Flexible and scalable electricity meter management system, method, computer-readable medium, and terminal system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a flexibly scalable electricity meter management system, method, computer-readable medium, and headend subsystem, including a meter data collection module that collects meter data from meters, a data storage module that stores and manages the meter data, and a headend system core module that uploads the meter data to a meter data management subsystem. Furthermore, the number of meter data collection modules, data storage modules, headend system core modules, northbound system interface modules, or their microservices can be flexibly expanded as needed to increase the meter data collection capability of the meter data collection module, the meter data storage capability of the data storage module, the meter data management capability of the headend system core module, or the meter data upload capability of the northbound system interface module.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electric meter management technology, and more particularly to a flexible and scalable electric meter management system, method, computer-readable medium, and header terminal system. Background Art

[0002] An Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system typically includes a smart meter, a communication system, and a meter data management server to provide users with energy usage information, allowing them to understand their energy usage status and implement energy conservation measures.

[0003] The prior art proposes a smart meter, a management system and operating method thereof, a remote server and operating method thereof, and a method for managing an appliance power signature database. The management system includes a remote server and at least one smart meter. The smart meter can be coupled to the remote server via a communication network to measure the power of at least one power line to obtain at least one power usage data. Furthermore, the smart meter can detect whether a load event has occurred. If a load event has occurred, the smart meter compresses the power usage data during the event period corresponding to the load event to obtain compressed power usage data, which is then uploaded to the remote server. The remote server can decompress the compressed power usage data to obtain decompressed power usage data, and the remote server then performs load identification based on the decompressed power usage data.

[0004] However, this existing technology cannot flexibly scale the number of modules or their microservices. It also lacks data caching, data exchange, or buffer storage capabilities, and is unable to provide high-performance and high-availability message transmission services. It is also unable to establish, deploy, or flexibly scale (increase) modules or their microservices through virtualization and containerization technologies, and is unable to utilize a load balancing module to evenly distribute meter data (packets).

[0005] Therefore, how to provide an innovative electricity meter management technology to solve any of the above problems or provide related functions (techniques / services) has become a major research topic for those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present invention provides an innovative, elastically scalable electricity meter management system, method, computer-readable medium, and head-end system. These systems can elastically expand the number of modules or their microservices, or possess data caching, data exchange, or buffer storage capabilities to provide high-performance and high-availability message transmission services. Furthermore, they can establish, deploy, or elastically expand (add) modules or their microservices through virtualization and containerization technologies, or utilize a load balancing module to evenly distribute meter data (packets).

[0007] The elastically scalable electricity meter management system of the present invention includes: multiple electricity meters and a meter data management subsystem (MDMS); and a head subsystem, which has at least one electricity meter data collection module, at least one data storage module, at least one head system core module and at least one northbound system interface module, wherein the electricity meter data collection module collects the meter data of multiple electricity meters, and the data storage module stores the electricity meter data of multiple electricity meters collected by the electricity meter data collection module, and the head system core module manages the electricity meter data of multiple electricity meters, and then the northbound system interface module uploads the electricity meter data of multiple electricity meters to the electricity meter data management subsystem, wherein the elastically scalable electricity meter management system further flexibly expands at least one of the electricity meter data collection module, the data storage module, the head system core module and the northbound system interface module or the number of their microservices to increase at least one of the electricity meter data collection capability of the electricity meter data collection module, the electricity meter data storage capability of the data storage module, the electricity meter data management capability of the head system core module and the electricity meter data upload capability of the northbound system interface module.

[0008] The head-end subsystem of the present invention is connected to or communicates with multiple electricity meters. The head-end subsystem includes: at least one electricity meter data collection module, at least one data storage module, at least one head-end system core module and at least one northbound system interface module, wherein the electricity meter data collection module collects the meter data of multiple electricity meters, and the data storage module stores the meter data of multiple electricity meters collected by the electricity meter data collection module, and the head-end system core module manages the meter data of multiple electricity meters, and then the northbound system interface module uploads the meter data of multiple electricity meters, so as to further flexibly expand the number of at least one of the electricity meter data collection module, the data storage module, the head-end system core module and the northbound system interface module or their microservices, so as to increase at least one of the electricity meter data collection capability of the electricity meter data collection module, the electricity meter data storage capability of the data storage module, the electricity meter data management capability of the head-end system core module and the electricity meter data upload capability of the northbound system interface module.

[0009] The elastically scalable electricity meter management method of the present invention includes: providing multiple electricity meters, a head-end subsystem and a meter data management subsystem (MDMS), and the head-end subsystem has at least one electricity meter data collection module, at least one data storage module, at least one head-end system core module and at least one northbound system interface module; the electricity meter data of the multiple electricity meters are collected by the electricity meter data collection module, and the electricity meter data of the multiple electricity meters collected by the electricity meter data collection module are stored by the data storage module, and the electricity meter data of the multiple electricity meters are managed by the head-end system core module, and then the electricity meter data of the multiple electricity meters are uploaded to the electricity meter data management subsystem by the northbound system interface module; and elastically expanding at least one of the electricity meter data collection module, the data storage module, the head-end system core module and the northbound system interface module or the number of their microservices to increase at least one of the electricity meter data collection capability of the electricity meter data collection module, the electricity meter data storage capability of the data storage module, the electricity meter data management capability of the head-end system core module and the electricity meter data upload capability of the northbound system interface module.

[0010] The computer-readable medium of the present invention is applied to a computing device or a computer, and stores instructions for executing the above-mentioned elastically scalable electricity meter management method.

