WO2022234600A1

WO2022234600A1 - System and method for integration of services for one or more utilities

Info

Publication number: WO2022234600A1
Application number: PCT/IN2022/050444
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mrityunjoy ROY
Original assignee: Vaktra-M Solutions Private Limited
Priority date: 2021-05-06
Filing date: 2022-05-06
Publication date: 2022-11-10

Abstract

A method and system for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities. Upon receiving a user service request, data is collected from metering devices associated with the one or more utilities. The collected data is processed to determine one or more parameters associated with the one or more utilities. A usage report is generated based on the determined one or more parameters. The generated usage report is displayed on the user interface in response to the user service request. The method operated in real-time, and the system is operated on the cloud.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATION OF SERVICES FOR ONE OR MORE UTILITIES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relates to utility management. More particularly, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a system and a method for integrating and providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities.

BACKGROUND

The following description of related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section be used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as admissions of prior art.

Power utility industry throughout the world is undergoing considerable change regarding structure, operation, and regulation. Continuous technological developments and evolving customer expectations are among the major driving factors in the new utility paradigm. Power utilities also face increasing uncertainty from the political, economic, societal, and environmental constraints under which they must operate existing systems and also plan the future systems.

In today's environment, major challenge with the power utility-based companies includes budget sanction for new systems to facilitate optimization of operational costs, improvements in revenue realization, decrease in systems' technical and (commercial) loss and reliability of power supply for meeting the demand of existing customers, gaining new customers, and satisfying regulators and stakeholders.

In the absence of any standardized solution addressing the various distribution utility business needs has also affected in automating the processes, any attempt for arriving at a smarter solution requires months of tedious evaluation of the existing infrastructure, possible off the shelf meter data management systems, and billing product, Integration success, choice of customer portal, analytics etc. which also needs a huge capital expenditure/ operational expenditure investment from the utility to design and build the systems. Therefore, there is a need for a system and a method for integrating and providing the one or more services associated with one or more utilities presented at an integrated platform.

SUMMARY

This section is intended to introduce certain objects and aspects of the disclosed method and system in a simplified form and is not intended to identify the key advantages or features of the present disclosure. To overcome the existing limitations of the known solutions, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system and method for integrating and providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities. It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for a cost-effective and an accurate synchronization of one or more services associated with one or more utilities. It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for integrating and providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities to reduce time frame associated with implementation of the one or more services compared to the individual implementation of the one or more services. It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide an automated system and a method for integrating and providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities

The present invention relates to a method for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities. The method comprises receiving, at an interface, at least one user service request relating to one or more utilities. Next, the data unit collects a first data from one or more metering devices associated with the one or more utilities based on the received user service request. Subsequently, the service unit processes the first data to determine one or more parameters associated with the one or more utilities, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a usage value of the one or more utilities, a demand value of the one or more utilities, a charge for the user for the one or more utilities and an impact score for the one or more utilities. Further, the service unit generates a usage report based on the determined one or more parameters based on the user service request. Lastly, the user interface displays the usage report in response to the user service request for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities. The present invention also relates to a system for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities. The system broadly comprises an interface, a data unit and a service unit working in conjunction with each other to achieve the objectives discussed hereinabove. The interface is configured to receive at least one user service request relating to one or more utilities. The data unit is configured to collect a first data from one or more metering devices associated with the one or more utilities based on the received user service request. The service unit is configured to process the first data to determine one or more parameters associated with the one or more utilities, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a usage value of the one or more utilities, a demand value of the one or more utilities, a charge for the user for the one or more utilities and an impact score for the one or more utilities. The service unit is further configured to generate a usage report based on the determined one or more parameters based on the user service request. The user interface is further configured to display the usage report in response to the user service request for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and may not represent the internal elements of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that disclosure of such drawings includes disclosure of system components or elements commonly used to implement such components.

FIG.l illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an integrated system [100] for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG.2 illustrates an exemplary high level of the integration, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure FIG.3 illustrates an exemplary method flow diagram for the method of integrating and providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG.4 illustrates an exemplary method of operation of the data unit [104], in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address all of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.

