Abstract:
The present invention achieves technical advantages as an AMR device adapted to couple to utility meters and detect an excess rate of product delivery and responsively generate an alert indicative of this excess rate. Advantageously, the alert is provided to a remote device to provide notice of an abnormal condition, such as a leak which could produce flooding, or customer exceeding an allowed delivery rate, such as during conservation periods.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/896,502 entitled “Optical Sensor for Utility Meter” filed Jun. 29, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,798,352, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/419,743 filed Oct. 16, 1999, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,710,721. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is generally related to utility meter reading devices, and more particularly to automated meter reader (AMR) devices utilized to remotely and efficiently obtain meter readings of utility meters providing electric, gas and water service. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Organizations which provide electric, gas and water service to users are commonly referred to as “utilities”. Utilities determine charges and hence billings to their customers by applying rates to quantities of the service that the customer uses during a predetermined time period, generally a month. This monthly usage is determined by reading the consumption meter located at the service point (usually located at the point where the utility service line enters the customer&#39;s house, store or plant) at the beginning and ending of the usage month. The numerical difference between these meter readings reveals the kilowatts of electricity, cubic feet of natural gas, or the gallons of water used during the month. Utilities correctly perceive these meters as their “cash registers” and they spend a lot of time and money obtaining meter reading information. 
   An accepted method for obtaining these monthly readings entails using a person (meter reader) in the field who is equipped with a rugged hand held computer, who visually reads the dial of the meter and enters the meter reading into the hand held. This method, which is often referred to as “electronic meter reading”, or EMR, was first introduced in 1981 and is used extensively today. While EMR products today are reliable and cost efficient compared to other methods where the meter reader records the meter readings on paper forms, they still necessitate a significant force of meter readers walking from meter to meter in the field and physically reading the dial of each meter. 
   The objective of reducing the meter reading field force or eliminating it all together has given rise to the development of “automated meter reading”, or AMR products. The technologies currently employed by numerous companies to obtain meter information are:
         Radio frequency (RF)   Telephone   Coaxial cable   Power line carrier (“PLC”)       

   All AMR technologies employ a device attached to the meter, retrofitted inside the meter or built into/onto the meter. This device is commonly referred to in the meter reading industry as the Meter Interface Unit, or MIU. Many of the MIU&#39;s of these competing products are transceivers which receive a “wake up” polling signal or a request for their meter information from a transceiver mounted in a passing vehicle or carried by the meter reader, known as a mobile data collection unit (“MDCU”). The MIU then responsively broadcasts the meter number, the meter reading, and other information to the MDCU. After obtaining all the meter information required, the meter reader attaches the MDCU to a modem line or directly connects it to the utility&#39;s computer system to convey the meter information to a central billing location. Usually these “drive by” or “walk by” AMR products operate under Part 15 of the FCC Rules, primarily because of the scarcity of, or the expense of obtaining, licenses to the RF spectrum. While these types of AMR systems do not eliminate the field force of meter readers, they do increase the efficiency of their data collection effort and, consequentially, fewer meter readers are required to collect the data. 
   Some AMR systems which use RF eliminate the field force entirely by using a network of RF devices that function in a cellular, or fixed point, fashion. That is, these fixed point systems use communication concentrators to collect, store and forward data to the utilities&#39; central processing facility. While the communication link between the MIU and the concentrator is almost always either RF under Part 15 or PLC, the communication link between the concentrator and the central processing facility can be telephone line, licensed RF, cable, fiber optic, public carrier RF (CDPD, PCS) or LEO satellite RF. The advantage of using RF or PLC for the “last mile” of the communication network is that it is not dependent on telephone lines and tariffs. 
   One advantage of AMR systems is for use with fluid meters, such as residential and commercial water meters, as these meters are typically more difficult to access, and are often concealed behind locked access points, such as heavy lids. 
   There is desired an improved meter reading device and methodology which improves upon the available AMR products through simplification and ease of use. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention achieves technical advantages as an AMR device adapted to couple to utility meters and detect an excess rate of product delivery and responsively generate an alert indicative of this excess rate. Advantageously, the alert is provided to a remote device to provide notice of an abnormal condition, such as a leak which could produce flooding, or customer exceeding an allowed delivery rate, such as during conservation periods. 
