Patent Application
20110149983
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0127697, filed on Dec. 21, 2009 and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0025355, filed on Mar. 22, 2010 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The following disclosure relates to an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) gateway apparatus for processing large AMI data and various application profiles and a method thereof, and in particular, to an AMI gateway apparatus for processing large AMI data and various application profiles to collect data of meters and transmit the data to an AMI server, and a method thereof.
A metering processing method in one-way communications according to the related art is aimed at collecting and sending meter data, and the meter data is collected and sent, usually once in 24 hours. However, this method is inadequate to process meter data in two-way communications.
In order to process Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) data, data needs to be collected at short intervals of 15 minutes to 1 hour and be quickly sent to a server. In addition, a control message from a server needs to be created and processed, which brings about a need for another method to process data.
Also, gateway technologies for performing independent gateway functions have been developed, and studies are ongoing to easily integrate and convert those functions. In this regard, a method for enabling easy application of service profiles, specified by ZigBee, such as smart energy profiles or Telecom Application (TA) profiles, needs to be provided additionally.
In one general aspect, an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) gateway apparatus includes: a storage storing a second Identification (ID) value as a mapping table, the second ID value having a smaller data size than a first ID value, which identifies a meter, and mapped with the first ID value; an ID data processing unit converting the first ID value into the second ID value on the basis of the mapping table; a meter data processing unit calculating an increase in the meter value; and a processor receiving the second ID value and the increase in the meter value and transmitting the received second ID value and the increase in the meter value to an AMI server.
In another general aspect, an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) gateway apparatus includes: a storage storing a second Identification (ID) value and zone information corresponding to a gateway ID, the second ID value having a smaller data size than a first ID value, which identifies a meter, and mapped with the first ID value; an ID value processing unit converting the first ID value into the second ID Value by using the mapping table, and classifying the converted second ID value according to the zone information; a meter value processing unit calculating an increase in the meter value according to the zone information; and a processor processing various control messages and transmitting the second ID value and the increase in the meter value to an AMI server as large AMI data.
In still another general aspect, a method of processing large Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) data, includes: establishing a second Identification (ID) value in the form of a mapping table, the second ID value having a smaller data size than a first ID value, which identifies a meter, and mapped with the first ID value; converting, by an ID data processing unit, the first ID value into the second ID value by using the mapping table; calculating, by a meter data processing unit, an increase in the meter value; and transmitting, by a processor which processes various control messages, the second ID Value and the increase in the meter value to an AMI server as large AMI data.
Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims.
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and depiction of these elements may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience. The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein. Accordingly, various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein will be suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for increased clarity and conciseness.
An apparatus for distributed processing of large AMI data and a method thereof will now be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.
Referring to
First, the meter 300 measures the amount of electricity, for example, the amount of electricity used for an entire building. As shown in
The sub-meter 400 measures the amount of electricity in the outlet unit of a single house, and supports the sub-function of the meter 300. For example, the sub-meter 400 measures the amount of electricity used for an individual room of a single house. To this end, a plurality of sub-meters 400 may be provided as illustrated in the drawing.
The LCD 500 is connected to the meter 300, and provides an interface screen for power ON/OFF control and differential power control.
The SED 600 is connected to the meter 400, and displays the remaining amount of energy and a load control signal.
The above-mentioned devices, represented by the reference numerals 300, 400, 500 and 600, are connected to the AMI gateway 200 via a wired/wireless network, for example, via Power Line Communication (PLC) and ZigBee wireless network.
The AMI gateway 200 collects meter data by using the meters 300, and transmits the collected meter data to the SEMS 150 and the AMI server 100. The AMI gateway 200 quickly sends collected large AMI data to the AMI server 100 by reducing the data rate of the AMI data, containing ID values and meter values, on the basis of a format structure proposed by this exemplary embodiment. That is, when an ID value and a meter value do not fluctuate, the AMI data is not transmitted to the AMI server 100. As a result, the collected large AMI data can be quickly sent to the AMI server 100. In addition, the AMI gateway 200 assigns an ID value according to the zone of a gateway ID. Accordingly, an operator can easily identify the zone of AMI data being collected and processed in a distributed manner, and can locate a corresponding AMI gateway 200 (e.g., Gajeong-district, Yuseong-ward, Daejeon, Korea) by using a mapping table established in the AMI gateway.
