Gas meter and related measurement transmission method

Abstract

To provide a gas meter comprising a plurality of wireless data communication units.SOLUTION: A gas meter 110(i) comprises: a metering unit 225 to generate measurements indicating gas deliveries and send the generated measurements to a control unit 215; first wireless communication units CU(1) to CU(j) that communicate with a remote acquisition system by exploiting a first type of wireless communication link and send measurements generated or received previously by the control unit; and second wireless communication units CU(1) to CU(j) that communicate with the remote acquisition system by exploiting a second type of wireless communication link other than the first type of wireless communication link and send measurements generated or received previously by the control unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of gas meters, more particularly to a gas meter equipped with a wireless data communication unit.

[0002] Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for transmitting measurements indicative of gas delivery volumes generated by a gas meter equipped with a wireless data communication unit. [Background technology]

[0003] A gas meter is known to be a device that is installed at a location (such as a residence, apartment building, commercial building, industrial building, etc.) where combustible gas is delivered from a gas supplier and has the function of producing a measurement of the gas actually delivered to that location.

[0004] There are many different types of gas meters depending on the technology used to measure the amount of gas delivered, but the most important difference lies in the dynamic and static measurement principles.

[0005] The measurements produced by the gas meter must be reported periodically to enable the gas supplier to charge the beneficiary of the gas supply contract for the amount of gas actually delivered.

[0006] For this reason, gas meters are typically equipped with a data transmission module capable of automatically (eg periodically) transmitting data indicative of measurements acquired locally by the gas meter to a remote acquisition system.

[0007] In addition, in the case of data transmission, there are various types of data transmission modules depending on the difference in communication technology.

[0008] The most widespread wired communication technology is PLC (power line communication) technology, which uses the physical medium of the power grid.

[0009] The most widely used wireless communication technologies are WAN communication technology, LAN communication technology, and near field communication technology.

[0010] Smart meters are known, an example of which is described in patent document US2018332103, which comprises a processor module coupled to a measurement module, a storage module, a short-range communication module and possibly a long-range communication module.

[0011] If the smart meter is not the smart meter selected as the portal, the smart meter communicates the measurement value using the short-range communication module to the operator or the next closest smart meter, which forwards the measurement value to the portal or the next smart meter closest to the portal.

[0012] If the smart meter is the one selected as the portal, then the smart meter will forward the measurements to the operator using the remote communication module and transmit the measurements to the access network infrastructure.

[0013] The processor module of this smart meter receives readings or measurements from other smart meters by means of the short-range communication module and forwards them to the utility operator, and can also collect measurements, combine or aggregate them with measurements received from other meters and transmit them to the utility operator. It is therefore clear how such a processor module cannot evaluate the communication efficiency between the portal meter, the infrastructure and the nearest meter. This smart meter does not allow the processor module to evaluate the measurement communication efficiency or to initiate an alternative measurement communication in case of failure of the primary communication.

[0014] The patent document also describes how a decision tree algorithm can be used to identify and select portals between the meters involved, or to calculate a cost function as a function of the ability to communicate with an access node, signal quality, power type (battery or wired), the number of meters a potential portal communicates with, etc.

[0015] It is therefore apparent that the technical problem solved by this patent document is to reduce the number of direct connections accessing the infrastructure transmitting the individual measurements of each meter by selecting portal meters connected with multiple connectors that are sufficiently close to each other and communicate with each other by communication links to form a short-range network.

[0016] A second patent document, EP403627, is known which relates to a meter configured to monitor the usage of a consumable supplied by a service provider, send messages regarding the usage of the consumable to a central control system, and intelligently switch from a short-range communication mode to a long-range communication mode.

[0017] The meter comprises a metering core configured to measure the usage of a consumable (electricity, gas, water, etc.), and a controller operatively coupled to the metering core and configured to check the performance of a local mesh network against one or more predefined performance criteria. If the performance of the mesh local area network meets the one or more predefined performance criteria, the controller communicates a first set of information to a central control system using a short-range communication mode over the mesh local area network. If the performance of the local mesh network does not meet the one or more predefined performance criteria, the controller is configured to communicate a second set of information to the central control system using a long-range communication mode. This patent document lists communication technologies selected from NB-IoT, LTE, CAT-M1, LoRaWAN®, SigFox®, and 5G as long-range communication modes instead of short-range.

[0018] It is clear that such meters are capable of evaluating and activating short-range or alternatively long-range communication as a function of predefined performance criteria, but are not capable of sequentially performing multiple attempts by sequentially activating multiple communication modes, and therefore of enhancing and ensuring high reliability of measurement data transmission even in poor signal coverage situations by activating multiple cascaded communication techniques.

[0019] Finally, patent document US2017142653 is known, which describes a communication device and a method for communicating data using the communication device, as well as a communication device acting as a relay node and a method for communicating by the relay node, but does not have a dedicated component for verifying proper communication between the communication devices. DISCLOSURE OF THEINVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0020] The applicant has found that known solutions have drawbacks that limit the performance and reliability of measurement data transmission.

[0021] The use of gas meters using wired communication technology requires the installation of dedicated wiring or further connection to existing wiring, which is expensive in terms of installation.

[0022] Gas meters that utilize WAN communication technology can suffer from problems due to poor signal range and instability.

[0023] LAN or near field communication technology cannot be used for gas meters located far away from the remote acquisition system.

[0024] A further problem with gas meters configured to communicate data by wireless communication techniques relates to power consumption. Indeed, wireless communication can consume excessive amounts of power.

[0025] In view of the above, the applicant has devised a solution to remedy the above and further inconveniences.

[0026] One or more aspects of the invention are set out in independent claims and advantageous features of the same are set out in dependent claims, the entire text of which is incorporated herein by reference (the advantageous features are described with reference to particular aspects of the invention which apply mutatis mutandis to the other aspects of the invention).

[0027] The solution according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises equipping each gas meter with at least two communication units, each configured to communicate by a different type of wireless communication link. Furthermore, the solution according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises equipping each gas meter with at least one communication unit configured to communicate with the central acquisition system using a wireless communication technology utilizing a first infrastructure network-based communication mode and at least one communication unit configured to communicate with the central acquisition system using a wireless communication technology utilizing a second P2P communication mode between adjacent gas meters.

[0028] In particular, the present invention relates to a gas meter that includes a measurement unit that produces measurements indicative of the amount of gas delivered.

[0029] Said measurement unit is operatively connected to the control unit, which may be included in a meter, and transmits the measurements generated to the control unit inter alia.

[0030] The gas meter further comprises at least one first wireless communication unit configured to communicate with the remote acquisition system by means of a wireless communication link of a first type and to transmit the generated measurements, in particular measurements previously received by the control unit, typically in the form of measurement data.