   In one preferred embodiment of the device of the present invention, an alert is generated by the AMR device when the product delivery rate is determined to meet or exceed an allowed rate, corresponding to a threshold that may be selectively established and remotely reset from the AMR device. The device includes a transmitter, and preferably a wireless transmitter operating in an unlicensed frequency band, such as under Part 15 of the FCC rules, and transmitting at a power level no greater than 1 mW. 
   The transmitter is adapted to transmit the alert without requiring external polling by a physically remote device, and without the assistance of a wireless communications network. The AMR device further achieves technical advantages by including an internal battery and operates therefrom as electricity is generally not available at the location of fluid meters. 
   In another embodiment, the transmitter is adapted to couple to a meter measuring a rate of electricity delivery, and is likewise adapted to provide an alert when a rate of electricity delivery exceeds a predetermined threshold. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a data transmitting module according to the present invention adapted to a household electric meter; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a data transmitting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention adapted to be fastened onto a water meter pit lid and adapted to read a water meter; 
       FIG. 3  is a electrical block diagram of an electric meter unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is an electrical block diagram of a water meter unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a signal timing diagram of the optical sensor unit for the electric meter of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a signal timing diagram of the optical sensor of the water meter unit of  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 7  is a byte data format diagram for the water and electric meter units; 
       FIG. 8  is a timing diagram of an initiated wake-up sequence by a remote programming device; 
       FIG. 9  is a timing diagram of a command/response sequence of the controller to the remote programming device; 
       FIG. 10  is a timing diagram of a sleep command being provided to the controller; 
       FIG. 11  is a sleep timing diagram of sequence; 
       FIG. 12  is a timing diagram of an oscillator of the water meter unit; 
       FIG. 13  is a timing diagram of the controller communicating with the EE PROM of the water and electric units; 
       FIG. 14  is a timing diagram of the controller of the water unit measuring interval battery voltages; 
       FIG. 15  is a full electrical schematic of the electric meter unit according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 16  is a full electrical schematic of the water meter unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 17  is a full schematic diagram of a receiver adapted to receive and process modulated data signals from the data transmitting devices according to the present invention; and 
       FIG. 18  shows a flow diagram of another preferred embodiment of the present invention providing an alert when a rate of product delivery meets or exceeds a threshold. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is illustrated a household electric meter unit generally shown at  10  having adapted therewith an electric meter reading unit  12  according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention coupled to sense a black spot  13  on the rotating meter disk generally shown at  14 . Electric meter unit  12  has an optical sensor for detecting the passing of the back spot  13  therepast to ascertain the consumed amount of electricity correlated to the read out of the visual display  15  of meter unit  10 . 
     FIG. 2  is the perspective view of a water meter unit according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention generally being shown at  16 . The circular structure  18  on the top of device  16  is adapted to fasten the unit  16  onto a water meter pit lid (not shown) with an antenna node (not shown) sticking up through a hold drilled through the pit lid. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is illustrated an electrical block diagram of the electric meter unit  12  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Electric meter unit  12  is seen to include a controller  20 , which may comprise of a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP) or other suitable controlling device, preferably being a programmable integrated circuit having suitable software programming. Device  12  is further seen to include an infrared (IR) optical sensor  22  adapted to sense the passing of the black spot  13  of the metered disk  14  of electric meter unit  10 . Optical sensor  22  preferably operates by generating pulses of light using a light emitting diode, and sensing the reflection of light from the meter disk  14 , and determining the passing of the black spot  13  by sensing a reduced reflection of the impinging light therefrom. 
   Electric meter unit  12  is further seen to include a memory device comprising an EE PROM  28  storing operating parameters and control information for use by controller  20 . An AC sense module  30  is also coupled to controller  20  and senses the presence of AC power  33  being provided to the meter unit  10  via an AC interface  32 . 
