African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Better Utility ManagementThrough AMR/AMI

Danny Padron, Strategic Accounts Manager Datamatic - Texas, USA

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Available AMR/AMI SystemsStar, PLC and Mesh

PLC Networks:Dependent on current infrastructureRequires routing tables, and meter Change out

Star Networks:Dependent on Line of sightrouting tables, and meter change outHigh infrastructure cost

Mesh Networks:Has strength in numbersNo routing tables or meter change outLow infrastructure cost

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Mesh AMR/AMI SystemsTypes of Mesh Systems

Not All Meshes are the same:

Signal Type: Spread Spectrum, Freq. Hopping, Unlicensed

Mesh Configuration: Routing tables or free forming

Compatibility Limitations: Water, Gas and electric meters

Data access restrictions: Open or closed database

Migrateable: Walk by, Drive By and fixed

External compatibility: Optional devices accepted

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

• Superior fault-tolerance(self-healing)

• Universal SupportWater, Gas & Electric (can be a mixed system)

• Lower total costs

• Simpler deployment(self-configuring)

Ideal AMR/AMI Solution A Mesh Network - MIU

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

• Collectors installed on existing infrastructure

• Disaster recover via Handheld Download

• Data backhaul– Wireless (GPRS, Wi-Fi)– Ethernet

• Low Cost Repeaters – As needed

Ideal AMR/AMI Solution A Mesh Network - Collector

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

• Each MIU is also acts as a repeater• MIUs transmit (“hop”) data to & through each other• Multi Message transmissions• Battery life not impacted by

“piggybacked” messages(water/gas)

• Airplane analogy:The plane will fly at 11amwhether it’s carrying 20 or200 passengers. It costs theairline the same.

Key Mesh System AttributesHopping

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

• Sample network segment shown• 1500 MIUs (green), 3 Collectors (red)• Meshing allows for irregular network shape(less network planning required)

Key Mesh System AttributesDeployment Flexibility

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

• Routes data along multiple, redundant pathways.

• If the path becomes unavailable, data continues along an alternate path, effectively “healing” itself.

• An unlimited # of “hops” can be used to reach a Collector.

Key Mesh System AttributesSelf-Healing

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Link quality Data:• Monitor trouble areas• Monitor changes in field environment

Key Mesh System AttributesDeployment Flexibility: Network Monitoring

MIU Data:• Ensure multiple links• Monitor routing metrics

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Key Mesh System AttributesLow-Cost Repeaters

• For problematic meters:Deep vaults, long linear distances, etc.

• Low-cost, battery-powered repeater ensures full power in tough environments

• Minimal cost increase to automate the most problematic meters

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

• Bill customers accurately & efficiently• Monitor, enforce conservation measures• Data for distribution system modeling• Bill on Time-of-Use• Detect customer &

distribution system leaks• Data for load studies• Multi-utility readingusing the sameinfrastructure

Management Value of AMR/AMIUseful Data Across Departments

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

• Why?... It’s the foundation of all advanced AMR/AMI

• Request detailed usage profile data for customers• Change MIU behavior over the network

– Monitoring schedules as seasons/conditions change– Interval data resolution – Reading schedules– Usage thresholds– Firmware updates

for enhanced operations

– More…

Ideal AMR/AMI SolutionTwo-Way Communications

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Key Mesh System Attributes“Smart” Endpoint Technology

Definition of smart: pertaining to the ability to do data processing logically

• MIUs store interval data

• Firmware updatable over the mesh network

• Allow for control of external devices

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Back Office Software

• Web-based(no software to install or maintain)

• Tools for network mgmt

• System performance reporting

• Multi-level aggregation

• Portal for customers to view usage graphsonline

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Cost of AMR/AMIROI Shows Cost Benefit

• AMR/AMI only has upfront costs

• Increase in revenue and savings pays for system, sometimes in two years or less

• Net Present Value (NPV) –The Positive cash generated after the system is paid for.

African Utility Week 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

Better Utility ManagementThrough AMR/AMI

Danny Padron, Strategic Accounts Manager Datamatic - Texas, USA