Claims:I CLAIM:

1. A system (100) for data management from a plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties comprising:
the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties;
a plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) further comprising a basic unit (207) and a plurality of configuring means (215);
at least one internet enabled communication device (500) and an application specific software (501) resides therein;
and at least a first server (400), a data acquisition software (402) installed therein along with a database (401);
wherein each configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a-200n) communicatively coupled to the corresponding non-intelligent utility meter (101a-101n) of different varieties have a communicable coupling there between, wherein the communicable coupling is a mechanical interface and a communication interface, wherein the mechanical interface comprises the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a-200n) suitable for each variety of the non-intelligent utility meter (101a-101n), and wherein the communication interface comprises a plurality of application programming interface specific to each variety of a non-DLMS utility meter and DLMS compliant utility meter.
2. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the basic unit (207) comprises an engaging portion (208) having a first engaging surface (209) and a second engaging surface (216), the first engaging surface (209) as well as the second engaging surface (216) having at least one or more “type A” fitment provisions (210) and one or more type “B” fitment provisions (214) at different angular and radial locations, for disposing the plurality of configuring means (215), the plurality of configuring means (215) is at least one of a plurality of size-one projection (212), a plurality of size-two projection (213) and a plurality of magnets (217).
3. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a) has at least one size-one projection (212) such that the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a) gets securely locked as the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a) is accommodated within a predefined diameter and twisted clockwise such that a part of the size-one projection (212) is engaged in a plurality of concentric receiver (105) disposed on a particular variety of non-intelligent utility meter (200a).
4. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200b) has at least one size-two projection (213) and a plurality of magnets (217) such that the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200b) gets securely locked when the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200b) is accommodated within a socket (109) and locked in a gate (108) disposed on a particular variety of non-intelligent utility meter (200b).
5. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200c) has at least one size-two projection (213) and a plurality of magnets (217) such that the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200c) gets securely locked as the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200c) is accommodated within a partial limiting circular wall (116) and not allowed to rotate due to a stopper (117) disposed on a particular variety of non-intelligent utility meter (200c).
6. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the basic unit (207) having a type “A” fitment provisions (210) on the first engaging surface (209) is produced by a dual construction in a mold – a first construction (210a) formed by a first part (218) of a moving portion of a mold and a second construction (210b) formed by a second part (219) of a fixed portion of the mold.
7. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) have an internal architecture of electronic circuitry comprising:
- a power source (201), wherein the power source (201) is a rechargeable battery,
- a communication module (202), wherein the communication module (202) is any one of a Wi-Fi module, a Zigbee module wherein each communication module (200) has a unique identification number,
- a multipurpose indicator (203), wherein the multi-purpose indicator (203) is at least a light indicator, indicating at least one of-
o a charging of the rechargeable battery and
o on/off state of the plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n),
- an enabler (204) to switch-on and switch-off the plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n),
- one or more connecting ports (205) for externally charging the power source (201),
- an Opto-coupler (206) further comprising a receiving light sensitive diode Rx and a transmitting light emitting diode Tx,
- a serial communication port, and
- a position tracking module (207).
8. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 7, wherein the enabler (204) is an electronic switch that is enabled when the communication device (500) enters into a hotspot range of the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) and is disabled otherwise.

9. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication device (500) and the plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) have a bidirectional communication by any one of a Wi-Fi module, a Zigbee module and one or more Subscriber Identity Module.
10. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) have access to a raw data (700) of the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) and the plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) transmits the raw data (700) concurrently to such communication device (500) that sends a recognizable instruction according to the application specific software (501).
11. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the application specific software (501) installed in the communication device (500) has a graphic user interface with provision for:

a ‘Wi-Fi hotspot’ settings, with further provisions for,
(i) a ‘Network name’ (433),
(ii) a ‘Security’ (434),
(iii) a ‘Password’ (435),
(iv) an ‘AP Identification’ (404) and
(v) ‘Select AP Band’ (405);

a detail for an assigned (406) meter or an unknown (407) meter, comprising,
(i) a ‘Mtr’ (426) which is an abbreviation for a serial number for a “utility meter” and its manufacturer’s name,
(ii) a ‘Status’ (427) of receiving of the raw data (700), and
(iii) an ‘Upload Status’ (428) of transmitting of the raw data (700), wherein an ‘Up arrow’ (431) symbol appears when an internet (103) communication of the communication device (500) is OFF and wherein a ‘cloud arrow’ (432) symbol appears when the internet (103) connection in the communication device (500) is ON and the raw data (700) is transmitted to the first server (400);

an ‘option’ (418) for -
i. ‘Server Settings’ (408) including fields - a ‘FTP Host’ (416), an ‘FTP Username’ (417), an ‘FTP Password’ (419) and ‘FTP Server Directory’ (420),
ii. ‘Add New Meter’ (409),
iii. ‘Upload Assigned Meters Files’ (410),
iv. ‘Upload Unknown Meters Files’ (411),
v. ‘Import Meters Data’ (412),
vi. ‘Export Meters Data’ (413), and
vii. ‘Unregister License’ (415);
whereby the application specific software (501) identifies the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101-101n) that are pre-configured in the communication device (500) and also that are newly identified, the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) that are pre-configured appear in the ‘Assigned’ (406) tab whereas the newly identified meters appear in the ‘Unknown’ (407) tab, an operator adds newly identified meter by entering its serial number (430) and thereby selecting the make of the non-intelligent utility meter (101a-101n).
12. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data acquisition software (402) installed in the first server (400) manages,
- ‘Instantaneous’ (701) data including phase voltages, line currents, power factor and power at a given instant,
- ‘Energy’ (702) data,
- ‘Load Survey’ (703) data including average values of voltages and current,
- ‘Tampers’ (704) data including low voltage, no voltage, high voltage, current circuits open or reversed, load imbalance, voltage unbalance,
- ‘Mid-Night Snapshot’ (705) data, and
- ‘SIM-Switching Logs’ (706) data.
13. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data acquisition software (402) differentiates between a DLMS compliant utility data and a non-DLMS compliant utility data from a first four characters (711 or 712) of the raw data (700).
14. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system (100) manages a utility data of and from a variety of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n), through a coordinated execution of the instructions from the application specific software (501) and the data acquisition software (402), comprising:
i. Step (601) - enabling the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n),
ii. Step (602) - enabling a hotspot of the communication device (500) resulting in the communication device (500) sending an application specific command to each detected configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a-200n) to send its unique identification and the utility data including but not limited to
a. Instantaneous data
b. Energy data
c. Average consumption data
d. Unusual Events information
e. Transition data
iii. Step (603) - verifying whether the defined number of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) are paired to the communication device (500),
iv. Step (604) – for configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) successfully paired, the communication device (500) receiving the raw data from the variety of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) and storing the data in .txt format into the internal storage of the communication device (500),
v. Step (605) - for configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) unpaired, a manual check of the optical trans-receiving devices (101a-101n) properly mounted and sufficiently charged, followed by Step (606) - proper mounting of the optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) to the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) after charging configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n),
vi. Step (607) - data integrity check,
vii. Step (608) - upon successful data integrity check, establishing a FTP connection with the first server (400) and upon data integrity check fail, repeating step (604),
viii. Step (610) - uploading the raw data (700) files to the FTP folder of the first server (400) upon successful connection in Step (609), else step (611) – displaying “connection failed”,
ix. Step (612) - performing a Cyclic Redundancy Check test, upon passing the step (612), converting the raw data (700) into ASCI format, Step (614), else placing the raw data (700) into separate folder, step (613),
x. Step (615) – identifying make of the non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) and accordingly selecting and applying at least one of a DLMS and Non-DLMS protocols, step (616) and step (617), to the raw data (700),
xi. Step (618) - converting the raw data (700) files into a Common Data Format (CDF) file in XML format as per Minimum Interoperability Standards (MIOS),
xii. Step (619) - extracting data from XML files and inserting into the database (401),
xiii. Step (620), upon passing data validation, sharing the utility data to the third party billing system step (622) whereas upon failure of data validation, placing the data into the separate folder (621).
15. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data acquisition software (402) comprises a plurality of Application Programming Interface (API’s) further comprising a data acquisition API and a plurality of conversion API’s, the data acquisition API’s receive the raw data (700) files from variety of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) as transmitted by the communication device (500) whereas conversion API’s convert the raw data (700) files in Hexadecimal format as per MIOS standards.
16. The system (100) for data management from the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties as claimed in claim 1, wherein the utility data in the readable format is deployed for billing, analyses and resource planning.