   A radio frequency (RF) transmitter  36  is coupled to and controlled by controller  20 , and modulates a formatted data signal provided thereto on line  38 . RF transmitter  36  modulates the formatted data signal provided thereto, preferably transmitting the modulated signal at a frequency of about 916.5 MHz at 9600 bits per second (BPS), although other frequencies or data rates are suitable and limitation to this frequency or baud rate is not to be inferred. 
   A programming optical port  40  is provided and coupled to controller  20  which permits communication between controller  20  and an external optical infrared device  42  used for programming controller  20 , and for selectively diagnosing the operation of electric meter unit  12  via the optical port  40 . Optical port  40  has an IR transceiver adapted to transmit and receive infrared signals to and from the external device  42  when the external device  42  is disposed proximate the optical port  40  for communication therewith. Device  42  asynchronously communicates with controller in a bi-directional manner via port  40 , preferably at 19,200 baud. 
   Optical sensor  22  communicates via a plurality of signals with controller  20 . Optical sensor  22  provides analog voltages indicative of and corresponding to the sensed black spot of disk  24  via a pair of data lines  50  and  52  which interface with an analog to digital controller (ADC)  54  forming a sub-portion of controller  20 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 4 , there is generally shown detailed electrical block diagram of the water meter unit  16  according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein like numerals refer to like elements to those shown in  FIG. 3 . The water meter unit  16  is substantially similar to the electric meter unit  12  in function, but having some differences necessary for operation with a household water meter unit. Specifically, water meter unit  16  has an optical sensor  60  adapted to be positioned proximate a water meter face  62  having a needle  64 , which needle  64  indicates a consumed amount of water communicated through the water meter unit. Optical sensor  60  senses the position of needle  64  via infrared (IR) sensing electronics, and provides the sensed position of needle  64  via communication link  66  to an optical sensor interface  68 . The sensed position of needle  64  is provided as a data signal comprising an analog voltage transmitted on line  70  to an ADC  72  of controller  20 . In this embodiment, water meter unit  16  is provided with an internal battery  80  powering the microcontroller  20  and other circuitry, preferably being a lithium battery operating at about 3.6 volts. A battery voltage measuring unit  82  senses and measures the current operating voltage of battery  80 , and outputs an analog voltage signal indicative thereof on line  84  to an ADC  86  of microcontroller  20 . The value of the analog voltage signal on line  84  is a function of the battery voltage of battery  80  and is about 1.2 volts when battery  80  is providing 3.6 volts. The value of the Battery Voltage Measuring circuit is about 1.2V, but the perceived value by the ADC is a function of the ADC Ref voltage, which is the battery voltage. For example, if the ADC measures the 1.2V and it was 33% full scale of the ref voltage (battery voltage), then the battery voltage would be: 1.2×1/0.33=3.6V The 1.2V is constant over a wide battery voltage range. 
   A low power oscillator  90  operating at about 32 kHz generates a 4 Hz logic interrupt signal to controller  20 , which controls the speed of controller  20 . By providing only a 4 Hz interrupt signal, microcontroller  20  operates at a very slow speed, and thus consumes very little power allowing water meter unit  16  to operate at up to about 10 years without requiring replacement of lithium battery  80 . 
   The EE PROM  28  is selectively enabled by the microcontroller  20  via an enable line  96 , and once enabled, communication between the microcontroller  20  and the EE PROM  28  follows an IIC protocol. Likewise, the battery voltage measuring device  82  is selectively enabled powered by the microcontroller  20  via a control line  98  such that the battery voltage is sensed only periodically by the controller  20  to conserve power. 
