Utility Meter Display Segment Override for External Messages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Utility meters lack the ability to display messages from external sources and exchange data with remote locations, limiting their functionality and interoperability with external systems, and lack secure access control for altering their display routines.
Innovation Solution
A utility meter with a measurement circuit, memory, and a transceiver that allows it to receive and display priority messages from external sources, override its standard display routine, and securely manage access to different memory segments using passwords, enabling communication with remote devices and displaying external data on its display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the meter display is configured to show only data generated within the metering circuit, then the meter maintains simple firmware programming and standard display routines, but the meter cannot display data from external sources or provide enhanced functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The display is divided into multiple segments, with at least one segment dedicated to displaying external data while other segments continue to show internal meter data. This segmentation allows the meter to display both internal and external information simultaneously without requiring complete reprogramming of the display routine.
Solution Approach 2:
The meter display is designed to serve multiple functions: displaying internal meter data through standard routines and displaying external data received from remote sources. The display system becomes universal, handling both traditional metering information and external communications without requiring separate display devices.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the meter allows field reconfiguration to alter the display routine, then the meter provides some flexibility, but the display remains limited to functions and parameters found in the meter firmware
Solution Approach 1:
A receiver circuit acts as an intermediary between external data sources and the display system. This intermediary component enables the meter to receive and display external data without requiring complex firmware modifications, as the receiver handles the interface with external sources and passes data to the display segments.
3Productivity
If the meter displays priority messages from external sources, then the meter provides enhanced communication capability, but the standard meter display routine must be interrupted or overridden
Solution Approach 1:
The display system dynamically switches between standard meter display routine and external data display based on received signals. When a priority message is received, the display automatically interrupts the standard routine to show the external message, then returns to the standard routine afterward. This dynamic behavior is controlled by simple interrupt logic rather than complex reprogramming.
Data Source
AI summary
A utility meter comprises a measurement circuit configured to measure consumption data, a memory configured to store meter data including the consumption data, and a receiver configured to receive a priority message from a source external to the utility meter. A meter display on the meter comprises a plurality of display segments. The meter display is configured to display the meter data according to a standard meter display routine. The meter display is further configured to display the priority message on at least a first portion of the plurality of display segments such that meter data normally displayed during the standard meter display routine is not displayed on the first portion of the plurality of display segments. A meter controller is configured to determine whether the standard meter display routine should be interrupted or overridden in order to display the remote message.