Automated metering infrastructure (AMI) and Automated meter reading (AMR) provide the necessary means to measure, analyze, collect energy usage, and communicate that data to a central database for billing, trouble- shooting, and analyzing. It would not be practical, technically as well as economically, for all meters to directly communicate with utility servers.
Data concentrator applications are an important node in the AMI which is networked with several utility meters and central utility servers and enables communication of the data between the meters and the utility servers. Data concentrators, at several points in the infrastructure, securely aggregate data from a manageable number of meters and send to the utility servers.
The communication mode largely depends on the power infrastructure and can be either wired or wireless communication. Wired communication is comprised of Power Line communication (PLC) and in some cases with serial or Ethernet based communication where PLC is not suited for the infrastructure. The wireless communication comprises of mainly low power RF (IEEE 802.15.4g protocol) communication and in some cases the existing cellular medium. The communication from the concentrator to the utility servers can be via Ethernet, GSM, GPRS, WiMAX or telecom networks.
Texas Instruments has a long history of providing expertise and superior products to the communication market that requires wire line, wireless and security infrastructure. TI\'s comprehensive solutions cover the entire signal processing chain.