   The optical sensor  60  is controlled by controller  20  via optical sensor interface  68  to determine the water position and presence of meter needle  64 . The sensor  60  is attached to the lens of the water meter (not shown). An infrared (IR) signal  100  is periodically transmitted from the sensor  60 , and the reflection of the IR signal is measured by the sensor  60  to determine the passage of needle  64 . The sensor  60  operates in cyclic nature where the sensing is performed every 250 milliseconds. The intensity of the IR signal transmitted by sensor  60  is controlled by two drivelines on control line  66  from the microcontroller  20 . The IR intensity is set according to the optical characteristics of the water meter face. The sensor  60  emits an intense, but short burst of IR light. The IR receiver  68  responsively generates an analog voltage on signal line  70  which voltage is a function of the received IR light intensity from optical sensor  60 . This voltage is connected directly to the ADC  72  of the controller  20 . The controller  20  measures this converted (digital) signal, and uses the value in an algorithm that ascertains the value over time to determine if the water meter needle has passed under the sensor  60 . The algorithm also compensates for the effects of stray light. The mechanical shape of the sensor  60  and orientation of the IR devices, such as light emitting diodes, determines the optical performance of the sensor and its immunity to stray IR light. 
   The water meter unit  16  periodically transmits a modulated formatted data signal on an RF link  110  that is preferably tuned at 916.5 MHz with on-off-keyed data at 9600 bits per second (9600 baud). The transmitter  36  transmits the data in formatted packets or messages, as will be discussed shortly. These formatted messages are transmitted at a repetition rate that has been initialized into the unit  16 , and which may be selectively set between every one second and up to intervals of every 18 hours, and which may be changed via the optical port  40  by the programming external optical device  42 . The formatted messages modulated by the transmitter  36 , as will be discussed shortly, contain fields including an opening flag, message length, system number, message type, data, check sum and closing flag, as will be discussed shortly in reference to  FIG. 7 . The messages are variable length, whereby the message length field indicates how long the message is. The message type field indicates how to parse or decode the data field. Different messages carry and combine different data items. Data items include network ID, cumulative meter reading, clock time, battery voltage, sensor tamper, sensor diagnostic, and trickle flags. 
   As previously mentioned, low power 32 kHz oscillator  90  generates a 4 Hz square wave output. This signal is connected to the controller  20  which causes an interrupt ever 250 milliseconds. The microcontroller uses this interrupt for clock and timing functions. In normal mode, the microcontroller is asleep and wakes up every 200 milliseconds and performs a scheduling task for about 50 milliseconds. If a task is scheduled to execute, it will execute that task and return to sleep. In normal mode, all tasks are executed within the 250 millisecond window. 
   In the case of the optical sensor  22  of  FIG. 3 , the sensor  22  is attached to the electric meter such that the sensor faces the metered disk surface. The IR signal is periodically transmitted from the sensor and the reflection is measured. As the black spot passes under the sensor, a variation in the reflected IR signal occurs. The sensor operates in cyclic nature where the sensing is performed every 33 milliseconds. The IR receiver of sensor  22  generates analog voltages on lines  50  and  52  that is a function of the received IR light intensity and are connected to the ADC  72  in the microcontroller  20 . The controller  20  measures this converted (digitized) voltage, and used the value in the algorithm. The algorithm senses the values over time to determine if the black spot has passed under the sensor. To detect reverse rotation of the metered disk, the sensor  22  has two sensors, as shown. The controller  22 , with its algorithm, determines the direction of disk rotation as the black spot passes the sensor  22 . The black spot is a decal and does not reflect IR light. This is determined by the decal&#39;s material, color and surface texture. As with the water meter, the algorithm and sensor shrouding compensate for the effects of stray light. 
   The AC line interface  32  interfaces to the AC line coupled to the electric meter through a resistive tap. The resistors limit the current draw from the AC line to the electric meter unit  12 . The AC is then rectified and regulated to power the unit  12 . The AC sensor  30  detects the presence of AC voltage on the AC line  33 . The sensed AC is rectified and a pulse is generated by sensor  30 . This pulse is provided to the microcontroller  20  where it is processed to determine the presence of adequate AC power. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a waveform diagram of the signals exchanged between the optical sensor  22  and the controller  20  of the electric meter unit  12  shown in  FIG. 3 . The logic signals generated by controller  20  control the optical sensor  22  to responsively generate an IR signal and sense a refracted IR signal from the metered disk  24 . It can be seen that the reflected 0.3 millisecond IR signal is acquired within 1.3 milliseconds after enabling for sensing by ADC  54  and processed by controller  20 . Preferably, this measuring sequence is performed every 33 milliseconds, which periodic rate can be programmed via optical port  40  if desired. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 6 , there is shown the timing diagram of the signals between optical sensor  68  and controller  20  for water meter unit  16  of  FIG. 4 . The logic of the driving signals is shown below in Table 1. 
