CA2593568A1 - A solution for sub-metering of electricity, gas and water in multi-residential and commercial building - Google Patents

Abstract

It is believed that the tenants or owners of multi-residential buildings without individual meters on their main resources typically consume more electricity, water and gas than those who pay a separate bill for their consumed resources.

This invention is related to the sub-metering of Electricity, Gas and Water consumption of each individual unit in multi-residential and commercial buildings.
In this invention, the water meter, electricity meter, thermometer, signal booster, and the Data Receiver are each uniquely designed to be small, accurate, powerful, easy to install and user interface free. These newly redesigned apparatuses continuously communicate amongst each other through the use of Radio frequencies and Broad band over Power Line signals. The combinations of these apparatus gather the sub-metered data and transmit it to a remote web based application in a secure and reliable environment via the Internet. The sub--metering of gas in this invention is based on the metered data of the building's and each unit's heating systems (hot water & air conditioning). This invention provides a powerful tool for owners and tenants of each unit to control the consumption of these three major resources inside their buildings/units and pay only for the cost of the resources they had consumed. The cost distribution based on the real and accurate data is at the heart of this invention and the web application of this invention derives and calculates the monthly cost of each individual unit based on the live metered and measured data.

The technical field of the mentioned application is Process and Control.

Description

Table of Contents Description Page --------------------------------------------- ---------A Field of the invention 3 B Background 3 C Brief description of the invention 4 D Hardware Functionalities 6 D.1 General and Detail Drawings 6 D.2 Common Functionality Section 6 D.3 Unique Functionality Section 7 E Detail description of the invention 10 E.1 General Drawings 10 E.2 Hardware's Detail Description 12 E.3 The Electronic Component's Capabilities and The main logic of the Machine-Level program 22 E.4 Main functionalities of the Web base application 33 Claims 36 Drawing's Equipment list 48 Figure 1 GD1 - Wireless Meters sample location 55 Figure 2 GD2 - Floor's snapshot (Signal Boosters Location) 56 Figure 3 GD3 - Building's Layout (Data Receiver and Signal Boosters) 57 Figure 4 GD4 - Users Connection Layout 58 Figure 5 DDWT - Turbine of Wireless Water Meter 59 Figure 6 DDWG - Generator of the Wireless Water Meter 60 Figure 7 DDWM - Wireless Water Meter 61 Figure 8 DDWC - Controller device of Wireless Water Meter 62 Figure 9 DDPM - Wireless Power Meter 63 ~ Page 1 of 70 Figure 10 DDTM - Wireless Thermometer 64 Figure 11 DDSB - Wireless Signal Booster 65 Figure 12 DDPR - Wireless Part-number Reader 66 Figure 13 DDDR - Data Receiver 67 Figure 14 WAMR - Web Application Monthly Report 68 Figure 15 WACR - Web Application Live Consumption Report 69 Figure 16 FNCS - Calculations and Formula 70 Page 2 of 70 A. Field of the invention [A.1 ] This invention is related to the sub-metering of Electricity, Gas and Water consumption of each individual unit in multi-residential and commercial buildings.
In this invention, the water meter, electricity meter, thermometer, signal booster, and the Data Receiver are each uniquely designed to be small, accurate, powerful, easy to install and user interface free. These newly redesigned apparatuses continuously communicate amongst each other through the use of Radio frequencies and Broad band over Power Line signals. The combination of these apparatus gathers the sub-metered data and transmits to a remote web based application in a secure and reliable environment via the Internet. The sub-metering of gas in this invention is based on the metered data of the building's and each unit's heating systems (hot water & air conditioning). This invention provides a powerful tool for owners and tenants of each unit to control the consumption of these three major resources inside their buildings/units and pay only for the cost of the resources, that they consumed.
The cost distribution based on the real and accurate data is at the heart of this invention and the web application of this invention derives and calculates the monthly cost of each individual unit based on the live metered and measured data.

B. Background [B.1 ] The cost of electricity, water and gas are included in the rent or monthly charges of every multi-residential building without individual meters on their main resources.
The tenants or owners of these units typically consume more electricity; water and gas than those who pay a separate bill for their consumed resources. There are demands in the market for a system that fairly separates the costs based on the consumed resources by each individual resident.

[B.2] The said system needs to gather the necessary information about consumed resources automatically and its live application should be easily accessible.

Page 3 of 70 C. Brief description of the invention [C.1] The present invention provides a solution to sub-meter the consumption of electricity, water and gas in multi-residential buildings, which share these resources.
[C.2] In this invention each apartment is equipped with 3 different types of meters (water meter, electricity/power meter and thermometer). Every floor has two Signal Boosters and each building has one Data Receiver. The Data Receiver communicates with all of the Signal Boosters via a Power Line modem and the Signal Boosters use a low power Radio Frequency signal to communicate with all the Meters. An integrated web base application is designed to receive all of the metered data from the Data Receivers via the Internet and generate many different reports with a very user-friendly interface.

[C.3] The said invention consists of three different categories Hardware, Machine-Level software and a Web based application.

[C.3.1] Hardware - This invention consists of a unique set of Electricity/Power Meter, Water Meter, Thermometer, Signal Booster, Part-Number Reader and a Data Receiver.

[C.3.2] Machine-Level software - Each Microcontroller has been equipped with high-end electronic components and the most efficient low-level programs to enable the Microcontroller to gather data, to save them locally for 60 days and to transmit them to the main system. The mentioned Machine-Level software is completely hardware dependent. These programs are small and very straightforward.

[C.3.3] Web application - The main reason for this invention is providing a tool for owners or tenants of multi-residential buildings to control the consumption of the resources inside their units. Cost distributing is the most important part of this invention. It is assumed that residents should pay according to the amount of their Page 4 of 70 resource consumption at the minimum rate (Direct Cost) and the difference between the actual building's bill and the sum of the Direct Costs should be distributed between them based on a fair and reliable factor. This web base application would produce a monthly billing report that includes all the direct and indirect costs in detail. This is the interface between tenants, owners and buildings' managers. The Metered Data, which is gathered by the installed equipment, is the main source of information.
This application is hosted in the main computer center and uses https to communicate securely.

[C.4] For more information we can refer to many registered patents like U.S.
patent No. 6232885 "Electricity meter", Canada patent CA 2439724 "Meter Register (water meter)", Canada patent CA 2244012 "wireless remote temperature sensing thermostat with adjustable register" and United States Patent 5533412 "Pulsed thermal flow sensor system".

Page 5 of 70 D. Hardware Functionalities [D.1] General and Detail Drawings - General Drawings show the distribution of the equipment in the building while the Detail Drawings describe the equipment and the arrangement of their components. Depending on the complexity of equipment, it may have a Top View, a Side View, a Front View and a Bottom View. Equipment and their components are uniquely numbered and described at the end of each drawing.
Components with the same functionality in different equipment have been described with the same number and name.

[D.2] Common Functionality Section.

[D.2.1 ] Use Radio frequency signals to transmit and receive data [D.2.2] Date and time synchronization is based on the received command from a Main Computer center.