The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth.

Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, elements, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks (e.g., a computer-program product) may be stored in a machine-readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks.

The word "exemplary" and/or "demonstrative" is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" and/or "demonstrative" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "includes," "has," "contains," and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive— in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as an open transition word— without precluding any additional or other elements.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

As utilized herein, terms "component," "system," "platform," "node," "layer," "selector," "interface," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, software (e.g., in execution), and/or firmware. For example, a component can be a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a program, a storage device, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers.

Further, these components can execute from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systems via the signal).

As used herein, terms "infer" or "inference" refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, user, and/or intent from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data. Captured data and events can include user data, device data, environment data, data from sensors, sensor data, application data, implicit data, explicit data, etc. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action or can generate a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events, for example. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and data come from one or several event and data sources. Various classification schemes and/or systems (e.g., support vector machines, neural networks, expert systems, Bayesian belief networks, fuzzy logic, and data fusion engines) can be employed in connection with performing automatic and/or inferred action in connection with the disclosed subject matter.

In addition, the disclosed subject matter may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosed subject matter. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, computer- readable carrier, or computer-readable media. For example, computer-readable media can include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices, e.g., hard disk; floppy disk; magnetic strip(s); optical disk (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital video disc (DVD), Blu-ray Disc™ (BD); smart card(s), flash memory device(s) (e.g., card, stick, key drive).

Moreover, terms like "user equipment" (UE), "mobile station," "field station," "mobile subscriber station," "access terminal," "terminal," "handset," and similar terminology refer to a wireless device utilized by a subscriber or user of a wireless communication service to receive and/or convey data associated with utilities (e.g., electricity, gas supply, water supply etc.). Further, the foregoing terms are utilized interchangeably in the subject specification and related drawings.

Furthermore, the terms "user," "subscriber," "customer," "consumer," "agent,", "owner," and the like are employed interchangeably throughout the subject specification and related drawings, unless context warrants particular distinction(s) among the terms. It should be appreciated that such terms can refer to human entities, or automated components supported through artificial intelligence, e.g., a capacity to make inference based on complex mathematical formulations, that can provide simulated vision, sound recognition, decision making, etc. In addition, the terms "wireless network" and "network" are used interchangeable in the subject application, unless context warrants particular distinction(s) among the terms.

As used herein, a "processor" or "processing unit" includes one or more processors, wherein processor refers to any logic circuitry for processing instructions. A processor may be a general- purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, a low-end microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Array circuits, any other type of integrated circuits, etc. The processor may perform signal coding data processing, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the working of the system according to the present disclosure. More specifically, the processor or processing unit is a hardware processor.

As used herein, a "communication unit" or a "transceiver unit" may include at least one of a "transmitter unit" configured to transmit at least one data and/or signals to one or more destination and a "receiver unit" configured to receive at least one data and/or signals from one or more source. The "communication unit" or the "transceiver unit" may also be configured to process the at least one data and/or signal received or transmitted at the "communication unit" or the "transceiver unit". Also, the "communication unit" or the "transceiver unit" may further include, any other similar units obvious to a person skilled in the art, required to implement the features of the present invention.

As used herein, "memory unit", "storage unit" and/or "memory" refers to a machine or computer-readable medium including any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a computer or similar machine. For example, a computer-readable medium includes read-only memory ("ROM"), random access memory ("RAM"), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices or other types of machine-accessible storage media.

As used herein, a "controller" or "control unit" includes at least one controller, wherein the controller refers to any logic circuitry for processing instructions. A controller may be a general- purpose controller, a special-purpose controller, a conventional controller, a digital signal controller, a plurality of microcontrollers, at least one microcontroller in association with a DSP core, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Array circuits, any other type of integrated circuits, etc. The controller may perform signal coding, data processing, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the working of the system according to the present disclosure. More specifically, the controller or control unit is a hardware processor that comprises a memory and a processor. The memory is configured to store the modules and the processor is specifically configured to execute said modules to perform one or more processes which are described further below.