   
     
       
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 1 
             
             
                 
             
             
               Net Sensor Drive 
               Drive 1 
               Drive 2 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
               High 
               0 
               0 
             
             
               Medium 
               0 
               1 
             
             
               Low 
               1 
               0 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   As shown in the timing diagram of  FIG. 6 , the analog signal provided on line  70  by optical sensor  68  rises to an accurate readable voltage in about 140 milliseconds, and has a signal width of about 270 milliseconds. The period of the analog voltage is about 250 milliseconds, corresponding to a signal acquisition rate of 4 Hz corresponding to the timing frequency provided on line  92  to controller  20 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 7 , there is shown the message format of the data signal provided by controller  20  on output line  38  to RF transmitter  36 . The message is generally shown at  120  and is seen to have several fields including: 
   opening flag (OF) comprised of two bytes; 
   message length (ML) having a length of one byte; 
   system number (SN) having a length of one byte; 
   message type (MT) one byte; 
   data, which length is identified by the message length parameter (ML); 
   check sum (CSUM) two bytes; and 
   closing flag (CF) one byte. 
   Further seen is the data format of one byte of data having one start bit and 8 bits of data non-returned to zero (NRZ) and one stop-bit. The length of each byte is preferably 1.04 milliseconds in length. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 8 , there is illustrated the message format and timing sequence of messages generated between the external optical timing device  42  and microcontroller  20  via optical port  40 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , a plurality of synchronization bytes are provided by device  42  on the receive data (RXD) line to controller  20 , and upon the recognition of the several bytes by controller  20 , the controller  20  generates a response message to the wake-up message on the transmit data (TXD) line via optical port  40  to the external device  42 . Thereafter, shown in  FIG. 9 , a command data message may be provided by the external device  42  to controller  20  on receive data line RXD, with response data, if required, being responsively returned on the transmit data line TXD to device  42  if required by the command. 
   As shown in  FIG. 10 , a sleep command is then generated by external device  42  upon which no response by controller  20  is generated and the unit  12  goes to sleep. As shown in  FIG. 11 , after a command has been sent to controller  20 , and responded to, the unit  12  will time out after a predetermined period of time if no other commands are received, such as 120 seconds, with a message being sent by controller  20  on transmit line TXD indicating to the external device  42  that the unit  12  has gone to sleep. 
   The message sequence shown in  FIGS. 8-11  applies equally to both the electric unit  12  and the water unit  16 . Referring now to  FIG. 12 , there is illustrated the 4 Hz square wave interrupt signal generated by the low power oscillator  90  to the microcontroller  20 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 13 , there is illustrated the timing of communications between the EE PROM  28  and the controller  20 , whereby the EE PROM is enabled by a logic one signal on line  96 , with bi-directional data being transferred using an IIC link on lines SCL, and lines SDA. This applies to both the water unit  16  and the electric unit  12 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 14 , there is illustrated the timing diagram for sensing the internal battery voltage in the water meter unit  16  shown in  FIG. 4 . A logic high signal is generated on enable line  98  by controller  20 , whereby the battery measuring unit  82  responsively senses the battery voltage via line  130  from DC battery  80 . Battery measuring unit  82  responsively provides an analog voltage signal on line  84  indicative of the voltage of battery  80  to the ADC  86  of controller  20 . The analog voltage provided on signal line  84  is approximately 1.2 volts when the battery  80  is at full strength, being about 3.6 volts. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 15 , there is illustrated a detailed schematic diagram of the electric meter unit  12 , wherein like numerals shown in  FIG. 3  refer to like elements. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 16  there is illustrated a detailed schematic diagram of the water meter unit  16 , shown in  FIG. 4 , wherein like numerals refer to like elements. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 17 , there is illustrated a detailed schematic diagram of an external receiver unit adapted to receive and intelligently decode the modulated formatted data signals provided on RF carrier  110  by the RF transmitter  36 . This receiver  140  both demodulates the RF carrier, preferably operating at 916.5 MHz, at 9600 baud, and decodes the demodulated signal to ascertain the data in the fields of message  120  shown in  FIG. 7 . This receiver unit  140  has memory for recording all data collected from the particular sensored units being monitored by a field operator driving or walking in close proximity to the particular measuring unit, whether it be a water meter, gas meter or electric meter, depending on the particular meter being sensed and sampled. All this data is later downloaded into remote computers for ultimate billing to the customers, by RF carrier or other communication means. 
