BATTERY MONITORING IN METERING SYSTEMS

Abstract: In a metering system comprising battery powered metering apparatus (1), the apparatus includes control means (19, 14) arranged to record battery usage data comprising at least data (25, 30) indicating the operating time of the apparatus since insertion of the battery. Data output means (17, 20, 15) of the apparatus outputs the battery usage data under control of the control means (19, 14) for communication to external data processing means (5, 10). The external data processing means may be a hand-held unit (5) used by a service engineer or a central controller (10) of the metering system, the battery usage data being communicated to the central controller (10) via a memory card used for credit purchase operations. The external data processing means performs the necessary processing to determine if the battery should be replaced.

Description: BATTERY MONITORING IN METERING SYSTEMS The present invention relates to the monitoring of batteries in metering systems tor metering the supply ot a service to a consumer In various metering systems, such as gas and water metering systems for example, the metering apparatus at the consumer's premises may be powered by battery In such systems, it is necessary to monitor the battery capacity to determine when the batteries are neaπng the end of their life so that they can be replaced in a controlled manner Monitoring of battery capacity to provide a "battery-low" warning to a user is of course performed in many battery powered devices The usual method is to measure the battery voltage at regular intervals to estimate the remaining energy capacity and give a warning to the user when the capacity or voltage falls below a threshold The threshold is selected to give enough warning to replace the batteries before the voltage tails to a level at which it cannot sustain correct operation of the device The accuracy of the measurement will determine how low the threshold can be set to give enough safety margin This in turn effects how much useful life can be achieved from the batteries before a battery-low condition is indicated However, the remaining capacity of a battery is difficult to determine accurately because it is dependent on a number of factors The battery voltage depends on current load and ambient temperature as well as the remaining capacity (which in turn is atfected by the use of the battery thus far) The battery manufacturer can normally supply the battery characteristics m the form of a load curve which plots the battery voltage at a given load and temperature against the remaining capacity in Ampere-hours Ditferent types of batteries such as zinc, alkaline and lithium batteries have different load curves and are affected in different ways by the loads placed upon them, some working best with low continuous loads while others give good pertormance with high loads, either continuous or pulsed Thus to obtain an accurate indication ot remaining batterv capacity it would be necessary to measure the ambient temperature and the batterv voltage under a known load, the measured voltage then being compared the manutacturers data oi empirically derived figures to determine when the low battery threshold has been reached The facility to take such measurements, and perform the necessary processing to accurately determine remaimng battery capacity, cannot be provided in many devices for practical reasons Thus, many devices simply use measured battery voltage as an indicator of remaimng capacity In particular, in prior battery powered metering apparatus, the apparatus merely measures the battery voltage at regular intervals and compares the measured voltage with a threshold If the measured voltage is below the threshold, a battery-low warning is indicated to the consumer, so that the consumer can then call the service engineer to replace the battery According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided metering apparatus for metering the supply of a service to a consumer, the apparatus being powered by at least one battery and comprising control means arranged to record battery usage data comprising at least data indicating the operating time of the apparatus since insertion of the battery, and data output means arranged to output the battery usage data under control of the control means for communication of said data to external data processing means In embodiments of the present invention, therefore, the control means simply records the battery usage data, and this is output for communication to an external data processing means which can process the data to determine if the battery should be replaced Since the processing to estimate battery capacity is performed externally of the metering apparatus, battery measurements and processing thereot by the metering apparatus is not required, so the operation can be simplified Also, more sophisticated processing can be performed by the external data processing means than could be performed practicably by the metering apparatus, allowing more accurate estimates of battery capacity to be obtained and useful battery life to be extended The external data processing means may comprise a remote central controller of the metering system, for example a computer at a control centre of the service provider which maintains consumer accounts/equipment service records etc The battery usage data could be communicated to the central computer in a number of ways For example, consumer metering apparatus otten incorporates a card intertace to enable the consumer to load the apparatus with credit, representing payment tor the service, by inserting a memory card into the card interface unit The consumer purchases credit by taking the card to a remote point of sale where payment is made and corresponding credit is written to the memory card In such systems, the battery usage data can be written to the card when the consumer inserts the card in the metering apparatus to load purchased