[D.2.3] All hardware goes to a semi-hibernate mode whenever it is not on live power;
this means that the device will not transmit any data, but it will continue on the other activities until it runs on low battery. It will stop all the other activities and goes to full-hibernate mode whenever the batteries are less than 50% of their full charge capacity.
The types of selected memories are electronic memory (RAM), NOR-flash and NAND-flash. The apparatus is therefor able to keep their important information without any energy for months.

[D.2.4] Saving the monitored data in fixed time intervals (for example every minutes).

[D.2.5] Keeping a history of the data for 60 days locally.
Page 6 of 70 [D.2.6] Having a rechargeable battery to keep the electronic memory (RAM) alive while no live electricity is available [D.2.7] Re-Transmission of all the received data to create more signal coverage (their creation time should be less than 2 minutes and it must be transmitted by other devices).

[D.2.8] Transmitting each set of data until receiving the confirmation signal.

[D.2.9] Prevent conflicts and assure accurate data transmissions by including the following information to each set of transmittable data:

[D.2.9.1] Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRC) value polynomial 12.
[D.2.9.2] Unique Identity with the following structure.

[D.2.9.2.1] The first 2 characters are device identifiers "WM" (Water Meter), "PM"
(Power Meter), "TM" (Thermometer), "DR" (Data Receiver), "SB" (Signal Booster), "PR" (Part-Number Reader).

[D.2.9.2.2] The next 8 characters are the build date.
[D.2.9.2.3] The next 4 characters are the manufacturer code.
[D.2.9.2.4] The next 6 digits are its serial number.

[D.3] Unique Functionality Section [D.3.1 ] Water Meter - Water meters have been used and known for many years and in resent years many new types of wireless water meter were introduced to the market such as Patent CA 2439724 "Meter Register (water meter)". Unlike the water meter in Page 7 of 70 the mentioned Patent, the size of the water meter in this invention is small enough to fit in the area between two drywalls and it does not have any user interface.
The said water meter feeds its internal circuits by its local power generator. The Microcontroller device of this water meter has a transmitter, a receiver, a memory, a rechargeable battery and many other electronic components to measure the consumed water, transfer it to the Data Receiver, communicate with the other devices and keep its data for 60 days locally. This water meter is made of three separated devices to increase its performance, reduce the cost of its production and create an efficient maintenance plan.

[D.3.2] Power Meter - Power meters have been used all around the world for many years and people very well know its functionality. The U.S. patent No. 6232885 "Electricity meter" is one of them. Unlike the Electricity Meter in the mentioned Patent, The power meter of this invention is designed to be small enough to fit inside the main switchboard or behind the drywall. This power meter does not have any user interface and its Microcontroller device has all the necessary electronic components to measure the amount of consumed electricity and transmit it to the main system. The said power meter is able to get its energy from the magnetic field, produced by the flow of the electricity through the main wire without any direct connections to it.

[D.3.3] Thermometer - The functionality of the thermometer is very well known by almost everyone; and it has been used everywhere from a new scientific project to an ordinary house one of them is registered as a Canadian patent CA 2244012 "wireless remote temperature sensing thermostat with adjustable register". Unlike the Thermometer in the mentioned Patent, In this invention the thermometer measures the average temperature changes between the suctioned air and blown air of an air conditioning system every minute. The said thermometer does not have any user interface and its heat sensors are installed inside of the input and output air channels of the existing air conditioning system. The body of the said thermometer is designed to be installed behind a drywall or to be mounted inside the air conditioning box. This apparatus is designed to get its energy from the magnetic field, produced by the flow Page 8 of 70 of the current trough, the live feeding wire of the thermostat of the air conditioning without any direct connection to it.

[D.3.4] Signal Booster - This device is responsible for improving the quality of the transmitted and received data. This device receives data from Broadband over Power Line (BPL) modem and Radio Frequency signals. The said Signal Booster improves the strength of the received data by re-transmitting them again via the power line and radio frequency signals. The said Signal Booster has an integrated Power line Modem and uses the electricityof the building to operate.

[D.3.5] Data Receiver - This device receives data from the Signal Boosters via the Broadband over Power Line network, sends the data to the Main Computer center via the Internet and saves it locally for 3 years. Whenever it receives any data from the Main Computer center, it would pass it to the meters, if the destination code of the received data were equal to the current Data Receiver's Unique ID. The said Data Receiver does not need any user interface.

[D.3.6] Part-Number reader - This tool reads the part number of the above mentioned devices and displays it on the provided LCD screen. It is designed to show the codes of all the meters that have responded to the request of the said Part-Number reader.
The latest response would be shown on the first row of the LCD display. Each LCD
display could take 3 to 4 lines to show messages and part numbers to the user.

Page 9 of 70 E. Detail description of the invention [E.1 ] General Drawings [E.1.1] This drawing describes the location of the meters in one unit. In this sample it is assumed that there are two different entry locations for each set of cold and hot water pipes. Also it is supposed to have one main switchboard and one air-conditioning thermostat. Based on what is described above, it is necessary to have 4 water meters, one power meter and one thermometer. In this invention there is no limitation on the usage of the meters. The General Drawing's file name is GD1.

[E.1.2] This drawing describes how the Signal Booster improves the quality of the signals by re-transmitting all the received data in both Broadband via Power Line (BPL) and Radio Frequency (RF) signals. Signal Boosters transmit data from the Data Receiver to the Wireless Meter and vise a versa to synchronize the data on both BPL
and RF systems. Two Signal Boosters are used to reduce the risk of connection loss with the Data Receiver. Communicating with the Data Receiver is only through the Broadband over Power Line (BPL) modem and a Radio Frequency signal is used to communicate with the Wireless Meters. The General Drawing's file name is GD2.

[E.1.3] This drawing describes the way that the Signal Boosters are communicating with each other and with the Data Receiver. The structure of all the high-raise buildings are made of concrete; therefore the Radio Frequency signals cannot go through all the floors easily. In this invention the data will be transmitted between the floors via the Broadband over Power Line (BPL). This mechanism will assure that the system is secure and reliable for data transmission. The Data Receiver uses Broad Band over Power Line to communicate with all the Signal Boosters. To communicate with the Central Computer the Data Receiver uses a high speed Internet line in the secure mode (https). The General Drawing's file name is GD3.

Page 10 of 70 [E.1.4] This drawing describes the connection between users, the central computer and the Data Receivers. If some of the owners do not have access to the Internet; the building's manager could print the monthly bill and other important reports for them.
The General Drawing's file name is GD4.

Page 11 of 70 [E.2] Hardware's Detail Description [E.2.1 ] The first equipment in this invention is a Wireless Water Meter [D.3.1 ], which is made of three separated devices.

[E.2.1.1] Turbine - The first piece of the said water meter [E.2.1] is its small turbine.
Flow of water causes the turbine's propeller to rotate and its rotation would rotate the main shaft of the said turbine. The rotation of the said turbine is the power source for the generator [E 2.1.2], which will be installed on top of the said turb;ne.
The detail drawing's file name is DDWT.

[E.2.1.1.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.1.1.a.1 ] Water leakage - It is known that the primary base, secondary base, body and the cap of the said turbine are soldered to each other and to the main water pipe and its sealing washers protects the turbine from leakage. If the sealing washer malfunctions, the only way for the water to flow is through moving around the main shaft towards the head of the shaft.