[0031] The gas meter further comprises at least one second wireless communication unit configured to communicate with the remote acquisition system by means of a second type of wireless communication link different from the first type of wireless communication link and to transmit the generated measurements, in particular measurements previously received from the control unit, typically in the form of measurement data.

[0032] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first type of wireless link and the second type of wireless link respectively include a wireless communication link utilizing a licensed frequency band and a wireless communication link utilizing an unlicensed frequency band.

[0033] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter further includes a control unit.

[0034] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first type of wireless communication link includes a first type of wireless communication link between a gas meter and a communication network transceiver station in communication with a remote acquisition system.

[0035] According to one embodiment of the invention, the second type of wireless communication link comprises a second type of wireless communication link between the gas meter and a selected one from a group of other gas meters.

[0036] According to one embodiment of the invention, the control unit is configured to transmit said measurements by performing the following sequence of operations: controlling the first communication unit to transmit the measurements to the remote acquisition system using the first type of wireless communication link; and controlling the second plurality of communication links to transmit the measurements to the remote acquisition system using at least the second type of wireless communication link when the first type of wireless communication link is unavailable.

[0037] Compared to known solutions, the measurements are advantageously transmitted more reliably, since a back-up system (based on said second type of wireless communication link) is provided in case the first type of wireless communication link is unavailable or does not work properly.

[0038] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first type of wireless link and the second type of wireless link include a wireless communication link utilizing a licensed frequency band and a wireless communication link utilizing an unlicensed frequency band.

[0039] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication link utilizing a licensed frequency band includes at least one of the following: NB-IoT type communication links (in particular those conforming to the ETSI TS 136 331 standard); GPRS communications links (in particular those conforming to the ETSI EN 301 344 standard); UMTS communications links (in particular those conforming to the ETSI TS 129 002 standard); GSM communications links (in particular those conforming to the ETSI EN 301 511 standard); LTE communications links (in particular those conforming to the ETSI TS 136 101 standard); 5G communication links (in particular those complying with the ETSI TS 123 501 standard); 6G communication link. Since we are dealing here with communication between a gas meter and a remote acquisition system for the transfer of measured values, in particular measurement data, it goes without saying that the link must utilize link type characteristics suitable for such transfer.

[0040] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication link utilizing an unlicensed frequency band includes at least one of the following: For example, 169 MHz wireless MBus type communication links (especially those conforming to the ETSI TS 103 357 standard); communication links of the LoRa type (in particular those conforming to the ETSI TR 103 526 standard), such as a LoRaWAN link (in particular those conforming to the ETSI TR 103 526 standard) and / or a LoRa P2P link; A communication link of the Bluetooth® type (in particular according to the ETSI EN 300 328 standard); A communication link of the BLE type (in particular according to the ETSI EN 300 328 standard); 6LoWPAN type communication links (in particular those complying with the ETSI EN 300 328 standard); A communication link of the ZigBee type (in particular one conforming to the ETSI EN 300 328 standard). Since we are dealing here with communication between a gas meter and a remote acquisition system for the transfer of measured values, in particular measurement data, it goes without saying that the link must utilize link type characteristics suitable for such transfer.

[0041] According to one embodiment of the invention, the first type of wireless link is a network infrastructure based link.

[0042] According to one embodiment of the invention, said second type of wireless link is a P2P type link.

[0043] According to one embodiment of the invention, the control unit is configured to perform the following sequence of operations: controlling the second communication unit to receive measurements generated by further gas meters from further gas meters of the group of other gas meters using the second wireless communication type; The first communication unit is controlled to transmit the received measurements generated by the further gas meter to the remote acquisition system using the first type of wireless communication link.

[0044] According to one embodiment of the invention, the first type of wireless communication link includes one or more wireless communication links between: a communication link of NB-IoT type between the first gas meter communication unit and a station in the NB-IoT network; A LoRaWAN type communication link between a first gas meter communication unit and a station in a LoRaWAN network.

[0045] According to one embodiment of the invention, said LoRaWAN type communication link is carried out by a LoRa® Relay node, in particular the communication unit of one of the other gas meters of the group.

[0046] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a gas meter includes two or more first communication units, each configured to communicate with a remote acquisition system using a different wireless communication link.

[0047] According to one embodiment of the invention, the control unit is adapted to in turn control the first communication units to transmit the measurements to the remote acquisition system using respective wireless communication links.

[0048] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second type of wireless communication link comprises one or more of the following wireless communication links: a BLE communication link between the second communication unit of the gas meter and the second communication units of other gas meters of the group; a LoRaP2P communication link between the second communication unit of the gas meter and the second communication units of the other gas meters of the group; A ZigBee® communication link between the second communication unit of the gas meter and the second communication units of the other gas meters of the group.

[0049] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter comprises two or more second communication units each configured to communicate with a remote acquisition system by means of a different wireless communication link, and the control unit is configured to sequentially control the second communication units to transmit the measurement values ​​to the remote acquisition system by means of their respective wireless communication links.

[0050] According to one embodiment of the invention, the control unit is adapted to generate a proximity table listing groups of other gas meters.

[0051] According to one embodiment of the invention, the group of other gas meters includes other gas meters that are sufficiently close to the gas meter to ensure a potential second type of wireless communication link.

[0052] A further aspect of the invention relates to a system for obtaining measurements indicative of gas delivery at a number of locations.

[0053] The system comprises: a gas meter installed at each of the locations, the gas meter configured to generate measurements indicative of gas delivery at the location; a remote acquisition system configured to receive the measurements from the gas meter; Includes.

[0054] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed description of illustrative and non-limiting embodiments of the invention, which for a better understanding should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0055] [Figure 1A] 1 illustrates a system for managing gas measurements delivered to multiple locations, according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 1B]1B is a version of the system of FIG. 1A illustrating a first communication mode between a gas meter communication unit and a central acquisition system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 1C] 1B is a version of the system of FIG. 1A illustrating a second communication mode between the gas meter communication unit and the central acquisition system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a functional simplified block diagram of a gas according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 3 is a flow chart illustrating operations performed by the gas meter control unit of FIG. 2 to transmit measurement data to a central acquisition system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4A] 3 shows a flow chart illustrating in more detail the operations performed by the gas meter control unit of FIG. 2 to transmit measurement data to a central acquisition system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4B] 3 shows a flow chart illustrating in more detail the operations performed by the gas meter control unit of FIG. 2 to transmit measurement data to a central acquisition system according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0056] Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1A shows a system 100 for managing measurements of gas delivered by a gas supplier to multiple locations 105(i) (i=1, 2, ...), such as homes, apartment buildings, villas, commercial buildings, industrial plants, warehouses, etc., in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

[0057] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a respective gas meter 110(i) (i=1, 2, ...) configured to measure the amount of gas delivered to the location 105(i) is installed at each location 105(i).

