EP1008259A1 - Procede et dispositif de telemesure - Google Patents

Procede et dispositif de telemesure

Info

Publication number
EP1008259A1
EP1008259A1 EP97927974A EP97927974A EP1008259A1 EP 1008259 A1 EP1008259 A1 EP 1008259A1 EP 97927974 A EP97927974 A EP 97927974A EP 97927974 A EP97927974 A EP 97927974A EP 1008259 A1 EP1008259 A1 EP 1008259A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
communications
remote
remote monitor
monitor system
communication port
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP97927974A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
John Heibel
Thomas J. Chen
Thomas D. Brumett, Jr.
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
ET Communications Inc
COMMUNICATIONS Inc
Original Assignee
ET Communications Inc
COMMUNICATIONS Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ET Communications Inc, COMMUNICATIONS Inc filed Critical ET Communications Inc
Publication of EP1008259A1 publication Critical patent/EP1008259A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M11/00—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M11/00—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
    • H04M11/002—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems with telemetering systems

Definitions

  • the invention relates to telemetering systems for monitoring remotely located equipment, and more particularly to retrieving status, usage, and accumulated totals from remotely located utility monitoring devices such as power meters, gas meters, water meters, etc., especially via a common carrier communications medium such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) .
  • PSTN public switched telephone network
  • Other application areas include home security, home health care systems and home transaction processing equipmen .
  • Remote monitoring (or "telemetering") of utility metering equipment is of great interest to public utilities that provide electric power, gas and water to businesses and residences.
  • public utilities employ thousands of workers expressly for the purpose of going from building to building and reading meter totals.
  • the trips made by these "meter readers” are time-consuming and costly, considering the number of meters which must be read, the number of employees involved, and the number of vehicles which must be maintained and kept on the road. Further, visual meter reading is quite error-prone, especially on analog "dial” type meters, since dial pointer positions are often visually ambiguous.
  • SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 28) clumsy or unworkable for a variety of reasons.
  • One telephone-based technique employs a scheme whereby meter data reading is initiated using special alert tone signalling over standard telephone lines.
  • This technique has 5 . the advantage that it generally does not disturb normal telephone function, but it has the very great disadvantage that it requires specially equipped line cards at the central telephone office to transmit and receive the meter signal.
  • Full implementation of a meter reading system employing this 0 technique would require a massive investment in special-purpose telephone equipment before it could achieve widespread use .
  • SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 28) monitoring any kind of remote telemetry data via any of a variety of different communications media, including but not limited to, communications via power lines, cable television
  • common-carrier communications media 5 such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN)
  • SU rME SHEET (RULE 25) customers' premises via an existing communication medium, such as the customers' telephone service, without perceptibly interfering with normal operation of the communication medium.
  • a system for retrieving data from remotely located monitored devices is implemented by providing remote monitor systems at each of a plurality of monitor sites.
  • Each monitor site has one or more monitored devices from which data is required.
  • a monitored device might be an electric meter, and the data provided by the electric meter would be, for example, usage totals and peak electric load information.
  • the remote monitor system interposes itself between a communications medium (e.g., a switched telephone network) and any and all communications devices (e.g., telephones, answering machines, modems, fax machines, etc.) which would ordinarily be connected directly to the communications medium. It is intended that the remote monitor system "share" the communication medium with the communications devices in a transparent fashion. This is accomplished by means of a relay or other logical switching mechanism by which the communications devices are normally connected through the remote monitor system to the communications medium. This logical connection between the communication devices and the communications medium is broken only when the remote monitor system needs to communicate via the communications system.
  • a communications medium e.g., a switched telephone network
  • any and all communications devices e.g., telephones, answering machines, modems, fax machines, etc.
  • the remote monitoring system takes control of the house phone wiring using ABO (automatic back off) to isolate the house phone wiring from the telephone company.
  • ABO automatic back off
  • each remote monitor system is equipped with an identifying mechanism whereby it can identify the source of any incoming communications, before responding thereto.
  • this identifying mechanism can be provided in the form of a caller ID (CID) decoder, whereby the remote monitor system receives caller ID (CID) codes for incoming calls.
  • CID caller ID
  • identifying codes for incoming communications are compared by the remote monitor system with one or more pre-stored identifying codes.
  • the pre-stored codes are associated with authorized servers.
