African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Better Utility ManagementThrough AMR/AMI
Danny Padron, Strategic Accounts Manager Datamatic - Texas, USA
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Available AMR/AMI SystemsStar, PLC and Mesh
PLC Networks:Dependent on current infrastructureRequires routing tables, and meter Change out
Star Networks:Dependent on Line of sightrouting tables, and meter change outHigh infrastructure cost
Mesh Networks:Has strength in numbersNo routing tables or meter change outLow infrastructure cost
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Mesh AMR/AMI SystemsTypes of Mesh Systems
Not All Meshes are the same:
Signal Type: Spread Spectrum, Freq. Hopping, Unlicensed
Mesh Configuration: Routing tables or free forming
Compatibility Limitations: Water, Gas and electric meters
Data access restrictions: Open or closed database
Migrateable: Walk by, Drive By and fixed
External compatibility: Optional devices accepted
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
• Superior fault-tolerance(self-healing)
• Universal SupportWater, Gas & Electric (can be a mixed system)
• Lower total costs
• Simpler deployment(self-configuring)
Ideal AMR/AMI Solution A Mesh Network - MIU
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
• Collectors installed on existing infrastructure
• Disaster recover via Handheld Download
• Data backhaul– Wireless (GPRS, Wi-Fi)– Ethernet
• Low Cost Repeaters – As needed
Ideal AMR/AMI Solution A Mesh Network - Collector
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
• Each MIU is also acts as a repeater• MIUs transmit (“hop”) data to & through each other• Multi Message transmissions• Battery life not impacted by
“piggybacked” messages(water/gas)
• Airplane analogy:The plane will fly at 11amwhether it’s carrying 20 or200 passengers. It costs theairline the same.
Key Mesh System AttributesHopping
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
• Sample network segment shown• 1500 MIUs (green), 3 Collectors (red)• Meshing allows for irregular network shape(less network planning required)
Key Mesh System AttributesDeployment Flexibility
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
• Routes data along multiple, redundant pathways.
• If the path becomes unavailable, data continues along an alternate path, effectively “healing” itself.
• An unlimited # of “hops” can be used to reach a Collector.
Key Mesh System AttributesSelf-Healing
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Link quality Data:• Monitor trouble areas• Monitor changes in field environment
Key Mesh System AttributesDeployment Flexibility: Network Monitoring
MIU Data:• Ensure multiple links• Monitor routing metrics
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Key Mesh System AttributesLow-Cost Repeaters
• For problematic meters:Deep vaults, long linear distances, etc.
• Low-cost, battery-powered repeater ensures full power in tough environments
• Minimal cost increase to automate the most problematic meters
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
• Bill customers accurately & efficiently• Monitor, enforce conservation measures• Data for distribution system modeling• Bill on Time-of-Use• Detect customer &
distribution system leaks• Data for load studies• Multi-utility readingusing the sameinfrastructure
Management Value of AMR/AMIUseful Data Across Departments
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
• Why?... It’s the foundation of all advanced AMR/AMI
• Request detailed usage profile data for customers• Change MIU behavior over the network
– Monitoring schedules as seasons/conditions change– Interval data resolution – Reading schedules– Usage thresholds– Firmware updates
for enhanced operations
– More…
Ideal AMR/AMI SolutionTwo-Way Communications
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Key Mesh System Attributes“Smart” Endpoint Technology
Definition of smart: pertaining to the ability to do data processing logically
• MIUs store interval data
• Firmware updatable over the mesh network
• Allow for control of external devices
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Back Office Software
• Web-based(no software to install or maintain)
• Tools for network mgmt
• System performance reporting
• Multi-level aggregation
• Portal for customers to view usage graphsonline
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Cost of AMR/AMIROI Shows Cost Benefit
• AMR/AMI only has upfront costs
• Increase in revenue and savings pays for system, sometimes in two years or less
• Net Present Value (NPV) –The Positive cash generated after the system is paid for.
African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
Better Utility ManagementThrough AMR/AMI
Danny Padron, Strategic Accounts Manager Datamatic - Texas, USA