Data Concentrator

Andrea Informatique has been working for more than 12 years in the smart metering and smart grid sectors. Several products and high added value services are the basis of our activities.
After designing and implementing the DLMS COSEM toolkits, Thunder (mono chip G3 PLC solution), Pegasus (our cost-efficient meter solution), Phenix (Test tool), Smarthawk (Configuration tool) and Colibri (Installation tool), and in the pursuit of our strategy, Andrea Informatique has decided to design a generic platform for a Data Concentrator.

Spider is the generic platform for the Data Concentrator. Spider provides the basic functional block allowing a comprehensive and reliable customization in order to develop the target product. Indeed, depending on the demands and/or general requirements, Andrea Informatique can implement the specific Data Concentrator as part of our partner’s Smart metering offering.

The business model of our Spider offer presents a high added value, and our partners can get a product complying to their specifications and have all the freedom to distribute it on their own conditions. Andrea Informatique provides only the basic block of Spider and the related services, to allow customization of the product at the client’s convenience. In the end, the customer can present the final Data Concentrator as their own product.

The figure below shows Spider’s architecture:

Data concentrators collect information and data from multiple meters, these meters are oen coming from different providers. The interoperability between different meters depends on clear specifications defining the interfaces with the surrounding equipment. Spider answers to those requirements and have the interfaces that allow to plug the required communication modules.

Data concentrators can manage around 2000 devices, and the optimal number of meters connected to a specific data concentrator depends on the topology and the customer strategy. Spider offers the possibility to comply with the target requirements, and is entirely configurable, the only possible limitations are the hardware resources and the communication technology.

Spider is a comprehensive and complete firmware offer for Data Concentrators. Andrea Informatique can help during the hardware design process and can support our customers to dimension cost-effective devices.

In addition to collecting energy data from meters for billing, Spider can help troubleshoot and analyze faults in the metering network. Data concentrators are a critical node in the smart grid.

The scalability of the Spider software is one of its most important added values, and it can save a lot of engineering cost and time. Depending on specific utility requirements and deployment scenarios, one data concentrator can be connected to hundreds of meters and other devices. The main target of Spider is to provide a generic platform able to implement any specification in a quite reasonable period of time and at the lowest possible cost.

Spider’s main features:

• Provide reliable communication with meters and head ends
• Secure consumer data and information
• Monitor regional grid status
• Support various data management applications.
• Multiple connectivity options include Ethernet, multiple UARTs, USB, and SDIO
• Powerline communications (Thunder) mono-chip solutions with full digital implementation deliver high performance and an excellent sensitivity
• Robust processing power supports application functionality
• Cost-effective solutions
• Easy-to-implement security solution that is critical for wireless communication, while operating at very low standby power levels