Research on the architecture of automatic meter reading in next generation network

Abstract

With the rapid development of technology and improvement of national living standards, the application of AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) by varieties of advanced network technologies has been acknowledged. In Europe, U.S.A. and other developed countries, AMR with RF (radio frequency) or PLC (Power Line Carrier Communication) has been widely used. However, the technology is rarely used in developing countries nowadays because residents building styles and network infrastructures are different. The emergence of NGN (Next Generation Network), WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), WIMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and other advanced technologies provide new ways to help AMR to develop. Firstly, several kinds of current AMR communications and network patterns are described and the architecture of the remote meter reading suitable to next-generation network is put forward based on the full study of services layer in NGN. Secondly, three solutions for China according to the evolution and development of NGN are designed on the basis of analyzing specific situation of developing countries. The solutions are suitable for the new city residential areas, the old city residential areas and the vast rural areas respectively. © 2008 IEEE.