The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 02, 2013
Filed:
Apr. 30, 2009
David G. Hart, Raleigh, NC (US);
Edward J. Beroset, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Carl J. Laplace, Raleigh, NC (US);
David G. Hart, Raleigh, NC (US);
Edward J. Beroset, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Carl J. LaPlace, Raleigh, NC (US);
Elster Electricity, LLC, Raleigh, NC (US);
Abstract
Techniques for using an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system for Utility Automation (UA) purposes in a utility distribution system are disclosed herein. In an AMI system, a metering node often includes a communications option board for connecting to a wide area network (WAN), which can be shared between the AMI system and a UA system. The metering node may be near other devices that can be controlled by a utility company to monitor and control components of the utility distribution system. A data packet is received in a communication device. The communication device determines whether the received data packet is formatted according to a first protocol employed by the AMI system. If so, then the data packet is forwarded to a first device in communication with the AMI system. If not, then the data packet is forwarded to a second device in communication with the UA system.