   In a preferred embodiment, the RF carrier  110  is generated at about 1 milliwatt, allowing for receiver  140  to ascertain the modulated data signal at a range of about 1,000 feet depending on RF path loss. The RF transmitters  36  are low power transmitters operating in microburst fashion operating under part  15  of the FCC rules. The receiver  140  does not have transmitting capabilities. The receiver is preferably coupled to a hand held computer (not shown) carried by the utility meter reader who is walking or driving by the meter location. 
   In the case of the electric meter unit  12 , the device obtains electrical power to operate from the utility side of the power line to the meter and is installed within the glass globe of the meter. The main circuit board of this device doubles as a mounting bracket and contains a number of predrilled holes to accommodate screws to attach to various threaded bosses present in most electric meters. 
   In the case of the water meter, electric power is derived from the internal lithium battery. The water meter unit  12  resides under the pit lid of the water meter unit, whereby the antenna  142  is adapted to stick out the top of the pit lid through a pit lid opening to facilitate effective RF transmission of the RF signal to the remote receiver  140 . 
   The present invention derives technical advantages by transmitting meter unit information without requiring elaborate polling methodology employed in conventional mobile data collection units. The meter units can be programmed when installed on the meter device, in the case of the water and gas meters, or when installed in the electric meter. The external programming diagnostic device  42  can communicate with the optical port  40  of the units via infrared technology, and thus eliminates a mechanical connection that would be difficult to keep clean in an outdoor environment. Also, the optical port  40  of the present invention is not subject to wear and tear like a mechanical connection, and allows communication through the glass globe of an electric meter without having to remove the meter or disassemble it. In the case of the electric meter, the present invention eliminates a potential leakage point in the electric meter unit and therefore allows a more watertight enclosure. 
   The transmitting meter units of the present invention can be programmed by the utility to transmit at predetermined intervals, determined and selected to be once ever second to up to several hours between transmissions. Each unit has memory  28  to accommodate the storage of usage profile data, which is defined as a collection of meter readings at selected intervals. For example, the unit can be programmed to gather interval meter readings ever hour. If the unit is set to record interval readings every hour, the memory  28  may hold the most recent 72 days worth of interval data. This interval data constitutes the usage profile for that service point. Typically, the utility uses this information to answer customer complaints about billings and reading and as a basis for load research studies. The profile intervals are set independently of the transmitting interval and the device does not broadcast the interval data. The only way this interval data can be retrieved by the utility is to attach the programming unit  42  to the meter unit of the present invention and download the file to a handheld or laptop computer. With the programming unit  42 , one can determine the status of the battery on the water meter which is including in the profile data. 