, Description:FORM 2

The Patents Act, 1970
(39 f 1970)
&
The Patents Rules 2003

Complete Specification
(See section 10 and rule 13)

Title of the Invention

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DATA MANAGEMENT FROM
A VARIETY OF NON-INTELLIGENT UTILITY METERS

Applicant: AMI TECH (INDIA) PVT. LTD.
Nationality: Indian
Address: Plot No: 871/B/1-1,
GIDC Makarpura,
Vadodara – 390010, Gujarat,
India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The present invention is generally related to non-intelligent utility meters, particularly to the automated meter reading devices connected to the non-intelligent utility meters and more particularly to the management of data from the non-intelligent utility meters.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Utility meters are employed to monitor the consumption of energy, gas, water et cetera. The utility meters may generally be categorised into conventional, non-intelligent meters and smart meters. A legacy method of collecting the utility data included an operator visiting the premises to visually read the utility meter and capture the meter reading manually or, of late, pictorially. The data is then forwarded to the utility companies. This is a labour intensive, time consuming process and the human element of keying in of the utility data is error-prone.
[0003] Smart utility meters on the other hand are capable of directly communicating the utility data to the destination.
[0004] Non intelligent utility meters additionally have an optical outlet in the form of Opto-couplers, an Optical cord or Optical Probes. The Optical Probes are used to download data from meters to Common Meter Reading Instrument (CMRI). CMRI is a handheld computer capable of interrogating with various makes of meters when loaded with meter reading instrument programs.
[0005] Patent Application no. US20150088442A1 teaches method of providing utility usage information to a user that includes receiving utility usage data, processing the received utility data, storing the processed data and reporting the data to the user.
[0006] Patent Application no. 1692/CHE/2010 teaches reception, transmission, storing, processing of energy meter data and analysis of energy meters. The system includes group of data concentrators to communicate the data from meter to the meter data management systems.
[0007] Patent Application no. 1280/MUM/2013 teaches a Meter Interface Unit (MIU) that is installed on consumer energy meter and Data Concentrator Unit (DCU) that is installed in the range of multiple MIU’s. The MIU communicates with energy meter and stores its data with itself. The DCU communicates with multiple MIUs and collects their data with itself. After DCU collects the data from all MIUs, it connects to remote server stored at Data Center and transmits all data to it using File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
[0008] Patent Application no. US20050104744A1 teaches an interface module adapted to couple to the meter. The interface module includes an optical transceiver for reading analog meter faces.
[0009] Patent no. US7256709B2 teaches wireless transmission and receiving of data to and from meter through IrDA port, wherein IrDA port is mounted on face of the meter to allow data to be read using handheld computing device which processes the read data using application software installed in the handheld computing device. The processed data is transmitted to the server.
[0010] Patent Application no. 3605/CHE/2011 discusses sending the energy meter reading as SMS through GSM or CDM cell phone technology. The cell phone device is connected through Optocoupler interfacing unit circuit with the electronic Energy meter.
[0011] Patent no. CN202956885U teaches meter reading system based on smart phone. The teletransmission meter transits data to the transponder by way of wired or wireless transmission. The transponder further forwards the data to the smart phone.
[0012] Patent no. 864/CHE/2006 discloses the automated meter reading systems. The communication nodes collect the utility usage data from the utility meters, the ad-hoc mesh network is capable of dynamically routing the utility data to the controller station and further to the central monitoring station.
[0013] Patent Application no. 1511/CHE/2012 discloses metering units linked with interface units wherein each interface unit collects data from utility meter, the interface unit establishes connection with the data collector that further transmits the data to the central host server.
[0014] Patent Application no. 5066/CHE/2013 discusses an energy interface unit which comprises an interaction section to obtain the signal from energy meter. Further it comprises a communication section to send the processed signal and receive at least one remote instruction.
[0015] There is a large population of non-intelligent utility meters in the field. Significantly, at any point of time, utility meters in service are of different make and therefore have marked difference in mechanical construction as well as data formats. It is a challenge to unify a system around them.

OBJECTIVES
[0016] An objective of a present invention is to remotely collect and transmit real-time utility data from and of non-intelligent utility meters.
[0017] Another objective of the present invention is to remotely collect real-time utility data from a variety of non-intelligent utility meters.
[0018] Another objective of the present invention is to invent a portable device adaptable on already-installed variety of utility meters for fetching utility data.
[0019] Another objective of the present invention is to minimize human intervention in collection and transmission of utility data.
