FIELD OF INVENTION
The invention generally relates to system and methods for data collection from remote locations and more particularly to an automated data collection system which collects data from instruments, and processes and stores the data for routing to end users and business systems.
BACKGROUND
Mesh Network is a group of two or more devices linked together. It consists of different nodes with a single Master where the data is exchanged in the form of packets. Mesh networks extend the connectivity area of devices beyond the limited range of a single access point.. Mesh - network is characterized by dynamic self- organization, self-configuration and self-healing to enable quick deployment, easy maintenance, low cost, high scalability and reliable services, as ',,-.. well as enhancing network capacity, connectivity and resilience.
, A wireless mesh protocol creates a network of objects which can communicate with each other and can get connected to the internet using Low Power Radio. As the world is trying to connect each "Things" to the internet, the importance of wireless mesh network is very high. ZigBee and 6LowPan provides Mesh Networking solutions. However, the data format has to be modified to support Zigbee and 6LowPan protocols and the mesh network formed will be stable only in well planned cities. Also, the ZigBee protocol is mainly developed on 2.4 GHz band because of which it has less line of sight communication range. There are security issues with Zigbee protocol since the ZigBee packet can be analysed by any third party.

Hence, there is a need to develop a proprietary wireless protocol which can be interfaced to any of the existing data collection instruments without any source code modification and where there is complete control over the network formation so that it can be implemented in any geographical conditions.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Exemplary embodiments of the invention disclose a data collection system that collects and
processes ..telemetry data received from remote locations. .According to an exemplary
embodiment; the disclosed system includes a plurality of instruments "configured to transmit
■. . the telemetry data to a coordinator module through a wireless communication module. The
,-■$<, .wireless communication module supports a layered protocol architecture: The layered protocol
i. architecture having a physical layer supporting wired and wireless transmission, a MAC layer,
Vi a network layer supporting a mesh and star network; and an application layer supporting a
• ■ plurality of applications. The system further includes a plurality of coordinator modules and a
processing module. The coordinator modules are configured to receive the telemetry data from
the plurality of instruments through the wireless communication module. The processing
module is configured to receive the telemetry data from the coordinator module and process
the telemetry data.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:
Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of a process for collecting and processing telemetry data received from remote locations, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary data collection system using a mesh network; Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary data collection system using a star network; and Figure 4 illustrates a layered protocol architecture; and Figure 5 illustrates a packet header format.
DETAILED DESCR[PTION OF DRAWINGS
\,.*j-.The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist if. in-a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by
,.'-pi the claims and their-equivalents. It includes various'specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
According to embodiments of the invention, a system and method for providing a data collection system that collects and processes telemetry data received from remote locations is disclosed.

FIG. I illustrates a block diagram-of the process 100 for collecting and processing telemetry data received from remote locations, according to an embodiment of the invention.
At step 102, the telemetry data is transmitted from a plurality of instruments. According to an embodiment, the transmission is through a wireless network. According to another embodiment, the wireless network may be a mesh network or a star network.
At step 104, the telemetry data is received from the plurality of instruments by one or more coordinators.
. At step 106, the telemetry data is received from the one or more coordinators by a processor.
.;, According to an embodiment, the processor may process and store the telemetry data for
•:, routing to end users and business systems. • '..-•■.""•!■' ' .■•-•:.-
/.FIG: 2 illustrates an exemplary data collection system that collects and processes telemetry ". data received from remote-locations, according to one. embodiment of the present invention.-
According to an exemplary embodiment, the data collection system may be an automatic meter
reading system.
The disclosed system 200 may include a plurality of instruments, a plurality of coordinator modules 212 and a processing module 214.
The system 200 may include a plurality of instruments 202, 204, 206, 208 and 210. According to an embodiment, the plurality of instruments may be measuring instruments. According to

an exemplary embodiment, the measuring instrument may be a water meter, gas meter or electricity meter.
According to an embodiment, the plurality of instruments may be configured to transmit the telemetry data to a coordinator module. According to an embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, the plurality of instruments may be connected to each other and to the coordinator module through a mesh network. According to another embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, the plurality of instruments may be connected to the coordinator module through a star network. According to yet another embodiment, there may be one or more coordinator modules and one instrument may be connected to one coordinator module. The transmission of the telemetry data to the one.or more coordinator modules may be through a wireless communication module. According to another embodiment, the wireless communication module may support a layered .••; protocol architecture; Figure 4 shows the layered protocol architecture having a physical layer y.\. 402, a MAC layer 404, a network layer 406 and an application layer 408.
■ ••-.The physical .layer 402 may.support wired and wireless communication.. The* physical layer may handle features-including, activation and deactivation of. radio transceiver, power level detection within current channel, received signal strength indication for received packets, channel frequency selection and data transmission and reception. According to an embodiment, a user may configure a type of physical media required for communication. According to an exemplary embodiment, the user may use AT command to select the mode of communication. According to an exemplary embodiment, ATCOMMODE XY command may be used to select the mode of communication. According to another embodiment, the physical. layer supports 866 MHz, 2.4 GHz and RS485 bandwidth. According to yet another embodiment, user may connect his device (device loaded with protocol stack) to PC using a

serial interface. The user may enter one or more commands from hyper terminal or any other application that supports serial communication.
The MAC layer 404 may describe the different devices used in the protocol and procedure to manage different frames. The functionalities of MAC layer may include managing coordinator, slave device, repeater and HHU, performing Automatic Close in reception Detection and Control (ACDC) to avoid data loss due to closely packed devices, supporting commissioning process, managing different frames and device addressing.
The MAC layer may support commissioning. According, to an embodiment, the
commissioning may be used for manual network formation when there is no predefined
arrangement for node devices. In automatic mode, the network formation is very fast.
.? According to an exemplary embodiment, it may take less than 50 seconds to form a network
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