[E.2.1.1.a.2] First solution - Using a leakage sensor to detect the water presence between the turbine and the generator. Incase of any leakage, the leakage sensor sends the proper signal to the technical department.

[E.2.1.1.a.3] Second solution - Using another sealing washer between the turbine and the generator to protect the building from leakage. In this case the water would move towards the generator's shaft and cause a short circuit in the generator (because of a low voltage electric current in the generator the chance of fire is very low), which stops the system from working properly. If the water meter does not work for 24 hours, the technical department will be notified.

Page 12 of 70 [E.2.1.1.a.4] Conclusion - The first solution is technically better than the second solution but the cost of developing such a control system is more than the second solution. Based on the price performance factor and the possibility of having a leakage, it has been decided to use the second solution.

[E.2.1.1.b.1 ] Turbine shaft moving - The attrition on compact plastic creates a gap beneath the head of the shaft and it causes the turbine's shaft to move downward.
[E.2.1.1.b.2] Solution - The shaft could only have a downward movement. If the gap widens enough to loosen all the connections between the turbine's shaft and the generator's shaft, then there would not be any electricity for the meter to transmit the data. If after 24 hours no activity is received by the main system a warning will automatically be sent to the technical department.

[E.2.1.1.b.3] Conclusion - To reduce the attrition harder material should cover the surface of the compact plastic.

[E.2.1.2] Generator - The second piece of the said water meter is its generator. This generator produces enough electricity for the Microcontroller of the water meter to work and recharge the emergency batteries. It will be installed tightly on the top of the said turbine [E.2.1.1]. For many years the production of electricity has been well known by people in this art; therefore the know-how of the generator would not be discussed here. The detail drawing's file name is DDWG.

[E.2.1.2.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.1.2.a.1 ] Loosing electricity/power - Measuring the amount of consumed water is based on the voltage of the generated electricity and the elapsed time. When there is not enough running water to produce a measurable electric power, that amount of water would not be taken into water consumption calculation (like water leakage in an apartment).

Page 13 of 70 ~, [E.2.1.2.a.2] Solution - As long as the batteries are above 50%, detection of 10 mA of the generated power is possible and therefore the water meter can measure the amount of consumed water that generates that much of electricity and above.
This device is not design to measure the amount of the leaked water in an apartment.

[E.2.1.2.a.3] Conclusion - At this time there is not a better solution.

[E.2.1.3] Coupling of the Turbine and the Generator - This coupling creates enough electricity to feed the internal circuits of the Microcontroller of the water meter. Also the voltage of the generated electricity and its elapsed time are the two most important information in water consumption calculations. The detail drawing's file name is DDWTG.

[E.2.1.3.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.1.3.a.1] Installation - To install this coupling it is necessary to make a hole into the copper pipe with a diameter big enough to let the propeller of the said turbine [E.2.1.1 ] to go through. This action interrupts the running water in the building.
[E.2.1.3.a.2] Solution - Almost every apartment in the building has a shutting valve on every incoming water pipe to stop the running water incase of emergency. This device would be installed after the shutting valve so only one unit would be faced with the water interruption during the installation of the water meter.

[E.2.1.3.a.3] Conclusion - This device is not suitable for buildings without the necessary shutting valves in each unit.

[E.2.1.4] Microcontroller device - The last piece of the said water meter is its Microcontroller. It is a set of one microprocessor, batteries, a Radio Frequency Module, a Heat sensor, an Analog to Digital converter and different types of memories Page 14 of 70 like "NOR-Flash", "NAND-Flash" and electronic memory "RAM". This device calculates the consumed water based on the data, which receives from The Voltmeter module [62 in DDWM] every 2 seconds. Also, the said Microcontroller device is responsible for transmitting the volume of the consumed water and its average temperature to the Data Receive every 10 minutes. The detail drawing's file name is DDWM.

[E.2.1.4.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.1.4.a.1] Data Accuracy - The accuracy of any real time system depends on the number of samples or measurement in a fixed period of time. In this invention, the voltage of the generated electricity is measuring every 2 seconds and the amount of the consumed water is calculated based on the value of the measured voltage.
This means that the amount of the consumed water is assumed to be linear during these 2 seconds. While in the first 2 seconds, the real amount of the consumed water is less than the calculated amount and also the last 2 seconds of the consumed water is lost.
[E.2.1.4.a.2] First solution - The curves of water consumption at the times of turning on and shutting off of the valves are almost similar but in two different directions; when the valve is turning on, the curve is increasing while on shutting off, the curve is decreasing. The linear water consumption causes the system to calculate more consumed water for the first 2 seconds and therefore the system should ignore the amount of water that has been consumed in the last 2 seconds to get close to the real water consumption value.

[E.2.1.4.a.3] Second solution - The second solution is to increase the frequency of voltage measurement to every second or less. The accuracy of the solution depends on the number of measurement. For example if the measurement is taken a 10000 times per second, it would be more accurate than 100 times per second and so on. It is completely clear that assigning more time of the processor to executing one task means having less time for other tasks. A new microprocessor may be dedicated to Page 15 of 70 this task but this will increase the complexity of the Operating System and the cost of the Water Meters.

[E.2.1.4.a.4] Conclusion - In this invention the necessary electricity is generated locally and therefore most of the job should be done during the existence of electricity and in small periods of time there are many tasks to do. Increasing the number of processors as mentioned on [E.2.1.4.a.3] translates to a more expensive Wireless Water Meter device. As a result, It has been decided to use the first solution.

[E.2.2] The second equipment in this invention is a Wireless Power Meter [D.3.2]. This apparatus is a contact-less electricity power meter and its power pick-up device is placed close to the main feeding wire of each apartment/unit. The detail drawing's file name is WDEM-Drawing [E.2.2.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.2.a.1] Source of Energy - When the power is less than 1 ampere on the feeding line, there would not be enough power to be picked up by the coil to feed the power meter.

[E.2.2.a.2] Solutions - In reality almost always there are enough amperage on the main wire of each apartment. Having two batteries on the Microcontroller would keep the device active enough to measure the consumed electricity above 16 Millie Ampere and save it locally for 60 days. The installation of the Wireless Power Meter [D.3.2] is easy and there is no need to change anything in the apartment's electric system.

[E.2.2.a.3] Conclusion - With the above mentioned facts [E.2.2.a.2] and the use of the memory types of "NOR-Flash" and "NAND-Flash" that keeps the data even when there is no power at all. A contact-less power pick-up mechanism makes the solution more acceptable than having a direct connection to the apart ment's/unit's live wire to feed the device.

Page 16 of 70 [E.2.3] The third equipment in this invention is a wireless thermometer [D.3.3]. This apparatus is a special contact-less thermometer that measures the average temperature changes of the air flown from the suctioning to the blowing air channels of the apartment's/unit's air conditioning system. The power pick-up device of the said thermometer is placed close to the apartment's/unit's thermostat feeding wire.
The detail drawing's file name is DDTM-Drawing [E.2.3.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.3.a.1] Chance of wire disconnection - The wiring connection between the Microcontroller and the heat sensors that are installed in the input and output air channels are delicate. Any maintenance on the air conditioning system may cause the wires to break.

[E.2.3.a.2] Solutions - The Microcontroller and heat sensors should have a female connection socket and the wire should have male connectors on both ends to make the connection and disconnection of the wire easy. Also the type of wire should be resistance to hot air (60 degree Celsius) and cold air (5 degree Celsius).

