Saturne – Meter Data Collection

Date: 27/08/2009Version: Draft

Table of contentsIntroduction..............................................................................................................................1System architecture..................................................................................................................2

Software................................................................................................................................2Hardware.............................................................................................................................. 3

Device management.................................................................................................................4Meter reading...........................................................................................................................5

Push mode............................................................................................................................ 5Pull mode.............................................................................................................................. 5

Scheduled readings...........................................................................................................5On-demand readings.........................................................................................................6Readings processing..........................................................................................................6

Meter reading history...........................................................................................................6Communication results.....................................................................................................6Meter information............................................................................................................ 7Statistics............................................................................................................................7

Meter information consultation...............................................................................................8Management of incoming events.............................................................................................9Support to commissioning........................................................................................................9Integration with other systems...............................................................................................10

Sending information to other systems................................................................................10Receiving information from other systems.........................................................................10Receiving action requests from other systems...................................................................10Seamless integration with Itron Enterprise Edition MDM...................................................10

Scalability, Robustness............................................................................................................11Ease of use.............................................................................................................................. 13Technology..............................................................................................................................14Supported Devices..................................................................................................................15The following metering devices are currently supported.......................................................16

Commercial and Industrial..................................................................................................16Additional C&I meters (upon configuration/adaptation)................................................17

Residential...........................................................................................................................17Concentrators / gateways / dataloggers.............................................................................17

Additional residential meters (upon configuration/adaptation).....................................18

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IntroductionSaturne is an advanced Smart Metering software built on industry standards resulting of Asais’s 20 year experience in the energy market and AMR technology.

Independent of meter manufacturers, based on a flexible architecture and compatible with many communication technologies, Saturne is a future-proof solution adapted to today’s fast changing energy markets.

Packed with powerful business oriented functions, Saturne remains easy to master and to use thanks to its user friendly interface.

In a large scale AMR/AMI project, Saturne provides the Meter Data Collection layer, in charge of:

collecting information from C&I and/or residential meters and sending it to the Meter Data Management (MDM) system

collecting meter status information and alarms and sending them to the MDM storing detailed information about the communications to be able to provide

statistics performing management actions on meters and communication devices

(disconnection/reconnection, tariff parameters change, clock synchronization…)

Saturne manages meter data collection for all energies (electricity, gas, cooling/heat) and water.

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System architecture

SoftwareSaturne system is organized in several programs. The main ones are:

The Administrator program intended to configure the system The Consultation program available through an Internet browser from which meter

information and processing results can be seen The Communication Server which performs data readings from the meters The Alarm Center which receives incoming events from the network and triggers

actions and/or forwards them to operators or to other systems depending on user configuration.

Saturne distributed architecture allows the management of large scale smart metering infrastructures.

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HardwareSaturne processes can be installed on several physical servers if requested by the volume of meters to handle.

A typical installation has: One database server One or several application servers Several communication servers

In order to minimize communication costs Communication servers can be installed on remote locations.

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Device managementSaturne manages Service Points, meters and communication devices (such as concentrators and gateways).

Connection to meters can be: Point to point (C&I meters and isolated residential meters) Through concentrators or gateways

Services points hold the following information: Client identification Address of the premise where the meters are installed References of the meters installed at this address History of the consumption (register and load profile) at the service point Other information read from the meters (logbook, tampering, quality)

Meters hold the following information: Meter ID Type of the meter Current status of the meter Id of the communication device to which they are linked, when applicable Address of the meter (telephone number, ip address)

Communication devices hold the following information: Type of the device Communication technology Address of the device (telephone number, ip address) Security parameters Configuration information of the device

On a smart meter network, Saturne automatically manages infrastructure evolutions according to meter installation/removal messages sent by the network or the information system.

Information on these evolutions is forwarded to the MDM when applicable.

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Meter readingGetting information from the meters can be done in “pull” or “push” mode.

Push modeIn this mode, meter information is sent periodically by the meters or the communication devices to the central system.Saturne manages the reception of the incoming information and forward it to the MDM.

Pull modeIn this mode Saturne calls the meters and the communication devices to read their information. With concentrators, Saturne can either read the information from the concentrator memory or directly from the meter itself, using the concentrator as a gateway.

Saturne manages both scheduled and on-demand readings.

Scheduled readings

Scheduled readings are managed through “Reading strategies” which are defined by the following parameters:

Periodicity of the readings (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly) Day of the reading (day of week for weekly, day of month for monthly) Time of the reading Information to read (load profile, multi-tariff billing registers, meter status

information, logbook, tampering, quality). Possible choices depend on meter type Information depth to be read. “Complement” reads what is new into the meter

compared to what is already available into the database; “History” reads the whole depth available into the meters and supersedes what could already be into the database.