   The present invention allows one to selectively set the transmission intervals thereby controlling the battery life. The longer the interval, the longer the battery life. In the case of electric meter unit, power is derived directly from the utility side of the electric service to the meter. The battery on the water meter unit is not intended to be field replaceable. In order to control cost, the water meter product is designed to be as simple as possible with the water meter unit enclosure being factory sealed to preserve the watertight integrity of the device. Preferably, a D size lithium cell is provided, and the unit is set to transmit once every second, providing a battery life of about 10 years. The water meter unit of the present invention can be fitted to virtually any water meter in the field and the utility can reap the benefits of the present invention without having to purchase a competitor&#39;s proprietary encoder and software. In the case of existing water meters that incorporate an encoder which senses the rotation of the water meter, these encoders incorporate wire attachments points that allow attachments to the manufactures proprietary AMR device. The present invention derives advantages whereby the sensor  60  of the present invention can be eliminated, with the sensor cable  66  being coupled directly to the terminals on the encoder of this type of device. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 18 , there is shown at  200  a flow diagram of another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Algorithm  200  is preferably embodied as a software algorithm within microcontroller  20  of the water meter device  16  depicted in  FIG. 4 , although the algorithm could be embodied in hardware if desired. Hence, the invention is not limited to software, as the preferred embodiment will now be described. 
   Microcontroller  20 , as previously described, is adapted to ascertain the rate of fluid delivery by the fluid meter, such as water delivered to a residential or commercial customer. This present invention is well suited to facilitate conservation enforcement of consumed products according to local ordinances, such as water conservation. The algorithm  200  begins at step  210 , whereby a predetermined detection threshold is programmed into the meter, such as by a field technician or a remote monitoring station. This predetermined detection threshold may by programmed as a digital word into the microcontroller  20  via the optical port  40  by a field technician, but may also be programmed into the microcontroller  20  by any wireless signal via a suitable receiver, such as a wireless signal transmitted in an unlicensed frequency band and transmitted by a transmitter having a power level no greater than 1 mW in compliance with the FCC Part 15 requirements. 
   At step  220 , microcontroller  20  continuously determines if the delivery rate of the delivered product exceeds a rate corresponding to the predetermined threshold programmed into the microcontroller  20 . Excess consumption may be defined as a predetermined amount of product delivered instantaneously or over a predetermined time period. For instance, the rate of delivery may be a predetermined amount of fluid delivered over a one minute period of time, such as 100 gallons delivered in a one minute time period. Of course, depending on the customer and/or restrictions in place during use, this threshold limit can be programmed and updated as necessary. 
   At step  230 , if excess consumption is not detected, an active warning flag, if present, is cleared at microcontroller  20  at step  240 . If, however, at step  230  an excessive consumption rate is detected, then a consumption warning flag is set by microcontroller  20  at step  250 . For instance, this flag could be a logic high on one or more bits of a digital word. The microcontroller  20 , responsive to determining an excessive consumption rate, generates an alert indicative of this high consumption rate which is transmitted via the RF transmitter  36  to a physically remote station at a frequency within an unlicensed frequency band, and at a power level no greater than 1 mW. Preferably, this alert is transmitted in compliance with Part 15 of the FCC rules. The algorithm then proceeds to step  260  and returns to the main loop. 
   Advantageously, microcontroller  20  causes this alert to be generated and sent without requiring external polling by a remote device, and without the assistance of a wireless communication network. As previously mentioned, the device includes an internal battery  80  such that the AMR device  16  can operate for an extended period of time in locations where electricity is not available. 
   Advantageously, this alert is only transmitted when an excess consumption event is detected, which further reduces power consumption and extends the life of the battery. This alert is adapted to be remotely reset from the AMR device  16 , such as by a field technician via transceiver  40 , or from another physically remote station via any suitable wireless link. For instance, the alert can be wirelessly reset via an infrared link, or by an RF signal which may be a fixed frequency signal, a spread spectrum signal, a frequency hopping signal, or other suitable RF modulated signal. 
   This alert provides a timely notice to a remote party, such as the public utility which can responsively dispatch a party to investigate this alert, and turn off a water main should a serious leak or flooding be present, or if excess consumption is verified. In addition, a remote monitoring party may also be alerted, such as a security company contracted by the party being serviced, which in turn can alert the public utility or other party of the high delivery rate. 
   Due to the increased efforts of conservation, and enforcement of violators not meeting conservation requirements, the utility can also issue warnings and citations for excessive consumption of water delivery, which electronic records substantiate proof of a violation. 
   Though the invention has been described with respect to a specific preferred embodiment, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present application. It is therefore the intention that the appended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of the prior art to include all such variations and modifications.