[E.2.3.a.3] Conclusion - At this time there is not a better solution.

[E.2.3.b.1] Distance between Thermometer and the Air Channels - Tho long distance between the thermostat and the input and output air channels needs long wiring which may cause changes to the apartment's view and increase the chances of wire disconnection.

[E.2.3.b.2] Solutions - Thermometer could be installed close to the air conditioning device while the power pick-up device of the said thermometer should be placed close to the live wire of the air conditioning's Electro-motor to pick up the power instead of the live wire of the thermostat.

Page 17 of 70 [E.2.3.b.3] Conclusion - At this time there is not a better solution.

[E.2.4] The forth equipment in this invention is the Signal Booster. This apparatus is uniquely designed to improve the strength of the received data by re-transmitting them via the Broadband over the Power Line and Radio Frequency signals. The detail drawing's file name is DDSB.

[E.2.4.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.4.a. 1 ] BPL signal Sensitivity - the Broadband via Power Line signais are sensitive to disturbing signals on the power line. The quality of signal on the power line has an inverse relation with signal's bit rate and the distance between senders and receivers.
When the distance between two Signal Boosters increase, the risk of affecting the transmitting data will increase as well. If the rate of transmitting data increases the possibility of losing data will increase dramatically.

[E.2.4.a.2] Solution - there is not a single solution for the mentioned problem. It is necessary to use a set of different techniques together to protect the accuracy of data.
Some of the possible solutions are mentioned below.

[E.2.4.a.2.a] Transferring CRC check and data together.

[E.2.4.a.2.b] Transferring data until receiving confirmation information from receiver.
[E.2.4.a.2.c] Using at least 2 Signal Boosters on each floor to cover the entire floor and thereby reduce the distance between them and the installed wireless meters on the floor.

[E.2.4.a.2.d] Using the power lines that are not used by the heavy electrical motors like elevators.

Page 18 of 70 [E.2.4.a.3] Conclusion - the fact is that the normal Radio Frequency signals could not pass through the concrete walls and floors easily and any wiring between the meters and the Data Receiver would be a very costly and time-consuming solution. The only cost effective way is using the Broadband via Power Line technology to share and pass data between the floors. The combination of the suggested solution seems enough.

[E.2.5] The fifth equipment in this invention is the Data Receiver. This apparatus has a unique design to receive data from the Signal Boosters via the Broadband over Power Line network, and sends the data to the main computer via the Internet and vise versa. The minimum hardware requirement for this device is a 50GB hard drive, a 512MB RAM, a Pentium 3 processor. The detail drawing's file name is DDDR.

[E.2.5.1 ] The Memory Resident program on this device receives the metered data from Signal Boosters via its integrated Broad band on Power Line (BPL) modem and sends it to the main computer via the Internet and vise versa. The mentioned program saves a copy of the received Data on the Data Receiver's [E.2.5] local disk.
To increase the accuracy of the data, which transfers between the main computer and the data receiver, all the data have to go through security and negotiation steps and only the records that have a correct CRC value and a right Data Receiver's ID would be passed.

[E.2.5.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.5.a.1] Hardware upgrading problem - It will not be easy to upgrade the device if any newer and more efficient device is introduced to the market.

[E.2.5.a.2] Solution - Whereas this device uses its microcontroller's operating system and its in memory resident application needs a very small amount of the memory to Page 19 of 70 operate therefore it does not any overhead and the data transformation would be fast and reliable. It is true that the upgrading on this device is not easy but the functionality of this device is static and as long as the current Internet protocols and structures are valid this device can continue to work. Using Embedded Intemet, Ethernet interface and integrated Broadband via Power Line modem is a good idea because it makes a compact device that reduces the risk of disintegration compared to having separated external devices.

[E.2.5.a.3] Conclusion -If the Embedded Internet and Ethernet interface are compatible with 32 bit architecture it is acceptable.

[E.2.6] The sixth equipment in this invention is the Part-Number Reader. This uniquely designed tool is the only apparatus in this invention that would be used by users to obtain the part number of the equipment. The detail drawing's file name is DDPR.
[E.2.6.1] To get the part number of each meter, the user of the Part-Number Reader [E.2.6] needs to go through the flowing steps:

[E.2.6.1.a] Set the specified meter to the inactive status. When the meter is inactive it will not transmit data but it will create the response message and waits for the activation time to transmit.

[E.2.6.1.b] Wait for 2 seconds to be sure that the meter is deactivated. When an active meter is busy with many tasks including data transmission the time dE~Iay will let the meter finish all of its unfinished tasks.

[E.2.6.1.c] Push the Request Part-Number button (Located at the bottom left of the Part-Number Reader [E.2.6].

[E.2.6.1.d] Wait for 30 seconds to be sure that all of the active devices have already responded.

Page 20 of 70 ' [E.2.6.1.e] Set the inactivated meter to the active status. By setting the meter to the active mode, the meter will send its code to the said Part-Number Reader apparatus.
[E.2.6.1.f] To get the exact Part number, a message would encourage the user to go through [E.2.6.1.a] to [E.2.6.1.e] for the second time.

[E.2.6.1.g] The part number will be shown on the LCD display of the said device if the second time result were equal to the first time result. Otherwise, an error message will appear on the Part-Number Reader's [E.2.6] LCD display with the possible problems and their solutions.

[E.2.6.a] Weak point(s), Solution(s) and Conclusion [E.2.6.a.1] Getting the part number of the Power meter - There would be a conflict when the thermostat is on and the user wants to get the part number of the Power meter. In this situation the Part-Number Reader will receive two responses, one from the thermometer and one from the power meter. Therefore it would fail and generate an error.

[E.2.6.a.2] Solution - it should be considered, in the low-level programming, that if such a situation happens, then a message should appear that asks the user to turn off the thermostat.

[E.2.6.a.3] Conclusion - At this time there is not a better solution.
Page 21 of 70 [E.3] The Main logic and Capabilities of the Electronic Component.
The low-level programs are written to calculate the amount of consumed resource, storing the calculated data locally for a period of time and transmitting all the metered data to the Data Receiver with a set of additional information to make the data reliable and dependable. These programs are saved in a "NOR-Flash" type memory to aliow the program's execution without the need to load into the RAM plus further protect of the program incase of power loss. In this section the main functions of each module are described. Every module is identified by its number, which has been shown and described in their detail drawings.

[E.3.1] The Transmitting module [code 54 in DDWM] is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to read all the records in the "Transmitting"
table [E.3.4.3] (when the meter is on the live power) and pass the results to the Radio Frequency module in a serialized process. The program of the said module would go through the following steps to pass the data to the Radio Frequency module.

[E.3.1.1 ] Finds the first record of the list.
[E.3.1.2] Passes the record to the Radio Frequency module while the record exists.
[E.3.1.3] If the transmission was successful, then removes the transmitted record from the "Transmitting" table [E.3.4.3].

[E.3.2] The Receiving module [code 53 in DDWM] is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to work with the Radio Frequency module in a serialized process to receive all the records and save them into the "Receiving" table [E.3.4.4].