As used herein, "providing of one or more services associated with one or more utilities" comprises of all activities related to one or more utilities including, but not limited to, power distribution of the one or more utilities.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a method and a system for integrating and providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities, such as but not limited to, power distribution utilities. The method and the system of the present disclosure provides cost- effective and accurate synchronization of the one or more services associated with providing of the utilities at an integrated platform to overcome the problems associated with the distribution utilities. The method and the system of the present disclosure can be deployed anywhere in a premise as per the infrastructural allowances. In another instance, the method and the system of the present disclosure is implemented over the air, e.g., on the cloud. While the conventional techniques and existing solutions fail to provide a mechanism for integration and providing of one or more services associated with the one or more utilities, compared to such techniques, various methods and apparatus described herein provide a unique and a novel solution to solve the technical problem of the existing solutions.

Referring to FIG. 1, illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system [100] for integrating and providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The system comprises of a service unit [102], a data unit [104], a smart portal [106], an integration bus unit [108], a mobility management unit [112], an exchange unit [110], a memory unit [114] and an input/ output (i/o) interface [115], all the components are connected to each other and work in conjunction with each other to achieve the objectives of the present disclosure.

The interface [115] is connected to the serviceunit [102], the data unit [104], the smart portal [106], the integration bus unit [108], the mobility management unit [112], the exchange unit [110] and the memory unit [114]. The interface [115] is configured to receive at least one user service request relating to one or more utilities. For instance, a user may use its user device to raise a service request. The present invention encompasses that the user service request may include, but not limited to, real-time load monitoring, real-time dynamic electricity production, real-time consumption forecasting, real-time distribution statistics, consumption record, and real-time generation measure.

The data unit [104] is connected to the service unit [102], the smart portal [106], the integration bus unit [108], the mobility management unit [112], the exchange unit [110], the memory unit [114] and the input/ output (i/o) interface [115]. The data unit [104] is configured to collect data from one or more metering devices associated with the one or more utilities (e.g., electric, gas, water, etc. via the input/ output (i/o) interface [115]. The metering devices encompassed by the present disclosure are deployed at locations such as, but not limited to, commercial premise, residential premise, industrial premise, etc. The data unit [104] is configured to collect the data in real-time from the metering devices, and, thus, supports one or more services such as, but not limited to, real-time load monitoring, real-time dynamic electricity production, real-time consumption forecasting, real-time distribution statistics and real-time generation measure. The data unit [104] is further configured to transmit the data collected from the metering devices to the service unit [102], the smart portal [106], the integration bus unit [108], the mobility management unit [112] and the exchange unit [110]. The data unit [104] is further configured to store the data collected from the metering devices in the memory unit [114].

The integration bus unit [108] is connected to the service unit [102], the data unit [104], the smart portal [106], the mobility management unit [112], the exchange unit [110], the memory unit [114] and the input/ output (i/o) interface [115]. The integration bus unit [108] interconnects the components of the system [100] and is configured to facilitate communication, and acts as communication bus, between mutually interacting system components in a service-oriented architecture allowing them to communicate and interact with each other. Thus, the various components of the system [100] are smoothly and tightly integrated using the integration bus unit [108] In an instance of the present invention, the integration bus unit [108] is an API hub comprising custom service units such as to integrate back-end billing system and meter data along with other third party applications like Head end System, GIS, Outage Management, etc.

The service unit [102] is connected to the data unit [104], the smart portal [106], the integration bus unit [108], the mobility management unit [112], the exchange unit [110], the memory unit [114] and the input/ output (i/o) interface [115]. The service unit [102] is configured to receive the data collected from the data unit [104] . The service unit [102] is configured to process the first data to determine one or more parameters associated with the one or more utilities, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a usage value of the one or more utilities, a demand value of the one or more utilities, a charge for the user for the one or more utilities and an impact score for the one or more utilities. Broadly, the service unit [102] processes the received data collected from the one or more metering devices to derive a cost and a usage for one or more customers. The service unit [102] is further configured to determine a demand and an impact score associated with the one or more utilities. The service unit [102] is further configured to process requests for installation, replacement and/ or removal of metering devices. The service unit [102] is further configured to perform the functions of meter reading, events, status, disconnection and/ or reconnect. The service unit [102] is also configured to automatically generate a usage report (for e.g., a bill, invoice, etc.) for the determined parameters based on the user service request. The interface [115] is further configured to display the usage report in response to the user service request for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities.