For meters behind concentrators, where to read the information: from the concentrators memory or directly from the meters

Operations to perform

The following operations are possible on devices from Saturne (depending on their capabilities):

For the communication devices: clock synchronization and change of parameters For meters: disconnection/reconnection, change of tariff parameters including TOU,

reset of registers, set next End of Billing parameters, set Daylight Saving Time parameters, change of load profile interval…

Saturne manages groups of devices (meters or communication devices). These groups can be defined by the list of the devices they represent or by criteria (all meters of a given area for example).Groups defined by criteria are a key advantage in large scale deployments as they automatically evolve when meters are installed or dismantled.

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Users can define as many reading strategies and groups of devices as needed which are stored in Saturne database. Some reading strategies can be temporarily deactivated if needed.

A scheduled reading is a reading strategy applied to one or several groups of meters.The scheduler process of Saturne supervises scheduled readings and queues them for execution each time it is requested due to the given periodicity.

On-demand readings

On-demand readings can be requested at any time through Saturne human interface (Administration program or Web based Consultation program) or even from another system through a Web Service.On-demand readings can be requested “as soon as possible” or at a given date and time. They have higher priority than scheduled ones.

On demand readings have the same capabilities as scheduled ones: the user can choose the information to be read and the actions to be performed.

Readings processing

Once in the reading queue, readings are executed by the Communication Servers.

Each Communication Server can handle several communication channels (i.e. PSTN or GSM modems, Ethernet connections, SMS Center…), allowing to read several communication devices and/or meters in parallel.

Each Communication Server also handles several communication protocols and uses the one which is adapted to the device being read.

In case of communication errors the Communication Servers automatically handle retries according to user-defined parameter. All readings in progress can be monitored on the Communication Server monitoring program.

Meter reading history

Communication results

All reading operations performed by Saturne are stored into the database.

For each operation the following information is recorded: Date and time the reading was put on the reading queue Date and time the reading was started by the Communication server Errors/Warnings during the reading if any Date and time the reading was finished

In case of retries, the same information is recorded for each trial, with the trial number.At the end of the last trial, the final status of the reading is recorded.

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Meter information

The information read from the meters is stored into the database attached to the Service Point to which the meter is linked.Saturne stores all the history of the load profiles.Saturne stores all end of billing consumption information, all special reading consumption information and the current value of registers the last time the meter was read (which is superseded each time a reading is performed).Saturne also stores into the database, attached to the meter itself, the current status information of the meter.The other information (logbook, tampering, and quality information – depending on the meter type) is also stored into the database.

All information is stored into the database with the timestamp given by the meters.

Topology information, when applicable, is also retrieved and stored into the database.

Statistics

Saturne also stores all necessary information to provide communication statistics both for LAN (PLC communications), when applicable, and for communications on the WAN between the Central Station and the communication devices or the meters.

On PLC network LAN communication statistics are based on “Credits”. WAN communications statistics are percentage of reading success between two dates for each PLCC.

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Meter information consultationAll information read from the meters can be displayed in Saturne Consultation module which runs on an Internet browser.

All meter information can be displayed: Load profiles are displayed either graphically as demand or energy per period of time,

or as values in a spreadsheet Billing information (with an history of end of billing values) Instantaneous values Logbook Quality information Status information

Displayed information can be uploaded on the user’s computer or sent to the printer.

In addition to displaying individual meter information, Saturne Consultation module provides many queries allowing browsing the content of the database to find specific information such as:

Meters with given status information (hardware problem, tampering suspicion…) Meters for which billing information or load profile is not complete at a given date Communication statistics on the LAN and on the WAN Reading results Smart meter network topology …

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Management of incoming eventsSaturne Alarm Center manages incoming events from the network.

Events can be filtered. They are displayed on screen and the system can be programmed to trigger actions depending on their type.

Possible actions are any combination of: Forwarding the event to another system (as an XML message for example) Sending an SMS to an operator Activating any process through a Web Service call.

Support to commissioningIn a smart metering network, Saturne capacity to populate its database from meter announcement information is a key advantage for large roll-outs.

Gathering communication statistics provides essential information which facilitates the commissioning of the communication on the WAN and on the LAN.

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Integration with other systems Saturne is designed to be integrated with other systems either through XML messages exchanges or through a high level API.

Sending information to other systemsAll the information read by Saturne from the meters is automatically sent to relevant system, for example:

Meter Data Management for consumption information Control Center for status information, events, communication results

Receiving information from other systemsSaturne can automatically import information on Service Points either initially to populate the database, or regularly to reflect changes on the field.

Receiving action requests from other systemsExternal systems can perform any on demand reading or any action on the meters (such as disconnection/reconnection) through Saturne Web Services interface.

Seamless integration with Itron Enterprise Edition MDMWhen Itron Entreprise Edition (IEE) MDM is used as a centralized meter data management system, Saturne can serve as a head-end for IEE. For this purpose, Saturne is fully integrated with IEE MDM and supports the following processes:

IEE MDM -> Saturne MDC Schedule based meter data reading On-demand actions such as read, disconnect/reconnect, configure meters

Saturne MDC -> IEE MDM Meter readings Events

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Scalability, RobustnessSaturne is designed to be able to read thousands of C&I meters and millions of residential meters in a short period of time.

