Energy Management Apparatus Secure Meter Pairing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In home energy management systems face challenges in correctly forming pairs between meter apparatuses and energy management apparatuses installed in customers' homes, particularly when these are separate entities, leading to difficulties in collecting actual energy usage data and implementing energy control instructions due to insecure communication and processing loads.
Innovation Solution
An energy management apparatus with a communicator for interacting with both meter and server apparatuses, a device registration processor for secure association, and a control executor for managing energy usage based on received instructions, utilizing protocols like ANSI C12.22 for communication and encryption to ensure security and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the meter apparatus and energy management apparatus are separately installed in a home, then the system flexibility and deployment ease are improved, but it becomes difficult to correctly form a pair of the meter apparatus and energy management apparatus by the server apparatus
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the meter apparatus transmit its device identifier to the server apparatus in advance, before the energy management apparatus needs to be paired. The server apparatus stores this identifier and uses it to correctly associate the separately installed energy management apparatus with its corresponding meter apparatus, thereby solving the pairing difficulty while maintaining deployment flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The server apparatus acts as an intermediary between the separately installed meter apparatus and energy management apparatus. It receives the device identifier from the meter apparatus, stores it, and uses this intermediate information to establish correct associations when energy management apparatus are deployed, enabling reliable pairing without requiring direct communication between the meter and energy management apparatus at installation time
2Ease of operation
If the device identifier and registration information are transmitted in plaintext via the Internet, then the communication simplicity is improved, but the security and confidentiality of the data transmission deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by transforming the device identifier from plaintext to encrypted form before transmission via the Internet. The encryption process changes the parameter of data format while maintaining the underlying information structure, thereby securing the communication without significantly complicating the overall system operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the plaintext transmission mechanism with an encrypted transmission mechanism. Instead of directly sending readable device identifiers over the Internet, the system uses encryption algorithms to transform the data, replacing the simple but insecure mechanical transmission with a more complex but secure cryptographic process
Data Source
AI summary
An energy management apparatus includes: a communicator capable of communicating with at least a meter apparatus among the meter apparatus and a server apparatus that collects measurement information from the meter apparatus; a device registration processor configured to determine whether the direct communicator to the server apparatus can communicate with the server apparatus; if the direct communication is possible, transmit to the server apparatus a device registration message that requests to register a device identifier of the meter apparatus and a device identifier of the energy management apparatus; and, if the direct communication to the server apparatus is not possible, transmit the device registration message for the server apparatus to the meter apparatus; a communication processor configured to obtain energy control information of the device transmitted from the server apparatus; and a control executor configured to control the used energy amount of the device based on the energy control information.