The present disclosure further encompasses that the service unit [102], in operation, employs a unique billing technique. The unique billing technique is integrated with customer relationship manager [116] (not shown on in the figure). The customer relationship manager [116] is configured to process customer related business processes including master data, contract, move in-move out, integration with smart meters, etc. In another instance of the present invention, the service unit [102] employs known billing techniques for performing the above-listed functions.

The service unit [102] further comprises an exchange unit [110] which is also connected to the data unit [104], the smart portal [106], the integration bus unit [108], the mobility management unit [112], the memory unit [114] and the input/ output (i/o) interface [115]. The exchange unit [110] is configured to receive the data collected from the metering devices from the data unit [104] The exchange unit [110] is configured to receive the derived cost and a usage for data collected from the metering devices. The exchange unit [110] is further configured to receive the determined demand and impact score associated with the one or more utilities from the service unit [102] The exchange unit [110] is configured to perform analysis of the collected data to derive information on planning, procuring, processing, managing, moving and trading utility. The exchange unit [110] is configured to derive forecast information related to risk accounting based on the analysis. The exchange unit [110] is configured to generate report, e.g., compliance reporting. The exchange unit [110] is capable of integrating with the official regulator's (such as governmental authorities) energy trading portal, to calculate the real time price of utilities based on pre-defined parameters, weekly and monthly demand, etc.

In another instance of the present disclosure, the exchange unit [110] is also configured to generate dashboards, audit trails, etc. by engaging data miners. For example, dashboard allows utility plant operators and utility traders to access RTD schedules on near real time period, thus eliminating process delay. The exchange unit [110] also allows automation of task and centralization of information, thus, allowing traders to invest the saved time into other activities such as strategize, optimize offers, perform validations, resultantly, minimizing risk of errors. The exchange unit [110] also facilitates that the market data is auto-downloaded, processed on time and stored in database for easy access and retrieval of the users.

The mobility management unit [112] is connected to the exchange unit [110], the service unit [102], the data unit [104], the smart portal [106], the integration bus unit [108], the memory unit [114] and the input/ output (i/o) interface [115]. The mobility management unit [112] is configured to manage connection between the one or more users of the system [100] In another instance, the user may connect with the system [100] using APIs, the mobility management unit [112] is also configured to manage the APIs.

The smart portal [106] is connected to the mobility management unit [112], the exchange unit [110], the service unit [102], the data unit [104], the integration bus unit [108], the memory unit [114] and the input/ output (i/o) interface [115]. The smart portal [106] is configured to provide an interface to access the system [100] to the user as a customer self-service portal, wherein the customer may access services including, but not limited to smart metering analytics, reporting dashboards and smart revenue management, also presented in a dashboard form. For example, the smart portal addresses provides features for, including but not limited to, view and pay bill, service requests, move in and move out etc. In an instance of the present disclosure, the smart portal [106] is presented to the user in the form of an API. In yet another instance, the smart portal [106] also has functionalities for internal work force management which is intrinsically connected to service order manager [118] (not shown in the figure).

Referring to Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary high level of the integration, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The smart portal [106] is connected to end users [200] on one end and to the system's [100] components on the other end. The end users [200] may comprise of field-based teams, utility operators (distributors, etc.), customer (subscribers of utilities). At the other end, the smart portal [106] is connected to the the service unit [102], the data unit [104] and the trading engine via the integration bus unit [108] In an exemplary illustration, the smart portal provides services such as smart metering analytics, reports dashboard, revenue management, customer portal, and many other such services.

Referring to Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary method flow diagram for the method of integrating and providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The method starts at step [302], is a dynamic and continuous process configured to be implemented in real-time. At step [304], at least one user service request relating to one or more utilities is received at the interface [115]. For instance, a user may use its user device to raise a service request. The present invention encompasses that the user service request may include, but not limited to, real-time load

IB monitoring, real-time dynamic electricity production, real-time consumption forecasting, real time distribution statistics, consumption record, and real-time generation measure.