  • the remote monitor system will respond only to those identified servers. This provides security by preventing access to metering devices by unauthorized persons. This also permits the operation of the remote monitor to remain "transparent" or invisible to users of the communications devices (e.g., telephones) at the monitor sites, by permitting the remote monitor system to "intercept" incoming calls from servers attempting to retrieve data from the monitored device (s) . These intercepted calls are not passed through the remote monitor system, and are therefore unnoticed by the user of the communications devices.
  • the aforementioned relay disconnects the communications device(s) (e.g., telephones) while the remote monitor system is communication with the server.
  • the remote monitor system includes means for monitoring the communications devices attached to it for attempted use. In the case of telephone equipment, this amounts to a loop current monitor whereby the remote monitor system can detect the on-hook/off- hook status of the attached communications devices.
  • the remote monitor system grants ultimate priority to the communications devices (e.g., telephones) . It accomplishes this by continually monitoring usage attempts (e.g., off-hook 5 . condition) thereof. If the remote monitor system is busy communicating with a server via the communications medium when a usage attempt is made by a communications device, it immediately terminates communications with the server and logically re-connects the communications device through to the 0 communications medium. In this manner, the existence and function of the remote monitor system remains invisible to users of the communications devices.
  • the communications devices e.g., telephones
  • each monitor site might be a building or a residence having a water meter, and electric meter, and a gas meter.
  • the water company, gas company, and electric company may be completely independent of one another for the purposes of meter reading and customer 0 billing.
  • Each utility company would have its own server and would provide its own metering device at each remote monitor site.
  • the utility companies might share a single remote monitor system at each monitor site which is set up to collect data from all of 5 the metering devices at the monitor site.
  • other service providers may share the remote monitor in other applications such as home health care, equipment reading, or security systems equipment reading.
  • multiple remote monitor systems at a monitor 0 site could be "cascaded" with one feeding into another which in turn feeds into another, etc., since the operation of the remote monitor systems is transparent and each remote monitor system
  • SW8T ⁇ VTE SBiET (RULE 2B) responds only to incoming communications for which it is programmed.
  • one metering device would be connected to each remote monitor system, and each monitor system would be programmed to respond only to the server associated 5 . with the metering device for which it gathers data.
  • the inventive technique has the very great advantage that it is inexpensive, utilizes existing communications facilities (e.g., for telephone applications, no special line cards or switch equipment is required) , and is completely invisible to 0 users of the communications medium which is used for remote telemetering.
  • Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system for retrieval of data from one or more remote data gathering devices (monitored equipment) , according to the invention.
  • Figure 2 is a block diagram of a modem portion of the system of Figure 1, according to the invention.
  • Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a Line Reversal and Ring Detector portion of the system of Figure 1, according to the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a microcontroller portion of the system of Figure 1, according to the invention.
  • Figure 5 is a block diagram of a remote telemetering system wherein a plurality of servers can access a plurality of remote monitors, according to the invention.
  • a system employing a modem having a caller ID recognition feature incorporated (e.g., integrated) therein is useful, for example, for gathering data from a remote data source via digital communications over a communications medium, with the meter responding only to a predetermined (preset) requester (caller) .
  • the remote data source is, for example, an electric utility meter measuring residential power consumption and patterns of usag .
  • the communications medium is suitably a telephone line, power line, radio, or mixed media (e.g., low-power radio signal relayed to central office by a set of signal collectors/repeaters) , etc.
  • mixed media e.g., low-power radio signal relayed to central office by a set of signal collectors/repeaters
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for gathering data from one or more remotely located data sources (monitored equipment) , according to the invention.
  • the system 100 employs conventional telephone wiring already installed at the site of the remotely located data sources for communications therewith.
  • a remote monitor 102 is installed in a location at a remote site in a location where it can retrieve data from the monitored equipment. Connections to the existing telephone wiring are made via an automatic back-off Data Access Arrangement 104 (ABO-DAA) .
  • ABO-DAA automatic back-off Data Access Arrangement 104
  • a standard DAA 108 Data Access Arrangement
  • the controller 110 includes a modem function, tone generation and decoding, caller ID (CID) decoding, control and status leads, and one or more interfaces to external monitored equipment (the aforementioned data 0 source (s) ) .
  • the controller can optionally include storage means for storing one or more preset authorized caller identification numbers and one or more callback telephone numbers.