[0058] FIG. 2 illustrates, in simplified functional blocks, an example of a gas meter 110(i) according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0059] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) includes an inlet pipe 202(in) that receives gas from a gas distribution network (not shown).

[0060] According to one embodiment, gas meter 110(i) includes a measuring chamber (or pipe) 210 in fluid communication with an inlet pipe 202(in) and in fluid communication with an outlet pipe 202(out), thereby defining a passageway for gas from the inlet pipe 202(in) to the outlet pipe 202(out). The outlet pipe 202(out) is connected to a gas distribution network (not shown) of location 105(i) and delivers gas received at one or more gas usage points within location 105(i).

[0061] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) is a “smart” gas meter that includes a control unit 215, including, for example, one or more electronic processors, configured to manage operations performed by the gas meter 110(i).

[0062] According to one embodiment of the invention, a sensor 220 for measuring the flow of gas from the inlet pipe 202 (in) to the outlet pipe 202 (out) is coupled to (e.g., disposed within) the measurement chamber 210. The sensor 220 is configured to generate sensed data R indicative of a measurement value, which is one or more physical quantities related to / influenced by / determined by the gas flow across the measurement chamber 210.

[0063] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor 220 is a static technology based sensor configured to measure Family II gas (natural gas), natural gas / hydrogen blend, and / or Family III gas (liquid propane gas). The sensor 220 and the control unit 215 are connected to exchange data and messages, such as commands (from the control unit 215 to the sensor 220) for the control unit 215 to control the sensor 220, as well as sensory data R generated by the sensor 220 (from the sensor 220 to the control unit 215). Without going into details known to those skilled in the art, the control unit 215 is configured to process the sensory data R received from the sensor 220 to calculate corresponding measurement data M indicative of the actual amount of gas delivered by the gas meter 110(i) to the location 105(i).

[0064] However, it is emphasized that the concepts of the present invention are equally applicable to meters with sensors made with different technologies, such as diaphragm, rotary piston, turbine, and infrared sensors.

[0065] According to one embodiment of the invention, a valve 204, for example a solenoid valve, is advantageously provided in the inlet pipe 202(in) and is operable by the control unit 215 to selectively enable / disable the entry of gas into the measurement chamber 210 and, consequently, the delivery of gas received at the gas use point in location 105(i).

[0066] According to one embodiment of the invention, the gas meter 110(i) is controlled by the control unit 215 and further includes a user interface 225 including, for example, a display for displaying information (such as measurement data M calculated by the control unit 215), buttons, and / or a wired connection interface (such as RS232, USB and optical ports) to allow a user or operator to interact with the gas meter 110(i).

[0067] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) includes a memory unit 230 configured to store data, such as the measurement data M. For example, the memory unit 230 may be coupled to the control unit 215 or may be a direct part of the control unit 215.

[0068] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) includes a number of communication units CU(j) (j=1, 2, ...) controlled by the control unit 215 to transmit the measurement data M to the gas supplier, as will be described in more detail later.

[0069] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) comprises a power supply unit 235, for example including one or more batteries, for powering the electronic components of the gas meter 110(i). For example, the power supply unit 235 may comprise a communication battery supplying power to the communication unit CU(j) and a measurement battery supplying power to the gas meter elements 110(i) dedicated to generating and managing the measurement data M.

[0070] Considering FIG. 1A in combination with FIG. 2, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the gas meters 110(i) are configured to transmit measurement data M by means of communication units CU(j) to a central acquisition system 180 (which allows the consumption to be determined by the user).

[0071] According to one embodiment of the invention, each of the communication units CU(j) is adapted to communicate with the central acquisition system 180 by one of two communication modes G1, G2 described below.

[0072] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the primary communication mode G1 provides that the communication unit CU(j) of the universal gas meter 110(i) communicates with the central acquisition system 180 using a link that includes: - a wireless communication channel C1 between the gas meter 110(i) and an infrastructure communication network transceiver station 185; A wireless communication channel C1' between the communication network transmitting / receiving station 185 and the central acquisition system 180.

[0073] This primary communication mode G1 is highlighted in FIG. 1B.

[0074] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the secondary communication mode G2 provides that the communication units CU(j) of the gas meters 110(i) communicate with the central acquisition system 180 by means of a link comprising: - a wireless communication channel C2 (for example of P2P type) between the gas meter 110(i) and another gas meter 110(k) (k≠i) in the vicinity of said gas meter; - a wireless communication channel C2' between the gas meter 110(k) and a communication network transceiver station 185; A wireless communication channel C1' between the communication network transmitting / receiving station 185 and the central acquisition system 180.

[0075] The secondary communication mode G2 is highlighted in FIG. 1C.

[0076] According to one embodiment of the present invention, each gas meter 110(i) includes at least one communication unit CU(j) configured to communicate with the central acquisition system 180 using a wireless communication technology utilizing a primary communication mode G1, and a communication unit CU(j) configured to communicate with the central acquisition system 180 using a wireless communication technology utilizing a secondary communication mode G2.

[0077] According to an embodiment of the present invention, each communication unit CU(j) is configured to communicate with the central acquisition system 180 using a wireless communication technology selected from the following: - WAN (Wide Area Network) technologies based on licensed frequency bands, such as GPRS technology (in particular according to the ETSI EN 301 344 standard), UMTS technology (in particular according to the ETSI TS 129 002 standard), GSM technology (in particular according to the ETSI EN 301 511 standard), LTE technology (in particular according to the ETSI TS 136 101 standard), 5G technology (in particular according to the ETSI TS 123 501 standard), 6G technology, ECGSM IoT technology (Extended Coverage GSM for Internet of things), LTE-M (LTE for machine-to-machine communication) and NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) (in particular according to the ETSI TS 136 331 standard) - WAN or LAN (Local Area Network) or proximity technologies based on unlicensed frequency bands (such as 169 MHz wireless MBus (Meter Bus) technology (in particular according to ETSI TS 103 357), LoRa technology (in particular according to ETSI TR 103 526) (Wide Spectrum Frequency Modulation) (such as LoRaWAN (in particular according to ETSI TR 103 526) and / or LoRaP2P), Bluetooth® technology (ETSI EN 300 328), BLE technology (in particular according to ETSI EN 300 328), 6LoWPAN technology (in particular according to ETSI EN 300 328) and ZigBee® technology (in particular according to ETSI EN 300 328)).