[0020] Another objective of the present invention is to prevent unauthorized access to the utility data.

SUMMARY
[0021] Present invention is a system for data management from a plurality of non-intelligent utility meters of different varieties and comprises a plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices, at least one internet enabled communication device, and at least a first server. An application specific software resides in each internet enabled communication device. The plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices is communicatively coupled to the corresponding plurality of non-intelligent utility meters for capturing the utility data. The utility data is transmitted to the communication device and further to the first server for processing and analysing the utility data. The utility data is transmitted to the first server as a raw data which is converted to a readable form at the first server end. The variety of non-intelligent meters have mechanical as well as communication protocol differences which present invention effectively manages. The present invention recognizes a minimum commonality in the fixing provisions for various makes of the non-intelligent utility meters.
[0022] The configurable optical trans-receiving device comprises a basic unit and a plurality of configuring means. The basic unit comprises of an engaging portion having a first engaging surface and a second engaging surface. The first engaging surface as well as the second engaging surface has one or more “type A” fitment provisions and or one or more type “B” fitment provisions at different angular and radial locations, for disposing the plurality of configuring means. The plurality of configuring means includes a plurality of size-one projection, a plurality of size-two projection and or a plurality of magnets.
[0023] An internal architecture of electronic circuitry of the configurable optical trans-receiving device comprises a power source, a communication module, a multipurpose indicator, an enabler, one or more connecting ports, an Opto-coupler, a serial communication port, and a position tracking module.
[0024] The data acquisition software installed in the first server manages ‘Instantaneous’, ‘Energy’ data, ‘Load Survey’, ‘Tampers’, ‘Mid-Night Snapshot’ data, and ‘SIM-Switching Logs’ data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0025] Figure 1 is system architecture for data management from a variety of non-intelligent utility meters while Figures 1A and 1B are two variations of the system.
[0026] Figures 2A, 2B and 2C are perspective views of different makes of the non-intelligent utility meters.
[0027] Figure 3 is a perspective view of a basic unit and a plurality of configuration means of a configurable optical trans-receiving device.
[0028] Figures 3A, 3B and 3C are perspective views of differently configured optical trans-receiving devices.
[0029] Figures 3D and 3E are details of a dual construction to mold the basic unit.
[0030] Figure 4A is a raw data of a DLMS compliant utility meter while Figure 4B is a corresponding readable data; Figure 4C is a raw data of a non-DLMS compliant utility meter while Figure 4D is a corresponding readable data.
[0031] Figure 5 is hardware architecture of the configurable optical trans-receiving device.
[0032] Figures 6A-6I is screens of an application specific software.
[0033] Figures 7A-7G is screens of data acquisition software.
[0034] Figures 8A-8C is a flow diagram of a method of the system for data management.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0035] The present invention shall now be described with the help of drawings. It is to be noted that there are several variations possible to be made around the concept of this invention and the description of various embodiments given here below should not be construed to limit the invention in any manner. Several obvious steps of construction as well as operation are consciously not described in order not to lose focus from inventive steps.
[0036] Figure 1, a system (100) for data management from a plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties having different fixing provisions (104a-104n) comprises a plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n), at least one internet enabled communication device (500), and at least a first server (400). An application specific software (501) resides in each internet enabled communication device (500). Figure 1A and Figure 1B, the system (100) shows a non-intelligent utility meter (101) having a fixing provision (104), a configurable optical trans-receiving device (200), in one aspect, Figure 1A, a data acquisition software (402) is installed in the first server (400) and a database (401) is installed in a second server (403), whereas in another aspect, Figure 1B, the data acquisition software (402) as well as the database (401) are installed in the first server (400) itself.
[0037] The plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) is communicatively coupled to the corresponding plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) for capturing a utility data. The utility data is transmitted to the communication device (500) and further to the first server (400) through internet (103) for processing and analysing the utility data. The utility data is transmitted to the first server (400) as a raw data (700) which is converted to a readable form at the first server (400) end.
[0038] The plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) is generally of different makes. For example, premises may have non-intelligent meters of SECURE, L&T, L&G, GENUS, EMCO, EMCO, OMNIGATE, HPL, WALLABY et cetera. Such a variety of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) have mechanical as well as communication protocol differences which present invention effectively manages.