  • the controller 110 communicates over the PSTN via the standard DAA 108, which acts as a protection and isolation 5 circuit between the PSTN and the controller 110, and is essentially transparent to the communications and signaling mechanisms (i.e., modem, CID decoder, and tone generation and decoding) within the controller.
  • DAA 108 acts as a protection and isolation 5 circuit between the PSTN and the controller 110, and is essentially transparent to the communications and signaling mechanisms (i.e., modem, CID decoder, and tone generation and decoding) within the controller.
  • the controller 110 interrogates the one or more monitored 0 devices via one or more sets of communications lines 124.
  • the communications lines are generally shown in Figure 1 as wired connections, it will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that these communications lines 124 can be provided in the form of any suitable form of digital or 5 analog communications with the monitored devices including, but not limited to, light beam communication, microwave communication, spread spectrum or other form of radio communications, or fiber optics.
  • a monitored device can be fully digital, storing its own 0 totals, counts and other data in digital form, in which case the communications line(s) associated with the digital monitored device provide digital communications means whereby the
  • SUBSTITUTE SUET (RULE 20) controller can retrieve the stored value.
  • a monitored device can be little more than a transducer, in which case the communications lines provide for suitable monitoring of the monitored device by the controller 110, which must interpret signals from the monitored device and develop its own digital representations thereof and must accumulate its own totals and counts therefor.
  • Transducers, digital data collection devices and techniques and circuits for interfacing thereto are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • the present inventive technique is not dependent upon any specific transducer or data collection device interface, and those of ordinary skill in the art will immediately understand how to provide communications lines to any suitable transducer or data collection device. Therefore, further detailed discussion of the monitored devices is beyond the scope of the present specification, and omission of such discussion should not be seen as limiting. It is fully within the spirit and scope of the present invention to provide access to any suitable data collection device or transducer.
  • the ABO-DAA 104 further includes a relay 112 or other suitable switching device which permits "normal", existing customer premises connections 116a and 116b to the PSTN to be disconnected, under control of the controller 110 via a relay control line 114.
  • the existing connections 116a and 116b normally provide connection between customer premises telephone equipment (shown in Figure 1 as “Household Phone #1" 118a and “Household Phone #2” 118b.)
  • relay 112 can be accomplished equally well by electronic switching means effecting a "logical" connection/disconnection between communications devices on the customer premises and the
  • SUBSTTTUTE SHEET (RULE 28) communications medium instead of a direct connection. It is readily understood that this form of "logical" connection is functionally equivalent to a direct electrical connection and that no significant difference would be perceived between the two types of connection.
  • the ABO-DAA 104 further includes an impedance monitor 120, connected to the controller 110 by an off-hook detect line 122.
  • the impedance monitor 120 measures the impedance seen across the customer premises connections 116a and 116b to determine the on- hook/off-hook status of the customer premises telephone equipment (e.g., phones 118a and 118b) .
  • the standard data access arrangement 108 preferably uses no magnetic components (e.g., transformers or inductors) , and is tuned for best economics and operation at a data rate of which is matched to the transmission characteristics of the controller, described in greater detail hereinbelow with respect to Figure 2.
  • magnetic components e.g., transformers or inductors
  • the ABO-DAA 104 has an "automatic back-off" (ABO) feature which is illustrated in Figure 1.
  • a telephone line e.g., a conventional pair of lines, labeled "tip” 102a and “ring” 102b
  • the relay 112 connection relay
  • the connection relay 112 is closed.
  • the remote monitor is "using” the phone line (during a data session with a server)
  • the connection relay 112 will be open (as shown) .
  • the phone line loop impedance monitor 120 connected to the phone side of the connection relay 112 (as opposed to the incoming line side) across the household telephone wiring (via tip and ring connections 116a and 116b) to which the phone instruments 118a
  • SU8STTTUT ⁇ SHEET (RULE 28) and 118b are connected, and a signal 122 is provided to the controller.
  • the remote monitor controller will immediately terminate the data session with the server, hang itself up, and close the connection relay 112 so 5 . that the users may use their phones (118a, 118b) in a normal manner.
  • the remote monitor 102 will reestablish the data session with the server (including re-dialing the server) when the impedance monitor 120 senses that the user has terminated their phone call. In this manner, the customer has full access to the 0 telephone line at any time, even if it is already in use by the remote monitor 102. As a result, the existence of the remote monitor 102 is essentially invisible to the user.