Benchmarks demonstrated that, over time, the collection rate is stable and resource consumption is predictable and steady.

CPU Total

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User% Sys% Wait%

Stable Processor consumption Efficient use of the disk array

Database monitoring shows no waste of processor power due to contentions.

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Stable collection rate over time

Disk Adapters (MB/s)

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fcs3_read fcs3_write fcs6_read fcs6_write fcs5_read fcs5_write fcs1_read fcs1_write fcs7_read fcs7_write

fcs4_read fcs4_write fcs0_read fcs0_write fcs2_read fcs2_write

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The communication with the communication devices and the meters can be processed by several Communications servers in parallel. Each Communication Server can manage a mix of communication media (PSTN, GSM, GPRS…).

Readings to be performed will be automatically dispatched between all Communication servers. They are not assigned to a given communication port. Should any of them fail the remaining will perform all the readings.

Spare communication resources can be allocated in communication servers, in order to provide h/w redundancy. In this case, the switch over to a new modem resource is transparent.Increasing the capacity of the system is achieved by adding more communication servers, which can be done without impact on a running system.

Important processes of Saturne, such as meter reading, are implemented as system services. Should, for any reason one of these processes fail, it will restart automatically.

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Ease of useSaturne runs under Windows operating system. The Administrator and Communication server modules are thick client programs. Their human interface is based on the popular explorer tree design.

Communication servers Dashboard

The Communication Server process runs in the background as a system service. The Communication server monitor program allows for monitoring reading progress. All running communications (for all communication ports of all communication servers) can be monitored on the same screen.

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Service Point: Load profile

The Consultation module is a thin client program which runs on any computer running an Internet browser and connected to Saturne server. This module has a user friendly human interface made of Web pages including sophisticated interactive controls based on Ajax standards.

TechnologySaturne has been developed using the latest industry technologies and standards:

Microsoft .NET framework. System interfaces using the SOAP protocol (XML-based) Compatible with a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Communication interfaces embedding XML messaging Ajax

The following relational databases systems (RDMS) are supported by Saturne: Microsoft SQL server 6.5 Oracle 10

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Supported DevicesSaturne is a multi-vendor meter data collection system based on standards.

It currently handles many communication protocols among which DLMS/COSEM, IEC62056-21 and IEC62056-31 (Euridis).The various communication media (PSTN, GSM, GPRS, Ethernet…) available for the meters are also supported.

Saturne is designed to be extended to new protocols by addition of the corresponding drivers without impact on the system core.

Managing a new DLMS/COSEM compliant meter is done mainly by configuration.

All Cosem objects can be read by Saturne once they have been described in Saturne meter configuration.

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The following metering devices are currently supported

Commercial and Industrial metersBaer

DLX

EDMI

MK6E

EMH

LZQJ

LZQM

Enerdis

Trimaran 2

Trimaran 2 M

Trimaran 2P V1

Trimaran 2P V2Itron

ACE8000

SL7000

ACE6000 DLMS

ACE6000 Euridis

Q1000

QE16

QE16 M

A12E TJ

A70 TJ

ECHODIS

CYBLE

G4

Landis+Gyr

METCOM

FCL

ZMB

ZMD

ZMQ

ZMV

ZMA9

LEM

EM4T

Matra Chauvin-Arnoux

Trimaran 1

MECI

CDV12

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Sagem

SAGELEC 3000

C3000

CX2500

Schlumberger

CEVATEC 2000

Additional C&I meters (upon configuration/adaptation) DLMS/COSEM compliant

MeterXml (Actaris Push protocol) compliant

Modem-friendly FLAG / IEC 61107 / IEC 6256-21 compliant

Modem-friendly IEC 62056-31 compliant

IEC 60870-5-102 compliant

Modem-friendly or on IP MODBUS compliant

TRIMARAN compliant

TRIMARAN+ compliant

ResidentialCoronis

Waveflow

Wavesense

Iskraemeco

ME340

Itron

ACE4000 PLC

ACE4000 GPRS

ACE5000

ACE6000 Euridis

Landis+Gyr

L16C5

L18C4

FLEX

MAR

ZMF

Sagem

S10C3

S20C2

CX1000 / CX1400 / CX 2000

Stepper

U3C3

Concentrators / gateways / dataloggersItron/Maec

BPI (PSTN/62056-31 Interface)

PLCC G1 to access PLAN/PLC 62056-31 connected meters

PLCC G2 to access :

            PLC directly or indirectly connected meters

            PLC Interfaces to 62056-31 (Euridis) meters

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ACE4000 M-Bus Master – meter or Interface Unit

            M-Bus meters

Landis+Gyr

CR3 V2/V3 to access :

            PLC directly or indirectly connected meters

            PLC Interfaces to 62056-31 (Euridis) meters :

            DLMS/COSEM meters

Coronis systems

GPRS/Radio concentrator

MECI

STA15

Energy ICT

WebRTU datalogger

Additional residential meters (upon configuration/adaptation) IEC 62056-31 compliant

DLMS/COSEM compliant

MeterXml compliant

Xml GPRS Push meter