Harold-John Hayes

Chief Technical Officer

Landis+Gyr
Africa

Interoperability in the African meter

trade environment
Definition of the word Interoperability
(pronounced IHN-tuhr-AHP-uhr-uh-BIHL-ih-tee)
Its the ability of a system or a product to work with other
systems or products without special effort on the part
of the customer.

Implementing standards are beneficial

to Utilities
Best example of standardization in Africa would be Pre-Payment
Standard Transfer Specification (STS), Internationally recognized
as Standard by IEC in 2007.
IEC 62055-41 Application layer protocol for one-way token carrier
systems
IEC 62055-51 Physical layer protocol for one-way numeric and
magnetic card token carriers
More than 120 Licensed Companies manufacturing meters and
developing STS compliant Software
423 devices and systems certified supplied from 120 companies
Millions of meters supplied to utilities every year with STS vending
systems issuing tokens to multi manufacturers meters

Standards drive Interoperability

The Presentation will be focusing on two items;

1. The next steps relating to Standard Transfer Specification (STS)
2. Standardization with regards communications between Metering devices and
Data concentrators with the focus on PLC

What are the next steps when moving from Key Pad prepayment metering to SMART
METERING? Quote from the STS association
There is an emerging need in the global market place to harmonize existing standards in
general and STS in particular in order to meet the developing Smart Meter and Smart
Grid requirements.
IEC 62055-51 presently covers token carriers that require manual entry at the end device
such as a prepayment meter. DLMS/COSEM is a widely accepted protocol standard
being used by smart metering devices, thus enabling bi-directional communication
between a head end system client and an end device server. Included in the COSEM
suite are classes such as Account, Credit, Charge, Token Gateway, Tariff, Calendar
and Switch, which are especially suited for payment metering Functions.

New Prepayment Tokens

It is clear that a new open standard is required for prepayment in smart metering. A
specification for a new token carrier that allows for the transportation of STS
tokens over a DLMS/COSEM channel, while simultaneously supporting the existing
token carriers such as defined in IEC 62-55-51 and IEC 62055-52.
It is expect that the standard with be completed and published during September
2014, this will allow utilities to continue using the current STS prepayment back office
solutions to issue kWh tokens for smart meters.

Which brings the next topic of a Standard communication medium, with the focus on PLC

When evaluating communications

platforms
It is important to look for a solution that:

Provides cost-effective system architecture - Plug-and-Play

Provides real-time communications Robust, two-way link

Includes security mechanisms

Standards based - to ensure interoperability and openendedness, published and tested through independent bodies

Scalable and field upgradable

Strong industry support Chip and device manufactures,

but not forgetting System Solution providers

Overview of a PLC Smart Metering

solution
Appliance
Load control

PLC

In Home Display

2G/3G/fibre/ Ethernet

Data Concentrator

PLC

PLC Meters

History of Power Line Carrier (PLC)

1950s 10Hz one way communication used managing town
lighting
1970s - X10 low speed (20 bits/s), one way communication for
simple control of devices and appliances
1980s - INSTEON using X10 and RF to address inherent limitations
of X10 to penetrate a wider network
1990s - FSK PLC technology became popular providing low data
rate (2.4kbps), two way communication for command and control
applications
2000s Broadband above 2MHz, PLC communication (OFDM) for
multimedia consumer applications
2010s - G3-PLC low frequency below 500KHz PLC (OFDM)
delivering highly reliable, high speed, secure, two way
communication designed specifically for the Smart Grid

PLC Trends in region 2 Europe

Trends :
Prop. PLC
G1 PLAN+
PRIME
G3

Various projects
800k mps E2E solution
Helen
200k mps E2E solution with
10 years managed services
Elektrilevi
630k mps HES solution

Fortum
650k smart meters
E.On
390k mps E2E solution with
6 years managed services

TRE-FOR
200k mps E2E solution
electricity, water, heat with IHDs
British Gas
1 million dual fuel meters with 200k IHDs

Syd Energi, Energi Fyn

2 x 200k mps solution
electricity, water, heat with IHDs

Energa
30k mps ICG solution

Vattenfall
12k mps E2E solution; 10k ICG solution
EZ Group
56k mps ICG solution with SAP
integration

EKZ
Gridstream E2E solution with MDUS and load management

Elektro: Ljubjana, Primorska

100k mps AMI solution
SC Electrica S.A, Bucharest
13k mps ICG solution

ERDF
100k smart Linky meters for pilot
Iberdrola
300k E450 meters with PRIME PLC
Gas Natural Fenosa
50k E450 meters for Smart Metering
Pilot

ACEA
1.5m smart meters

World regulatory bands for PLC,

Meeting Standards
G3 500
Cenelec
G3
Cenelec

G3-PLC supports two frequency bands worldwide with

data rate of max 250 kbps on PHY layer.
Coexists with IEC 61334, IEEE P1901 and ITU G.hn.