[0039] Figures 2A-2C illustratively show non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101c) of three different makes having different fixing provisions (104a-104c) around their respective optical communication port for receiving the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n). Figure 2A, for a first variety of non-intelligent utility meter (101a), a first fixing provision (104a) comprises a plurality of circular constrainers (102) and a plurality of concentric receivers (105) such that the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a) (as seen from Figure 3A) gets securely locked only when the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a) is accommodated within a predefined diameter and twisted clockwise such that a part of the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a) is engaged in the concentric receivers (105). In Figure 2B, for a second variety of non-intelligent utility meter (101b), the second fixing provision (104b) comprises a ferromagnetic disc (107) situated in a socket (109) with a gate (108), such that the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200b) (as seen from Figure 3B) gets securely locked when the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200b) is accommodated within the socket (109) and locked in the gate (108). Figure 2C, for a third variety of non-intelligent utility meter (101c), the third fixing provision (104c) comprises a partial limiting circular wall (116) and a stopper (117) such that the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200c) (as seen from Figure 3C) gets securely locked when the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200c) is accommodated within the partial limiting circular wall (116) and not allowed to rotate due to the stopper (117).
[0040] The present invention recognizes a minimum commonality in the fixing provisions (104) for various makes of the non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n), like
- a near identical distance DTR (110) between an optical transmitter Tx (112) and an optical receiver Rx (113) of the non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) of different varieties and makes;
- a maximum distance from the face of the non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n), within which the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) can communicate with the non-intelligent utility meter (101a-101n);
- a maximum diameter Dc which gets accommodated within different mechanical constructions of different non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n);
and the present invention provides an optical trans-receiving device (200) that can be made suitable for all such different meter makes therefore termed as a configurable optical trans-receiving device (200).
[0041] Figure 3, the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200) comprises a basic unit (207) and a plurality of configuring means (215). The basic unit (207) comprises of an engaging portion (208) having a first engaging surface (209) and a second engaging surface (216). The first engaging surface (209) as well as the second engaging surface (216) has one or more “type A” fitment provisions (210) and or one or more type “B” fitment provisions (214) at different angular and radial locations, for disposing the plurality of configuring means (215). The plurality of configuring means (215) includes a plurality of size-one projection (212), a plurality of size-two projection (213) and or a plurality of magnets (217).
[0042] Figure 3A, the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a) becomes suitable for the first variety of non-intelligent utility meter (101a) when the plurality of size-one projections (212) are disposed in the type “A” fitment provisions (210) on the first engaging surface (209) of the basic unit (207) at a correspondingly prescribed respective angular location.
[0043] Figure 3B, the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200b) becomes suitable for the second variety of non-intelligent utility meter (101b) when the plurality of magnets (217) are disposed in the type “B” fitment provisions (214) on the second engaging surface (216) and the size-two projection (213) is disposed in the type “A” fitment provision (210) on the first engaging surface (209) of the basic unit (207) at a prescribed angular location.
[0044] Figure 3C, the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200c) becomes suitable for the third variety of non-intelligent utility meter (101c) when the plurality of magnets (217) are disposed in the type “B” fitment provisions (214) on the second engaging surface (216) and the size-two projection (213) is disposed in the type “A” fitment provision (210) on the first engaging surface (209) of the basic unit (207) at a correspondingly prescribed angular location.
[0045] Figures 3D and 3E, the type “A” fitment provisions (210) (blackened area in Figure 3D) may be produced on the first engaging surface (209) of the basic unit (207) by deploying a dual construction – a first construction (210a) formed by a first part (218) of a moving portion of a mold and a second construction (210b) formed by a second part (219) of a fixed portion of the mold.
[0046] Figure 4A, the raw data (700) from an illustrative non-intelligent utility meter (101b) in accordance with an open, non-proprietary, open source protocol, said data received by a corresponding configurable optical trans-receiving device (200b) and transmitted to the first server (400) for conversion into a readable format like .xml or .cdf, as in Figure-4B. Such a protocol is termed as DLMS protocol and can be ascertained by the data acquisition software (402) by looking for “DLMS” as first four characters (711) of the raw data (700).