[0011] To make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more readily apparent, the following embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be described in part in the following description, and some of these features and advantages will be apparent from the description or may be learned through practice of the present invention. It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are illustrative and explanatory only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the basic architecture of the elastically scalable electricity meter management system of the present invention;

[0013] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of virtualization technology and containerization technology in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the flow of the elastically scalable electricity meter management method of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the architecture of the meter data collection module in the elastically scalable meter management system and method thereof of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the architecture of the registration module in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system and method thereof of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 6Schematic diagram of the architecture of the cache service module in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system and method thereof of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the data storage module in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system and method thereof of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the architecture of the northbound system interface module in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system and method thereof of the present invention; and

[0020] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the architecture of the core modules of the head-end system in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system and method thereof of the present invention.

[0021] Description of Reference Numerals

[0022] 1: Elastically scalable meter management system

[0023] 10: Electricity Meter

[0024] 20: Wired or wireless network

[0025] 21: Load balancing module

[0026] 30: Head terminal system

[0027] 31: Electricity meter data collection module

[0028] 32:Registration module

[0029] 321:Registration Center

[0030] 33: Cache service module

[0031] 331: Exchange unit

[0032] 332: Queue

[0033] 34:Data storage module

[0034] 35: Headend system core module

[0035] 36: Northbound system interface module

[0036] 37: User interface

[0037] 38:Data Storage

[0038] 40: Electricity meter data management subsystem

[0039] 51: Physical Machine

[0040] 52:Hardware Resources

[0041] 53: Virtual Machine Management Module

[0042] 54: Virtual Machine

[0043] 55:Containerized Management Module

[0044] A:Container

[0045] A1: Application

[0046] A2: Dependent Resources

[0047] B1: Service Provider

[0048] B2: Service consumption end

[0049] C1: Message production end

[0050] C2: Information consumption end

[0051] S1 to S3: steps. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] The following describes the implementation of the present invention through specific embodiments. Those skilled in the art can understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification, and can also implement or use it through other different specific equivalent embodiments.

[0053] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the basic architecture of the scalable electricity meter management system 1 of the present invention. As shown, the scalable electricity meter management system 1 may include multiple electricity meters 10 that are sequentially (or mutually) connected or communicating, at least one (e.g., multiple) wired or wireless networks 20, a headend subsystem 30, and a meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40. The term "multiple" as used herein refers to two or more (e.g., two, three, four, five, ten, or one hundred or more), and "connected" or "communicating" refers to wired or wireless connections or communications.

[0054] The headend subsystem 30 may include at least one (e.g., multiple) meter data collection modules 31, a registration module 32, a cache service module 33, at least one (e.g., multiple) data storage modules 34, at least one (e.g., multiple) headend system (HES) core modules 35, at least one (e.g., multiple) northbound system interface modules 36, a user interface (UI) 37, and a data storage device 38. The flexibly scalable meter management system 1 may flexibly expand the number of at least one of the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the headend system core module 35, and the northbound system interface module 36, or their microservices, according to demand (e.g., system demand or load demand).

[0055] For example, the meter data collection module 31 can be meter data collection software (program), etc., the registration module 32 can be a registrar (chip / circuit / host / server), registration software (program), etc., the cache service module 33 can be a cache server (chip / circuit / host / server), cache service software (program), etc., the data storage module 34 can be data storage software (program), etc., the head-end system core module 35 can be the head-end system core software (program), etc., the northbound system interface module 36 can be the northbound system interface software (program), etc., and the data storage 38 can be a hard disk (such as a network / cloud hard disk), a memory, a memory card, a data server, a database, etc., but is not limited to these.

[0056] The meter data collection module 31 can transmit meter data (packets) from the plurality of meters 10 via at least one (e.g., multiple) wired or wireless networks 20 and collect meter data from the plurality of meters 10 according to a meter communication protocol standard. For example, the wired network can be a fiber to the X (FTTx) network, an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), or a dedicated line. The wireless network can be a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, a third-generation (3G) mobile communication network, a fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication network, a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication network, or a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT). The meter communication protocol standard can be, but is not limited to, the Device Language Message Specification / Companion Specification for Energy Metering (DLMS / COSEM).

[0057] The various microservices (such as different microservices) of the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the head-end system core module 35 or the northbound system interface module 36 can communicate with each other through the registration module 32, and the registration module 32 can centrally register the names, types and locations of the microservices of the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the head-end system core module 35 or the northbound system interface module 36 to properly manage the microservices, so that there will be no conflicts between multiple microservices due to the elastic expansion of the number of microservices.

[0058] The cache service module 33 may have a high-performance data caching, data exchange, or buffer storage function based on a queue 332 (e.g., a message queue) to enhance the ability of the cache service module 33's microservice to process (large amounts of) meter data from multiple meters 10. In addition, the cache service module 33 may provide data caching, data exchange, or buffer storage services to the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, or the northbound system interface module 36. The cache service module 33 has a high-performance data caching, data exchange, or buffer storage function based on a queue 332 (e.g., a message queue, see Figure 6 ) application program interface request or response function call technology.

[0059] The data storage module 34 can be connected to or communicate with the cache service module 33 and the data storage 38, etc., and obtain the (large amount of) meter data of the multiple meters 10 collected by the meter data collection module 31 through the cache service module 33. The data storage module 34 can also have a meter data storage function to store the meter data of the multiple meters 10 and store them in the data storage 38.

