Patent Document ID: 10097240
Application ID: 13871944
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A system for sending and receiving messages on an electrical distribution grid from a low-voltage periphery of said grid to an electrical distribution substation without requiring intervening apparatus to repeat or amplify a signal and wherein said grid is used as a long-range data-bearing network, the system comprising: a. a converged network comprising at least one conventional network and at least one medium voltage electrical distribution grid, wherein the at least one medium voltage electrical distribution grid comprises at least one distribution substation containing at least one substation transformer, and at least one low-voltage network comprising a service transformer supplying power to at least one consumer; b. a data center comprising a head end of an advanced metering infrastructure attached to the conventional network, and a concentrator configured to provide data blocks to the head end for broadcast over the advanced metering infrastructure, a database containing a Grid Map and an Inventory and stored programs, attached to the conventional network; c. at least one Computing Platform for each of the at least one distribution substations containing at least one substation transformer, the Computing Platform comprising a database containing a subset of the Grid Map and a subset of the Inventory and the stored programs; d. at least one Substation Receiver hosted on or in communication with the at least one Computing Platform; e. at least one Transformer Area Network supplied with power by the at least one substation transformer, each Transformer Area Network comprising at least one Remote Hub sited on a low-voltage side of the service transformer and configured to receive data blocks broadcast over the advanced metering infrastructure, wherein the at least one Remote Hub is configured to transmit messages that are received and decoded by the Substation Receiver, without the use of repeaters, bridges, or other apparatus between the Substation Receiver and the at least one Remote Hub, wherein the service transformer is a multi-phase service transformer, and wherein a service area of the multi-phase service transformer contains one Transformer Area Network for each phase of the multi-phase service transformer; and f. at least one additional Substation Receiver sited at an intermediate point on the at least one medium voltage electrical distribution grid between the at least one Transformer Area Network and the at least one substation transformer.