[E.3.3] The Water Consumption module [Code 57 in DDWM] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident control program designed to calculate the consumed water and to save the result into the Local table [E.3.4.2] through the following steps:
[E.3.3.1 ] Locks the "Local" table for update Page 22 of 70 .s' [E.3.3.2] Increases the last sequence number by one [E.3.3.3] Calculates the consumed water based on the formulas and steps, which are described in the drawing titled FNCS, section [X.1 ].
[E.3.3.4] Obtains the average heats of the water from the Heat calculation module (Code 56 in DDWM Drawings) (Water less than 10 degree Celsius is assumed to be cold water).
[E.3.3.5] Obtains the current date & time from system's clock [E.3.3.6] Saves an empty space for the confirmation of date and time [E.3.3.7] Concatenates the above 5 information and adds it to the "Local"
table.
[E.3.3.8] Releases the lock from the "Local" table.

[E.3.4] The Data Manager module [code 58 in DDWM] is a"NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to look after the following tables.
These tables are created in "NAND-Flash" memory and therefore in case of power loss, they will be safe.

[E.3.4.1 ] Properties of the "Program" table [E.3.4.1.1 ] Module Code (8 characters) [E.3.4.1.2] Unique ID of the equipment (20 characters) [E.3.4.1.3] Version of the program (4 characters) [E.3.4.1.4] Total number of the records that would be received (tiny int 1 Byte) [E.3.4.1.5] Sequence of the received record (tiny int 1 byte) [E.3.4.1.6] Length of the Binary data (small int 2 bytes) [E.3.4.1.7] Binary data (maximum length 1024 bytes) [E.3.4.2] Properties of the "Local" table [E.3.4.2.1] Sequence Number (Integer 4 bytes) [E.3.4.2.2] Measured data (Float 4 bytes) [E.3.4.2.3] Reserved field (Float 4 bytes) [E.3.4.2.4] Creation Date and Time (8 bytes) [E.3.4.2.5] Confirmation Date and Time (8 bytes) Page 23 of 70 [E.3.4.3] Properties of the "Transmitting" table (link list) [E.3.4.3.1 ] Previous record address (small int 2 bytes) [E.3.4.3.2] Record length (small int 2 bytes) [E.3.4.3.3] Record contents (variable length) [E.3.4.3.4] Next record address (small int 2 bytes) [E.3.4.4] Properties of the "Receiving" table (link list) [E.3.4.4.1] Previous record address (small int 2 bytes) [E.3.4.4.2] Record length (small int 2 bytes) [E.3.4.4.3] Record contents (variable length) [E.3.4.4.4] Next record address (small int 2 bytes) [E.3.4.5] This program designed to go through the above mentioned tables ("Receiving" [E.3.4.4], "Transmitting" [E.3.4.3], "Program" [E.3.4.1] and "Local"
[E.3.4.2]) and moves data from one to another based on the following logic.

[E.3.4.5.1] Reads the "Receiving" table, obtains the content part of the saved record and runs Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRC) to compare the record's CRC value with that of the calculated CRC.

[E.3.4.5.1.1] If both CRC values are equal, then unpacks and decodes the record otherwise the received record is not reliable and is deleted from receiving table.
[E.3.4.5.1.2] If the first 8 characters of the record in [E.3.4.5.1.1] werp equal to any modules' name and the next 20 characters were equal to the current meter's unique ID, then the unpacked record should be added to the "Program" table [E.3.4.1].
Records with the same module name, version and sequence number are replaced.
[E.3.4.5.1.3] If the first 8 characters of the record in [E.3.4.5.1.1] were equal to any modules' name and the next 10 characters were equal to "ALL_METERS" then the Page 24 of 70 unpacked record is added to the Program table [E.4.1 ]. Records with the same module name, equal version and the same sequence number are replaced.
[E.3.4.5.1.4] If the first 5 characters of the record in [E.3.4.5.1.1] were equal to "PART#", then the next 20 bytes makes up the code for the requester device.
Based on the following steps, the code of this meter should be transmitted to the requester:
[E.3.4.5.1.4.1 ] Obtains the first 25 characters of the received record.
[E.3.4.5.1.4.2] Adds the current meter's unique ID.
[E.3.4.5.1.4.3] Adds the Current Date & Time.
[E.3.4.5.1.4.4] Packs the above result.
[E.3.4.5.1.4.5] Obtains its Cyclic Redundancy Checks and add it to the packed record.
[E.3.4.5.1.4.6] Obtains the length of the last result.
[E.3.4.5.1.4.7] Adds it to the transmitting table.

[E.3.4.5.1.5] If the first 5 characters of the record in [E.3.4.5.1.1] were equal to "CLOCK", then the next 4 bytes represent the date and the second 4 bytes represent the Time. The clock of the system should reset to these new values.

[E.3.4.5.1.6] If the first 10 characters of the record in [E.3.4.5.1.1] were equal to "RETRANSMIT" and the next 20 characters were equal the Unique ID of the current meter, then the "Confirmation Date and time" field of the "Local" table should be erased.

[E.3.4.5.1.7] If the first 10 characters of the record in [E.3.4.5.1.1] were equal to "RETRANSMIT" and next 10 characters were equal to "ALL METERS" then the "Confirmation Date and time" field of the "Local" table should be erased.

[E.3.4.5.1.8] If the first 20 characters of the record in [E.3.4.5.1.1] were equal to the unique ID of the current meter, then the proper record in "Local" table should be updated by the confirmation date of the unpacked record.

Page 25 of 70 [E.3.4.5.1.9] If none of the above conditions hold true, then the record belongs to another device. If its creation date is less than 2 minutes ago, then the original record directly from the "Receiving" table should be added to the "Transmitting"
table.
[E.3.4.5. 1.10] The Data Manager module [E.3.4.5] deletes the processed records from the "Receiving" table.

[E.3.4.5.2] Reads the "Local" Table - If the confirmation date of any record in the "Local" table is null or empty, then that record is added to the "Transmitting" table. The mentioned record has to be prepared for transmitting by adding the meter's unique ID
to the record, coding the result to protect the data, packing the coded record to reduce the size of the record and adding a CRC check to the packed record to increase its reliability. If the "Creation Date" field of any of the records is earlier than 60 days ago and "Confirmation date and time" field is filled, then that record should be deleted from the "Local" table [E.3.4.1 ].

[E.3.5] The Program Reloader Module [code 60 in DDWM] is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to load the new version of a program to the requested module through the following steps.

[E.3.5.1] Sorts all the records in the "Program" table [E.3.04.1] in an ascending order based on the first 34 characters.

[E.3.5.2] Reads the sorted data and concatenates the binary data of each record while the first 33 characters of each record remain the same.

[E.3.5.3] Once all of the sequences of the new program are received, then the concatenated binary data is ready to be loaded into the proper module.