[0060] The head-end system core module 35 can be connected to or communicate with the data storage module 34 and the user interface (UI) 37, and has functions such as analyzing, managing, or compiling statistics (e.g., calculating statistical reports) for the meter data of multiple electricity meters 10. The user interface (UI) 37 can be connected to or communicate with the head-end system core module 35, allowing a user to select information such as the meter number of the multiple electricity meters 10 to be operated through the head-end system core module 35 via the user interface (UI) 37. Furthermore, the head-end system core module 35 can retrieve the meter data of the desired electricity meter 10 from the data storage 38 via the data storage module 34 based on the meter number and other information of the desired electricity meter 10, and perform operations such as analyzing, managing (e.g., adding / deleting / modifying) or compiling statistics (e.g., calculating statistical reports) on the meter data of the desired electricity meter 10.

[0061] The northbound system interface module 36 can connect to or communicate with the cache service module 33 and the meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40, etc., to obtain the meter data of multiple meters 10 from the cache service module 33, and then the northbound system interface module 36 uploads the meter data of multiple meters 10 to the meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40 to complete the upload operation of the meter data of the meters 10.

[0062] The present invention integrates microservices such as the meter data collection module 31, registration module 32, data storage module 34, northbound system interface module 36, and user interface (UI) 37 through the headend system core module 35 to manage meter data or meter configurations for multiple meters 10. Furthermore, the scalable meter management system 1 can flexibly expand the number of microservices within at least one of the meter data collection module 31, data storage module 34, headend system core module 35, and northbound system interface module 36 based on demand (e.g., system demand or load demand), thereby increasing at least one of the meter data collection capabilities of the meter data collection module 31, the meter data storage capabilities of the data storage module 34, the meter data management capabilities of the headend system core module 35, and the meter data upload capabilities of the northbound system interface module 36. This facilitates the rapid completion of operations (actions) such as (large amounts of) meter data collection, data storage, data management, or data upload for multiple meters 10, while also reducing the additional equipment and labor costs incurred by a significant increase in the number of meters 10.

[0063] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the virtualization technology and containerization technology in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system 1 of the present invention, which is used to provide the virtualization and containerization of microservices, and refer to Figure 1 Please explain.

[0064] like Figure 2 As shown, the elastically scalable electricity meter management system 1 may further include at least one (e.g., multiple) physical machines (PMs) 51, a virtual machine management module 53, at least one (e.g., multiple) virtual machines (VMs) 54, and a containerized management module 55. Each physical machine (PM) 51 may have at least one (e.g., multiple) hardware resources 52. For example, the hardware resources 52 of the physical machine (PM) 51 may include a processor (e.g., a central processing unit / microprocessor), a memory (e.g., a random access memory / cache / flash memory), a hard disk, a network card, etc. The VM management module 53 may include a virtual machine management tool (VMM), a virtual machine management platform (host / server), virtual machine management software (program), etc. The containerized management module 55 may include a containerized management tool, a containerized management platform (host / server), containerized management software (program), etc., but is not limited to these.

[0065] The virtual machine management module 53 and the containerization management module 55 can respectively utilize virtualization and containerization technologies to jointly establish, deploy, or elastically expand (add) at least one of the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the headend system core module 35, and the northbound system interface module 36, or their microservices. Specifically, the virtual machine management module 53 can partition the physical machine (PM) 51 into at least one (e.g., multiple) virtual machines (VMs) 54 and convert the hardware resources 52 of the physical machine (PM) 51 into virtual resources. The virtual machine management module 53 then allocates the virtual resources converted from the hardware resources 52 of the physical machine (PM) 51 to at least one (e.g., multiple) virtual machines (VMs) 54 based on demand (e.g., system demand or load demand), thereby achieving virtualization. This facilitates the proper allocation and management of the resources of the physical machine (PM) 51 and improves the resource utilization efficiency of the physical machine (PM) 51. The virtual machine management module 53 can generate or manage at least one (e.g., multiple) virtual machines (VMs) 54, and the containerization management module 55 can generate a container A based on an application (App) A1, and encapsulate the application (App) A1 and its dependency resources A2 in the container A, so that the container A can be reused or relocated.

[0066] A virtual machine (VM) 54 can execute at least one or more containers A, for example, containers A containing multiple identical or different applications (App) A1, to achieve elastic scalability. Furthermore, depending on the resources consumed by the application (App) A1 in container A, container A can be executed in any one of at least one (e.g., multiple) virtual machines (VMs) 54 to form microservices for the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the headend system core module 35, or the northbound system interface module 36. Based on demand (e.g., system demand or load demand), the packaged container A can be executed in the virtual machine 54 to achieve elastic scalability of the microservices for the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the headend system core module 35, or the northbound system interface module 36. Therefore, the overall system is not affected by executing containers A for the same microservice in different virtual machines (VMs) 54, thereby enabling elastic scalability and high flexibility for at least one of the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the headend system core module 35, and the northbound system interface module 36, or their microservices.

[0067] The present invention utilizes a microservice architecture, virtualization technology of the virtual machine management module 53, and containerization technology of the containerization management module 55 to effectively establish, deploy, or elastically expand (add) the meter data collection module 31, data storage module 34, head-end system core module 35, northbound system interface module 36, or their microservices. Furthermore, each microservice of the meter data collection module 31, data storage module 34, head-end system core module 35, or northbound system interface module 36 is independently deployed, making it easier to manage, correct errors, or update versions of each microservice. Furthermore, the computing resources of the microservices can be effectively managed, thereby facilitating elastic expansion of the meter management system 1. The meter data collection module 31, data storage module 34, head-end system core module 35, and northbound system interface module 36, or the number of their microservices, can be elastically expanded. At the same time, the virtualization technology of the virtual machine management module 53 can properly manage the resources of the virtual machine (VM) 54, and run the microservices of the meter data collection module 31, data storage module 34, head-end system core module 35 or northbound system interface module 36 on the specified virtual machine (VM) 54 according to needs (such as user needs, system needs or load needs), thereby effectively allocating resources and reducing the resource requirements generated by elastic expansion.