Next, at step [306], the data unit [104] collects a first data from one or more metering devices associated with the one or more utilities based on the received user service request. The data unit [104] collects data from metering devices associated with the one or more utilities (e.g., electric, gas, water, etc.) via universal automation adapter (UAA), e.g., UAA/ AMI adapter. The data unit [104] collects the data in real-time from the metering devices, and, thus, supports one or more services such as, but not limited to, real-time load monitoring, real-time dynamic electricity production, real-time consumption forecasting, real-time distribution statistics and real-time generation measure. The data unit [104] transmits the data collected from the metering devices to the service unit [102], the smart portal [106], the integration bus unit [108], the mobility management unit [112] and the exchange unit [110]. The data unit [104] is further configured to store the data collected from the metering devices in the memory unit [114].

Subsequently, at step [308], the service unit [102] processes the first data to determine one or more parameters associated with the one or more utilities, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a usage value of the one or more utilities, a demand value of the one or more utilities, a charge for the user for the one or more utilities and an impact score for the one or more utilities. The service unit [102] also processes requests for installation, replacement and/ or removal of metering devices. The service unit [102] also performs the functions of meter reading, events, status, disconnection and/ or reconnect.

Further, at step [310], the service unit [102] generates a usage report based on the determined one or more parameters based on the user service request. The service unit [102] also automatically generates a usage report (for e.g., a bill, invoice, etc.) based on the determined one or more parameters. Lastly, at step [312], the user interface [115] displays the usage report in response to the user service request for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities. The method completes at step [314]

The method of the present invention encompasses that processing the first data further comprises validating, by the service unit [102], the collected first data for noise. Next, the service unit [102] estimates the first data by applying different estimation techniques, wherein the one or more parameters are determined based on the estimated first data. The said method is described in detail hereinbelow in the description with reference to Fig. 4.

The method of the present invention further encompasses that the exchange unit [110] of the service unit [102] is configured to perform analysis of the collected data to derive information on planning, procuring, processing, managing, moving and trading utility. The exchange unit [110] also derives forecast information related to risk accounting based on the analysis. The exchange unit [110] also generates report, e.g., compliance reporting. The exchange unit [110] is also capable of integrating with the official regulator's (such as governmental authorities) energy trading portal, to calculate the real time price of utilities based on pre-defined parameters, weekly and monthly demand, etc.

The method also the smart portal [106] provide an interface to access the system [100] to the user as a customer self-service portal providing one or more services associated with the one or more utilities at an integrated platform. In an instance of the present disclosure, the smart portal [106] is presented to the user in the form of an API. In yet another instance, the smart portal [106] also has functionalities for internal work force management which is intrinsically connected to service order manager [118] (not shown in the figure). The method completes at step [314]

The method also encompasses the mobility management unit [112] managing connection between the one or more users of the system [100] and the system [100] In another instance, the user may connect with the system [100] using APIs, the mobility management unit [112] is also configured to manage the APIs.

The present invention encompasses that the data unit [104] performs one or more operations on the raw data including, but not limited to, data validation, data estimation, data analysis, etc. In this regard, Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary method of operation of the data unit [104], in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The method is a dynamic and continuous process configured to be implemented in real-time. The method stars at step [402], the data unit [104] is configured to collect data from external systems comprising of metering devices associated with the one or more utilities (e.g., electric, gas, water, etc.) via the input/ output (i/o) interface [115]. The present disclosure encompasses that the input/ output (i/o) interface [115] comprises of a universal automation adapter (UAA), e.g., UAA/ AMI adapter.

Next, at step [404], the data unit [104] is configured to process the raw data collected from the external systems, for e.g., the data unit [104] is configured to validate the raw data collected from external systems as per utility rule. At step [406], the data unit [104] further processes the noise-free data by performing test of validation, followed by estimating the validated data at step [410] For example, the data unit [104] performs estimation of one or more missing data by applying different estimation techniques based on different missing data conditions (e.g. missing interval in a one-hourgap, missing interval with known scalar reads, missing intervals of an entire billing span) as per the rules and guidelines of respective utility

At step [410], the data unit [104] stores the estimated data collected of the external systems in the memory unit [114]. Lastly, at step [412], the data unit [104] transfers the estimated data collected of the external systems to the service unit [102], the smart portal [106], the integration bus unit [108], the mobility management unit [112] and the exchange unit [110].