Page 26 of 70 r [E.3.5.4] If re-loading the program is successful, then these records should be removed from the "Program" table and a confirmation record needs to be added to the "Local" table through the following steps.
[E.3.5.4.1 ] Locks the "Local" table for update [E.3.5.4.2] Increases the last sequence number by one [E.3.5.4.3] Saves the 8 characters of the module name [E.3.5.4.4] Saves the current date and time as the Creation Date [E.3.5.4.5] Saves an empty space for the confirmation of the date and time [E.3.5.4.6] Writes the record in the "Local" table [E.3.5.4.7] Releases the lock from the "Local" table.
[E.3.5.5] The module names are [E.3.5.5.01 ] Power Consumption module = "WPMPCNSM"
[E.3.5.5.02] Water Consumption module = "WWMWCNSM"
[E.3.5.5.03] Cooling & Heating Consumption module = "WTMHCNSM"
[E.3.5.5.04] Transmitting Module = "TRNSMODU"
[E.3.5.5.05] Receiving Module = "RCVNMODU"
[E.3.5.5.06] Data Manager Module = "DMNGMODU"
[E.3.5.5.07] Heat calculation module = "HEATCALC"
[E.3.5.5.08] Voltmeter module = "VOLT-MTR"
[E.3.5.5.09] Program Re-loader module = "PROG-LDR"
[E.3.5.5.10] Time manager module = "TIMEMNGR"
[E.3.5.5.11 ] Data Transmitter and receiver module = "TRANCVER"

[E.3.6] The Time Manager Module [code 65 in DDWM] is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to slice execution time between all the modules of the Microcontroller based on their priority. This is the first program that would be loaded into the RAM for execution and remains active forever. Every minutes, this program checks to see if a new version of itself is loaded into "Nor-Flash"
memory or not. If yes, then this program will load the new version of the program into Page 27 of 70 the RAM and closes itself. Only one copy of each program is active in any given moment.

[E.3.6.1] The Water Consumption module [Code 57 in DDWM] is called every 2 seconds.

[E.3.6.2] The Heat calculation module [code 56 in DDWM] is called every minute.
[E.3.6.3] The Data manager module [code 58 in DDWM] is called every second [E.3.6.4] The Radio Frequency communication module calls the Receiving module [code 53 in DDWM] every time there is something to receive.

[E.3.6.5] If live power is running in the meter, (system is not on batteries) then the Transmitting module [code 54 in DDWM] calls the Radio Frequency module every second.

[E.3.6.6] The Program Reloader module [code 60 in WDEM] is called every 5 minutes.
[E.3.6.7] The Electricity Power Consumption module [code 70 in WDEM] is called every 500 milliseconds and the said Electricity Power Consumption module calls the Electricity Ampere meters [code 76 in DDWM] module.

[E.3.6.8] The Temperature Calculation module [code 81 in DDTM] is called every minute and the said Temperature Calculation module calls the Heat sensor module [code 83 in DDTM].

[E.3.7] The Power Consumption module [code 70 in WDEM] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident control program designed to calculate the consumption of electricity during a period of time and saves the record in the "Local" table [E.3.4.2]
through the following procedure.

Page 28 of 70 [E.3.7.1 ] Locks the "Local" table for update [E.3.7.2] Increases the last sequence number by one and save it [E.3.7.3] Calculates the consumed energy every 500 milliseconds based on the formulas and steps that are defined in the drawing FNCS file part [X.2].
[E.3.7.4] Saves the empty space for future use [E.3.7.5] Saves the current date and time as the Creation Date [E.3.7.6] Saves an empty space for the confirmation of the date and time [E.3.7.7] Writes the record in the "Local" table [E.3.7.8] Releases the lock from the "Local" table.

[E.3.8] The Temperature Calculation module [code 81 in DDTM Drawings) is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to calculate the average temperature changes in the apartment and saves the results into the "Local"
table [E.3.4.2] through the following steps.

[E.3.8.1 ] Locks the "Local" table for update [E.3.8.2] Increases the last sequence number by one and save it [E.3.8.3] Calculates the average temperature of the room every 2 minutes based on the formulas and steps that are defined in the drawing FNCS file part [X.3].
[E.3.8.4] Saves the total working time of the air conditioning system (in seconds) [E.3.8.5] Saves the current date and time as the Creation Date [E.3.8.6] Saves an empty space for the confirmation of the date and time [E.3.8.7] Writes the record in the "Local" table [E.3.8.8] Releases the lock from the "Local" table.

[E.3.9] The Part-Number Receiver Module [code 93 in DDPR] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident control program designed to receive all the records from the Radio Frequency Communication module in a serialized process. This program goes through the following steps to get the part number of each meter.

Page 29 of 70 [E.3.9.1] Runs the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) to compare the record's CRC
value and that of the calculated CRC.

[E.3.9.2] If both CRC are equal, then unpacks and decodes the record.
Otherwise the received record is not reliable and is ignored.

[E.3.9.3] If the first 5 characters of the unpacked record were equal to "PART#" and the next 20 characters were equal to the unique ID of this Part-Number Reader, then the record is valid. Otherwise it should be ignored.

[E.3.9.4] The next 20 characters of the received record (26th to 45th characters) is one of the requested part numbers.

[E.3.9.5] If the received part number does not exist in the array, then the received part number should be added to the array of the part number. The new row is always the first and the existing part numbers should move down.

[E.3.9.6] If the received part number exists in the array and it is not one of the first 2 part numbers, then the part number is removed from the array.

[E.3.9.7] If the part numbers in the first and second cells of the array belong to a Thermometer and a Power meter, it means user wants to get the part number of the power meter but the thermometer is on and both devices are responding. Show a message to turn off the thermostat of the apartment/unit and try again.

[E.3.9.8] The part number is shown on the LCD display if the second time results were equal to the only remaining result in the array.

[E.3.10] The Part-Number Requisition module [code 94 in DDPR] is a"NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident control program designed to send a part number request.
Page 30 of 70 It creates a request record and delivers it to the Radio Frequenc;/ module in a serialized process through the following steps:

[E.3.10.1 ] Sets the record content to "PART#" and the current Part-Number Reader's unique ID.
[E.3.10.2] Codes it and then packs the record content.
[E.3.10.2] Obtains its Cyclic Redundancy Checks and add it to the packed record.
[E.3.10.3] Passes it to the Radio Frequency Module.

[E.3.11 ] The Clear Button [code 95 in DDPR] clears the array of the part numbers.
[E.3.12] The Part # Button [code 96 in DDPR] activates the Part-Number Requisition module [E.3.10].

[E.3.13] The Data Transceiver (Transmitter and Receiver) [code 103 in DDDR] is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to manage the transmission and reception of the data between the Broad band via Power Line (BPL) modem and the Main Computer via the Internet. This module also saves all of the transferred and the received data on a local disk. Transferable data should go through the security and negotiation procedures, steps [E.3.13.1] to [E.3.13.2] are for transmitting data to the main computer and steps [E.3.13.3] to [E.3.13.5] are for the receiving data.

[E.3.13.1] Concatenates the unique ID of the Data Receiver to the received data from BPL.

[E.3.13.2] Adds the CRC value of the result in [E.3.13.1 ] and packs it.
Obtains the length of the packed data and sends the concatenated record to the main computer.
Page 31 of 70 [E.3.13.3] Unpacks and checks the CRC value of the received data from the main computer. If CRC values were not equal, then ignores the record. Otherwise proceeds through to the next step.

[E.3.13.4] If the destination ID of the record were not equal to the unique ID
of the current Data Receiver, then ignores the record. Otherwise proceed through to the next step.

[E.3.13.5] Obtains the data part of the record, saves it into the local disk and passes it on to the Signal Boosters via the Broadband via Power Line modem.

