Advanced Meter Infrastructure
Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) is based on the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), which provides smart meter data collection and analysis. One of the keys to managing dwindling energy resources is accurately measuring energy usage. Measurement is one of the first steps toward effective management and refining consumer behavior. AMI includes three major parts: smart meters, a control center, and a communication center. Current practice requires using power embedded computers as data concentrators to collect meter data from households and then send the data back to the control center for further analysis. The analysis can be used for demand management, implementing differential electricity rates, and for determining if new power plants are needed. Currently, electricity loss is higher than 40% in some developing countries; AMR can be expected to reduce this loss to less than 10%.
An AMR system requires some meters that can handle meter reading from home appliances and some power computers that can handle more complicated tasks, such as data acquisition, data computing, and data analysis. By integrating these meters, computers, and software programs, a smart solution can be created to establish an intelligent and distributed architecture for efficient meter reading and management.
I-HD, Protocol Home Gateway Device Profile Home LAN (ZigBee, ZigWav, PLC) Killer Application
Smart Meter Platform Meter IC CT, RTC, Relay Meter Calibrator Metering Communication Advanced Metering (TOU, RTP, CCP, Volt Monitor) Qutage Detection
Smart Meter Platform Meter IC CT, RTC, Relay Meter Calibrator Metering Communication Advanced Metering (TOU, RTP, CCP, Volt Monitor) Qutage Detection
Communication Server MDMS (Metering data Managemenet System) Billing System I/F Load Management I/F Feeder Automation I/F
Smart Meters
This type of advanced meter can be used to collect information from a local meter, and power consumption behavior can be recorded and analyzed for monitoring and billing purposes. By building a smart meter platform, meter communication, meter calibration, and outage detection can be easily achieved.
Communication Center
The communication center includes a reliable network for establishing a communication link between smart meters and the control center. It often involves a powerful computing unit, referred to as a data concentrator, that works through either a wired or wireless unit to provide a reliable and stable network for data transmission.
Control Center
The back-end center can accumulate all information from the meters at the various field sites and help optimize electric power management. In addition, it can be used to construct various systems, such as an MDMS (Metering Data Management System), billing systems, as well as load management and feeder automation.
Embedded Computers in AMR
Moxa's embedded computers can be used as the data concentrator in AMR applications by offering a reliable platform for data acquisition from meters in both households and control centers for further analysis. The embedded computer can be used for electric power demand management and determining a proper differential electric power rate, which in turn can be used to determine when a new power plant is needed.
