MXPA00008802A - Remote access to electronic meters using a tcp/ip protocol suite - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic meter incorporates a TCP/IP protocol suite and an HTTP server (24) to provide two-way access to the meter incorporated into a gateway (20) serving multiple meters connected through a power line or wireless two-way network. The gateway (20) may incorporate an HTTP server (24) for accessing data from multiple meters (40) and for transmission of data to individual meters (40). Other aspects of the disclosed system include the use of a common gateway interface (26) for remote access to meter data and to set meter parameter using HTML forms in HTTP browsers;remote reading and setting of multiple meter parameters using a TCP/IP protocol suite;a TCP/IP protocol suite implemented in designated notes in a CEBus LAN (42) with remote access through TCP/IP (43) to routers and broutes and to individual meters on the LAN;and a SLIP-PPP (21) enabled gateway for remote TCP/IP access (22) through a serial interface to a single or multiple meter parameters.

Description

REMOTE ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC METERS USING A SET OF TCP / IP PROTOCOL PROGRAMS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to electronic meters and automatic meter reading, and more particularly, to electronic meters enabled by TCP / IP for two-day remote access over local area networks and wide-area networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to automatic meter reading systems (AMRs) for use in the automatic reading of electric power and other service meters (eg, water and gas meters).

The invention is particularly intended for, but is not limited to, use in an electronic meter. In addition, other background information on electronic meters can be found in U.S. Patent No. 5,548,527, August 20, 1996, entitled "Programmable Electrical Energy Meter Utilizing a Non-Volatile Memory "(Programmable Electric Power Meter Using a Non-Volatile Memory) (assigned to ABB Power T &D Company Inc.). Other background on meter reading systems _____ ~ ¿^ ^ ____ & ^: ^. Ia. . A. »A ..?, _-.-_.

Automatic can be found in the patent of E. U. A. 5,553,094, September 3, 1996, entitled "Radio Communication Network for Remote Data Generating Stations" (Radiocommunication Network for Remote Duck Generation Stations).

COMPENDIUM OF THE INVENTION The present invention, as discussed in more detail below, involves the use of a set of TCP / IP protocol programs and a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) server. The terms "http" and "TCP / IP" are well known in the network and telecommunications art. For example TCP / IP refers to a well-known group of protocols for linking disparate devices across networks. The invention also involves the use of a "gate". A gateway is a node in a network that connects two otherwise incompatible networks. The gates can perform code and protocol conversion processes. A "protocol" is a group of rules or procedures that refer to the format and time control of data transmissions between two devices. Protocols typically break or divide a file into blocks or packets of equal size. These are sent and the receiving device uses a mathematical procedure to determine if the block or packet was received accurately. An electronic measurement system according to the present ^ ¡Jj ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ invention comprises a wide area network (WAN) that operates in accordance with a TCP / IP protocol; a local area network (LAN) comprising a plurality of meters, each of which includes electronic meter to measure a prescribed amount supplied by a service and memory to store measured data and meter control parameters; a gateway operatively coupled to the LAN and the WAN; and a http server operatively coupled to the LAN and the composite, so the WAN is provided with remote access to the measured data and • 10 control parameter of the meters. The presently preferred embodiments of the invention also include a CGI application coupled to the http server to be used in accessing the measured data. Alternatively, the system of the invention may include a virtual machine coupled to the HTTP server to be used in data access. The prescribed amount is preferably electricity, water or gas. fc The HTTP server and the CGI application can be embedded in each of the meters or, alternatively, embedded in the gate. Other aspects of the invention are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 schematically illustrates AMR comprising a wide area network 10, a gate 20, a local area network 30 and meters 40, in accordance with the present invention. Figure 2 illustrates schematically one embodiment of the B present invention, wherein an HTTP server and an interface of The common gate is located on the r (s) 40. FIG. 3 illustrates schematically one embodiment of the present invention, wherein an HTTP server and a common gate interface are located at gate 20. FIG. 4 illustrates how the interphase Common gateway ^^ 10 can be replaced by a Java virtual machine and a small Java application. Figure 5 represents an embodiment of the invention, wherein one or more computers are given access to the rs through a PPP server or interface. 15 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES The present invention, in one embodiment, employs an electronic r incorporating a set of TCP / IP protocol programs and an http server for two-way access to the r data. In another embodiment of the invention, the set of TCP / IP protocol programs is incorporated in a gate that serves multiple rs connected through a power line or two-way wireless network. The gateway in a second embodiment of the present invention incorporates an HTTP server for < ? __ i___i________ access data from multiple rs and for the transmission of data to individual rs. The basic architecture of the present invention is shown in Figure 1. As mentioned, incorporating an HTTP server and a TCP / IP protocol stack into r 40 or gate 20 into multiple rs through an area network local (LAN) 30 ability to remotely access r parars on a continuous basis. As shown, a group of N 40 rs communicates through a type of LAN 30 that is not TCP / IP. The LAN can be, for example, a CEBus network using a power line or radiofrequency communications (the Consumer Electronics Bus Protocol (CEBus) has been adopted as a standard of the electronic industry association (EIA IS-60) , and defines a LAN that uses multiple means, including a power line, radio, twisted pair cable, coaxial, and infrared signaling). Also connected to the LAN 30 is a gate 20 that is also connected to a wide area network (WAN) 10 TCP / IP. Other applications (not shown) are also connected to WAN 10 TCP / IP and may require access by individual rs or groups of rs. These applications give access to individual rs by sending commands contained in packets with TCP / IP adjoining destination addresses that are unique to each r. In the first implementation of the invention (Figure 2), the gate 20 receives packets from other applications on the WAN 10.