credit The next time the card is taken to the point of sale to purchase further credit, the battery usage data can be read from the card by the point of sale terminal, and thus communicated to the service provider tor processing Alternatively, or addition, the battery usage data may be output to a hand-held unit (hhu) as commonly used by service engineers to interface with the control circuitry of the metering apparatus for programming/diagnostic/data transter operations etc The hhu may itself constitute the external data processing means for processing the battery usage data to check the battery status Alternatively, the hhu could simply collect the battery usage data from the meter, this being downloaded to the central control computer by the hhu when the engineer returns from a service visit As indicated above, the battery usage data comprises at least the operating time of the apparatus since insertion of the battery The operating time alone may be sufficient to enable the external processing means to obtain a sufficiently reliable indication of the remaimng battery capacity In particular, for much of the operating time, the apparatus will normally be in a standby mode of operation and the standby current is a known, substantially stable value Since the standby current is generally the dominant factor, an indication of remaimng capacity can be obtained simply by subtracting the energy consumption, eg m Ampere-hours, due to standby current over the operating time from the nominal battery capacity when new accounting tor factors such as battery self-discharge current etc as appropriate However the external data processing means may be programmed with data indicating the expected operating pattern of the apparams, eg the typical frequency ot occurrence ot each of the various types of operations performed by the apparams in use, and the average energy consumed by performing each operation Depending on the operating time, therefore, the expected total energy consumption can be calculated to estimate the remaining battery capacity more accurately In preferred embodiments, in addition to the operating time the battery usage data recorded by the control means includes a record of the number of times each of a plurality of types of operation are performed by the apparams Since the amount of energy consumed by a metering apparams in performing each type of operation can be preprogrammed in the external processing means, the processing means can then determine the total energy consumption based on the particular operating pattern of the metering apparams indicated by the battery usage data It is to be appreciated that, where features are described herein with reference to an apparams according to the invention, corresponding features may be provided m a method of the invention and vice versa In particular, a further aspect of the invention provides a method as set forth m claim 15 Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an overall schematic of the mam elements of a gas metering system embodying the invention, Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of the consumer metering apparams in the system of Figure 1 , Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of the CDT controller of Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram of the meter controller of Figure 2 Retemng to Figure 1 , the metering apparams 1 at the consumer's premises comprises a meter 2 for metering the gas supply to the consumer and a control unit 3 (hereinafter referred to as a Customer Display Terminal or CDT) The CDT 3 can commumcate with the meter 2 via a communications link 4 which may be a wireless or hard-wired link as desired The CDT 3 controls operation of the apparams generally, for example to control the supply of gas to the consumer in dependence on available credit Both the CDT 3 and meter 2 can also communicate with a hand-held unit (hhu) 5 used by the service engineer, eg for programming, data retrieval, and various other service operations, when the engineer visits the consumer s premises The consumer is provided with a memory card 7 such as smart card or magnetic stripe card, which is used periodically to load credit to the metering apparams 1 When the consumer wishes to purchase credit, he takes the card 7 to a point of sale terminal (POS) 8 which is located at a convenient public location The card 7 is inserted in a card interface, of generally known type, of the POS terminal 8 and the desired payment is made to the POS operator The operator keys this payment into the POS 8 which then writes the purchased credit (eg as a monetary value or consumption umts such as kilowatt hours of energy) to the card 7 The POS 8, along with the other similar POS terminals in use in the utility metering system, is connected via a communications link 9 to a central controller 10 of the system The central controller 10 maintains the customer accounts, service records etc required for overall management of the metering system Thus, when the customer's card 7 is inserted in the POS 8 for a credit transaction, the payment data and various other data stored on the card 7 is communicated to the central controller 10 to update the central records Figure 2 illustrates the consumer metering apparams 1 in more detail The meter 2 comprises a basic mechanical meter unit (MMU) 12 which meters the gas supply G and incorporates a cut-off valve 13 which is selectively controllable to cut off the supply of gas to the consumer The meter 1 also includes a meter controller 14 which receives the output pulses (indicating consumption of a fixed volume of gas) from the MMU 12 The meter controller 14 maintains a record of the meter reading in an internal memory and controls operation of the cut-off valve 13 m the MMU 12 The meter controller 14 is also connected to an hhu port 15, for example an opto-poπ of generally known type, to which the hhu 5 is connected by the service engineer to allow data communications with the