[E.3.14] The Radio Frequency module is a low power Full-Duplex Radio Transceiver circuit, which is capable of transmitting and receiving data in a radius of 200 meters and it operates in a legal band.

[E.3.15] The integrated Broad band over Power Line (BPL) modem is a very well known device by those in this art and it is easily available in the market.
The capability of the BPL modem for this invention will be defined based on the engineered data.
[e.3.16] The Embedded Internet and Ethernet interface is also a very well known product by the field's experts and different varieties of this interface is available in the market. This device is responsible for executing all the I/O Activities between the Local Area Network (via its integrated Broad band on power line) and Internet (via direct connection to a DSL Modem). In case of using external router this device could be just an embedded Ethernet interface with one RJ45 connections to connect it to the Router. In case of using an external Broadband via Power Line modem the embedded Ethernet interface should have two RJ45 connections. The capability cf this interface for this invention will be defined based on the engineered data.

Page 32 of 70 [E.4] The Main functionalities of the Web-Based application As previously explained the main goal for this invention is to provide a tool for owners and tenants of multi-residential buildings to control the consumption of energy and natural resources inside their building even if those resources are shared.
This web-based application is the most important part of this invention and here it is described with some of its user interfaces and the main logic for the cost distribution.
The said application is hosted on a dedicated computer center and uses https to handle all the communications in a secure environment. Its live resource consumption, monthly billing, consumption statistics and hardware status reports are some of the available reports to the users of the system.

[E.4.1] Cost distributing is at the heart of this application. The minimum rate of each resource is the base for the residents of the building to pay for their resource consumption (it is called the Direct Resource Consumption Cost and its abbreviation is DRCC). The difference between the actual bill and the total of the Direct Resource Consumption Cost should be distributed between the residents based on their resource consumption (it is called the Indirect Resource Consumption Cost and its abbreviation is IRCC). By this methodology those who consumed more would pay more. This web base application would produce a monthly billing report that includes all the Direct Resource Consumption Cost and Indirect Resource Consumption Cost.
A sample of the monthly bill is shown in the attached diagram under the title WAMR.
[E.4.2] The live consumption report helps the tenants and owners to monitor their resource consumption's behavior almost in real time. A sample of the monthly bill is shown in the attached diagram under the title WACR.

[E.4.3] Tenants and owners can get the list of all the equipment, assigned to their apartments. They can check the accuracy of this information locally by using the "Part-Number Reader" device. Managers of every building would have a "Part-Number Reader" to help tenants and owners.

Page 33 of 70 [E.4.4] The consumption statistics report of this application shows any misbehaving of the equipment or its hardware failures. This report analyzes the received data against the normal behavior of the equipment and lists the code, location and starting date and time of the misbehaving equipment. As an example, it considers the electricity usage in an apartment with the consumption of water or heat in the same apartment. If there is usage of one resource for a period of time but other resources shows no consumption, then it will show this situation as a warning. Normally, technicians and the managers of the buildings would use this report to find and fix the possible problem.

[E.4.5] Software developers are able to update any program module of any components remotely. This means any fixes like time synchronization, fixes on any calculation formula or time management scheduling could be posted to any one or all of the selected components in a reasonable time without any problems.

[E.4.5.1] The Data Transceiver program is a part of the Web-Based application that manipulates the transmittable and the received data. This program uses two different tables to manage the data. The "Received-Data" table saves all the records that have been received from different Data Receivers and its structure contains "Data-Receiver-ID", "Received-Data" and "Received-Date" fields. The "Transmittable-data"
table contains all the records that should be transmitted to the different Data Receivers and its structure contains "Data-Receiver-ID", "Destination-ID", "Transmitting-Data", "Record-Type" and "Created-Date" fields. In this invention it is supposed that all the Data Receivers are acting like a normal web user. This assumption creates flexibility for the buildings to pay lesser monthly payment for the rent of their Internet connection line and the data could go through all the firewalls.
This assumption however, creates some limitation for the web application in managing the data transmissions.

Page 34 of 70 [E.4.5.2] By assuming the Data Receivers as normal Internet users, it is necessary to have a request from the Data Receivers prior to the transfer of any data from the Main Computer to a Data Receiver. The transmittable data has a "Record-Type"
information, which separates the system data from the Confirmation data. The system data has the first priority for transmission. In this invention the Data Receivers post their metered data on to the Main Computer via the Internet until receiving a confirmation data from the Main Computer.

[E.4.5.3] The Data Transceiver program gets the data from the web server and after unpacking and checking its CRC value, it saves the distinct and the correct data into the "Received-Data" table. Also, this program transmits all the records, which have been saved into the "Transmittable-data" table (these data have been saved into the "Transmittable-data" table by the other sub-program of the web application).
System data would be sent to the Data Receiver based on its creation date and sending the data will be repeated until this program receives a confirmation record from the related device of the specified Data Receiver. Sending the date and time synchronization command is excepted and it does not need any confirmation.

[E.4.6] This application shares the gathered data between tenants, owners, buildings' managers and technicians based on their access rights. There is a user interface for building's manager to key the crucial data to the system such as the principal information about each apartment and the information of the received water, electricity and gas bills. Also, buildings' managers can use some of the application's interfaces to add different types of cost to the monthly bill of each or all of the tenants and owners while deducting cost from the monthly bill is also possibie.

f, Page 35 of 70 Drawing's Equipment List [1] Main water pipe (it assumes a copper pipe).

[2] Compact plastic [2.1 ] To hold the shaft in place and eliminate the vibration of shaft while it is rotating.
[2.2] To keep the sealing washers tight in place.

[3] Main Shaft [3.1 ] To rotate while the water is flowing through the copper pipe [3.2] The wide head of the shaft will protect the shaft from falling into the main copper pipe.
[3.3] The shaft is made of fine polished stainless steel.

[4] Sealing Washers [4.1 ] To protect the said turbine from water leakage.

[5] Turbine's primary base plate [5.1 ] It is a curved copper base that seats on the main water pipe (mentioned in 1) and covers the big hole which is made on the main water pipe to move the shaft's propeller (will be describe in 9) into the water pipe.
[5.2] The perimeter of the said Primary turbine's base would be completely soldered to the main water pipe.
[5.3] For different sizes of the main water pipe, we need to have different sizes of the primary turbine's base.

[6] Stands [6.1] To create the possibility of coupling between the power generator and the said turbine [6.2] There are four stands 90-degree to each other. They are welded to the Turbine's case.
[6.3] Each Stand has one hole with the same size and at the same location; it has nuts and bolts to attach the said turbine and the power generator to each other.

[7] Reserved.

[8] Cross Shaped Hole [8.1 ] This is the head of the turbine's shaft (Female).
Page 48 of 70 Drawing's Equipment List [8.2] To engage with the generator's shaft, which has a cross shaped head (Male) (described in 23)

[9] Brass Propeller [9.1] This brass propeller is welded to the end of the turbine's shaft and the flow of water though the copper pipe causes the propeller to rotate.
[9.2] The perimeter of this propeller will be used to determine the amount of the consumed water during the time that water flows through the pipe.