The SEMS 150 and the AMI server 100 create a variety of control messages. The AMI gateway 200 transmits the created various control messages to the LCD 500, the SED 600 or the like.
The AMI server 100 collects and stores meter data measured by each meter 300.
The SEMS 150 stores meter data sent through the AMI gateway 200 within a unit area such as an apartment, a building or the like, and manages the amount of energy.
The packet structures, shown in
As shown in
This exemplary embodiment teaches two transmission methods to reduce the data rate of AMI data on the basis of the above packet structure.
The first transmission method to reduce the data rate of AMI data involves with transmitting AMI data after adjusting ID values. Here, an ID value refers to the identification information of a meter, and may be specified in bytes.
As for the transmission method allowing for the reduction of ID values, there are a method of eliminating an ID value, a method of using 2 bytes or 4 bytes available in an ID value, a method of using the entirety of an ID value, a method of using a mapping table, and a method of converting an ID values into a string and a number by using a mapping table.
First, in the method of eliminating an ID value, an ID value is arranged in order, thereby eliminating an ID.
The method of using 2 bytes or 4 bytes available in an ID value adopts a method of transmitting the lowest 2 or 4 bytes of a Media Access Control (MAC) address contained in an ID value. In the method of transmitting the lowest 2 bytes of a MAC address, only the lowest 2 bytes in a MAC address of an ID value are changed. In the method of transmitting the lowest 4 bytes, only the lowest 4 bytes in a MAC address of an ID value are changed.
The method of using the entirety of an ID value uses an ID value itself as a MAC address.
The method of using a mapping table adopts a method of using an ID value as the ID value of the minimum byte according to a meter number on the basis of a mapping table. In this case, an inquiry process of asking for a list is performed, and then an aliasing method is applied thereto.
The method of converting an ID value into a string and a number by using a mapping table adopts a method of converting an ID value into an identifiable string or number having a length, defined by a user, by referring to a mapping table.
As for the second transmission method to reduce the data rate of AMI data, there are a method of not sending meter data (hereinafter referred to as a “meter value” when there is no change in the meter value, a method of transmitting a meter value as it is, a method of transmitting only an increase in a meter value, a method of transmitting only a difference value in a meter value obtained by a linear prediction algorithm, a method of transmitting only a difference value in a meter value obtained by a two-dimensional prediction algorithm, and a method of transmitting only a differential value in a meter value obtained by a three-dimensional prediction algorithm.
As for the method of not transmitting the meter value, the meter value is not transmitted when there is no change in a meter value.
As for the method of transmitting only an increase in a meter value, when an increase in the meter value is transmitted, an integer value obtained by ten-folding one decimal place of the increase is transmitted, or an integer value obtained by centuplicating two decimal places of the increase is transmitted.
In the method of transmitting a meter value as only a difference value by using a linear prediction algorithm, the meter value is transmitted as a difference value obtained by a linear prediction algorithm expressed by a linear equation, for example, a linear prediction of y=ax+b.
As for the method of transmitting a meter value as only a difference value by using a two-dimensional prediction algorithm, a meter value is transmitted as a differential value obtained by a prediction algorithm expressed by a quadratic equation, for example, a quadratic prediction algorithm of y=ax̂2+bx+c.
In the method of transmitting a meter value as only a difference value by using a third-dimensional prediction algorithm, a meter value is transmitted as a differential value obtained by a prediction algorithm expressed by a cubic equation, for example, a cubic prediction algorithm of y=ax̂3+bx̂2+cx+d.
In addition, equations corresponding to various prediction algorithms may be used.
