Patent ID: 6393341
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: G06F,G06Q,G07F

Abstract:
A communications system that interfaces a utility meter and a host, comprising:an application resident on the host that issues a request to the utility meter in a standard data description language; the utility meter having a communication protocol; an interface layer in communication with the application and the utility meter that allows the application to communicate with the utility meter regardless of the communication protocol, the interface layer comprising: a repository having a plurality of utility meter descriptions associated with utility meter types; an abstraction layer coupled to the repository, the abstraction layer receiving the request in the standard data description language, determining the utility meter type, and converting the request to the communication protocol based on the utility meter type and the plurality of utility meter descriptions in the repository; and a data processor that processes data from the utility meter responsive to the request to provide post-processing behavior comprising data analysis and virtual meter features.