Smart Meter Data Collection With Gateway-Based Non-Repudiation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smart meter systems face challenges in ensuring the integrity and non-repudiation of consumption data collected remotely, particularly when different types of smart meters with varying communication protocols are involved, leading to disputes and the need for costly manual verification.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilizes asymmetric encryption and gateways to relay consumption data from secondary smart meters, ensuring non-repudiation by generating and verifying hashcodes, allowing integration of secondary smart meters into existing infrastructure using primary smart meters' communication protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If consumption data are transmitted remotely through communication networks, then automation and efficiency are improved, but data integrity and non-repudiation cannot be ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by generating hashcodes and digital signatures before data transmission. The smart meter creates a hashcode of the consumption data and signs it with its private key before sending the data through the communication network. This pre-prepared cryptographic evidence ensures data integrity and non-repudiation from the moment of data creation, maintaining reliability while enabling automated remote collection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses hashcodes as an intermediary element between the smart meter and the information system. The hashcode serves as a cryptographic mediator that verifies data integrity without requiring direct trust between the meter and the central system. The gateway also acts as an intermediary that relays signed data from secondary meters to the concentrator, enabling automated collection while preserving data authenticity.
2Reliability
If manual verification is performed by operators, then data disputes are resolved, but operational costs and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the smart meter to automatically generate and attach digital signatures and hashcodes to its own consumption data. The meter autonomously creates cryptographic proof of data authenticity without requiring external verification. This self-verification mechanism eliminates the need for manual operator intervention, resolving data disputes automatically while reducing time and cost losses.
3Adaptability or versatility
If existing infrastructure is modified to support multiple meter types, then system versatility is improved, but complexity of the collection system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses gateways as intermediaries to handle protocol conversion between secondary smart meters and the central concentrator. The gateway receives signed data from secondary meters using protocol P1, encapsulates it in protocol P2 format, and forwards it to the concentrator. This intermediary approach enables multi-protocol support without requiring the central infrastructure to directly handle multiple protocols, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the collection infrastructure into distinct functional components: primary smart meters communicating directly with the concentrator, secondary smart meters communicating through gateways, and the information system processing all data uniformly. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific protocol while maintaining overall system versatility, preventing complexity from propagating throughout the entire system.
4Reliability
If asymmetric encryption is implemented for each secondary smart meter, then non-repudiation is ensured, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the computationally intensive asymmetric encryption operation at the source (smart meter) before data transmission. The meter signs the hashcode of its consumption data with its private key immediately when the data is generated. This upfront cryptographic processing ensures non-repudiation while allowing the transmitted data to be efficiently relayed and verified without repeated heavy computation along the transmission path.
Data Source
AI summary
In an automated management system, an information system delegates a collection of consumption data to a data concentrator. Through a communication network, consumption data from primary smart meters are collected in the form of business data formatted in accordance with a communication protocol. To collect consumption data from secondary smart meters, at least one gateway is used, the consumption data then being collected in the form of business data formatted in accordance with a communication protocol. An asymmetric encryption is used end to end to ensure non-repudiation of the data collected from the secondary smart meters, and the business data formatted in accordance with a communication protocol are encapsulated in business data formatted in accordance with a communication protocol to enable them to be transported via the communication network.