  • the user will perceive a slight delay in receiving a dial tone when the remote monitor 102 is forced to abort a data session, due 5 primarily to the amount of time required to cancel the call. In most cases, this delay will be imperceptible to the user, and will occur only very rarely.
  • FIG 2 is a block diagram of a modem function with integrated caller ID detection 200 (hereinafter referred to as 0 a "CID modem) within the controller 110.
  • the CID modem 200 connects to the PSTN via a tip connection 202a and a ring connection 202b. These connections are made via the standard DAA (108, Fig. 1) , which is functionally transparent to the CID modem 200.
  • a transmit and receive filter 204 eliminates out- 5 of-band telephone line noise for communication with the CID modem 200.
  • Modem signals 206 to and from the transmit and receive filter 204 connect to a modem 208, by which digital transmit information can be modulated for transmission via the tip and ring connections 202a and 202b to the PSTN, and by which 0 signals received via the tip and ring connections 202a and 202b can be demodulated to provide digital receive information.
  • the transmit and receive filter 204 provides receive signals 210 to DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) and CP (Call
  • a DTMF and CP tone generator 216 provides tone signaling signals 214 to the transmit and receive filter for transmission via the tip and ring connections 202a 5 . and 202b.
  • the modem 208 exchanges digital transmit and receive signals 220 with a serial communications port 222 which receives serial data to be transmitted via the modem 208 over a serial digital transmit data line 224a and which transmits digital 0 receive data from the modem 208 over a serial digital receive data line 224b.
  • a control interface 226 provides a set of control and status leads 230 by which a microcontroller (described hereinbelow with respect to Figure 4) can control the functions 5 within the CID modem 200. Via control and status signals 228, the control interface provides control and receives status information to/from the serial port 222, the modem 208, the DTMF and CP Tone Decoders 212, the DTMF and Tone Generator 216, and a Line Reversal and Ring Detector 232.
  • the Line Reversal and Ring Detector 232 monitors signals across the tip and ring connections 202a and 202b, and determines if a line reversal (i.e., a DC polarity switch from positive to negative) or a ringing signal (e.g., an AC voltage of about 90 volts RMS) , is present, and make that determination 5 available via the control interface 226.
  • a line reversal i.e., a DC polarity switch from positive to negative
  • a ringing signal e.g., an AC voltage of about 90 volts RMS
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing basic components of a Line Reversal and Ring Detector 300 (hereinafter LRRD) in greater detail.
  • the LRRD 300 connects to the tip and ring connections 202a and 202b (see Fig. 2) .
  • a series RC circuit 0 comprising a capacitor 302a and a resistor 304a connect the tip connection 202a to a first AC input 306a of a full-wave bridge
  • another series RC circuit comprising a capacitor 302b and a resistor 304b connect the ring connection 202b to a second AC input 306b of the full-wave bridge rectifier 306. Because of the RC input connections (i.e., 302a, 304a and 5 . 302b, 304b) to the bridge rectifier, DC signals are blocked while AC and transient signals are passed.
  • a negative output 306c of the bridge rectifier 306 is connected to a reference ground voltage.
  • a positive output 306d of the bridge rectifier 306 is connected to a resistive divider comprising two resistors 0 308 and 310. The resistive divider produces scales down the voltage at the positive output 306d of the bridge rectifier 306
  • the threshold detector 312 is designed with a 5 degree of hysteresis so that its output will not "bounce" back and forth when there are small noise voltages at its input.
  • the output of the threshold detector drives a transistor 314 connected such that a drain terminal thereof is effectively grounded when the output of the detector 312 is active and is 0 at a high impedance otherwise.
  • the transistor output (drain) connects to an integrating RC network comprising a resistor 316 and a capacitor 318.
  • One end of the resistor 316 is connected to a positive voltage (VDD) and the other end of the resistor is connected to one end of the capacitor 318, to the output 5 (drain) of the transistor 314, and to an input of a second threshold detector.
  • An output 322 of the second threshold detector 320 provides a Ring Detect Signal (RDET) .
  • ringing is accomplished by a 90 Volt RMS AC signal applied across the tip and ring 0 connections 202a and 202b by the telephone service provider. Ordinarily, this ring signal is used to drive a ringer of a telephone.