The composite 20 includes a TCP / IP interface 22 and a LAN interface 28. The LAN interface 28 includes software to transform the data packets to the format required for transmission over the LAN 30 The gate 20 then transmits these packets 5 reformatted over the LAN 30 to the rs 40. The steps involved in this transformation are: 1. The gateway examines the TCP / IP address of the packet and determines if this is the address of a r or rs within the group appended to the composite through its LAN . If not, the packet is ignored • 2. If the packet is destined for one of the rs in the gate LAN, the gateway examines the TCP / IP address of the r attached to the packet and determines whether it is an individual r address or an address Broadcasting 15 3. If the packet is addressed to an individual r, then the gateway encapsulates the packet in a larger packet that is directed to the r using its unique LAN address • (which is different from your TCP / IP address). 4. If the packet is intended for broadcast to all 20 rs, then the gateway encapsulates the packet in a larger packet addressed to the special broadcasting address of the LAN, which is different from the broadcast address of TCW) . 5. If the packet is larger than the maximum allowable packet size of 25 for the LAN then the gate divides the packet into smaller pieces. Each piece is marked with the same LAN address as the original larger package 6. Each piece of the segmented packet is transmitted over the LAN to be received by one or more of the rs The gate is responsible for receiving knowledge of package receptions from the rs, and to re-transmit packets if they have not been received. Each individual meter listens to the LAN for packages. A meter reconstitutes the original WAN TCP / IP packet from one or more LAN packets, and then executes the commands contained in the packet and sends the results back to the gate. The steps involved in this process are: 1. The meter examines The LAN address of the packet to see if it is intended for this meter or is a broadcast address. If the address is none of these, the meter ignores the package. 2. If the package is specifically addressed to the meter, a reception acknowledgment is sent back to the gate. If an error is found in the packet, a negative acknowledgment is sent back to the gate. For broadcast broadcasts, no acknowledgment is sent. 3. The received packet is attached to any of the previously received pieces of the largest segmented packet. When all the pieces of the segmented packet are received, all the original TCP / IP packet is extracted and sent to the software of ___ ^ _______. _ _.._.-__ .. --_____ ¿^ -. > .. - ..._ i -_ ^ __- S -_ * - l _ ^ ..-., - ^^^ Z *.