Today PLAN(+) PLC Technology

Overview (Mutliple meter suppliers)

Noise level

3 KHz

63,3 kHz

0
PLAN

CENELEC A band

PLAN

124 dBV

74 kHz

PLAN(+) S-FSK (Spread Frequency Shift Keying)

1 carrier using 2 frequencies at 63,3 kHz and 74 kHz for
robustness
Baud rate: PLAN 1200 b/s and PLAN+ 2400 b/s
Signal Levels within the limits of Cenelec A Band, EN50065-1

95 kHz

New G3 PLC Technology Overview

124 dBV

3 KHz

36 kHz

63,3 kHz

74 kHz

OFDM

OFDM

OFDM

OFDM
OFDM
PLAN

OFDM

OFDM

OFDM
PLAN

OFDM

OFDM
OFDM

OFDM

OFDM

OFDM

OFDM

Noise Level

OFDM

CENELEC A band

90,6 kHz 95 kHz

OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) - G3 PLC

36 carriers (f=1.5625 kHz) from 36 kHz to 90.6 kHz using advanced error
correction
Baud rate:
Normal mode 3,3 to 34,2 kbps,
Robust mode: 2,4 to 5,6 kbps.
Signal Levels within the limits of Cenelec A Band, EN50065-1

G3-PLC - A Global Solution

Robustness
MV / MV, MV / LV & LV / LV
High data rate

IPv6 compliant
Secure
Open specification

Low density areas

High density areas

Smart Grid
and additional
services

G3-PLC : Protocol overview OSI Layers

Covered by DLMS COSEM

Covered by G3

Covered by IDIS

Application Layer
Compliant ANSI C12.19/C12.22, IEC 62056-61/62
(DLMS/COSEM)or other standards used world wide
Transport and Network Layer
IPv6 enables potential services: SNMP, TFPT, etc
Adaptation layer 6LowPan associates the MAC
Layer 802.15.4 to IPV6 (Compression of IP header,
fragmentation, routing, authentication)
MAC layer
Plug and play network management to choose Best
Path (Full Mesh Support)
Time domain and collision management
MAC Layer IEEE 802.15.4-2006
CSMA/ARQ
Physical Layer
Support of internationally accepted bands from
10kHz - 490kHz (FCC, CENELEC, ARIB)
Multi-layer error encoding/decoding (Viterbi,
Convolution, Reed Solomon and CRC16)
8psk,QPSK, BPSK, Robo, Messaging Mode
Adaptive Tone mapping, notching and modulation

Benefits of G3-PLC for the Utility

Provides a cost effective system architecture

G3-PLC provides the best performance and cost efficiency for low-voltage power grids. By
communicating over the very lines that it measures and controls, PLC technology minimizes
infrastructure and maintenance costs.
Is standards based to ensure interoperability
G3-PLC supports frequency bands worldwide (10 kHz to 490 kHz). Coexists with current PLC
metering equipment IEC 61334, IEEE P1901 and ITU G.hn.
Can support new sensors and home area network applications
G3-PLC incorporates 6LoWPAN adaptation layer to transmit IPv6 packets over powerline
channels. The 802.15.4-based MAC layers enables interoperability.
Includes security mechanisms to protect grid assets
G3-PLC supports MAC-level security using an AES-128 cryptographic engine.
Can function in harsh, noisy environments
The "robust" mode of G3-PLC improves communication under noisy channel conditions, operates
at -1 dB SNR.
Coexists with older technologies such as S-FSK
G3-PLC coexists with S-FSK and BPL.
Not lock into one supplier

Current G3 Alliance members

PLC G3 Smart multiple suppliers in the

same network
Appliance
Load control

PLC

In Home Display

2G/3G/fibre/ Ethernet

Data Concentrator

PLC

PLC Meters

WHY GET LOCKED INTO ONE SOURCE

Thank You
For any additional information, please do not
hesitate to contact Harold Hayes:
Email: harold.hayes@landisgyr.com
Phone: +27 12 645 3100
Mobile: +27 82 410 4676
Or go directly to www.g3-plc.com