  • the RC divider (resistors 308 and 310) is set up so that a ringing waveform will provide sufficient voltage to exceed the minimum threshold of the threshold detector 312.
  • the threshold detector 312 causes the output (drain) of the transistor 314 to become grounded, thereby collapsing the voltage across the capacitor 318 and causing the second threshold detector 320 to indicate that ringing is in progress via its RDET output 322.
  • the time constant of the integrating RC network is selected such that the ring detect signal output 322 will be maintained between half-cycles of the ringing signal.
  • the voltage at the junction of the integrating RC networks rises past a threshold voltage of the second threshold detector 320 (which takes longer than one half cycle of the AC ringing signal) , and the RDET output 322 of the second threshold detector becomes inactive.
  • a line reversal occurs when the steady state DC voltage across the tip and ring signals 202a and 202b (normally 48 volts DC under no- load conditions) is caused to reverse polarity. Since the tip and ring signals 202a and 202b are AC coupled to the LRRD 300, this is seen effectively as a 96 volt transient, to which the LRRD reacts as if it was a single half cycle of ringing signal, thereby producing a short pulse, the width of which is determined primarily by the time constant of the integrating RC circuit (resistor 316 and capacitor 318) .
  • the timing of the ringing signal and of line reversals are used to indicate when CID signaling data is present across the tip and ring connections 202a and 202b.
  • the CID data is encoded as tones, which are detected and decoded by the tone detectors and/or modem circuitry within the CID modem.
  • FIG 4 is a block diagram of a microcontroller portion 400 of a controller (see 110, Fig. 1) .
  • a microcomputer 402 operating under stored program control, controls operation of the microcontroller 400.
  • the microcontroller 400 is equipped with a serial interface 404 by means of which the microcontroller 400 communicates with the serial port 222 on the modem 208, one or more interfaces 406 to monitored devices which are communicated with via communications lines 124 (see Fig. 1) , non-volatile memory 408 for storing configuration information, totals, valid caller ID'S, etc., and a control interface 410 by which the microcomputer 402 can manipulate and monitor signals on control and status leads 230 (see description hereinabove with respect to Fig. 2) .
  • program memory can be read-only, or re-writable. If re ⁇ writable memory is employed, it is possible to send program updates to the microcomputer 402 via the communications medium (PSTN, as shown and described hereinabove) .
  • PSTN communications medium
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a remote telemetry system 500, wherein a plurality of servers 502 (SI, S2, S3 ... Sn) are each connected via a modem with CID capability 504 to the Public Switched Telephone Network 510, or other suitable, addressable communications medium.
  • a plurality of remote monitors 520 of the type described hereinabove with respect to Figures 1-4 i.e., having CID capability
  • the remote monitors are co-located with and connected to at least one remotely readable metering device
  • SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 28) (e.g., monitored device connections 124, Fig. 1) and other telephone equipment (see, e.g., 118a, 118b, Fig. 1) at the location of the remote which would otherwise be connected directly to the PSTN is instead connected to the PSTN through 5 .
  • an ABO-DAA (see, e.g., 104, Figure 1) portion of the remote monitor 520.
  • a system 100 of the type shown in 0 Figure 1 would be installed at an electric user's premises and connected to a suitable electric usage meter to be monitored by an electric utility company.
  • One or more Caller Identification numbers corresponding to the telephone number or numbers from which the electric utility company would call the electric user 5 to interrogate the electric usage meter would be pre-stored within the remote monitor 102.
  • the electric utility company would place a telephone call to the electric user, and the controller 110 in the remote monitor 102 would respond when there is a match to the preset caller ID 0 number within the controller (see description hereinabove with respect to Figure 4 and non-volatile memory 408) .
  • the caller ID feature within the remote monitor 100 identifies the caller as an authorized automated meter reading station, and answers the call.
  • the modem disconnects the ordinary phone (e.g., 118a, 118b) by opening the connection relay 112 and does a quick transfer (burst) of information that has been stored to the server at the electric utility company (see Fig. 5) , then terminates the call, hangs up (goes on-hook) and restore the 0 connection from the ordinary phone (e.g., 118a, 118b) to the PSTN (via tip and ring connections 102a, 102b) by once again closing the relay 112.
  • the relay would be arranged
  • the modem (208, Figure 2) preferably operates at or above 1200 baud. This is suitable for automatic meter reading (AMR) , such as for electric, gas and water.