TCP / IP interface, in the meter. 4. The TCP / IP interface software examines the package to see what service is being requested. In this case, assume that the packet is intended to be served by the HTTP server.

(It is possible that there may be other servers running on the meter to which TCP / IP messages can be sent) 5. The HTTP server examines the data packet to see what operation is being requested. In this case, assume that the package contains a request for an application program will be run on the meter to extract its current reading and send it to • origin of the request. The HTTP server will initiate this application through the Common Gateway Interface (CGI, acronym in English). 6. The CGI application will request that the meter application software find the actual reading. The meter application directly gives access to the meter's electronics to obtain the required information. Reading passes to the application • CGI, which writes the reading in a message using HTML. The HTML message is sent to the HTTP server. 20 7. The HTTP server encodes the HTML message as a TCP / IP packet and sends it over the TCP / IP interface of the meter. 8. The TCP / IP interface of the meter sends the packet to the gate using the same group of steps that the compound used to send the original request to the meter. 25 9. Once the gateway receives the TCP / IP packet from the ^^ g ^^^^^^^ ¿^ í wfe ^^ j ^ ^^ ^ to meter retransmits the packet over the WAN where the originating application for the command can receive it. In the second embodiment of the invention (Figure 3), the gate assumes most of the tasks assigned to the meters in the first mode (Figure 2). The HTTP server 24 and the CGI application 26 are moved to gate 20, and the meters only retain their interface 42 on the non-TCP / IP LAN. The processing of packets received from WAN 10 proceeds in this way: 1. The gateway examines the TCP / IP address of the packet and determines whether it is the address of a meter or meters within the group attached to the composite through its LAN. If not, the package is ignored. 2. The TCP / IP interface software examines the package to see what service is being requested. In this case, assume that the packet is intended to be served by the HTTP server now contained in the gateway. (It is possible that there may be other server applications running on the meter to which TCP / IP messages can be sent). 3. The HTTP server examines the data package to see what operation is being requested. In this case, assume that the package contains a request that an application program will be run to obtain the current reading of an individual meter and send it back to the originator of the request. The HTTP server will start this application through the CGI (26). 4. The CGI 26 application now runs inside the gate. You must determine the LAN address of the specific meter and send a command packet to it over the LAN. • 5. The command is received by the meter and the meter application asks for the electronics to find the current reading. 6. The meter reading is encapsulated in a LAN packet and sent to the gate. 7. The CGI application receives the LAN pack from the meter and 10 extracts the meter reading. The reading is written in a message • HTML and it is sent to the HTTP server. 8. The HTTP server encodes the HTML message as a TCP / IP packet and sends it over the TCP / IP interface 22 of the gateway. 15 9. The TCP / IP interface of the gateway sends the packet over the WAN, where the source application for the command can receive it. Both implementations of the present invention have been described using CGI applications 46, 26 to handle the details of accessing the current reading for a meter. As shown in Figure 4, the CGI application can be replaced by a Java virtual machine (VM) 26 'running in a Java 26 application "that performs the same operations as the CGI application, and both implementations have been described using an example where the current reading of an individual meter is requested by an application connected to the WAN. An application on the WAN can also write data to a meter or meters using similar procedures. Data can modify 4p parameters that affect the operations of the meter or meters example could be regimen update. Any implementation, with its use of TCP / IP servers and HTTP supports the reading of meters or sets its parameters using search engines such as Netscape ™ or Explorer ™. The facilities or owners can read the meter in remote demand through its search engines. An individual meter or • A group of meters can be accessed if the meter (s) were a Web site and your current readings or other data can be displayed in the search engine. The meters can send forms to the search engine that the user can fill to change parameters in the meters. Both reading and updating of the meters can be protected by cryptic encoding and access codes. ^ As shown in Figure 5, a search engine can access the meters through a telephone line to a server point-to-point protocol (PPP) 60 attached to the WAN 10 or directly attached to a gate 20. The PPP server interconnects with modems (not shown) to provide a TCP / IP link for a browser at the other end of the network. the line. The PPP server sends the packets from the telephone line over the WAN where they are received by the appropriate gate. In the case of a telephone line connection directly to a gateway, the PPP software includes an interface 21 to connect directly to the TCP / IP WAN interface 22, so that the packets received on the telephone line are handled in the same way as the packets received on the WAN 10. The search engine can be replaced by an intelligent application program that accesses the HTTP server for automatic reading of the meter and parameter setting on a programmed and repetitive basis. The application uses the meter readings to create or update records in a database. This application can be a Java application, which can interact with HTTP servers and databases that support HTTP protocols. In summary, the present invention includes the following novel aspects: (1) HTTP server embedded in a meter for on-demand access of meter data and to remotely set meter parameters; (2) the HTTP server embedded in a gate for multiple meters to read and set parameters in individual meters on a LAN; (3) use CGI for remote access to meter data and to set meter parameters using HTML forms in HTTP search engines; (4) remote reading and fixation of multiple meter parameters using a set of TCP / IP protocol programs: (5) set of TCP / IP protocol programs implemented in nodes designed on a CEBus LAN including routers and search engines with access remote through TCP / IP to the router / finder and, therefore, individual meters on a LAN; (6) composite enabled SLIP-PPP for remote TCP / IP access through a serial interface (telephone line, or ISDN, for example) to parameters of a • individual meter or multiple meter (fix and read) The detailed description above of the preferred embodiments of the invention is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the following claims. Those skilled in the art of electronic measurement will recognize that many can be done modifications to the currently preferred and specifically described modalities, without departing from the true spirit of the invention. •

