Relative-Adaptive Meter Encoding Under IoT Bandwidth Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical monitoring systems face challenges in transmitting high-precision electrical measurement data over IoT protocols, which have limited bandwidth, leading to potential errors and inaccuracies in revenue-grade monitoring.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a relative-adaptive decoding (RAD) scheme that represents and transmits monitoring data by adapting precision based on value deviations from a baseline, reserving higher resolution for values closer to the baseline and reducing precision for values farther away, thereby optimizing bandwidth usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high-precision electrical measurement data is transmitted using traditional encoding methods, then measurement precision is maintained, but bandwidth consumption increases beyond IoT protocol limits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating precision requirements for different measurement values. Values close to the baseline (normal operating conditions) are encoded with high precision using more bits, while values far from the baseline (abnormal conditions) are encoded with lower precision using fewer bits. This resolves the contradiction by allocating bandwidth resources locally based on the actual need for precision at each measurement point.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making the encoding precision adaptive rather than static. The encoder dynamically adjusts the number of bits used to represent measurement values based on their deviation from the baseline. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain high measurement precision when needed while reducing bandwidth consumption during normal operations, directly resolving the technical contradiction.
2Quantity of substance
If adaptive precision encoding is used to reduce bandwidth consumption, then bandwidth usage is optimized, but measurement precision is reduced for values far from baseline
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the precision parameter (number of bits) based on the measurement value's characteristics. When measurement values are close to the baseline, higher precision parameters are used; when values are far from the baseline, lower precision parameters are used. This parameter adaptation resolves the contradiction by ensuring that precision is maintained at acceptable levels while optimizing overall bandwidth usage across all measurements.
3Measurement precision
If fixed precision encoding is used for all measurement values, then measurement accuracy is consistent, but bandwidth is wasted on high-precision transmission of abnormal values
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by providing high-precision encoding only when necessary (for values close to the baseline) rather than for all measurements. For abnormal values far from the baseline, lower precision encoding is sufficient, avoiding the excessive bandwidth consumption that would result from applying high-precision encoding universally. This resolves the contradiction by eliminating wasted bandwidth while maintaining necessary measurement accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
An electricity usage monitor may include a coupling component to couple the electricity usage monitor to monitor an electrical circuit, a meter to measure electricity usage of the electrical circuit, an encoder to receive, from the meter, an electricity usage measurement to generate a measurement transmission based on the electricity usage measurement, and a communication interface configured to receive the measurement transmission from the encoder and to transmit the measurement transmission into a communication network for communication to a destination on the communication network.