[0078] Licensed band communications technologies were designed and deployed to meet the needs and demands of domestic mobile phone operators and are therefore poorly suited to the needs of gas utilities. Indeed, while these networks cover the entire country, there remain areas where coverage is low or inadequate, and mobile phone operators do not offer the coverage expansion or flexibility to provide services that gas utilities require.

[0079] On the other hand, unlicensed band communication technologies may offer the flexibility to expand services across regions, but at the expense of prohibitive costs and infrastructure construction.

[0080] According to one embodiment of the present invention, each gas meter 110(i) includes at least one communication unit CU(j) configured to communicate using a wireless communication technology based on a licensed frequency band and at least one communication unit CU(j) configured to communicate using a wireless communication technology based on an unlicensed frequency band.

[0081] In this manner, the gas meters 110(i) may advantageously communicate using both licensed and unlicensed frequency bands.

[0082] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the technology utilized by the CU(j) communication unit for the primary G1 communication mode includes at least one between NB-IoT technology and LoRaWAN technology.

[0083] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the technology utilized by the CU(j) communication unit for the secondary communication mode G2 includes at least one between Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology and LoRa Peer-to-Peer (LoRaP2P) technology.

[0084] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) may include a communication unit CU(j) configured for transmission according to the NB-IoT standard conforming to 3GPP® Release 13 / LTE Cat NB1 (EU) and 3GPP® Release 14 / LTE Cat NB2 (EU) amendments. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit CU(j) includes an NB-IoT modem (with SIM on chip or eSIM) operating, for example, in one or more of the frequency bands B3, B5, B8, B20, B28, B32 and ensuring, for example, a total isotropic sensitivity TIS≦−110 dBm and a total radiant power TRP≧18.5 dBm. According to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the communication may support both IPv4 and IPv6.

[0085] Since the gas meter 110(i) uses a communication unit CU(j) configured for transmission according to the NB-IoT standard, the communication channels C1 and C1' are NB-IoT communication channels, and the communication network 185 is an NB-IoT communication network including transmitting and receiving stations compatible with the NB-IoT standard. Considering the characteristics of the NB-IoT technology, the distance that can be covered by each of the communication channels C1, C1' may range from about 1 km (urban environment) to about 10 km (rural environment).

[0086] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) may include a communication unit CU(j) configured for transmission compliant with the LoRaWAN standard (in addition to or instead of a communication unit CU(j) configured for transmission compliant with the NB-IoT standard). According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit CU(j) includes a LoRaWAN modem operating in an unlicensed spectrum band (e.g., 433 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz), which guarantees a total isotropic sensitivity TIS≦−125 dBm and a total radiated power TRP≧14 dBm, has a data rate variable between 0.3 and 10 kbps, has a native security layer, and has a high reachability level (95% or higher).

[0087] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a communication unit CU(j) is, for example, configured as follows: explicit transmission (payload length, coding rate defined in plot); A predefined spreading factor to limit time-on-air to 1 second or less; Defined application payload and length (bytes): APDU of CF48 (but definable / parameterizable); Type B devices; Pre-assigned security parameters (NwkSKey, AppSKey) and a unique identifier (DevAddr) (activation through personalization).

[0088] In this way, the Time-on-Air can advantageously be pre-calculated and the communication frequency fixed, allowing the associated power consumption to be measured and evaluated.

[0089] Since the gas meter 110(i) uses a communication unit CU(j) configured for transmission in accordance with the LoRaWAN standard, the communication channels C1 and C1' are LoRaWAN communication channels, and the communication network 185 is a LoRaWAN communication network including transmitting and receiving stations compatible with the LoRaWAN standard. Considering the characteristics of the LoRaWAN technology, the distance that can be covered by the communication channels C1, C1' can be from about 3-5 km (urban environment) to about 10 km (rural environment).

[0090] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) may include a communication unit CU(j) configured for BLE transmission. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit CU(j) includes a communication module compliant with the Bluetooth 5.1 standard.

[0091] Since the gas meter 110(i) uses a communication unit CU(j) configured for BLE communication, the communication channel C2 is a BLE communication channel, and the communication channels C2' and C1' are LoRaWAN or NB-IoT communication channels. Considering the characteristics of the BLE technology, the distance that can be covered by the communication channel C2 is about 20 to 25 m.

[0092] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the gas meter 110(i) may include a communication unit CU(j) configured for LoRaP2P transmission (in addition to or instead of a communication unit CU(j) configured for BLE transmission). According to one example of an embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit CU(j) includes a communication module compliant with the LoRaP2P standard.

[0093] Since the gas meter 110(i) uses a communication unit CU(j) configured for LoRaP2P communication, the communication channel C2 is a LoRaP2P communication channel, and the communication channels C2' and C1' are LoRaWAN or NB-IoT communication channels. Considering the characteristics of the LoRaP2P technology, the distance that can be covered by the communication channel C2 varies from about 100 m to about 1 km depending on the surrounding environmental characteristics.

[0094] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 is configured to periodically generate a proximity table PT listing nearby gas meters 110(i) present (if any) within the BLE and / or LoRaP2P range that can be selected as a BLE and / or LoRaP2P receiver by a communication unit CU(j) capable of communicating using BLE and / or LoRaP2P technologies. For example, the proximity table PT may be stored in the memory unit 230 of the gas meter 110(i). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the proximity table PT is periodically generated during a search time window FR having a time, duration and periodicity set identically for all gas meters 110(i).

[0095] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 is configured to enable transmissions on the communication channel C2 only within a periodic transmission time window FT, which is identical for all gas meters 110(i). In this way, the substantially high power consumption typical of BLE or LoRaP2P technologies is still within acceptable thresholds to ensure a battery life 235 of, for example, 15 years.

[0096] According to a further embodiment of the invention, two different transmission time windows FT may be provided: one for BLE transmissions and one for LoRaP2P transmissions.

[0097] According to an embodiment of the present invention, in order to increase security and ensure confidentiality of data transmitted by BLE, the CU(j) communication units arranged for such communication may be advantageously configured to implement, for example, a Just Works pairing of the bonding type.

[0098] As can be seen above, the main difference between communication channel (BLE and LoRaP2P) C2 and communication channels (NB-IoT and LoRaWAN) C1, C1', C2' has to do with the distance they can cover (communication channel C2 has a much smaller range). Another main difference concerns the time frame in which the communication is completed: communication involving only communication channels C1, C1', C2' is synchronous, while communication involving communication channel C2 is asynchronous. This is because transmissions on communication channel C2 are exclusively limited to a periodic transmission time frame FT.