meter controller 14 The power required for operation of the various elements of the meter 2 is supplied by battery (not shown) , for example a single lithium battery The CDT 3 includes a card interface unit 17 ot known type for transter ot data with the customer card 7 when the card is inserted in a slot (not shown) of the unit The CDT 3 also includes a display and keypad indicated schematically at 18 The display is used for displaying messages instructions etc to the consumer, and the keypad can be used for entering various data, control inputs etc as may be required tor operation of the system A CDT controller 19 controls operation ot the card intertace 17 and display/keypad 18, and is also connected to an hhu port 20 tor connection to the hhu 5 as previously described. The CDT 3 is generally located remotely from the meter 2 at a more convenient access point in the consumer's premises. Again, the CDT 3 is powered by battery (not shown) such as a single lithium battery. In operation of the metering apparams 1, the CDT controller 19 monitors consumption of gas against available credit and the state of the valve 13 is controlled accordingly. The CDT controller 19 maintains a record of the input credit and periodically polls the meter controller 14 by transmitting a request signal over the communications link 4. The meter controller 14 responds to this request by transmitting the current meter reading (and stams data indicating any fault or alarm conditions due to tampering). From the current meter reading, the CDT controller 19 determines the amount of consumption since the last poll, and updates the available credit accordingly. The CDT controller 19 then calculates the volume of gas consumption allowed to the consumer based on the available credit and the applicable tariff which is stored in an internal memory of the controller 19. The CDT controller 19 then calculates the meter reading at which the allowed consumption will be reached, and transmits this limit reading to the meter controller 14. The meter controller 14 will then close the valve 13 when the limit reading is reached unless a new, higher limit reading is subsequently transmitted by the CDT controller 19. The valve 13 will remain closed until the CDT controller 19 transmits a new limit reading after further credit has been input by the consumer. When the customer card 7 is inserted in the CDT 3, the purchased credit is loaded to the CDT controller as previously described, but the CDT controller 19 also writes various data to the card 7. This data will be read by the POS 8, and hence communicated to the central controller 10, the next time the card is presented to the POS to purchase new credit. The data written to the card 7 may include, for example, current meter reading and stams data. In this embodiment, however, the CDT controller 19 also writes battery usage data to the card 7 as described in more detail below. As pan of the maintenance of the apparams 1 it is necessary to determine when the batteries in the meter 2 and CDT 3 are running low so that these can be replaced by a service engineer For this purpose, the CDT controller 19 and meter controller 14 each record battery usage data relating to their respective batteries In this embodiment, each controller 14, 19 maintains a count of the number of days that have passed since the battery was inserted, and also a count of the number of times each of various types of operation are performed Figure 3 shows the main elements of the CDT controller 19 in more detail As illustrated, the controller 19 comprises a control processor 22 which is connected to the elements 17, 18 and 20 of Figure 2, and also to a link interface 23 which transmits data over the link 4 to the meter 2 and receives data therefrom The processor 22 is also connected to a real time clock (RTC) 24 to enable the passage of time to be monitored In accordance with the RTC 24, the processor 22 increments a day counter 25 to maintain a count of the number ot days that have passed since the CDT battery was inserted by the service engineer The day counter 25 is reset by the processor 22 when a new battery is inserted in response to a control input supplied either from the hhu 5 or entered via the keypad 18 The processor 22 also maintains various operation counters indicated schematically at 26 These counters indicate the number of times each of various specified operations are performed by the CDT controller In this embodiment, tour operation counters 26 are maintained by the processor 22 for the following operations - communications between the CDT and meter - customer card insertions - display activations - accounting calculations Thus, each time one of the above operations is performed, the CDT controller 19 increments the appropriate operation counter 26 Again, the operation counters 26 are reset by the service engineer when the CDT battery is replaced Figure 4 shows the similar structure of the meter controller 14 in this embodiment The controller 14 comprises a control processor 28 which is connected to the hhu port 15 and MMU 12 and to a link interface 29 for transmission of data to and from the link 4 The processor 28 is also provided with an RTC 29 and maintains a day counter 30 and various operation counters indicated schematicallv at 31. The day counter 30 indicates the number of days since the meter battery was inserted in the same way the CDT day counter 25. In this embodiment, there are three operation counters 31 for the following operations: - gas pulse detection and meter reading update - opening/closing the gas valve 13 - communications between the meter controller and CDT Thus, each time one of the above operations is performed by the meter controller 14, the processor 29 increments the appropriate operation counter. The counters 30, 31 are reset by the service engineer when the meter battery is replaced by means of a control input entered via the hhu 5. The various counters 25, 26, 30 and 31 are