METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING POWER USAGE READING DATA AND GENERATING A POWER USAGE BILL

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention relate to measurement and management of power usage, and more particularly to measurement and management of power usage meters in a power distribution network, and generating power usage bills for consumers. Description of the Related Art

The reading of electrical energy has historically been accomplished with human meter readers that come on-site to the customers' premises and manually document the readings. Over time, manual meter reading has been enhanced with Spot Billing systems that utilize a hand held printing device. The maintenance cost of the hand held printing device is high in addition to its low durability. The components of a bill generated by the Spot Billing systems have limited details that cause inconvenience to a consumer as well as to a billing authority.

More recently, over the last few years, efforts have been directed to use a Meter Reading Instrument (MRI). The meter reading instruments have gained interest because there are a large number of installed meters, of which most are considered to be hard-to-read because of location, etc. A limitation in these conventional MRI systems is that they typically use only one type of coupling

procedure to gather data from the meter. This one-coupling collection of data has led to the development of incompatible MRI systems that have unacceptably low data rates.

Further, several consumers may refuse to pay the bill believing that the meter readings as charged by power distribution companies are erroneous.

In general, non-repudiation of the electricity bills, power thefts, improperly functioning or tampered electricity meters cause huge revenue losses to the power generation and/or distribution companies.

Accordingly, there exists a need for providing improved systems and methods for capturing and processing power usage and generating such bills. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of levels in a network for distribution of power in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of a power usage reading device installed in the network for distribution of electric energy in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system for processing power usage data in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for processing power usage data in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

While the invention is described herein by way of example using several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modification, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include," "including," and "includes" mean including, but not limited to. Further, the word "a" means "at least one", and the word "plurality" means one or more, unless otherwise mentioned. As used herein, the terms "power", "electricity", "energy", "electrical energy" will be understood to mean one and the same thing, unless indicated otherwise from the context, and such terms have been used interchangeably throughout the specification. As used herein, the terms "power usage reading

device", "electricity meter", "meter", "power meter" will be understood to refer to devices that measure the consumption of electricity, unless mentioned otherwise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments the present invention. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of levels in a network 100 for distribution of power in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The network includes a power station or a sub-station 102, a feeder 104, a district transformer 106, and a consumer 108. The electric energy is supplied from the power station or sub-stations 102 to multiple feeders 104. The feeder 104 supplies energy to multiple district transformers 106. The district transformer 106 supplies energy to multiple consumers 108 within a particular district.

FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of a power usage reading device 200 installed at each level of the network 100 (of FIG.1), for example, at a consumer site 108, for measuring consumption of electric energy by the consumer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The power usage reading device 200 includes a power usage reading device identification field 230, a site identification field 220, an indicator 240, a reading field 210, a power

usage reading device door 270, a power usage reading device window 280 and a power usage reading device lock 250. The power usage reading device identification field 230 indicates a power usage reading device identification number for unambiguously identifying a particular power usage reading device. The power usage reading device identification number contains, for example, a unique combination of a multiple alphanumeric characters, and for example, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2, seven digits. The site identification field 220 indicates a site identification number for a particular site at which the power usage reading device 200 is installed. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple fields can be used for labeling the power usage reading device 200 depending upon the site at which the power usage reading device 200 is installed and various other parameters.

The indicator 240 indicates whether the power usage reading device 200 is operation or non-operational. According to an embodiment, the indicator 240 includes multiple light emitting diodes (LED) and the operation of the power usage reading device 200 is indicated by flashing of the LED. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a single LED can also be used instead of multiple LEDs. Moreover, any other visual or audible indicator can be used instead of LED.

The reading field 210 indicates a reading of the power usage reading device 200 at a particular instance of time. The reading is displayed, for example, as a combination of five numerals and the reading varies directly with a flow of electric energy through the power usage reading device 200. In other

embodiments, any other number of alphanumeric characters, for example, including a decimal value, may be used. According to one embodiment, the reading may change in increments of one unit, indicating the flow of one unit of electric energy through the power usage reading device 200. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the power usage reading device 200 can be configured in a manner such that the reading varies in increments of one, two or any other increment corresponding to the flow of one or more units of electric energy through the power usage reading device 200.

