of a destination meter data collector, the computer readable medium comprising:
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a first set of instructions that when executed by the computer cause the computer to perform the operation of determining a sequence route from a host computer system to a destination meter data collector, and sending a message packet to the destination meter data collector along the sequence route, the message packet having a payload data element including meter data collector memory management parameters; and
a second set of instructions that when executed by the controller cause the controller to perform the operation of receiving the memory management parameters, and transferring data between the volatile and nonvolatile memory elements of the destination meter data collector responsive to the memory management parameters.
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64. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer collecting utility usage data, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the following operations:
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determining a sequence route from a host computer system to a destination meter data collector;
providing a message packet having a payload data element;
loading a history and usage pointer in the payload data element, the history and usage pointer providing indicia of a starting point in memory of the destination meter data collector of unread history and usage data; and
sending the message packet to the destination meter data collector along the sequence route. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67)
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68. A computer memory element containing, stored in signal bearing media, a database, the database containing the following data in computer readable format:
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data indicating utility service history and usage provided by each of a plurality of meter data collectors; and
data indicating a starting point in memory of the next block of unread history and usage data defining a next-read memory location for each of the plurality of meter data collectors. - View Dependent Claims (69)
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Specification