Large-scale RF mesh AMR implementation (experience in St.Petersburg)

1. Large-scale RF mesh AMR implementation(experience in St.Petersburg) Sergey Khudyakov Data Transfer, Inc.Russia

2. AMR drivers • Non-technical loss elimination • Reduce theft • Increase payment control • Technical loss elimination • Transformer loss monitoring • Transmission loss monitoring • Billing improvements • Decrease collection interval • Increase total collections • Human factor reduction

3. Why RF mesh? • Proven in implementations around the World, significant advantages of RF mesh network over other wired and wireless network solutions • Ultimately, technology agnostic – need for reliable data delivery at lowest cost • Selected RF mesh from Eka Systems for lowest estimated cost of ownership

4. About the provider of the solution Eka Systems Inc. • Leader in wireless mesh AMR solutions for utilities and energy service providers. • Eka’s innovative mesh networking technology, EkaNetTM, is the most advanced and feature-rich networking platform on the market today. • Applications include utility-scale advanced meter-reading systems and energy-management systems. • Organizations using Eka Systems technology include utility companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and systems integrators.

5. True RF mesh AMI • Self organizing – no manual network node provisioning • Ad hoc – no manual network hierarchy assignment • Peer-to-peer – no multiple node types, such as coordinator, router, end device, etc. • Self healing & redundant – distributed intelligence to re-route • Multi-hop: no hop limits, no meter to gateway mapping

6. Connectivity • RF system operating at 2.4 GHz • Reliability of Bluetooth – stable, proven, robust • License free band in Russia • 20 milliwatts of transmit power – range of 500m in free space • External antenna options add flexibility

7. E k a B a c k E n d S y s t e m E k a W i r e l e s s M e s h S e n s o r N e t w o r k A p p l i c a t i o n S e N e t w o r k M a n a g e r I n t e r n e t W i r e l e s s G a t e w a y U t i l i t y B i l l i n g A p p l i c a t i o n U t i l i t y C R M A p p l i c a t i o n EkaNetTM architecture EkaNetTM wireless mesh meter-node network EkaNetTM Network Manager at data center EkaNetTM is fully Internet-enabled, providing access to the local wireless network throughout the world.The flexible, scalable architecture is sophisticated enough to handle the rigorous requirements of industrial and commercial environments, as well as ideally suited to very low-cost residential networking applications E l e c t r i c m e t e r s w i t h e m b e d d e d r v e r D a t a b a s e E k a m o d u l e s Network Manager Client U t i l i t y C R M D a t a b a s e

8. Meter multi-brand AMR networks Lan&Gyr meter DT ECR-3 and ECR-2400 meter GE kv2c meter Elster Alpha meter Itron CENTRON meter

9. Meter multi-brand AMR networks • Easy adjustable • Compatibility with any meter Wireless modem meter

10. Technical highlights • No hard limit of meters per gateway (1400+ in deployment) • Multi-tier systems security • Gateway redundancy – each node can go to multiple gateways • Option to add battery nodes for multi-utility metering • Easy-to-install in any kind of meter

11. Pilot project • 27,000 single phase meters • 293 three-phase meters • 25 gateways

12. Company facts • 1,427,224 residential customers • 1,982 employees • 70 offices – payment centers • Annual consumption (2005) 2,995 million kWh • Annual turnover (2005) 400 million Euro

13. Typical building Gateway - 1 Relays - 3 Meters - 166 Install time – 2 hours Install team – 3 electricians

14. Example of self organization Gateways - 1 Relays - 19 Meters - 736

15. Mesh of multiple buildings View movie….

16. Important system features • Bidirectional (demand reset, remote upgrades) • Under-the-glass – vandalism • Time synchronization (accurate time of use) • Redundant data storage at meters and gateways • 128 bit encryption • Easy to install (no need for highly qualified technicians) • Easy to service (few highly qualified engineers)

17. Simplified planning • No limitation on number of hops • No network addressing for nodes • No hierarchy in network • Any node to any gateway • No hard limit on nodes to gateway

18. AMI cost of ownership • Total cost of ownership often missed in AMI decisions • Corporations with only a few thousand employees maintain large IT departments to manage data communications • The true cost of installing, managing and maintaining a network of several hundred thousand AMR points is not well understood or fully appreciated by many utilities

19. Summary • Self-configuring system leads to rapid and cost effective installation • Self-organization features of system lead to significant cost savings in operating and maintaining system over useful life • Cost of installing, operating and maintaining large AMI networks is significant and not well understood by utilities • Independencefrommeter manufactures grants meter multi-brand AMI networks

20. For any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact the presenters. Sergey Khudyakov Data Transfer, Inc. office@datatransfer.ru +7 812 334 49 80 Thank you