[0047] Figure 4C, the raw data (700) from an illustrative legacy non-intelligent utility meter (101a) in non- accordance with any standard, therefore a proprietary protocol. Said raw data (700), having received by a corresponding configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a) and transmitted to the first server (400), can be converted into a readable format (Figure 4D) only by generating, parking and deploying in the first server (400) an application programming interface, abbreviated as API to decode pattern and logic of the raw data (700) of such legacy non-intelligent utility meter (101a). API needs to be generated for each of such variety of legacy non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n), in order that system (100) as per present invention is industrially viable; and which present invention effectively does. Such a protocol is generally termed as Non-DLMS or legacy protocol and can be ascertained by the data acquisition software (402) by looking for characters other than “DLMS” as first four characters (712) of the raw data (700). Development of such APIs is largely a manual interventional process of decoding the raw data (700) into meaningful form for first few times before arriving at a robust API.
[0048] Figure 5, an internal architecture of electronic circuitry of the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200) which comprises:
- a power source (201) which may be a rechargeable battery,
- a communication module (202) which may be a Wi-Fi module or a Zigbee module wherein each communication module (202) has a unique identification number hereinafter termed as an identification number on each configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n),
- a multipurpose indicator (203), which may be a light indicator, indicating at least one of-
o a charging of the rechargeable battery and
o on/off state of the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200),
- an enabler (204) to switch-on and switch-off the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n), wherein the enabler (204) may be an electronic switch that gets enabled when the communication device (500) enters into a hotspot range of the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) and remains disabled otherwise,
- one or more connecting ports (205) for externally charging the power source (201),
- an Opto-coupler (206) further comprising a receiving light sensitive diode Rx and a transmitting light emitting diode Tx,
- a serial communication port such as a RS232 port,
- and a position tracking module (207) or a Global Positioning System (GPS) module.
[0049] The communication device (500) and the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) have a bidirectional communication by any one of a Wi-Fi module, a Zigbee module and one or more Subscriber Identity Module.
[0050] All configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) are termed “enabled” when they are powered and their enabler (204) is ON. In this situation, they have access to a bunch of important raw data (700) either through optical port (206) or through the serial communication port. The configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) are capable of transmitting this raw data (700) and a data security is important and crucial, lest this raw data (700) gets transmitted unauthorizedly. The application specific software (501) ensures that the raw data (700) from any configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) is not accessible to unauthorized person or agencies. The configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) is detected by any and all hotspot enabled communication devices (500), however the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) transmit data, concurrently, to only such communication device (500) that sends a recognizable instruction according to the application specific software (501).
[0051] Figures 6A-6I describe the application specific software (501) installed in the communication device (500). Figure 6A, a ‘Wi-Fi hotspot’ settings screen having various fields such as a ‘Network name’ (433), ‘Security’ (434), ‘Password’ (435), ‘AP Identification’ (404) and ‘Select AP Band’ (405). The ‘Network name’ (433) includes the name of the network in which the plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) are installed. The ‘Security’ (434) selected is ‘WPA2-PSK’ which stands for ‘Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 – Pre-Shared Key’, for wireless security. The ‘Password’ (435) is set for the ‘Network name’ (433). The ‘AP Identification’ (404) is ‘Access Point Identification’, wherein the Access Point serves as point of interconnection between users within the network which is set as ‘default’. ‘Select AP Band’ (405) is the frequency band selected to connect to the Wi-Fi.
[0052] Figure 6B, shows the list of connected (414) plurality of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n).
[0053] Figure 6C, a home screen of the application specific software (501) having various fields such as ‘Assigned’ (406) tab, ‘Unknown’ (407) tab, ‘Option’ (418), ‘Mtr’ (426) which is an abbreviation for “utility meter”, ‘Status’ (427), ‘Upload Status’ (428) and ‘Read’ (429). The application specific software (501) identifies the plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) that are pre-configured in the communication device (500) and also that are newly identified. The plurality of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) that are pre-configured appear in the ‘Assigned’ (406) tab , as seen in Figure 6F. ‘Mtr’ (426) includes the Meter serial number followed by the make of the meter, as seen from Figure 6F (421 and 422), ‘Status’ (427) means whether or not a corresponding utility data is received by the communicable device (500), ‘Upload Status’ (428) indicates whether or not the corresponding utility data is uploaded into the first server (400). An ‘Up arrow’ (431) symbol appears when a transfer of the utility data to the first server (400) fails or not yet executed for any reason including an internet (103) communication of the communication device (500) being in an OFF state, as seen from Figure 6H. A ‘cloud arrow’ (432) symbol appears when the internet (103) connection in the communication device (500) is ON and the raw data (700) is transmitted to the first server (400), as seen from Figure 6G.
