Elster platform makes it easier for utilities to change meters' 'personality'
By early next year, metering firm Elster expects to roll out a new platform that will enable a smart meter to operate on different communications networks with simple remote programming to “alter the device’s personality.”
The company is calling its REXUniversal offering the “world’s first truly integrated universal meter and radio platform.” The platform is expected to be commercially available in North America in the second quarter of 2012.
The new platform allows Elster’s EnergyAxis and other smart-grid vendors’ 900-megahertz (MHz) radio frequency (RF) mesh communications to run natively on REXUniversal meter hardware. Previously, if a utility wanted to operate one vendor’s communications on another vendor’s meter, it had to physically install a separate, proprietary communications card into each meter. With REXUniversal, communication protocols can be changed remotely to alter the device’s personality, allowing smart meters to operate natively in different network systems without the need for any hardware replacements.
That means utilities are no longer locked in to just one network for their smart-grid technology and system needs, according to Elster.
The REXUniversal meter design also supports additional communication modules including, but not limited to, cellular or Ethernet wide area network (WAN) interface cards, and options for local connectivity to in-home devices and gas and water meters.