[0099] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for transmitting measurements indicative of gas delivery volumes generated by gas meters 110(i) at a plurality of locations 105(i) to a central acquisition system 180 is described, the method comprising the steps of: a) selecting and activating, by the control unit 215, a first communication unit (CU(1)) of a first plurality of communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) to establish a connection with the communication network transceiver station 185 by wireless communication channel C1 of a primary communication mode G1; b) if the connection is successful, transmitting the measurement data to the central acquisition system 180 via the communication channel C1' of the primary communication mode G1; c) acquiring measurements indicative of gas delivery volume at a central acquisition system 180; d) if the connection is not successful, repeating steps a) to b) for each communication unit CU(2) to CU(j) (from 2 to j) of the first plurality of communication units CU(1); CU(2); …; (CU(j)); e) if no connection is successful during the iteration (j), selecting and activating, by the control unit 215, a first communication unit (CU(1)) of the second plurality of communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) to establish a connection with the gas meter 110(k), as k=i, via the communication channel C2 of the secondary communication mode G2; f) if the connection is not successful, repeating step e) for each communication unit CU(2) to CU(j) (from 2 to j) of the second plurality of communication units CU(1); CU(2); …; (CU(j)); g) if the connection is successful, the communication control unit 215 connects and checks the communication channel C2′ and the secondary communication mode G2 between the gas meter 110(k) and the wireless communication network 185; h) if the check by the control unit (215) is negative, repeating step g) for each communication unit (CU(2) to CU(j)) of the second plurality of communication units CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)); i) if the check by the control unit 215 is positive, transmitting the measurement data to the central acquisition system 180 by the communication channel C1′ of the secondary communication mode G2; j) acquiring measurements indicative of gas delivery volume at the central acquisition system 180;

[0100] Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 3, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 of the universal gas meter 110(i) is configured to periodically (e.g., once a day) transmit measurement data M to the central acquisition system 180 by performing the following sequence of operations:

[0101] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 first performs an attempt to transmit the measurement data M to the central acquisition system 180 in the primary communication mode G1 (block 310). In this regard, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 controls a selected one of the communication units CU(j) available in the gas meter 110(i) configured to utilize either the NB-IoT technology or the LoRaWAN technology. According to an embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(i) comprises a number of different communication units CU(j) capable of implementing the primary communication mode G1 (e.g. a communication unit CU(j) configured to communicate in the NB-IoT technology and a communication unit CU(j) configured to communicate in the LoRaWAN technology), the control unit 215 can perform multiple attempts in sequence, each time using a different CU(j) communication unit (and therefore a different transmission technology).

[0102] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if the transmission of the measurement data M to the central acquisition system 180 is successfully performed (output branch S of block 320), the sequence ends and is ready to be repeated later (for example the next day).

[0103] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if none of the communication units CU(j) configured to transmit by the primary communication mode G1 has succeeded in transmitting the measurement data M to the central acquisition system (output branch N of block 320), the control unit 215 makes an attempt to transmit the measurement data M to the central acquisition system 180 by the secondary communication mode G2 (block 330). It is emphasized that, according to one embodiment, the secondary communication mode G2 is advantageously adopted only as a "backup" communication mode after an attempt using the primary communication mode G1 has failed, since the secondary communication mode G2 is an asynchronous communication mode (thus not allowing an effective bidirectional communication) and uses a non-negligible power consumption.

[0104] In this regard, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 controls a selected one of the communication units CU(j) available at the gas meter 110(i) and configured to use either the BLE or LoRaP2P technology for transmitting measurement data M to a nearby gas meter 110(k), which forwards, if possible, the received measurement data M to the central acquisition system 180. According to an embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(i) comprises several different communication units CU(j) capable of executing the secondary communication mode G2 (e.g. a communication unit CU(j) configured to communicate in BLE technology and a communication unit CU(j) configured to communicate in LoRaP2P technology), the control unit 215 can perform several attempts in sequence, each time using a different CU(j) communication unit (and therefore a different transmission technology).

[0105] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if the transmission of the measurement data M to the central acquisition system 180 is successfully performed (output branch S of block 340), the sequence ends and is ready to be repeated later (for example the next day).

[0106] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if none of the communication units CU(j) configured to transmit via the secondary communication mode G2 succeeds in transmitting the measurement data M to the central acquisition system (output branch N of block 340), the control unit 215 stores the not transmitted measurement data M locally, e.g. in the storage unit 230 (block 350), and the sequence ends, ready to be repeated later (e.g. the next day), by making a new attempt to transmit the not transmitted measurement data M together with any new measurement data M generated since the last unsuccessful transmission attempt.

[0107] 4A and 4B show in more detail (in terms of functional blocks) the operations performed by the control unit 215 of the gas meter 110(i) to manage the transmission of measurement data M to the central acquisition system 180, when the universal gas meter 110(i) according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a first communication unit CU(1) configured for NB-IoT transmission; a second communication unit CU(2) configured for LoRaWAN transmission; a third communication unit CU(3) configured for BLE transmission; A fourth communication unit CU(4) configured for LoRaP2P transmission.

[0108] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 controls the communication unit CU(1) to establish a connection with a (transmitting / receiving station of) the communication network 185 (in this case the NB-IoT network) via the NB-IoT communication channel C1 (block 402).

[0109] According to an embodiment of the present invention, in case of a successful connection to the communication network 185 (output branch S of block 404), the control unit 215 controls the communication unit CU(1) to transmit a data packet PK comprising the measurement data M from the gas meter 110(i) to the central acquisition system 180 (block 406). Thus, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the data packet PK is transmitted to the communication network 185 by means of the NB-IoT communication channel C1 and forwarded from the communication network 185 to the central acquisition system 180 by means of the NB-IoT communication channel C1′. The correct connection to the communication network 185 can be checked by the control unit 215 by any of the known NB-IoT network connection checking procedures.

[0110] According to an embodiment of the invention, the data packet PK may contain one or more of the following additional data: Possible warning messages; Possible error messages; Data on recorded temperatures; Data on recorded pressure; data on fire records; Data on earthquake records.

[0111] According to one embodiment of the present invention, once the data packet PK is transmitted to the central acquisition system 180, the control unit 215 waits (block 408) for a predetermined time interval (e.g., one day) and then attempts to instruct the CU(1) communication unit to re-establish a connection with the NB-IoT communication network 185 (returning to block 402).

[0112] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if the connection to the communication network 185 is not successful (output branch N of block 404), the control unit 215 instructs the communication CU(2) to establish a connection with (a transmitting / receiving station of) the communication network 185 (in this case the LoRaWAN network) via the LoRaWAN communication channel C1 (block 410).