[0068] Figure 3 This is a flow chart of the flexible scalable meter management method of the present invention, and refer to Figures 1 to 2 At the same time, the main contents of this elastically scalable meter management method are as follows Figure 3 The rest of the contents are the same as those in the above table. Figures 1 to 2 With the following Figures 4 to 9 The description will not be repeated here.

[0069] In step S1 , a plurality of electricity meters 10 , a headend subsystem 30 , and a meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40 are provided, and the headend subsystem 30 has at least one meter data collection module 31 , at least one data storage module 34 , at least one headend system core module 35 , and at least one northbound system interface module 36 .

[0070] In step S2, the meter data collection module 31 collects the meter data of the multiple meters 10, and the data storage module 34 stores the meter data of the multiple meters 10 collected by the meter data collection module 31, and the head-end system core module 35 manages the meter data of the multiple meters 10, and then the northbound system interface module 36 uploads the meter data of the multiple meters 10 to the meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40.

[0071] In step S3, at least one of the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the head-end system core module 35 and the northbound system interface module 36 or the number of their microservices is flexibly expanded according to demand to increase at least one of the meter data collection capability of the meter data collection module 31, the meter data storage capability of the data storage module 34, the meter data management capability of the head-end system core module 35 and the meter data upload capability of the northbound system interface module 36.

[0072] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the meter data collection module 31 in the elastically scalable meter management system 1 and method of the present invention, which is used to provide a method for collecting meter data or elastically scalable. Figure 1 Please explain.

[0073] like Figure 4 As shown, the elastically scalable electricity meter management system 1 may further include at least one (e.g., multiple) load balancing modules 21, such as a load balancer (Server Load Balance; SLB), load balancing software (program), etc. After being started, the electricity meter data collection module 31 registers with the registration module 32, and the electricity meter data collection module 31 can act as a service provider B1 to provide services, or act as a service consumer B2 to call (e.g., remote call) the services on the registration service list of the service provider B1 (see Figure 5 ).

[0074] The meter data collection module 31 can transmit the meter data (packets) of the multiple meters 10 in accordance with the meter communication protocol standard (e.g., Device Language Message Specification / Energy Metering Support Specification; DLMS / COSEM) via at least one (e.g., multiple) wired or wireless networks 20. In addition, the meter data collection module 31 can parse the collected meter data of the multiple meters 10 and transmit the parsed meter data to a subscribed or designated queue 332 (see Figure 6 ) to complete the meter data collection operation (procedure) for multiple meters 10. If the number of meters 10 or their meter data (packets) managed by the meter data collection module 31 exceeds the load, the number of meter data collection modules 31 or their microservices can be flexibly expanded according to needs (such as system needs or load needs) to increase the meter data collection capacity of the meter data collection module 31.

[0075] The load balancing module 21 can evenly distribute (distribute) the meter data (packets) of multiple meters 10 to multiple meter data collection modules 31 or their microservices, so that the workload of the meter data (packets) collected by the multiple meter data collection modules 31 or their microservices can be maintained evenly (balanced). The collection speed of the meter data collection modules 31 or their microservices will not be slowed down or interrupted due to excessive transmission traffic of the meter data (packets) of the meters 10, nor will the meter data collection module 31 or its microservice be paralyzed due to excessive workload of the meter data (packets) collected by a certain meter data collection module 31 or its microservice.

[0076] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the registration module 32 in the flexible and scalable electricity meter management system 1 and its method of the present invention, which is used to provide a service registration, renewal or cancellation method for the registration module 32, and refer to Figure 1 Please explain.

[0077] like Figure 5 As shown, the registration module 32 provides a Representational State Transfer (REST)-based registration function to enable automated registration and discovery of at least one of the meter data collection module 31, cache service module 33, data storage module 34, headend system core module 35, and northbound system interface module 36, or their microservices. Furthermore, any of the meter data collection module 31, cache service module 33, data storage module 34, headend system core module 35, and northbound system interface module 36, or their microservices, can function as either a service provider (B1) or a service consumer (B2), but the service provider (B1) is distinct from the service consumer (B2).

[0078] The registration module 32 can establish a registration center 321, so that each service provider B1, upon startup, can request to register itself with the registration center 321 of the registration module 32. For example, the service provider B1 can register information including the service host, port number, service version, or communication protocol with the registration center 321 of the registration module 32. Furthermore, the registration center 321 of the registration module 32 can register the services provided by each service provider B1. Calls between multiple (e.g., at least two) services can be initiated using the service name of the service provider B1, rather than specifying a specific service address. However, this is not a limitation.

[0079] The service provider B1 can also use heartbeats to continuously indicate to the registration module 32 that it is still providing services to complete the renewal operation (action). If the registration module 32 does not receive a heartbeat from the service provider B1 within a period of time (e.g., 1 minute or 1 hour), the service provider B1 can be removed from the registration center 321. For example, when the service provider B1 is not operating normally (e.g., lost connection or shut down), a service offline or service stop request is triggered to the registration module 32, which notifies the service consumer B2 that the service provider B1 has been offline or stopped, and removes the service provider B1 from the registered service list.