preferably maintained in nonvolatile memory associated with the processors 22 and 28. The operation counters can be updated each time the various operations are performed. However, to reduce the number of writes to the non-volatile memories, the processors 22, 28 may maintain temporary daily records in internal RAMs and update the main counters in non-volatile memory when updating the day counters 25, 30. For overall management of battery replacements, each time the customer card 7 is inserted in the CDT 3 the current battery usage data is written to the card 7 by the CDT controller 19. In more detail, the CDT processor 22 accesses the counters 25 , 26 and (after adding any daily operation counts stored in RAM to the operation count values) writes these values to the card 7 as CDT battery usage data. The CDT processor 22 also polls the meter controller 14 for the current meter battery usage data, and the meter processor 28 similarly retrieves the various count values and transmits these to the CDT processor 22. The CDT processor 22 then writes these values to the card 7 as meter battery usage data. The next time the card 7 is presented to the POS 8, the POS will read the battery usage data and transmit this to the central controller 10. All the processing required to determine the remaining battery capacity for the metering and CDT batteries, and hence whether these batteries should be replaced. is performed by the central controller 12. This processing can be far more sophisticated than could be performed practicably in the metering apparams itself, and can be performed with reference not only to manufacmrer's data, but also by reference to statistical data derived from empirical measurements of various aspects of the operation of CDTs 3 and meters 2. Statistics based on empirical measurements on the batteries used in the system may also be employed. In this example, the central controller 10 is programmed with the energy consumption values for each of the operations counted by the operation counters 26, 31 and uses these together with the battery data and day count values to estimate the remaining battery capacity. In particular, in this example, the controller 10 is preprogrammed with the following data (where the figures are given by way of illustration only): - nominal battery capacity when new 18000mA hours - battery self-discharge current 3% of nominal per year - CDT standby current 0.1mA - meter standby current 0. 1mA together with the following data indicating energy consumption of the various operations: CDT OPERATION CURRENT DURATION Card insertion 30mA 5 seconds CDT/meter communications 30mA 1 second Activating electronic display 5 mA 1 minute Accounting calculation 10mA 1 second METER OPERATION CURRENT DURATION Pulse detection and meter reading update 5 mA 1 second Opening/closing gas valve 10mA 1 second Meter/CDT communications 30mA 1 second To illustrate the calculation performed by the controller 10 for the CDT battery, assume the day counter indicates 625 days, and the operation counters indicate 80 card insertions, 6000 CDT/meter communications, 1800 display activations, and 800 accounting calculations The battery capacity used can then be calculated as follows Standby current consumption = 625 x 24 x 0 1 = 1500mA hours Self-discharge = 3 % x 625 x 18000 = 924 7mA hours 365 Card insertions = 80 x 30 x s / 3600 = 3 3 mA hours Communications = 6000 x 30 x V 3600 = 50mA hours Display activations = 1800 x 5 x l / ω = 150mA hours Accounting calculations = 800 x 10 x V 360O = 2 2mA hours TOTAL = 2630.2 Thus, the remaining battery capacity = 18000 - 2630 2 = 15369 8mA hours The central controller 10 compares this value to a threshold value which is set based on the battery's load curve and other empirical data (such as the expected daily energy consumption for a typical metering apparams) to determine if the CDT battery should be replaced The threshold should allow sufficient time to arrange a visit from a service engineer with a suitable margin of safety to allow tor the possibility of errors When the remaimng battery capacity is below the threshold, the central controller 10 generates an indication to an operator that the battery requires replacement This could be done by automatic generation of the service engineers work schedules, in which case a suitable entry for replacement of the CDT battery at the particular consumer's premises will be made It will be appreciated that the meter battery capacity can be calculated in a similar way to the above based on the data stored m the central controller 10 The above example also illustrates the fact that the main dram on the battery is due to the standby current, since for much of the time the CDT 3, and similarly the meter 2 will be in the standby mode Thus, in some embodiments, the CDT 3 and meter 2 may simply maintain day counters 25, 30, and this will enable the central controller 10 to derive a reasonable estimate of the remaimng battery capacity based on the known standby currents and battery characteristics In such embodiments, however the central controller could be preprogrammed with the expected energy consumption rate due to various other operations This can be derived from statistical analysis of measurements of operating patterns of metering apparams in the system to determine a typical usage pattern This expected consumption can then be taken into account in the processing operation even where the metering apparams itself only records day counts As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, various different algorithms may be used for calculation of remaining battery capacity and setting of the threshold value, in dependence on the particular characteristics of the battery question and the data provided by the manufacturer and/or derived from empirical measurements It will also be appreciated that empirical data other than that specifically mentioned above may be employed if desired For example, the statistical data