[0113] According to an embodiment of the present invention, if the connection to the communication network 185 was successful (output branch S of block 412), the control unit 215 controls the communication unit CU(2) to transmit a data packet PK comprising the measurement data M from the gas meter 110(i) to the central acquisition system 180 (block 406). Thus, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the data packet PK is transmitted by the LoRaWAN C1 to the communication network 185 and forwarded by the LoRaWAN communication channel C1′ from the communication network 185 to the central acquisition system 180. The correct connection to the communication network 185 can be checked by the control unit 215 by any one of the known LoRaWAN network backup procedures.

[0114] According to one embodiment of the present invention, once again, once the data packet PK has been transmitted to the central acquisition system 180, the control unit 215 waits a predefined time interval (e.g., one day) and attempts to instruct the communication unit CU(1) to re-establish a connection with the NB-IoT communication network 185 (returning to block 402).

[0115] According to an embodiment of the present invention, if the connection to the communication network 185 is not successful (output branch N of block 412), it means that the gas meter 110(i) is currently unable to allow communication by the primary communication mode G1, for example because of problems with the 185 communication network or because the point 105(i) at which the gas meter 110(i) is installed is located in a place that is not under radio coverage by the communication network 185. In this case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 attempts to establish a "backup" communication by the secondary communication mode G2. Thus, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 selects from the proximity table PT a gas meter 110(k) (k ≠ i) located in the vicinity of the gas meter 110(i) (block 414).

[0116] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 checks whether such gas meter 110(k) is reachable from the communication unit CU(3) by BLE communication channel C2 (block 416). For example, this check may be done by any of the known connectivity check procedures for P2P networks based on whether the gas meter 110(k) receives a response.

[0117] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if it is found that the gas meter 110(k) is not reachable from the BLE communication channel CU(3)C2 (output branch N of block 416), the control unit 215 checks whether there is a further gas meter 110(k) (k≠i) located in the vicinity of the gas meter 110(i) in the proximity table PT (block 418).

[0118] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if there is a further gas meter 110(k) in the proximity table PT that is located in the vicinity of the gas meter 110(i) (output branch S of block 418), the control unit 215 selects said further gas meter 110(k) (block 420) and repeats the above operations to check whether said further gas meter 110(k) is reachable from the communication unit CU(3) by means of the BLE communication channel C2 (back to block 416).

[0119] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(k) is reachable from the communication unit CU(3) via the BLE communication channel C2 (output branch S of block 416), the control unit 215 checks whether the gas meter 110(k) is able to communicate with the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) by the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channel C2′ (block 422).

[0120] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(k) cannot communicate with the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) via the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channel C2′ (output branch N of block 422), the control unit 215 checks whether there are further gas meters located in the vicinity of the gas meter 110(i) in the proximity table PT110(k) (k≠i) (return to block 418).

[0121] According to an embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(k) can communicate with the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) by the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channel C2' (output branch S of block 422), the control unit 215 controls the communication unit CU(3) to transmit a data packet PK including the measurement data M from the gas meter 110(i) to the further gas meter 110(k) by the BLE communication channel C2 (block 424). The data packet PK received by the communication unit CU(3) of the further gas meter 110(k) is then transmitted by the communication unit CU(1) or CU(2) of the further gas meter 110(k) to the central acquisition system 180 via the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) by the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channels C2' and C1'.

[0122] At this point, according to one embodiment of the invention, the control unit 215 waits (block 408) a predetermined time interval (e.g., one day) and attempts to instruct the communication unit CU(1) to re-establish a connection with the NB-IoT communication network 185 (returning to block 402).

[0123] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if none of the gas meters 110(k) listed in the proximity table PT is able to receive the data packet PK from the gas meter 110(i) via the BLE communication channel C2 and is unable to forward the received data packet PK to the central acquisition system 180 via the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) via the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channels C2' and C1', or if the proximity table PT is empty (output branch N of block 418), the control unit 215 attempts to establish a "backup" communication using the LoRaP2P communication channel C2.

[0124] Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 selects in the proximity table PT a gas meter 110(k) (k≠i) located in the vicinity of the gas meter 110(i) (block 440).

[0125] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 checks whether the gas meter 110(k) is reachable from the communication unit CU(4) by the LoRaP2P communication channel C2 (block 442). For example, this check can be done by any of the known connectivity check procedures in P2P networks based on whether the gas meter 110(k) receives a response.

[0126] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(k) is not reachable from the LoRaP2P communication channel CU(4)C2 (output branch N of block 442), the control unit 215 checks whether there is a further gas meter 110(k) (k≠i) located in the vicinity of the gas meter 110(i) in the proximity table PT (block 444).

[0127] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if there is a further gas meter 110(k) in the proximity table PT located in the vicinity of the gas meter 110(i) (output branch S of block 444), the control unit 215 selects the further gas meter 110(l) (block 446) and repeats the above operations to check whether the further gas meter 110(k) is reachable from the communication unit CU(4) by the LoRaP2P communication channel C2 (back to block 442).

[0128] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(k) is reachable by the communication unit CU(4) via the LoRaP2P communication channel C2BLE (output branch S of block 442), the control unit 215 checks whether the gas meter 110(k) is able to communicate with the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) by the communication channel C2'NB-IoT or LoRaWAN (block 450).

[0129] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(k) cannot communicate with the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) via the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channel C2′ (output branch N of block 450), the control unit 215 checks whether there are further gas meters located in the vicinity of the gas meter 110(i) in the PT proximity table 110(k) (k≠i) (return to block 444).

[0130] According to an embodiment of the present invention, if the gas meter 110(k) can communicate with the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) by the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channel C2' (output branch S of block 450), the control unit 215 controls the communication unit CU(4) to transmit a data packet PK including the measurement data M from the gas meter 110(i) to the further gas meter 110(k) by the LoRaP2P communication channel C2 (block 452). The data packet PK received by the communication unit CU(4) of the further gas meter 110(k) is then transmitted by the communication unit CU(1) or CU(2) of the further gas meter 110(k) to the central acquisition system 180 via the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) by the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channels C2' and C1'.

[0131] At this point, according to one embodiment of the invention, the control unit 215 waits (block 408) a predetermined time interval (e.g., one day) and attempts to instruct the communication unit CU(1) to re-establish a connection with the NB-IoT communication network 185 (returning to block 402).