  • AMR automatic meter reading
  • the invention also provides a gateway to low cost digital services to the home .
  • a single remote telemetry system (e.g., 100) incorporating a CID Modem (e.g., 200, Fig. 2) (collectively referred to herein as "remote monitor") can be accessed by various (N) servers (e.g., power company, water company, telephone company, bank, etc.) which can call into a home through the telephone lines to "wakeup" the remote monitor.
  • N servers e.g., power company, water company, telephone company, bank, etc.
  • CID caller ID
  • the remote monitor calls the server as it looks up the server's phone number (which may be one of several stored numbers, identifiable by virtue of the aforementioned CID) .
  • an exemplary activity flow For enabling digital services (conducting data sessions) , including AMR, between servers and users, an exemplary activity flow would be:
  • the server rings the remote monitor at the customer s premises to wake it up.
  • SUBSTITUTE SBffT (RULE 26) remote monitor can be synchronized with a more accurate (e.g., astronomical) clock at the server's location.)
  • a call is initiated by the remote monitor to the server which woke it up. If the customer has blocked his (or 5. her) own CID, this may be automatically unblocked for purposes of the data session. (Customers' permission would be required and would be obtained to unblock their CID for the aforementioned servers.)
  • the servers each have an "800” or "888" (i.e., 0 toll free) number.
  • the customer who has the remote monitor installed will not have to pay for the remote monitor's calls (to servers) .
  • the simple act of calling an 800 number will automatically unblock a CID feature which has been blocked (for privacy reasons) by the user, thus allowing 5 the CID to operate for the purpose of identifying the user to the called server.
  • the inbound (customer's) call CID information can be used as a form of password to allow only subscribing customers to proceed with a data session.
  • the inbound call CID information can also be used to track any telephone number changes where the remote monitor is located. For example, a new tenant moves into an apartment unit and has a new telephone number installed. When the remote monitor calls in, the serial number will identify 5 where the call is coming from (its address) , and the CID information will identify what the new telephone number is. This information can be compared with telephone directory information, and enable the server to automatically track a new telephone number, from CID information, of the remote 0 monitor.
  • the remote monitor includes a microprocessor with a memory architecture and OS (operating system) kernel which permits remote downloading over phone lines without disrupting continuous operation of previously loaded and running applications
  • the remote monitor has an AMR application running. It is counting pulses from a meter and accumulating them. A new application is downloaded which is to allow the customer to go on TOU (time of use) billing. The new software may be downloaded without losing any real-time counts or any previously collected data, or without overwriting installation variables such as the customer's phone number, etc.
  • a suitable encryption function such as NBS DES, allows for secure transmission of data.
  • NBS DES Network-Based Security Services
  • a remote monitor may be collecting data for several independent services and sending the data to several different servers (or to securely partitioned areas within a single server) , each data set may have a different encryption key.
  • the system is able to manage multiple keys such that each data environment has a uniquely secure data communications path.
  • each of the power company, the water company, the gas company, and the bank i.e., each of the several servers
  • a handheld device similar to a television remote controller or a small wall-mounted or desktop box, allows the customer to call for some of the services that have been subscribed to, which are activated through the remote monitor.
  • the customer could readily scroll through a list of services that are available, and then initiate a trigger which causes the remote monitor to start an inbound call to the appropriate one
  • the handheld device would simply be handled by the microcontroller as another monitored device wherein the communication line is an infrared (or other suitable) remote control interface, for which specific actions and responses are programmed into the microcontroller. It is within the scope of the invention that a smart telephone perform the aforementioned functions of a handheld device.
  • the customer may want to know the cost of the last phone call. Selecting the trigger for the phone company, would cause that information to be downloaded to the user. The information would be displayed on an LCD display, or the like.
  • Another example would be to trigger paying a utility bill which would cause a call to the Bank's server.
  • Another example would be to order a taxi, or to order a wake-up call.
  • the particular server which "sees" the call from the remote monitor would verify the user through the user's CID, to ensure that the user is a subscriber to the desired service.
  • the remote monitor (see 102, Fig. 1) , especially the remote monitor controller (see 110, Fig. 1) can be implemented in the form of one or more integrated circuit chips.