The power usage reading device door 270 protects the indicator 240 and the reading field 210 from external disturbances. The power usage reading device window 280 allows a person to see the indicator 240 and the reading field 210 when the power usage reading device door 270 is closed. Therefore, the indicator 240 and the reading field 210 are monitored to ensure a proper functioning of the power usage reading device 200.

The power usage reading device lock 250 locks the power usage reading device door 270 once it is closed. The locking prevents any kind of possible tampering with the reading field 210, or other enclosed portions of the power usage reading device 200. An un-tampered lock of the power usage reading device 200 indicates integrity of the power usage reading device 200 and that the power usage reading device 200 has not been tampered with. The power usage reading device 200 is installed at a site with the help of multiple fasteners and/or screws (260). Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the power usage reading device lock 250 provides a tampering detection mechanism for the

power usage reading device 200 and various other means, for example, seals may be used in place of or along with the power usage reading device lock 250. Tampering of any of the power usage device lock 250, multiple fasteners and/or screws 260, the power usage reading device door 270, the power usage reading device window 280, or any other physical component of the power usage reading device 200 indicates that the integrity of the power usage reading device has been compromised. Further, a direct connection bypassing the power usage reading device 200 indicates power theft, and/or that the power usage reading for the corresponding consumer is incorrect.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system 300 for processing power usage data in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. The system 300 includes a server 310, one or more image capture devices 320i 32O _N (320), and a communication network 330.

The server 310 is a computing device (e.g., laptop, desktop, Personal Desk Assistant (PDA)), such as those generally known in the art. The server 310 includes a data storage device 316, processing device 312 and support circuits 314. The processing device 312 may comprise one or more commercially available microprocessors or microcontrollers that facilitate data processing and storage. The support circuits 314 facilitate the operation of the processing device 312 and comprise at least one of clock circuits, power supplies, cache, input / output circuits, and the like. The data storage device 316 comprises at least one of read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk drive storage, optical storage, removable storage, and the like. The data storage device 316

includes database 322, an operating system 318 and an application software 324, among other data and application programs. The database 322 may further include details for all the consumers of electricity in a particular district or location.

The image capture device 320 includes devices configured to capture an image, for example an image of the power usage reading device 200. The image capture device 320 includes for example, a digital camera, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a camera mobile phone, among various other suitable devices generally known in the art. In the embodiment illustrated by FIG. 3, the image capture devices 320 are configured to be communicably coupled with the network 330.

The network 330 comprises a communication system that connects a computer system by wire, cable, fiber optic and/or wireless link facilitated by various types of well-known network elements, such as hubs, switches, routers, and the like. The network 330 may employ various well-known protocols to communicate information amongst the network resources. For example, the network 330 may be a part of the internet or intranet using various communications infrastructure such as Ethernet, WiFi, WiMax, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Bluetooth, infra-red, or a combination of such and other means such as those generally known in the art.

In one embodiment, the system 300 may further include a client (not shown). The client is a computing device (e.g., laptop, desktop, Personal Desk Assistant (PDA)), such as those generally known in the art. The client includes a

memory, a processing device and support circuits. The processing device of the client may comprise one or more commercially available microprocessors or microcontrollers that facilitate data processing and storage. The support circuits facilitate the operation of the processing device and comprise at least one of clock circuits, power supplies, cache, input / output circuits, and the like. The memory comprises at least one of read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk drive storage, optical storage, removable storage, and the like. The client is configurable to remotely access and operate the data within the server, to edit data and other processing functions. The client is generally usable to provide a secondary or remote access to the application program 324 or the database 322 on the server, for example, for an administrator managing and processing power usage data.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram 400 of a method for processing power usage data according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method 400 will now be explained with reference to the systems and components of FIGS. 1 - 3. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that although the method 400 is described with reference to the components and systems of FIGS. 1 - 3, the method 400 is not restricted by such components and systems. That is, the method 400 may be implemented with system components other than those described in FIGS. 1 - 3, and such other system components will readily occur to those skilled in the art, and the same are included within the scope and the spirit of the instant claims.

