Meter Data Collection

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.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method of interrogating a plurality of metering devices for respective data associated with each of the plurality of metering devices, the method comprising:
 assigning a first frequency channel and a first time interval to a first metering device of the plurality of metering devices;   assigning a second frequency channel and a second time interval to a second metering device of the plurality of metering devices;   encoding, into a signal having a carrier frequency, a first address associated with the first metering device, and a second address associated with the second metering device;   sending the signal to the first metering device and the second metering device, such that each of the first metering device and the second metering device wake up from a low powered state when a measured signal strength of the signal is greater than a predetermined threshold, and when the first and second address match wake-up addresses of the first and second metering devices, respectively;   sending a request message to the first metering device and the second metering device, the request message indicating the first frequency channel, the first time interval, the second frequency channel, and the second frequency channel;   in response to the request message, receiving the respective data from the first metering device, wherein the data associated with the first metering device is received during the first time interval and at the first frequency channel; and   in response to the request message, receiving the respective data from the second metering device, wherein the data associated with the second metering device is received during the second time interval and at the second frequency channel.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first time interval is equivalent to the second time interval, and the first frequency channel is different than the second frequency channel. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first frequency channel is equivalent to the second frequency channel, and the first time interval is different than the second time interval. 
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first time interval is different than the second time interval, and the first frequency is different than the second frequency. 
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the method is performed by a collection device comprising a number of receivers, the method further comprising:
 assigning a number of frequency channels to each of the first and second time intervals, wherein the number of frequency channels is equal to the number of receivers.   
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 generating the request message such that the request message comprises at least one of a preamble length, a guard time, a length of the first and second time intervals, a number of frequency channels per time interval, a number of endpoints, an endpoint list, and an application layer request.   
     
     
         7 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 assigning a third frequency channel and a third time interval to a third metering device of the plurality of metering devices;   sending the request message to the third metering device, wherein the request message further indicates the third frequency and the third interval; and   receiving the respective data from the third metering device, wherein the data associated with the third metering device is received during the third time interval and at the third frequency channel.   
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the first time interval, the second time interval, and the third time interval are equivalent to one another, and the first frequency channel, the second frequency channel, and the third frequency channel are different from one another. 
     
     
         9 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the first time interval, the second time interval, and the third time interval are different from one another, and the first frequency channel, the second frequency channel, and the third frequency channel are equivalent to one another. 
     
     
         10 . A collection device comprising one or more receivers configured to receive respective data from each of a plurality of metering devices, the collection device further comprising a processor, memory, and computer-executable instructions stored in the memory which, when executed by the processor of the collection device, cause the collection device to perform operations comprising:
 assigning a first frequency channel and a first time interval to a first metering device of the plurality of metering devices;   assigning a second frequency channel and a second time interval to a second metering device of the plurality of metering devices;   encoding, into a signal having a carrier frequency, a first address associated with the first metering device, and a second address associated with the second metering device;   sending the signal to the first metering device and the second metering device, such that each of the first metering device and the second metering device wake up from a low powered state when a measured signal strength of the signal is greater than a predetermined threshold, and when the first and second address match wake-up addresses of the first and second metering devices, respectively;   sending a request message to the first metering device and the second metering device, the request message indicating the first frequency channel, the first time interval, the second frequency channel, and the second frequency channel;   receiving the respective data from the first metering device, wherein the data associated with the first metering device is received during the first time interval and at the first frequency channel; and   in response to the request message, receiving the respective data from the second metering device, wherein the data associated with the second metering device is received during the second time interval and at the second frequency channel.   
     
     
         11 . The collection device as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the first time interval is equivalent to the second time interval, and the first frequency channel is different than the second frequency channel. 
     
     
         12 . The collection device as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the first frequency channel is equivalent to the second frequency channel, and the first time interval is different than the second time interval. 
     
     
         13 . The collection device as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the first time interval is different than the second time interval, and the first frequency is different than the second frequency. 
     
     
         14 . The collection device as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the collection devices further comprises a number of receivers and further computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform further operations comprising:
 assigning a number of frequency channels to each of the first and second time intervals, wherein the number of frequency channels is equal to the number of receivers.   
     
     
         15 . The collection device as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the collection devices further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform further operations comprising:
 generating the request message such that the request message comprises at least one of a preamble length, a guard time, a length of the first and second time intervals, a number of frequency channels per time interval, a number of endpoints, an endpoint list, and an application layer request.   
     
     
         16 . The collection device as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the collection devices further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform further operations comprising:
 assigning a third frequency channel and a third time interval to a third metering device of the plurality of metering devices;   sending the request message to the third metering device, wherein the request message further indicates the third frequency and the third interval; and   receiving the respective data from the third metering device, wherein the data associated with the third metering device is received during the third time interval and at the third frequency channel.   
     
     
         17 . The collection device as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the first time interval, the second time interval, and the third time interval are equivalent to one another, and the first frequency channel, the second frequency channel, and the third frequency channel are different from one another. 
     
     
         18 . The collection device as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the first time interval, the second time interval, and the third time interval are different from one another, and the first frequency channel, the second frequency channel, and the third frequency channel are equivalent to one another. 
     
     
         19 . In a system comprising a collection device and a plurality of metering devices, a method for interrogating each of the plurality of metering devices for respective data, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a first metering device of the plurality of metering devices, a signal having a carrier frequency;   determining, by the first metering device, 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;   assigning, by the collection device, a first frequency channel and a first time interval to the first metering device;   sending, by the collection device, a request message to the first metering, the request message indicating the first frequency channel and the first time interval;   if the address encoded within the received signal matches the wake-up address receiving, by the first metering device, the request message;   determining, based on the request message, the first time interval in which to respond to the request message, and the first frequency channel; and   receiving, by the collection device, the respective data from the first metering device, wherein the data associated with the first metering device is received during the first time interval and at the first frequency channel.   
     
     
         20 . The method as recited in  claim 19 , the method further comprising:
 determining, by a second metering device of the plurality of metering devices, based on 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 respective data associated with the second metering device.