[0132] According to an embodiment of the present invention, if none of the gas meters 110(k) listed in the proximity table PT can receive a data packet PK from the gas meter 110(i) by the LoRaP2P communication channel C2 to forward the received data packet PK to the central acquisition system 180 via the communication network 185 (NB-IoT or LoRaWAN) by the NB-IoT or LoRaWAN communication channels C2' and C1', or if the proximity table PT is empty (output branch N of block 444), the gas meter 110(i) cannot communicate with the central acquisition system 180. In this situation, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 switches the operation of the gas meter 110(i) to a "measurement mode" in which the measurement data M is not transmitted to the central acquisition system 180 but is stored locally in the memory unit 230 (block 460).

[0133] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 215 maintains the gas meter 110(i) in metering mode for a predetermined time period TM, for example 15 days (block 462).

[0134] According to one embodiment of the invention, once the predefined time interval TM has elapsed, the control unit 215 checks whether it is possible to establish NB-IoT communication (block 464).

[0135] According to an embodiment of the present invention, if the NB-IoT communication still cannot be established (output branch N of block 464), the control unit 215 keeps the gas meter 110(i) in metering mode (return to block 460).

[0136] According to an embodiment of the present invention, upon expiration of the predefined time interval TM, if the NB-IoT communication can be re-established (output branch S of block 464), the control unit 215 interrupts the metering mode of the gas meter 110(i) (block 466) and commands the communication unit CU(1) to establish a connection with the (transmitting / receiving station of) the NB-IoT communication network 185 over the NB-IoT communication channel C1 (back to block 402). In this case, the data packet PK may include a number of metering data M related to the period spent by the gas meter 110(i) in the metering mode.

[0137] Returning to block 404, according to one embodiment of the present invention, if the connection to the NB-IoT communication network 185 is not successful (output branch N of block 404), in parallel with the operations already described, the control unit 215 starts a timer TRS for a predetermined time (for example equal to 180 days) (block 470) and, upon expiry of said timer TRS, performs a reset of the NB-IoT modem of the communication unit CU(1) (block 472).

[0138] According to one embodiment of the present invention, if after the NB-IoT modem reset, NB-IoT communication still cannot be established (output branch N of block 480), the control unit 215 reinitializes the TRS timer for a subsequent NB-IoT modem reset (return to block 470).

[0139] According to an embodiment of the present invention, if NB-IoT communication can be established after the NB-IoT modem reset (output branch S of block 480), the control unit 215 interrupts the measurement mode (if it was in that mode) of the gas meter 110(i) (block 466) and commands the communication unit CU(1) to establish a connection with the (transmitting and receiving station of) the NB-IoT communication network 185 via the NB-IoT communication channel C1 (return to block 402).

[0140] 4A and 4B includes a clear ordering of communication technologies, with the NB-IoT technology being attempted first, followed by the LoRaWAN, BLE and LoRaP2P technologies in sequence, it is emphasized that the inventive concept may be applied to a different ordering of communication technologies, so long as the communication technology associated with the primary communication mode G1 is performed before the communication technology associated with the secondary communication mode G2. For example, the first communication technology attempted may be the LoRaWAN technology, followed by the NB-IoT, BLE and LoRaP2P technologies in sequence, or the NB-IoT, LoRaP2P and BLE technologies in sequence.

[0141] Furthermore, the inventive concept may be applied to a different number and sequence of different communication technologies, for example some of the communication technologies may not be provided, such as LoRaWAN technology and / or LoRaP2P technology, and additional communication technologies may be provided, such as LoRaRelay technology or ZigBee technology.

[0142] For example, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a gas meter 110(i) may comprise a communication unit CU(j) configured to connect with a LoRaWAN network station by utilizing the communication units of adjacent gas meters as LoRaRelay nodes.

[0143] According to one embodiment of the present invention, when only a secondary communication mode G2 (e.g. utilizing a BLE or LoRaP2P communication channel C2) is available, the content of the data packet PK may be reduced (e.g. to include only the measurement data M) in order to minimize wasted power.

[0144] Of course, those skilled in the art can make various logical and / or physical modifications and changes to the above invention to meet local and specific requirements. More specifically, although the present invention has been described with some specificity with reference to its preferred embodiment, it should be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in form and details, as well as other embodiments, are possible. In particular, various embodiments of the present invention can be practiced without the specific details set forth in the preceding description in order to provide a better understanding thereof. Conversely, well-known functions may be omitted or simplified so as not to burden the description with unnecessary details.

[0145] (Example of use) The table shows some data collected by the ad-hoc sensing system regarding the reception performance of data transmitted by: - Prior art gas smart meters that are configured with only a single communication technology (NB-IoT technology) (referred to as "prior art" in the table), and - a gas smart meter according to the invention (referred to in the table as the subject of the invention) comprising two communication units according to a primary communication mode G1, respectively configured in NB-IoT and LoRaWAN technologies, and two communication units according to a secondary communication mode G2, respectively configured in BLE and LoRaP2P technologies.

[0146] [Table 1]

[0147] Three physical installation locations are shown in the table: Villafranca in Lunigiana (MS), Rome and Cosenza. Gas smart meters according to the invention were installed at exactly the same customer locations to replace prior art gas smart meters at the same physical locations, allowing a direct performance comparison between the two types of meters at the same physical locations.

[0148] As shown in the table, for example, the performance value of 75.35% using NB-IoT technology for the Rome location of the prior art gas smart meter is significantly lower than the performance value of 98.24% obtained by cascaded activation of NB-IoT, LoRaWAN, BLE and LoRaP2P technologies for the same physical location using a gas smart meter according to the present invention, enabling the present invention to achieve high performance and outstanding reliability in transmitting measurement data.

Claims

1. a measurement unit (225) for generating measurements indicative of gas delivery rates, the measurement unit (225) being operatively connected to the control unit (215) and transmitting said generated measurements in particular to said control unit (215); a first plurality of wireless communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; CU(j)) configured to communicate with a remote acquisition system (180) using a first type of wireless communication link and configured to transmit generated measurements, in particular measurements previously received by said control unit (215), each unit of said first plurality of wireless communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; CU(j)) configured with a communication link; a second plurality of wireless communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; CU(j)) configured to communicate with a remote acquisition system (180) using a second type of wireless communication link other than said first type of wireless communication link and configured to transmit generated measurements, in particular measurements previously received by said control unit (215), each unit of said second plurality of wireless communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; CU(j)) configured with a communication link; the control unit (215) configured to transmit measurement values ​​to the remote acquisition system (180) by the first communication mode or the second communication mode, and configured to perform a plurality of measurement value transmission attempts by sequentially controlling the first and second plurality of wireless communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) and the communication link of each of the first and second plurality of wireless communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)); A gas meter (110(i)).