[0080] The registration center 321 of the registration module 32 can categorize the services registered by service providers B1 according to their service names, thereby organizing or adding services from service provider B1 to a list of registered services. Service consumers B2 can obtain the service provider B1's registered service list from the registration center 321 of the registration module 32 to periodically (e.g., at regular intervals) update information about the services of service provider B1. They can also consume required services based on the contents of the service provider B1's registered service list. After obtaining the service provider B1's registered service list, service consumers B2 can call service provider B1 using the service name (e.g., a remote call). They can also utilize the load balancing functionality built into the registration module 32 to achieve load balancing for calls to each service provider B1 or its services. The registration module 32 can include a client component (e.g., a Java client component) to facilitate communication between multiple (e.g., at least two) services, facilitating smoother communication between multiple (e.g., at least two) services.

[0081] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the cache service module 33 in the flexible and scalable electricity meter management system 1 and method of the present invention, which is used to provide a message exchange or buffer storage method, and refer to Figure 1 Please explain.

[0082] like Figure 6As shown, the cache service module 33 may include an exchange unit 331 and at least one (e.g., multiple) queues 332, and provide data caching, data exchange, or buffer storage functions based on the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP). The exchange unit 331 may be, for example, a switch, a switch, or switching software (program). The meter data collection module 31 and the data storage module 34, or their microservices, may serve as message producers (C1). Furthermore, the data storage module 34, the headend system core module 35, and the northbound system interface module 36, or their microservices, may serve as message consumers (C2). However, the message producers (C1) are distinct from the message consumers (C2).

[0083] The message producer C1 can generate a message with a routing key and transmit the message with the routing key to the exchange unit 331 of the cache service module 33 for message distribution. The exchange unit 331 of the cache service module 33 can then transmit the message to a subscribed or designated queue 332 according to the routing key and predetermined rules (e.g., special rules). The message consumer C2 can then retrieve the message from the subscribed or designated queue 332 and process the retrieved message.

[0084] If the message consumer C2 is not functioning properly (e.g., disconnected or shut down) and is unable to retrieve messages from the queue 332, the cache service module 33 can store the messages in the queue 332, allowing the message consumer C2 to retrieve and process the messages from the queue 332 after resuming normal operation. This prevents messages from being lost due to the malfunction of the message consumer C2. Therefore, the number of message producers C1 or message consumers C2 (e.g., the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, the headend system core module 35, the northbound system interface module 36, or their microservices) can be increased based on demand (e.g., system demand or load demand) to achieve elastic scalability, enabling the cache service module 33 to provide high-performance and high-availability message delivery capabilities.

[0085] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the data storage module 34 in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system 1 and method thereof of the present invention, which is used to provide data storage, query, management or elastic expansion methods, and refer to Figure 1 Please explain.

[0086] like Figure 7As shown, after the data storage module 34 is started, it registers with the registration module 32, and the data storage module 34 can act as a service provider B1 to provide services, or act as a service consumer B2 to call (such as a remote call) the services on the registration service list of the service provider B1 (see Figure 5 In addition, the data storage module 34 can be, for example, data storage software or a program based on the Structured Query Language (SQL) to provide data storage, query, update, or management functions using the SQL. When the data storage module 34 is called by multiple service consumers B2, the load balancing function built into the registration module 32 can be used to distribute the call instructions from the multiple service consumers B2.

[0087] The data storage module 34 can retrieve the meter data of the electricity meter 10 from the queue 332 of the subscribed cache service module 33 and perform batch data storage operations (actions) on the meter data of the electricity meter 10 according to a predetermined (specific) meter data volume and time, thereby storing the data in the data memory 38. When the number of messages in the queue 332 of the cache service module 33 reaches a certain number or the data storage operation exceeds the predetermined time, the data storage module 34 can remove the message from the queue 332 and store it in the data memory 38.

[0088] The elastically scalable electricity meter management system 1 can elastically expand the number of data storage modules 34 or their microservices according to demand (such as system demand or load demand) to increase the meter data storage capacity (data processing capacity) of the data storage module 34. These data storage modules 34 or their microservices can all complete the storage operation (action) of the meter data of the electricity meter 10 by subscribing to the same queue 332. In addition, the data storage module 34 can also receive call instructions from the head-end system core module 35 to query the meter data in the data storage 38 and return the meter data to the head-end system core module 35. The head-end system core module 35 then analyzes, manages (such as adding / deleting / modifying) or performs statistics (such as calculating statistical reports) on the meter data. The head-end system core module 35 then presents the meter data on the user interface (UI) 37 or a related system webpage (such as a web report).

[0089] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the northbound system interface module 36 in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system 1 and its method of the present invention, which is used to provide data upload, command forwarding or elastic expansion methods, and refer to Figure 1 Please explain.

[0090] like Figure 8As shown, after being started, the northbound system interface module 36 registers with the registration module 32, and the northbound system interface module 36 can act as a service provider B1 to provide services, or act as a service consumer B2 to call (such as a remote call) the services on the registration service list of the service provider B1 (see Figure 5 ).

[0091] The northbound system interface module 36 provides meter data upload functionality for the electricity meters 10. It can also retrieve meter data from the subscribed queue 332 of the cache service module 33 for parsing or compression, and then upload the meter data from the electricity meters 10 to the meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40 to complete the meter data upload operation (action). If the number of managed electricity meters 10 increases, causing the amount of uploaded meter data to exceed the capacity of the northbound system interface module 36, the number of northbound system interface modules 36 or their microservices can be flexibly expanded based on demand (such as system requirements or load requirements) to increase the meter data upload capacity of the northbound system interface module 36.

