DE29717504U1 - Arrangement for the transmission of data in consumption meters in households via GSM network - Google Patents

Description

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Company HELICOM Development Company for Telecommunications and Media Technology mbH

"Arrangement for transmitting data from consumption meters in households via GSM network" The innovation concerns an arrangement according to the preamble of claim 1.

Consumption meters in households include water meters (water meters), electricity meters or heat meters for radiators. It is common for these devices to be read manually with the help of people, with the data then being made available in paper form to the billing authority, which then creates the bill for the end customer. The main disadvantage is the high personnel expenditure required for reading the meter in households at least once a year. The personnel expenditure required to transfer the manually recorded data to an IT system that manages the customer data and creates the invoices is also very high. Overall, a very high personnel and bureaucratic expenditure is required to ensure the flow of data from the consumer to the billing center.

There are also known approaches to automated data collection, e.g. using computer-controlled bus systems, e.g. M-Bus, which has so far been limited to use in large buildings or residential complexes. In principle, such a data bus system enables the collection of consumption figures within a house, but these must be transmitted to the billing center, e.g. via a master computer.

Radio systems are also known, with the help of which the data from consumption meters is read via local radio networks and transmitted to a billing center. Such radio networks also only allow limited use in areas with the corresponding technical infrastructure, the installation of which is always expensive.
The use of a GSM network (eg D-network for mobile telephony) for data transmission is also known, whereby a GSM data module receives data, eg via an interface, and transmits this data to the GSM network. By addressing the data using telephone numbers, the data can be transmitted from the GSM network to a central office, whereby either so-called gateway computers retrieve the data set from the network operator via a telephone line or the data is also received by a GSM data module.
The aim of the innovation according to the invention is to improve the known consumption meters so that meter data from households can be recorded without the use of personnel and sent wirelessly on the basis of the existing GSM infrastructure.
This object is achieved by an arrangement having the features of claim 1.
The innovation according to the invention provides for connecting a GSM module (1) known from cell phone technology to a suitable antenna (2). The GSM module, which is responsible for data transmission in a radio network according to the GSM standard or comparable technical infrastructures, is assigned a circuit (3) for timer control and as an interface to an in-house data bus. It is provided that the timer control (3) starts the GSM module (1) at pre-programmed switch-on times and in this way enables data communication with a control center. It can be provided that the timer control is designed as a microprocessor circuit, which can then ideally also take over communication with the meters Z (4) connected to the data bus. It is also provided that the GSM module with timer control is integrated in a circuit, whereby the integration of an interface circuit for communication with the meters can also be provided. It is also provided that the circuit (3)

Company HELICOM Development Company for Telecommunications and Media Technology mbH

or to assign a radio module (5) to the circuit (1), which enables in-house, wireless data communication, e.g. in the 433 MHz standard, to the meters with the corresponding radio module FZ (6).

After the data has been transferred from the GSM module (1) to the GSM network (9), the billing center (7) receives the meter data either via a so-called gateway computer, which is connected to a GSM center via a communication line, or via an alternatively connected GSM module (10), which can receive data from the GSM network via a suitable antenna (11). Instead of timer control using a clock module, a radio clock module can also be used, which then enables more precise time control.

The advantages of this arrangement are primarily the savings in personnel costs due to automated data transfer and the cost savings in the office, as all data from the point of origin to billing can be processed electronically and it is no longer necessary to transfer meter readings from paper to an IT system. Another advantage is the GSM network infrastructure, which is available almost across Europe, whereby the D network can be used, or radio networks based on other frequencies, e.g. the E network (GSM 1800 network). Special services are available for pure data transfer, which enable particularly inexpensive and effective data transfer. For example, data packets of up to 160 bytes can be transferred via SMS (Short Message Service) at a cost of currently 3.5 Pf.

The function of the innovation according to the invention will be explained in detail in a user example:

In a household there are electronic meters that are connected to the timer/interface circuit with a data bus, e.g. the M-Bus. The microprocessor of this circuit is able to read the data from these meters and transfer it to the GSM module. The GSM module sends the data to the GSM network, which transfers the data to the relevant billing centers according to the addressing of the GSM modules. Such GSM modules usually work with a chip card (SIM card), which ensures that these end devices are coded, e.g. with their own phone number, serial number and other identifiers. These identifiers can be used to identify the households and control the data transfer.

The sequence control is designed to switch the GSM module on and off at a specific time, e.g. using a clock assigned to the timer interface circuit. The GSM module can then be switched on twice a year, for example, with the data being transmitted after it has been switched on. It can be designed to switch it off only when receipt of the meter data has been confirmed via the return path by data telegram and no new configuration parameters, e.g. for new timer settings or calibration values, are transmitted.

The time-controlled activation of the arrangement according to the invention enables mains-independent operation, since the power consumption during the system's idle phases is negligible and real online operation is only necessary for a short time. Ideally, the arrangement can be operated with batteries, with lithium batteries being provided, for example, which can ensure maintenance-independent operation for 10 years or more.

Claims (5)

Company HELICOM Development Company for Telecommunications and Media Technology mbH "Arrangement for the transmission of data from consumption meters in households via GSM network" Protection claims: 1. Arrangement for transmitting data within a GSM radio network, characterized in that a local GSM data module (1) enables data communication in a GSM network with a central office and consumption meters are assigned to this data module. 2. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the GSM data module is assigned a timer circuit which enables time-controlled communication processes. 3. Arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by a microprocessor, via which the switching on and off times of the GSM data module and other peripherals are carried out. 4. Arrangement according to claims 1 to 3, characterized by a radio module (5) which establishes an internal radio communication with the consumption meters (6) and transmits their data to the microprocessor circuit (3). 5. Arrangement according to claims 1 to 4, characterized by data transmission using the SMS method (Short Message Service).