[0054] Figure 6D shows the various fields under ‘Options’ (418), a ‘Server Settings’ (408), ‘Add new meter’ (409), ‘Upload Assigned Meters Files’ (410), ‘Upload Unknown Meters Files’ (411), ‘Import Meters Data’ (412), ‘Export Meters Data’ (413), and ‘Unregister License’ (415).
[0055] Figure 6E, the ‘Server Settings’ (408) further includes a ‘FTP Host’ (416), an ‘FTP Username’ (417), an ‘FTP Password’ (419) and an ‘FTP Server Directory’ (420). The ‘FTP Host’ (416) connects a hosting account with a FTP client which is the communication device (500), the FTP host (416) is the first server (400).
[0056] Figure 6I, an operator himself can add newly identified meter by entering its serial number (430) and thereby selecting the make of the meter (444 or 445 or 446).
[0057] Figure 7A, the data acquisition software (402) installed in the first server (400) manages,
- ‘Instantaneous’ (701) data including phase voltages, line currents, power factor and power at a given instant, Figure 7B
- ‘Energy’ (702) data, Figure 7C
- ‘Load Survey’ (703) data including average values of voltages and current, Figure- 7D
- ‘Tampers’ (704) data including low voltage, no voltage, high voltage, current circuits open or reversed, load imbalance, voltage unbalance, Figure 7E
- ‘Mid-Night Snapshot’ (705) data, Figure 7F
- ‘SIM-Switching Logs’ (706) data, Figure 7G when an alternative system having a dual SIM card is deployed for a data communication between the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200) and the communication device (500) instead of the Wi-Fi module or the Zigbee module.
[0058] Figures 8A-8C shows a step by step method by which the system (100) as per present invention manages the utility data of and from a variety of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n), the steps being:
i. Step (601), enabling or switching on the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n),
ii. Step (602), enabling or switching on a hotspot of the communication device (500) resulting in the communication device (500) sending an application specific command to each detected configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) to send its unique identification and utility data including but not limited to:
a. Instantaneous data
b. Energy data
c. Average consumption data
d. Unusual Events information
e. Transition data
iii. Step (603) - verifying whether the defined number of configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) are paired to the communication device (500),
iv. Step (604) - for configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) successfully paired, the communication device (500) capturing the raw data (700) from the variety of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) and storing the data in .txt format into the internal storage of the communication device (500),
v. Step (605) – for configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) unpaired, a manual check of the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) properly mounted and sufficiently charged, followed by Step (606) - proper mounting of the configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n) to the non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) after charging configurable optical trans-receiving devices (200a-200n),
vi. Step (607) - data integrity check, wherein data integrity check may be a checksum validation,
vii. Step (608) - upon successful data integrity check, establishing a FTP connection with the first server (400) and upon data integrity check fail, repeating step (604),
viii. Step (610) - uploading the raw data (700) files to the FTP folder of the first server (400) upon successful connection in Step (609), else step (611) – displaying “connection failed”,
ix. Step (612), performing a Cyclic Redundancy Check test, upon passing the step (612), converting the raw data (700) into ASCI format, Step (614), else placing the raw data (700) into separate folder, step (613),
x. Step (615) – identifying make of the non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) and accordingly selecting and applying at least one of a DLMS and Non-DLMS protocols, step (616) and step (617), to the raw data (700),
xi. Step (618), converting the raw data (700) files into a Common Data Format (CDF) file in XML format as per Minimum Interoperability Standards (MIOS),
xii. Step (619), extracting data from XML files and inserting into the database (401),
xiii. Step (620), upon passing data validation, sharing the utility data to the third party billing system step (622) whereas upon failure of data validation, placing the data into the separate folder (621).
[0059] The first server (400) is loaded with multiple Application Programming Interface (API’s), data acquisition API’s and conversion API’s. The data acquisition API’s receive the raw data (700) files from the variety of non-intelligent utility meters (101a-101n) as transmitted by the communication device (500), as also a health data of the configurable optical trans-receiving device (200a-200n), like its temperature. Conversion API’s convert the raw data (700) files in Hexadecimal format as seen from Figure 4A, 4C to XML file as seen from Figure 4B, 4D respectively. The raw data (700) is in non-readable format whereas XML file is in readable format as per MIOS standards.
[0060] The utility data in the readable format is deployed for billing, analyses and resource planning.