[0092] The northbound system interface module 36 forwards commands such as real-time reading commands, meter setting commands, or demand reset commands from the meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40 to the headend system core module 35. The headend system core module 36 then uploads the data obtained by the headend system core module 35 in response to the real-time reading commands, meter setting commands, or demand reset commands to the MDMS 40, completing the command operations of the MDMS 40. Furthermore, the number of northbound system interface modules 36 or their microservices can be flexibly expanded based on demand (such as system demand or load demand) to increase the data upload or command forwarding capabilities of the northbound system interface module 36.

[0093] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the head-end system core module 35 in the elastically scalable electricity meter management system 1 and its method of the present invention, which is used to provide a management method for the electricity meter data or electricity meter configuration of the electricity meter 10, and refer to Figure 1 Please explain.

[0094] like Figure 9 As shown, the head-end system core module 35 can provide the management function of the meter data or meter configuration of multiple meters 10, and perform operations (actions) such as querying the meter data or meter configuration of the meter 10, real-time reading, and instruction transfer through the user operation interface (UI) 37, the meter data collection module 31, the data storage module 34, and the northbound system interface module 36.

[0095] The user can query the meter configuration of the electric meter 10 through the user operation interface (UI) 37, or issue an instant reading instruction or a firmware update instruction for a specific electric meter 10, so that the head-end system core module 35 can transfer the instant reading instruction or the firmware update instruction to the electric meter data collection module 31, and then the electric meter data collection module 31 can transfer the instant reading instruction or the firmware update instruction to the electric meter 10, which is conducive to quickly completing the instant reading or firmware update operation of the electric meter 10.

[0096] The user can also issue a meter data query instruction through the user operation interface (UI) 37, so that the head-end system core module 35 will forward the meter data query instruction to the data storage module 34, and the data storage module 34 will query the meter data from the data storage 38 according to the meter data query instruction, and then the data storage module 34 will return the queried meter data to the head-end system core module 35 to complete the meter data query, and then the head-end system core module 35 will present the queried meter data in the user operation interface (UI) 37 or the relevant system web page (such as a web report).

[0097] The northbound system interface module 36 can forward the instructions from the meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40 to the head-end system core module 35, so that the head-end system core module 35 can process the instructions according to the type of instructions, and then the head-end system core module 35 will transmit the processed instructions to the meter data collection module 31 or the data storage module 34 to obtain the corresponding meter data or its packets. Then, the head-end system core module 35 will upload the meter data or its packets obtained from the meter data collection module 31 or the data storage module 34 to the meter data management subsystem (MDMS) 40 through the northbound system interface module 36.

[0098] Furthermore, the present invention provides a computer-readable medium for a scalable electricity meter management method, which is implemented in a computing device or computer having a processor and memory. The computer-readable medium stores instructions, and the computing device or computer can execute the computer-readable medium via the processor and memory to execute the aforementioned contents when the computer-readable medium is executed. For example, the processor can be a microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc., and the memory can be random access memory (RAM), cache, flash memory, a memory card, a hard disk (such as a cloud / network hard disk), etc., but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0099] In summary, the flexibly scalable electricity meter management system, method, computer-readable medium, and header terminal system of the present invention have at least the following features, advantages, or technical effects.

[0100] 1. The present invention can flexibly expand the number of meter data collection modules, data storage modules, headend system core modules, northbound system interface modules, or their microservices to complete operations such as (large-scale) meter data collection, data storage, data management, or data upload for multiple meters. It can also reduce the additional equipment and labor costs incurred by a significant increase in the number of meters.

[0101] Second, the present invention has elastically scalable electricity meter management capabilities and can also establish, deploy, or elastically expand (add) electricity meter data collection modules, data storage modules, head-end system core modules, northbound system interface modules, or their microservices through virtualization and containerization technologies. It can also effectively utilize computing resources or significantly reduce resource requirements generated by elastic expansion, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency and reducing costs.

[0102] 3. The meter data collection module of the present invention has an elastically scalable meter data collection function, and can also elastically expand the number of meter data collection modules or their microservices according to the number of meters managed by the system.

[0103] 4. The cache service module of the present invention has the functions of data caching, data exchange or buffer storage, and can also provide high-performance and high-availability message transmission services.

[0104] 5. The registration module of the present invention can provide a registration function and can also effectively manage the communication and work between the meter data collection module, the data storage module, the head-end system core module or the northbound system interface module.

[0105] 6. The registration module of the present invention can centrally register the names, types, and locations of multiple (different) microservices to properly manage the microservices. It can also enable multiple (different) microservices such as the meter data collection module, data storage module, head-end system core module, or northbound system interface module to communicate with each other, and can also assist each microservice in finding the registration center it needs support.

[0106] 7. The meter data collection module of the present invention can collect meter data from the meter and transfer the meter data to the cache service module for data caching, data exchange, or buffer storage. The data storage module or the northbound system interface module can obtain the meter data from the cache service module. The meter data can be stored in the data storage device or uploaded to the meter data management subsystem (MDMS), thereby completing the meter reading operation quickly or efficiently.

[0107] 8. The transmission of meter data (packets) between multiple meter data collection modules of the present invention can utilize a load balancing module to evenly distribute the meter data (packets), thereby preventing meter data (packets) from being excessively concentrated on a single or a few meter data collection modules and causing overload.

[0108] 9. If the number of electricity meters or their meter data packets increases, causing a single or a few electricity meter data collection modules to be overloaded and resulting in packet discard or packet congestion, the present invention can elastically expand (increase) the electricity meter data collection modules or their microservices to cope with the increased number of electricity meters (meter data) or packets, without the need for additional adjustments to the system architecture.

