Patent ID: 8102277

Claim:
A method of remote metering consumption of utilities distributed to a plurality of consumers, each consumer being associated with at least one remote meter, wherein: each remote meter measures a consumption and reports the measured consumption to a concentrator associated with a plurality of remote meters; the concentrator communicates with the plurality of remote meters associated with the concentrator in order to collect consumption data and to perform tasks related to the administration of the associated remote meters; each remote meter includes a host controller and a program memory, the host controller executing programs stored in the program memory; the concentrator transmits program data including information defining a sequence of program instructions to at least one of the plurality of remote meters associated with the concentrator, the concentrator successively transmitting program data messages, each program data message including a portion of the program data; each remote meter receives the program data; the concentrator queries each associated meter whether the queried meter has received the successively-transmitted program data messages including different portions of the program data; and if a queried meter reports one or more missing or incorrectly received program data messages, then the concentrator retransmits in a broadcast mode the one or more program data messages reported by the queried meter to be incorrect or missing; each associated meter receives those one or more program data messages during the retransmission which the respective meter has missed or incorrectly received; and each associated meter updates at least a portion of the programs stored in the program memory in accordance with the received program data.