Claims (14)

1. - An electronic measurement system, comprising: (A) a wide area network (WAN) operating in accordance with a TCP / IP protocol; (B) a local area network (LAN) comprising a plurality of meters, each of which includes meter electronics for measuring a prescribed amount supplied by a service and memory for storing measured data and meter control parameters: (C) ) a gate operatively coupled to said LAN and WAN; and (D) an HTTP server operatively coupled to the LAN and said gate, whereby the WAN is provided with remote access to said measured data and control parameters of the meters. 2. A system according to claim 1, which further comprises a common gate interface application

(CGI) coupled to the HTTP server to be used in accessing said measured data.

3. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a virtual machine coupled to the HTTP server for use in accessing said data.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein said prescribed amount is electricity.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein said prescribed amount is gas.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein said prescribed amount is water.

7. A system according to claim 2, wherein the HTTP server and the CGI application are embedded in each of the meters.

8. A system according to claim 1, wherein the HTTP server and the CGI application are embedded in said gate.

9. A system according to claim 1, wherein each of the meters further comprises a LAN interface.

10. - A system according to claim 1, wherein said gate comprises a LAN internase.

11. A system according to claim 7, wherein each of the meters comprises a TCP / IP interface.

12. A system according to claim 1, wherein the gateway comprises a TCP / IP interface.

13. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a common gateway (CGI) interface application coupled to the HTTP server for use in accessing said measured data; where the HTTP server and the CGI application are embedded in each of the meters; wherein said gate and each of the meters comprises a LAN interface and a TCP / IP interface; and where the prescribed amount is a member of the group consisting of electricity, water and gas.

14. - A system according to claim 1, further comprising a common gateway (CGI) interface application coupled to the HTTP server for use in accessing said measured data; where the HTTP meter and the CGI application are • embedded in said gate; wherein each of the meters and the gate comprises a LAN interface; wherein the gateway further comprises a TCP / IP interface; and where the prescribed amount is a member of the group consisting of electricity, water and gas. 15 - A system according to claim 1, wherein • said LAN is a CEBus LAN. 16. A system according to claim 13, wherein said LAN is a CEBus LAN. 17. A system according to claim 14, wherein 15 said LAN is a CEBus LAN. - -? - - - - '~' ».- * ^ * **** + **« * < * ~ > * ~~ - ^. * -. J