2. the first type of wireless communication link comprises a first type of wireless communication link (C1; C2') between the gas meter and a communication network transceiver station (185) in communication with the remote acquisition system (180); the second type of wireless communication link includes a second type of wireless communication link (C2) between the gas meter (110(i)) and one gas meter (110(k)) selected from a group of other gas meters; The control unit (215) controlling said first communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) to transmit said measurements to said remote acquisition system (180) using said first type of wireless communication link (C1; C2'); controlling said second communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) to transmit said measurements to said remote acquisition system (180) using at least said second type of wireless communication link (C2) if said first type of wireless communication link (C1; C2') is unavailable; and transmitting the measurements by performing a series of operations including: The gas meter (110(i)) of claim 1.

3. the first type of wireless link (C1; C2') and the second type of wireless link include a wireless communication link using a licensed frequency band and a wireless communication link using an unlicensed frequency band; The wireless communication link utilizing a licensed frequency band, NB-IoT type communication links, GPRS communications link; UMTS communication link; GSM communications link; LTE communication link; 5G communication links, 6G communication link At least one of The wireless communication link utilizing an unlicensed frequency band, A wireless MBus type communication link (e.g. 169 MHz), communication links of the LoRa® type, in particular LoRaWAN Linka® and / or LoRaa® P2P links, A communication link of the Bluetooth type, a BLE type communication link, 6LoWPAN type communication link, ZigBee type communication link, At least one of The gas meter (110(i)) of claim 2.

4. 4. The gas meter (110(i)) according to claim 1, comprising at least one of the first plurality of wireless communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; CU(j)) configured to transmit the measurement values ​​by the wireless communication link based on a licensed frequency band, and at least one of the second plurality of wireless communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) configured to transmit the measurement values ​​by a wireless communication link based on an unlicensed frequency band.

5. the first type of wireless link is a network infrastructure based link; said second type of wireless link being a P2P type link, A gas meter (110(i)) according to claim 2 or 3.

6. The control unit (215) controlling said second communication plurality (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) to receive measurements generated by further gas meters from further gas meters of said group of other gas meters using said second wireless communication type (C2), controlling said first communication plurality (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) to transmit said received measurements produced by said further gas meters to said remote acquisition system using said first type wireless communication link (C2'). A gas meter (110(i)) according to one of claims 2 to 5, configured to perform a set of operations.

7. The first type of wireless communication link (C1; C2') comprises: a communication link of the NB-IoT type between a first unit of the plurality of communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) of the gas meter and a station of an NB-IoT network, a communication link of the LoRaWAN type between a first communication unit (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) of said gas meter and a station of the LoRaWAN network; The gas meter (110(i)) according to any one of claims 2 to 6, comprising one or more wireless communication links between the

8. 8. The gas meter (110(i)) according to claim 7, wherein said LoRaWAN type communication link is effected by means of a LoRa® Relay node, in particular a communication unit of one of said group of other gas meters.

9. 9. The gas meter (110(i)) according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the gas meter (110(i)) comprises two or more first communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)), each configured to communicate with a remote acquisition system (180) by means of a different wireless communication link, and the control unit (215) is configured to sequentially control the first communication units (CU(j)) to transmit the measurement values ​​to the remote acquisition system (180) by means of their respective wireless communication links.

10. The second type of wireless communication link (C2) comprises: a BLE communication link between a second communication unit (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) of said gas meter and a second communication unit of one of the other gas meters of said group; a LoRa® P2P communication link between a second communication unit (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) of said gas meter and a second communication unit of one of the other gas meters of said group; a ZigBee® communication link between a second communication unit (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) of said gas meter and a second communication unit of one of the other gas meters of said group; A gas meter according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising two or more wireless communication links between:

11. 11. The gas meter (110(i)) according to claim 10, wherein the gas meter (110(i)) comprises two or more second communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)), each configured to communicate with a remote acquisition system (180) by means of a different wireless communication link, and the control unit (215) is configured to sequentially control the second communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) to transmit the measurement values ​​to the remote acquisition system (180) by means of their respective wireless communication links.

12. the control unit (215) is configured to generate a proximity table listing the group of other gas meters; The group of other gas meters includes other gas meters that are sufficiently close to the gas meter to establish a potential second type of wireless communication link (C2). A gas meter (110(i)) according to any one of the preceding claims.

13. 1. A method for transmitting measurements indicative of gas delivery generated by gas meters (110(i)) at a plurality of locations (105(i)) to a central acquisition system (180), comprising: a) selecting and activating, by a control unit (215), a first communication unit (CU(1)) of a first plurality of communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) to establish a connection with a communication network transmitting / receiving station (185) by a wireless communication channel (C1) of a primary communication mode (G1); b) if said connection is successful, transmitting measurement data to a central acquisition system (180) over a communication channel (C1') of said primary communication mode (G1); c) acquiring, by said central acquisition system (180), said measurements indicative of gas delivery rates; d) if the connection is not successful, repeating steps a) to b) for each communication unit (CU(2) to CU(j)) of the first plurality of communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) (from 2 to j); e) if no connection has been successful during said iteration (j), selecting and activating, by the control unit (215), a first communication unit (CU(1)) of a second plurality of communication units (CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) for establishing a connection with said gas meter (110(k)), for k=i, by a communication channel (C2) of a secondary communication mode (G2); f) if the connection is not successful, repeating step e) for each communication unit (CU(2) to CU(j)) of the second plurality of communication units CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) (from 2 to j); g) if the connection is successful, connecting and checking, by the control unit (215), communication between the gas meter (110(k)) and the wireless communication network (185) over the communication channel (C2') of the secondary communication mode (G2); h) if the check by the control unit (215) is negative, repeating step g) for each communication unit (CU(2) to CU(j)) of the second plurality of communication units CU(1); CU(2); ...; (CU(j)) (from 2 to j); i) if the check by said control unit (215) is positive, transmitting the measurement data to a central acquisition system (180) by means of a communication channel (C1') of said secondary communication mode (G2); j) acquiring, by said central acquisition system (180), said measurements indicative of gas delivery rates; A method including each of the steps.

14. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein if any of the meters (110(k)) is unable to receive the measurement data from the gas meter (110(i)) via the communication channel (C2) or is unable to forward the received measurement data via the channels (C2') and (C1') through the communication network (185) to the central acquisition system, the control unit (215) stores the transmitted data in a memory unit of the gas meter (110(i)).

15. 1. A system (100) for obtaining measurements indicative of gas delivery at a plurality of locations (105(i)), comprising: a gas meter (110(i)) installed at each of said locations, said gas meter configured to generate measurements indicative of gas delivery at the location at which it is installed; a remote acquisition system (180) configured to receive said measurements from a gas meter; Including, Each gas meter is a gas meter according to any one of claims 1 to 14. System (100).

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