According to this exemplary embodiment, a method of setting a gateway ID value according to a zone is proposed. This may facilitate the mapping of the ID value with an administrative zone. As shown in
The method of setting a gateway ID value according to a zone is as follows:
1) Setting a gateway ID according to a zone
2) Metropolitan City/Province (limited to 32)
3) Ward/City/County (limited to 128)
4) District/District/Town (Eup in Korean) (limited to 128)
5) Setting an ID set by the application of up to districts, +16 Bit gateway ID value
An exemplary embodiment proposes a structure allowing for the easy application of an application file service. This may significantly increase the efficiency of an AMI gateway. That is, a structure allowing for the easy application of an application file service through an XML interface (i.e., a Rule input user interface shown in
The apparatus for distributed processing of large AMI data, shown in
The apparatus for distributed processing of large AMI data, shown in
Referring to
Referring to
The AMI gateway apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment has a structure allowing for the easy application of an application file service, thereby enhancing the efficiency of a gateway. To this end, the AMI gateway apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment further includes an application profile plug-in 280, a rule applier 285, a rule ZigBee profile converter 290, and a rule input user interface 295.
In order to reduce the transmission rate of AMI data, the storage 220 configured in the AMI gateway apparatus includes a mapping table 205 for mapping an ID value and a gateway ID value.
The network controller 230 is a controller processing ZigBee and PLC functions. This network controller 230 is connected to an adjacent sensor network and receives data of another network.
The meter data processing unit 240 periodically receives meter values from meters, and calculates an increase in the received meter value according to a packet structure described with reference to
The host controller 260 is connected to the AMI server 100 and the SEMS 150 via a wired/wireless IP network, and transmits the increase in the meter value and the second ID value from the processor 250 to the AMI server 100 via the SEMS 150.
The ID data processing unit 270 is a processor for reducing the ID value, and converts a first ID value into a second ID value, which is smaller than the first ID value, by using the mapping table 205.
The processor 250 processes various control messages, and sends the second ID value and an increase in the meter value to the host controller 260 in order to transmit the second ID value and the increase in the meter value to the AMI server.
In order to easily apply a service profile, the rule input user interface 295 configured in the AMI gateway apparatus receives a service profile via web and dedicated GUI.
The AMI gateway apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment may further include the following configurations in order to process various application profiles.
In order to use a specific service profile such as a profile called home automation (hereinafter referred to as a “HA profile”), the rule input user interface 295 receives the specific service profile according to a cluster, a command and an attribute value associated with the specific service profile. The HA profile refers to a profile providing a home automation service, and exists in ZigBee. An existing profile is processed by the application profile plug-in or tan adaptor. Other profiles are processed by Web GUI or an application setting screen. When an air conditioner is connected to a device including a temperature sensor, a rule that the air conditioner be operated when the temperature of the temperature sensor is 25 degrees or higher is input to the rule input user interface 295.
When the rule is input by a user definition, the rule ZigBee profile converter 290 converts the rule according to ZigBee, a cluster, an attribute and a command.
The rule applier 285 applies the rule, converted according to the ZigBee, cluster, attribute and command, to the gateway.
The application profile applier 275 includes the function of the rule applier and communicates with the processor 250.
When a profile supported by existing ZigBee is input, the adaptor 280 recognizes a device that inputs the profiles as an adaptor. When a profile is provided in advance, the adaptor 280 plugs in an application profile by using a schema file such as xsd and a data file such as xml.
The configurations 205, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260 and 270 of the AMI gateway apparatus for reducing the transmission rate of AMI data, and the configurations 275, 280, 285, 290 and 295 for the easy application of a service profile may be implemented within the AMI gateway apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment, or may be separately implemented.
When an application profile created in the above manner is applied, the AMI gateway may support not only an AMI profile support service but also an HA profile support service.
A number of exemplary embodiments have been described above. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2009-0127697 | Dec 2009 | KR | national |
| 10-2010-0025355 | Mar 2010 | KR | national |
