Method And System For Providing Web-Enabled Cellular Access To Meter Reading Data

Abstract

A method and system for collection and display of meter data through a wide area network from at least one receiver communicating in a local network with meter reading devices. The method includes receiving meter data including utility consumption data for that meter reading device, transmitting collected received meter data from meter reading devices to an application server, and storing the received meter data in an application server database using the application server, wherein the received meter data for each meter reading device is stored in a record, specific to a single meter reading device, that includes a plurality of received meter data entries for the single meter reading device. Displaying includes displaying consumer consumption data using a web server depicting an amount of utility consumption for the single meter reading device since a last billing cycle, and displaying the received meter data using a wireless communication device.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for collection and display of meter data through a wide area network from at least one receiver communicating in a local network with a plurality of meter reading devices in a geographic area, the method comprising:
 receiving meter data in wireless transmissions from the plurality of meter reading devices at a receiver that has previously communicated with the plurality of meter reading devices, the received meter data from a meter reading device including utility consumption data for that meter reading device;   transmitting the collected received meter data from the plurality of meter reading devices to an application server;   storing the received meter data in an application server database using the application server, wherein the received meter data for each meter reading device is stored in a record, specific to a single meter reading device, that includes a plurality of received meter data entries for the single meter reading device;   displaying consumer consumption data using a web server, the consumer consumption data depicting an amount of utility consumption for the single meter reading device since a last billing cycle, where the consumer consumption data is generated based on the received meter data; and   displaying the received meter data using a wireless communication device on a display portion of the wireless communication device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received meter data is accessed by an application program on the wireless communication device that displays the received meter data as a reduced size web page. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the wireless communication device is a handheld web-enabled phone device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the handheld web-enabled phone device communicates through a GSM cellular network. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the consumer consumption data is displayed by the web server on an HTML web page accessible through a wide area network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the wide area network is the Internet. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the meter reading devices include devices for reading condition status data related to a meter or to supply links connected to the meter, and wherein the received meter data includes condition status data. 
     
     
         8 . A system for displaying meter reading data collected from a plurality of meter reading devices in a geographic area, the system comprising:
 an application server including an application server database, the application server configured to implement a computer program stored in non-transient memory using an application server processor, the computer program implementing instructions for
 receiving collected meter data in a wireless transmission from a receiver, the collected meter data including transmissions from the plurality of meter reading devices received at the receiver that has previously communicated with the plurality of meter reading devices, the meter data from a meter reading device including utility consumption data for that meter reading device, 
 storing the collected meter data in the application server database, wherein the meter data for each meter reading device is stored in a record, specific to a single meter reading device, that includes a plurality of received meter data entries for the single meter reading device, and 
 displaying the received meter data, using an application program implemented by a wireless communication device, on a display portion of the wireless communication device; and 
   a web server for displaying consumer consumption data using a web server, the consumer consumption data depicting an amount of utility consumption for the single meter reading device since a last billing cycle, where the consumer consumption data is generated based on the received meter data.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the application program displays the received meter data as a reduced size web page on a display portion of the web-enabled cellular phone. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein web-enabled cellular phone communicates through a GSM cellular network. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the consumer consumption data is displayed by the web server using an HTML web page transmitted through a wide area network. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the wide area network is the Internet. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the meter reading devices include devices for reading condition status data related to a meter or to supply links connected to the meter, and wherein the meter data includes condition status data.