The method 400 begins at step 402 and proceeds to step 404. At the step 404, the method 400 includes capturing an image of a power usage reading device 200, for example, using the image capture device 320. The captured image is configured to include the complete front face of the power usage reading device 200, including the portions that indicate structural integrity of the power usage reading device 200. The captured image further includes the time varying data of the power usage reading device 200, including, but not limited to the power usage reading 210, among others. At step 406, the captured image is communicated to a processing device, for example, the processing device 312 of the server 310. In one embodiment, the method 400 includes first storing the captured image on the data storage device 316, and then communicating the captured image to the processing device 312. The captured image may be stored, for example, in the database 322.

In the embodiment illustrated by FIG. 3, the captured image is communicated to the server 310 over the communications network 330, which may be a wired or a wireless network. For example, a person capturing the image of the power usage reading device 200 may communicate the captured image to the server 310 wirelessly through means discussed above, such as Bluetooth, WiFi, Packet data transmission, among others. The person may alternately communicate the image by connecting the image capture device 320 through wired means such as a cable, to the communication network 330, or directly couple the image capture device 320 to the server 310 through wired or wireless means for communicating the captured image.

It is understood here that the data storage device 316 further includes instructions executable by the processing device 312. For example, such instructions are embodied in the application software 324 that is configured to be executable for implementing the method 400.

At step 408, the method 400 further includes processing the captured image to identify at least one indicia on the image. The indicia refers to any indicative graphic that represents a state of the various parameters pertinent to the power usage reading device 200, for example, power usage reading, location of the power usage reading device, status of the power usage reading device 200, among several others. At step 410, the at least one indicia is analyzed to indicate at least one state corresponding to the at least one indicia, of the power usage reading device 200. For example, if the indicia is power usage reading, the state analyzed is the power usage, if the indicia is the tamper free status of the power usage reading device 200, the state analyzed is tampering or integrity of the power usage reading device 200.

Accordingly, the method 400 entails capturing and analyzing the various indicia of the power usage reading device, for example, the power usage reading device 200, corresponding to the various states of the power usage reading device 200. The method 400 is configured to capture and analyze data for multiple such power usage reading devices, for example, the power usage reading devices installed at various consumer locations 108i, IO8 ₂ , ... 108 _P) at different locations of power usage or power distribution. According to one

embodiment, the data for multiple power usage reading devices is collected, so as to exhaustively include all the power usage reading devices.

The relevant indicia data for the power usage reading device 200 is provided. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the indicia data may be stored in the database 322.

At step 412, the method 400 includes identifying the amount power usage and/or power usage reading device tampering. The step 412 is discussed in further detail below.

At step 414, the method 400 further includes generating a bill and at step 416, the method 400 includes printing the bill corresponding to the power usage reading device 200. In one embodiment, the server receives the image from the image capture device via a network or via a wired or a wireless communication mode, as described earlier. The step 416 includes printing this image on the bill. The method 400 ends at step 418.

In one embodiment, the processing at least one indicia includes using an optical character recognition (OCR) mode to regenerate the indicia in character form. The OCR mode refers to an electronic or mechanical translation of images of text to machine-editable characters. Machine editable characters may be read and edited by a general purpose computer or other application specific electronic processing device. As mentioned the text image is optically recognized to provide machine editable characters, and the machine editable characters may be used to perform several calculations.

In one embodiment, the step 410 includes using the optical character recognition (OCR) mode to regenerate the indicia in character form readable from the data storage device 316. The indicia generated in character form is used for various purposes including, but not limited to, performing several calculations, storing the indicia on a general purpose computer, editing the indicia, printing the indicia and the like.