[0109] 10. The present invention can be applied to devices such as AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) smart meters, smart grids, distribution transformers, and smart water meters to solve the problem of additional equipment and labor costs caused by the increase in the number of devices.

[0110] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles, features, and effects of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any skilled artisan may modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Any equivalent changes or modifications made using the disclosure of the present invention shall still be covered by the claims. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be as set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A flexibly scalable electricity meter management system, comprising: Multiple electricity meters and an electricity meter data management subsystem; a headend subsystem comprising a plurality of meter data collection modules, at least one data storage module, at least one headend system core module, and at least one northbound system interface module, wherein the plurality of meter data collection modules of the headend subsystem collect meter data of the plurality of meters, the data storage module of the headend subsystem stores the meter data of the plurality of meters collected by the plurality of meter data collection modules, the headend system core module of the headend subsystem manages the meter data of the plurality of meters, and the northbound system interface module of the headend subsystem uploads the meter data of the plurality of meters to the meter data management subsystem; and A load balancing module, a virtual machine management module, and a containerized management module, wherein the load balancing module evenly distributes the meter data or packets of the multiple meters to the multiple meter data collection modules of the head subsystem, so that the virtual machine management module and the containerized management module respectively use virtualization technology and containerization technology to jointly elastically expand the number of the multiple meter data collection modules having the meter data or packets of the multiple meters evenly distributed by the load balancing module, and the virtual machine management module and the containerized management module respectively use the virtualization technology and the containerization technology to jointly elastically expand the number of the multiple meter data collection modules having the meter data or packets of the multiple meters evenly distributed by the load balancing module. The number of the data storage modules, the number of the head-end system core modules and the number of the northbound system interface modules are flexibly expanded by using the virtualization technology of the virtual machine management module and the containerization technology of the containerization management module to increase the meter data collection capabilities of the multiple meter data collection modules, the meter data storage capabilities of the data storage modules, the meter data management capabilities of the head-end system core module and the meter data upload capabilities of the northbound system interface module.

2. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, wherein: The headend subsystem further has a registration module, and any one of the meter data collection module, data storage module, headend system core module and northbound system interface module or its microservice serves as a service provider. The registration module establishes a registration center for each service provider to register with the registration center of the registration module when it is started, and then the registration center of the registration module registers the services provided by each service provider.

3. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, wherein: The headend subsystem further has a registration module, and any one of the meter data collection module, data storage module, headend system core module and northbound system interface module or its microservice serves as a service provider or service consumer, and the service provider is different from the service consumer. The service provider uses heartbeats to continuously indicate to the registration module that it is still providing services, and the service consumer obtains the registration service list of the service provider from the registration center of the registration module to update the service information of the service provider.

4. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, wherein: The head subsystem further has a cache service module, which has the functions of queue data caching, data exchange or buffer storage, so that the cache service module can provide data caching, data exchange or buffer storage services to the meter data collection module, data storage module or northbound system interface module.

5. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, wherein: The head-end subsystem further has a cache service module, which has a switching unit and at least one queue, and any one of the meter data collection module and the data storage module or its microservice serves as a message production end, and any one of the data storage module, the head-end system core module and the northbound system interface module or its microservice serves as a message consumption end, and the message production end is different from the message consumption end. After the message production end generates a message with a routing key, the message with the routing key is passed to the switching unit of the cache service module for message distribution, and then the switching unit of the cache service module transmits the message to a subscribed or designated queue according to the routing key and predetermined rules, and then the message consumption end extracts the message from the subscribed or designated queue.

6. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, wherein: The head-end subsystem further includes a user operation interface and a data storage device, so that the meter number of the multiple meters to be operated can be selected through the head-end system core module via the user operation interface. Then, the head-end system core module obtains the meter data of the meter to be operated from the data storage device through the data storage module according to the meter number of the meter to be operated, and then the head-end system core module analyzes, manages or statistics the meter data of the meter to be operated.

7. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, wherein: The load balancing module evenly distributes the meter data or packets of the multiple meters to the microservices of the multiple meter data collection modules, so that the workload of the meter data or packets collected by the multiple meter data collection modules or their microservices remains average or balanced.

8. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, wherein: The virtual machine management module and the containerization management module respectively use the virtualization technology and the containerization technology to jointly establish, deploy and elastically expand the meter data collection module, data storage module, head-end system core module and northbound system interface module or its microservices.

9. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, further comprising a virtual machine management module, a physical machine with hardware resources, and at least one virtual machine, wherein: The virtual machine management module divides the physical machine into the at least one virtual machine and converts the hardware resources of the physical machine into virtual resources, so that the virtual resources converted from the hardware resources of the physical machine by the virtual machine management module are allocated to the at least one virtual machine.

10. The elastically scalable electricity meter management system according to claim 1, further comprising a virtual machine management module, at least one virtual machine and a containerized management module, wherein: The virtual machine management module generates or manages the at least one virtual machine, and the containerization management module generates a container based on an application program and then encapsulates the application program and its dependent resources in the container.

