Smart Meter Address Allocation via Master Slave Adapters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for address assignment in smart metering systems face challenges when integrating wireless and wired communication networks, particularly due to high latency in radio networks, which prevents timely address assignment and compatibility with wired networks' time slots, making it difficult to network meters with smart meter gateways efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A method and system utilizing a master adapter and slave adapters for bidirectional data communication via a radio network, allowing time-based HDLC address assignment, where slave adapters assign addresses to meters in wired networks and master adapters manage address allocation from the gateway, ensuring compatibility with 5 ms time slots and handling latency in radio networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If time-based address assignment is used in wired networks with 5 ms time slots, then address assignment is reliable and quick, but devices cannot be used in radio networks due to high latency exceeding the time slot duration
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the address assignment process into two independent parts: time-based address assignment between slave adapter and meters (wired network), and sequential address confirmation between master adapter and gateway (radio network). This segmentation allows each part to use the most appropriate method for its network type, resolving the contradiction between reliability and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The slave adapter acts as an intermediary that receives addresses from the master adapter via radio network and distributes them to multiple meters via wired connections. This intermediary enables the system to use sequential address assignment for radio communication while maintaining time-based assignment for wired meter connections, thus bridging the compatibility gap between different network types.
2Reliability
If sequential address assignment is used for radio networks, then latency issues are avoided, but the process becomes time-consuming and less efficient
Solution Approach 1:
The slave adapter performs preliminary address assignment to all meters using time-based assignment before communicating with the master adapter. This preliminary action prepares all addresses in advance, so that when the master adapter sequentially confirms addresses with the gateway, the actual meter communication can proceed efficiently without time losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges two address assignment approaches by having the slave adapter use time-based assignment for rapid address distribution to meters, while the master adapter uses sequential assignment for reliable radio communication with the gateway. This combination allows the system to benefit from both methods' advantages simultaneously.
3Quantity of substance
If multiple slave adapters are used to manage large numbers of meters, then address assignment capacity increases, but coordination complexity between multiple master adapters increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the management of multiple slave adapters by assigning each to a dedicated master adapter. This segmentation creates independent management units, where each master-slave pair handles a specific subset of meters, thereby reducing the coordination complexity that would arise from direct many-to-many interactions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a hierarchical dimension to the address assignment structure, with master adapters operating at one level and slave adapters at another. This dimensional organization allows multiple slave adapters to be managed systematically through their respective master adapters, transforming a potentially complex flat coordination problem into a structured hierarchical system.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for assigning addresses to a plurality of meters for consumption measurement at a gateway configured to exchange data bidirectionally with the plurality of meters via unique addresses, wherein: - one or more meters perform time-based address assignment with a slave adapter via a wired network, and - a master adapter is connected to the gateway via another wired network and to the slave adapter via a wireless network for bidirectional data exchange, wherein the master adapter is configured to receive the addresses from the slave adapter and assign each of the received addresses to an unused address of the gateway, - the gateway performs time-based address assignment for the assigned addresses of the master adapter via the other wired network with the master adapter.