stored in the central controller 10 may be further improved by taking regular samples of batteries from metering apparams in use and accurately measuring the remaining capacity By correlating the results with the number of operations recorded by the operation counters in the apparams, it will be possible to fine tune the values used in the processing algorithms for different types of operation In the embodiments described above, when the service engineer visits the consumer's premises the hhu 5 may be used to retrieve the current count values from the meter and CDT for relay to the central controller 10 Alternatively, the hhu 5 may be programmed with the same data and processing algorithms as the central controller 10 to enable the engineer to determine on-site if either battery requires replacement It will be appreciated that the above provides an efficient system for monitoring of battery capacity and management of battery replacement in the metering system The metering apparams itself need only maintain simple counters as described above, and the analysis and processing of the data is performed externally allowing more sophisticated processing operations to be pertormed where desired to increase useful battery life Further, overall management of battery replacements can be pertormed without reliance on the consumer It will of course be appreciated that, while preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, various changes and modifications ma be made without departing from the scope ot the invention

Claims: CLAIMS 1 Metering apparams for metering the supply of a service to a consumer, the apparams being powered by at least one battery and comprising control means arranged to record battery usage data comprising at least data indicating the operating time of the apparams since insertion of the battery, and data output means arranged to output the battery usage data under control of the control means for commumcation of said data to external data processing means 2 A metering system comprising metering apparams as claimed in claim 1, and external data processing means for processing the battery usage data to determine if the battery should be replaced 3 A metering system as claimed in claim 2 wherein said external data processing means comprises a central controller of the metering system 4 A metering system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said data output means comprises a card interface arranged to write the battery usage data to a memory card for commumcation to the central controller during a credit purchase operation in which the card is read by a card reader of the system 5 A metering system as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the data output means comprises a communications port for commumcation of the battery usage data to a hand-held umt which is operable to communicate said data to the external data processing means 6 A metering system as claimed in claim 2 wherein said external data processing means comprises a hand-held unit, and wherein said output means comprises a communications port for communication of the battery usage data to the hand-held 7 A metering system as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein the external data processing means is arranged to estimate the used capacity of the battery in dependence on said operating time and prestored data indicative of the energy consumption of the apparams m a standby mode of operation 8 A metering system as claimed m claim 7 wherein the external data processing means is arranged to estimate the used capacity of the battery in dependence on prestored data indicative of the expected energy consumption rate due to each of a plurality of types of operations performed by the metering apparams in use 9 A metering apparams or system as claimed m any preceding claim, wherein the battery usage data includes data indicating, for each of a plurality of types of operation that may be performed by the apparams in use, the number of times that the operation is performed 10 A metering system as claimed in claim 9 and claim 7, wherein the external data processing means is arranged to estimate the used capacity of the battery in dependence on said battery usage data and prestored data indicating the expected energy consumption due to respective said types of operation 11 A metering apparams or system as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the metering apparams comprises a meter which is powered by a first battery, and a control umt which is powered by a second battery, the control means being arranged to record said battery usage data for each of the first and second batteries 12 A metering system as claimed in claim 11 and any one ot claims 2 to 8 and 10 wherein the external data processing means is arranged to process the battery usage data for each said battery to determine if the battery should be replaced 13 Metering apparams substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings 14. A metering system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 15. A method of monitoring battery life in a metering system comprising metering apparams which is powered by at least one battery, the method comprising: recording battery usage data in control means of the metering apparams, the battery usage data comprising at least data indicating the operating time of the apparams since insertion of the battery; communicating the battery usage data from the metering apparams to external data processing means; and processing the battery usage data in said external data processing means to determine if the battery should be replaced. 16. A method of monitoring battery life in a metering system, the method being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: DUJON GREGORY FRANCIS, DUJON, GREGORY, FRANCIS
Applicants: DUJON GREGORY FRANCIS, LG UK LTD, DUJON, GREGORY, FRANCIS, LG (UK) LTD.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: G01R31
IPC codes: G01D4, G01R31