11. A headend subsystem, which connects or communicates with a plurality of electricity meters, a load balancing module, a virtual machine management module, and a containerized management module, the headend subsystem comprising: Multiple electricity meter data collection modules; at least one data storage module; At least one headend system core module; as well as At least one northbound system interface module, The multiple meter data collection modules of the head subsystem collect meter data of the multiple meters, and the data storage module of the head subsystem stores the meter data of the multiple meters collected by the multiple meter data collection modules, and the head end system core module of the head subsystem manages the meter data of the multiple meters, and then the northbound system interface module of the head subsystem uploads the meter data of the multiple meters. The load balancing module evenly distributes the meter data or packets of the multiple meters to the multiple meter data collection modules of the head subsystem, so that the virtual machine management module and the containerization management module respectively use virtualization technology and containerization technology to elastically expand the number of the multiple meter data collection modules having the meter data or packets of the multiple meters evenly distributed by the load balancing module, and the virtual machine management module and the containerization management module respectively use the virtualization technology and the containerization technology to elastically expand the number of the data storage modules, the The number of head-end system core modules and the number of the northbound system interface modules are flexibly expanded by utilizing the virtualization technology of the virtual machine management module and the containerization technology of the containerization management module to increase the meter data collection capabilities of the multiple meter data collection modules, the meter data storage capabilities of the data storage modules, the meter data management capabilities of the head-end system core modules, and the meter data upload capabilities of the northbound system interface modules.

12. A method for managing an elastically scalable electric meter, comprising: Provide multiple electricity meters, a headend subsystem, a meter data management subsystem, a load balancing module, a virtual machine management module, and a containerized management module, wherein the headend subsystem has multiple meter data collection modules, at least one data storage module, at least one headend system core module, and at least one northbound system interface module; The multiple meter data collection modules of the headend subsystem collect meter data of the multiple meters, the data storage module of the headend subsystem stores the meter data of the multiple meters collected by the multiple meter data collection modules, the headend system core module of the headend subsystem manages the meter data of the multiple meters, and the northbound system interface module of the headend subsystem uploads the meter data of the multiple meters to the meter data management subsystem; and The load balancing module evenly distributes the meter data or packets of the multiple meters to the multiple meter data collection modules of the head subsystem, so that the virtual machine management module and the containerization management module respectively use virtualization technology and containerization technology to elastically expand the number of the multiple meter data collection modules having the meter data or packets of the multiple meters evenly distributed by the load balancing module, and the virtual machine management module and the containerization management module respectively use the virtualization technology and the containerization technology to elastically expand the number of the data storage modules of the head subsystem, the head The number of end system core modules and the number of the northbound system interface modules are flexibly expanded by using the virtualization technology of the virtual machine management module and the containerization technology of the containerization management module to jointly flexibly expand the number of the multiple meter data collection modules of the head-end subsystem, the data storage module, the head-end system core module and the northbound system interface module to increase the meter data collection capabilities of the multiple meter data collection modules, the meter data storage capabilities of the data storage module, the meter data management capabilities of the head-end system core module and the meter data upload capabilities of the northbound system interface module.

13. The elastically scalable electricity meter management method according to claim 12 further includes using any one of the electricity meter data collection module, data storage module, head-end system core module, and northbound system interface module, or their microservices, as a service provider, and establishing a registration center by a registration module so that each of the service providers registers with the registration center of the registration module upon startup, and then registers the services provided by each of the service providers by the registration center of the registration module.

14. The elastically scalable electricity meter management method according to claim 12, further comprising using any one of the electricity meter data collection module, data storage module, head-end system core module, northbound system interface module, or their microservices as a service provider or service consumer, wherein: The service provider is different from the service consumer. The service provider uses heartbeats to continuously indicate to the registration module that it is still providing services, while the service consumer obtains the registered service list of the service provider from the registration center of the registration module to update the service information of the service provider.

15. The elastically scalable electricity meter management method according to claim 12, further comprising providing a cache service module having a switching unit and a queue, wherein any one of the electricity meter data collection module and the data storage module, or their microservices, serves as a message producer, and any one of the data storage module, the headend system core module, and the northbound system interface module, or their microservices, serves as a message consumer, wherein: The message producer is different from the message consumer. After the message producer generates a message with a routing key, it transmits the message with the routing key to the switching unit of the cache service module for message distribution. The switching unit of the cache service module then transmits the message to a subscribed or designated queue according to the routing key and predetermined rules. The message consumer then extracts the message from the subscribed or designated queue.

16. The flexibly scalable electricity meter management method according to claim 12 further includes providing a user operation interface and a data storage device, so that the meter number of the electricity meter to be operated from the multiple electricity meters is selected through the head-end system core module via the user operation interface, and then the head-end system core module obtains the meter data of the electricity meter to be operated from the data storage device through the data storage module based on the meter number of the electricity meter to be operated, and then the head-end system core module performs analysis, management or statistical operations on the electricity meter data of the electricity meter to be operated.

17. The elastically scalable electricity meter management method according to claim 12, wherein: The load balancing module evenly distributes the meter data or packets of the multiple meters to the microservices of the multiple meter data collection modules, so that the workload of the meter data or packets collected by the multiple meter data collection modules or their microservices remains average or balanced.

18. The elastically scalable electricity meter management method according to claim 12, wherein: The virtual machine management module and the containerization management module respectively use the virtualization technology and the containerization technology to jointly establish, deploy and elastically expand the meter data collection module, data storage module, head-end system core module and northbound system interface module or its microservices.

19. The elastically scalable electricity meter management method according to claim 12 further includes providing a virtual machine management module, a physical machine having hardware resources, and at least one virtual machine, so that the virtual machine management module divides the physical machine into the at least one virtual machine and converts the hardware resources of the physical machine into virtual resources, and then the virtual machine management module allocates the virtual resources converted from the hardware resources of the physical machine to the at least one virtual machine. 20 . A computer-readable medium, applied to a computing device or a computer, wherein the computer-readable medium stores instructions for executing the flexibly scalable electricity meter management method according to claim 12 .

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