Thus, the embodiments of the present disclosure a method and a system for integrating and providing one or more services associated with the one or more utilities, such as but not limited to, electricity, water, gas, etc. The method and the system of the present disclosure, thus, provides a cost-effective and an accurate synchronization solution of the one or more services associated with the one or more utilities at an integrated platform while also saving upon the capital expenditure and the operational expenditure associated with implementing the integration solution. Since the method and the system of the present disclosure can be deployed anywhere in a premise as per the infrastructural allowances, or implemented over the air, e.g., on the cloud, the integration solution also ensures customer convenience with optional deployment solutions. While the conventional techniques and existing solutions fail to provide a mechanism for integration of one or more services associated with the one or more utilities, compared to such techniques, various methods and apparatus described above provide that the overall implementation time frame is reduced to 50%. Although the present disclosure has been described as a sequence of steps in a series, it shall be appreciated by those skilled in the art that two or more consecutive steps of the method might be executed simultaneously within the scope of the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments and examples thereof, other embodiments and equivalents are possible. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with functional and procedural details, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms. Thus, various modifications are possible of the presently disclosed system and process without deviating from the intended scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, in one embodiment, such modifications of the presently disclosed a system and method for determining and indicating the efficiency of an electric utilities are included in the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

I/We Claim

1. A method for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities, the method comprising: receiving, at an interface [115], at least one user service request relating to one or more utilities; collecting, by a data unit [104], a first data from one or more metering devices associated with the one or more utilities based on the received user service request; processing, at a service unit [102], the first data to determine one or more parameters associated with the one or more utilities, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a usage value of the one or more utilities, a demand value of the one or more utilities, a charge for the user for the one or more utilities and an impact score for the one or more utilities; generating, by the service unit [102], a usage report based on the determined one or more parameters based on the user service request; displaying, at a user interface [115], the usage report in response to the user service request for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein processing the first data further comprises: validating, by the service unit [102], the collected first data for noise; and estimating, by the service unit [102], the first data by applying different estimation techniques, wherein the one or more parameters are determined based on the estimated first data.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data unit [104] collects the first data from one or more metering devices associated with the one or more utilities via a universal automation adapter interface.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user service requests relate to dealing in the one or more utilities, the method further comprises: processing, at a service unit [102], the first data to determine one or more second parameters comprising a planning parameter, a procuring parameter, a moving parameter and a risk parameter; generating, by the service unit [102], a compliance report based on the determined one or more second parameters based on the user service request; displaying, at a user interface [115], the compliance report in response to the user service request for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method operates in real-time and implemented on cloud.

6. A system for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities, the system comprising: an interface [115] configured to receive at least one user service request relating to one or more utilities; a data unit [104] configured to collect a first data from one or more metering devices associated with the one or more utilities based on the received user service request; a service unit [102] configured to: process the first data to determine one or more parameters associated with the one or more utilities, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a usage value of the one or more utilities, a demand value of the one or more utilities, a charge for the user for the one or more utilities and an impact score for the one or more utilities; generate a usage report based on the determined one or more parameters based on the user service request; wherein the user interface [115] is further configured to display the usage report in response to the user service request for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the service unit [102] is further configured to: validate the collected first data for noise; and estimate the first data by applying different estimation techniques, wherein the one or more parameters are determined based on the estimated first data.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the data unit [104] is configured to collect the first data from one or more metering devices associated with the one or more utilities via a universal automation adapter interface.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user service requests relate to dealing in the one or more utilities, the service unit is further configured to: process the first data to determine one or more second parameters comprising a planning parameter, a procuring parameter, a moving parameter and a risk parameter; and generate a compliance report based on the determined one or more second parameters based on the user service request.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein user interface [115] is further configured to display the compliance report in response to the user service request for providing one or more services associated with one or more utilities.