In an alternate embodiment, the step 410 of processing the captured image to identify at least indicia includes accessing the captured image from the database 322, and entering the at least one indicia manually to be stored into the database 322, or another suitable storage location, for example in the server 310.

In one embodiment, the step 412 further includes performing validation checks and calculations on the indicia in character form readable from the data storage device 316, to process the power usage data. One or more indicia are processed to validate the power usage data. For example, power usage reading for a particular consumer may be deemed invalid if the past trend of power usage indicates a significantly different (higher or lower) usage pattern. A compromise on the integrity of the power usage reading device for the consumer, indicated by tampering of any of the power usage device lock 250, multiple fasteners and/or screws 260, the power usage reading device door 270, the power usage reading device window 280, or any other physical component of the power usage reading device 200 deems the power usage data as invalid, and may further indicate power theft or malfunctioning of the power usage reading device 200. Bypassing

the power usage reading device 200 may also deem the power usage data as invalid, and indicate power theft. Such and other factors to deem power usage data as invalid will occur readily to those skilled in the art.

If however, the power usage data is determined to be valid, the database 322 is updated with the power usage data for the particular consumer corresponding to the power usage reading device for which the captured image was communicated to the server.

As discussed, the power usage reading is provided by OCR means, or uploaded in a server by a data entry operator (not shown). Further, based on the identified indicia of the power usage reading device, a consumer's details are accessed from the database 322. The consumer's details include, for example, consumer's name, consumer's address, previous bill amount, bill date, number of units of energy consumed, arrears (if any) and the like. The consumer's details are updated with the current power usage data processed from the captured image. A difference between the current power usage reading and the previous power usage reading indicates the power usage by a particular customer, and the difference is used to calculate the power usage charges. Arrears, if any, are added to the power usage charges along with any interest, if applicable.

At the step 414, the bill is generated by processing the power usage data, as outlined above. Various other obvious calculations and processing will occur readily to those skilled in the art, and all such processing are included within the scope and spirit of the appended claims. The generated bill includes, among others, power usage for a particular consumer, various indicia of the power

usage reading device, any notices to the user regarding the state of integrity of the power usage reading device, and the captured image of the power usage reading device. According to an embodiment, the bill is generated in the Portable Document Format (PDF) for easy accessibility across multiple software environments.

At the step 416, the bill is printed using a printing device (not shown) coupled to the server 310 or to the communications network 330.

The techniques disclosed herein as discussed with respect to the various embodiments provide various benefits. For example, embodiments of the present invention provide for identifying the power usage of consumers in a power distribution network in a convenient and quick way. Further, according to various embodiments, the issue of non-repudiation by an end customer or entities at various power distribution levels may be effectively treated, since presentation of the captured image of the power usage reading device provides certainty of power usage. Further, computer aided processing of the power usage data allows for multiple validation checks to remove potential billing errors and therefore disputes with the consumers. Furthermore, processing of power usage data as above allows for a more accurate power audit at a particular level of power distribution.

As can be seen, a method and system for meter reading and bill printing according to the present invention is simple and inexpensive to implement, thus making it suitable for an electricity distribution agency. In addition, because the

power usage reading is labeled at the time determining the power usage reading, it prevents any sort of manipulation with the power usage reading at a later stage. This reduces an energy loss to the electricity distribution agency and leads to more revenue generation. Furthermore, validating bills before printing reduces number of complaints by the consumer leading to consumer satisfaction. This helps in maintaining transparency between the consumer and the electricity distribution agency. Also, because the bill generated by the present invention is in PDF format, it facilitates the printing of the photograph of the meter along with reading on the bill. The printing of the photograph of the meter along with the reading proves advantageous in diagnosing various problems such as faulty meters, installation of meters at inappropriate places, any sort of tampering with the meter and the like.

In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements as described herein.