  • ABO automatic back-off
  • SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 28) invention most nearly pertains, and such other and additional embodiments are deemed to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
  • Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un procédé et un dispositif permettant de mener des sessions informatiques entre plusieurs premiers sites (locaux des clients) et plusieurs seconds sites (serveurs), principalement en vue de la récupération de données mémorisées concernant un ou plusieurs dispositifs sous surveillance tels qu'un compteur électrique, un compteur à gaz ou un compteur d'eau. Un appareil de surveillance se trouvant sur chaque premier site est équipé d'un modem à fonction de reconnaissance de l'appelant ou 'CID' (pour Caller Id Decoding). Le dispositif de télésurveillance, qui s'interpose entre le moyen de communication, par exemple le réseau téléphonique, et l'équipement de télécommunications dans le local du client (par exemple des téléphone), intercepte les appels téléphoniques de données servant pour la lecture des dispositifs sous surveillance. Le dispositif de télésurveillance connecte et déconnecte sélectivement les équipements de communication dans le local du client (téléphones) et gère l'état des appels téléphoniques de données de façon que l'utilisation par lui de ces équipements soit invisible de l'utilisateur des équipements de communications (téléphone). Les appels informatiques entrants sont validés et identifiés par une comparaison entre les données d'identification de l'appelant en entrée (CID), et des numéros de téléphones autorisés et préalablement mémorisés du serveur.
EP97927974A 1996-06-03 1997-06-03 Procede et dispositif de telemesure Withdrawn EP1008259A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US1913596P 1996-06-03 1996-06-03
US19135P 1996-06-03
PCT/US1997/009645 WO1997047126A1 (fr) 1996-06-03 1997-06-03 Procede et dispositif de telemesure

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1008259A1 true EP1008259A1 (fr) 2000-06-14

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP97927974A Withdrawn EP1008259A1 (fr) 1996-06-03 1997-06-03 Procede et dispositif de telemesure

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EP (1) EP1008259A1 (fr)
JP (1) JP2000511732A (fr)
KR (1) KR20000016463A (fr)
AU (1) AU3230197A (fr)
CA (1) CA2257490A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO1997047126A1 (fr)

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GB9821265D0 (en) * 1998-10-01 1998-11-25 Wilson Robert J Data transmission system
GB2344718B (en) * 1998-12-07 2001-01-17 Telspec Europ Ltd Remote management system for electronic equipment
DE10007680A1 (de) * 2000-02-19 2001-08-30 Hoerner Jens Verfahren zur Fernüberwachung von Geräten und Anlagen und Rechnereinheit hierzu
AU2001267459A1 (en) * 2000-05-23 2001-12-03 Actineon Inc. Programmable communicator
GB0211644D0 (en) 2002-05-21 2002-07-03 Wesby Philip B System and method for remote asset management
US7808924B2 (en) 2002-05-24 2010-10-05 Cisco Technology, Inc. Apparatus and method for preventing disruption of fibre channel fabrics caused by ReConfigure Fabric (RCF) messages
FR2845846B1 (fr) * 2002-10-10 2005-07-08 France Telecom Systeme de surveillance et d'analyse a distance du fonctionnement d'une installation
FR2888457B1 (fr) * 2005-07-07 2007-12-14 Jerome Gilbert <<procede et systeme pour transmettre des informations par le reseau telephonique a tres bas debit, et equipements mis en oeuvre dans ce systeme>>
BRPI1005073A2 (pt) * 2010-12-29 2013-04-16 Light Servicos De Eletricidade Sociedade Anonima dispositivo de vinculaÇço de medidor eletrânico de energia elÉtrica e mostrador remoto de consumo
US20150276433A1 (en) * 2014-03-26 2015-10-01 Honeywell International Inc. Gas meter data validation

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US5381462A (en) * 1992-05-29 1995-01-10 Datran Systems Corporation Utility monitor communications systems
US5583923A (en) * 1994-04-13 1996-12-10 British Telecommunications Public Limited Company Telephony network having no-ring telemetry call aborted in favor of incoming telephony calls
CA2200862C (fr) * 1994-09-27 2002-02-26 Alastair Montgomerie Systemes d'acces a distance

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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Title
See references of WO9747126A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JP2000511732A (ja) 2000-09-05
WO1997047126A1 (fr) 1997-12-11
AU3230197A (en) 1998-01-05
KR20000016463A (ko) 2000-03-25
CA2257490A1 (fr) 1997-12-11

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