[10] Turbine Cap [10.1] It will cover the inside of the said turbine and it is soldered to the body of the said turbine.
[11 ] Turbine's Secondary base plate [11.1] This base connects the body of the said turbine to the primary base plate (mentioned in 5) [11.2] It is a curved base plate, which creates a strong support for the said turbine.
[12] Body of Turbine [12.1 ] It is a copper cylinder, which covers the body of the turbine.
[13] To [20] reserved.
[21 ] The generated power of this AC generator feeds all the electronic parts of this invention. The know-how of the said generator is well known by the people in this art and will not be discussed here.
[22] It is the base for connecting the microcontroller device described in [50] of the said water meter to the generator.
[23] The shaft of the generator with a cross shaped head (Male). This cross shaped head will engage with the cross shaped hole (Female) of the shaft of the said turbine.
[24] The positive/current line of the generator to transfer the created power to the Microcontroller device of the said water meter.
[25] The negative/null line of the generator.
[26] Reserved Page 49 of 70 Drawing's Equipment List [27] Stand for connecting the power generator to the said Turbine by using nuts and bolts.
[28] Reserved [29] These holes are for connecting the Microcontroller device of the said water meter to the base using nuts and bolts.
[30] Sealing washer to protect the generator and building from water leakage.
[31] Nuts and Bolts for coupling the said turbine and the said generator.
[32] To [39] Reserved [40] Temperature sensor that is in thermal contact with the main water pipe is used to get the temperature of the water.
[41] Positive Cable from the temperature sensors (mentioned in 40) to the Microcontroller device of the said water meter.
[42] Negative Cable from the temperature sensors (mentioned 1-n 40) to the Microcontroller device of the said water meter.
[43] To [49] Reserved [50] Microprocessor is well known by people in this art. The type of the processor would be selected by the persons who are expert in this art.
[51 ] Rechargeable batteries to protect the system from loosing information while there are no live power. The experts in this art would define detail specifications of the battery.
[52] Battery charger is well known in the market and detail specification of it would be defined by the persons who are expert in this art.
[53] Transmitting module is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to read all the records from the transmission table and to pass the result to the Radio Frequency (RF) Communication module.
[54] Receiving module is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to receive records from Radio Frequency (RF) Communication module.

1 Page 50 of 70 Drawing's Equipment List [55] Electronic RAM for operating system and dynamic memory allocation. The electronic RAM memory is much faster than other types of memories but it burns much more power than NOR and NAND flash memory, Also in case of power loss, RAM will lose its information.
[56] Heat calculation module is also a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to receive temperature data from the Analog to Digital Converter and to calculate the average temperature of the consumed water.
[57] Water Consumption module is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to calcuiate the consumed water, save it to the "Local" table and send a reset signal to the Heat Calculation module [56] to reset the time and average heat degree.
[58] Data Manager module is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to manage the entire data that has been saved into different tables.
[59] Radio Frequency Communication module is responsible for the transmission and receiving of data via Radio Frequency signals. The Radio Frequency module is a low power Full-Duplex Radio Transceiver circuit, which is capable of transmitting and receiving data in a radius of 200 meters and it operates in a legal band. This module is well known by people in this art and is widely available in the market.
[60] Program Re-loader Module is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to update the contents of the programmable modules like Water Consumption module, Receiving module and Transmitting module but not itself.
[61] Data Tables Memory is a NAND-flash memory which saves the data of all the major tables.
[62] Electricity Voltmeter is a module that calculates the voltage of the received electricity power. This information will be used to calculate the RPM of the main shaft of the turbine.
[63] Analog Digital Converter, would receive the analog output of the heat sensor, which is connected to the water pipe and converts it to digital numbers, which would be used in calculation of the average heat of the consumed water.

Page 51 of 70 Drawing's Equipment List [64] This is a printed circuits board that all the mentioned modules and other necessary equipment would be installed on it. The experts in this art will define the technical specification of this board.
[65] Time manager Module is the first module, which will be loaded onto the memory.
This module calls the other main modules based on their time setting.
[66] To [69] Reserved [70] Power Consumption module is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to calculate the consumed Electricity.
[71 ] The positive/current line of the picked power by the wired coil described in 73.
[72] The negative/null line of the wired coil described in 73.
[73] Wired coil senses the current in the wire and picks up power to feed the Microcontroller device. This module works when the flowing current in trie wire is more than 1 Ampere.
[74] Main Current / Live power line of apartment.
[75] Stand to fix the electricity power meter to the wall.
[76] Digital Ampere Meter module will measure the amperage of consumed electricity based on the strength of the magnetic field produced by the current, flowing through the wire. This module is sensitive to 10mA and above.
[77] Cable to transfer digital data to the Power Consumption module.
[78] Power wire to transfer power to the Digital Ampere Meters.
[79] Reserved Page 52 of 70 Drawing's Equipment List [80] Integrated Broadband via Power Line (BPL) modem is a very well known device by those in this art and it is easily available in the market. The capability of the BPL
modem for this invention will be defined based on the engineered data.
[81] Temperature calculation module is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to calculate the average temperature changes in the apartment. This module obtains the difference between the two temperatures, received from two sensors [83], and calculates the average of the temperature changes. It will save the average of the temperature changes and the total working time of the air conditioning system in the "Local" table.
[82] Live wire of thermostat is the source of power pick up for thermometer.
[83] Each one of the two Digital Temperature sensors would be installed into the input and output air channels of the air conditioning system. The said digital temperature sensors obtain the current temperature of the air, which flows in the chaiinels.
[84] Cable to transfer digital data to Temperature Calculation module.
[85] Power wire to transfer power to digital Heat Sensors.
[86] To [90] Reserved [91] LCD Display panel is well known and commercially available in the market.
[92] Type AA batteries. Experts in this art would define the number of required batteries.
[93] Part-Number Receiver Module is responsible for receiving records from the Radio Frequency communication module in a serialized process, extracts the part number and delivers it to the Display Panel module.
[94] Part-Number Requisition module is responsible for sending a part number Request to the Radio Frequency Communication module [59].
[95] When "Clear" button has been pushed, the contents of the Array of Part Numbers and the LCD Display are cleared.
[96] When "Part #" button is pushed, the control should be pass to the Part-Number Requisition module.
[97] To [99] Reserved Page 53 of 70 Drawing's Equipment List [100] DSL Modem to connect to WAN.
[101 ] IDE Hard disks with a minimum capacity of 50GB.
[102] Embedded Internet and Ethernet interface. This device is responsible for executing all the I/O Activities between the Local Area Network (via its integrated Broad band on power line) and Internet (via direct connection to a DSL Modem).
The capability of this interface for this invention will be defined based on the engineered data.
[103] Data Transceiver (Transmitter and Receiver) is responsible for sending, receiving and saving the data locally. This module receives data from Signal Boosters and Sends them to the main Computer and vise versa.

Page 54 of 70

Claims

I claim [0001] A Solution for Sub-Metering the consumption of electricity, water and gas in multi-residential buildings. Its hardware and software are described as follows [0002] A Wireless Water Meter, which is small enough to fit in the area between two drywalls. It does not have any user interface and it is one of the equipment of the Solution for Sub-Metering [0001]. This apparatus is made of one Turbine device, one Power Generator device and one Microcontroller device. (Detail design in DDWM
Drawing) [0003] The Turbine of the Wireless Water Meter [0002] is made up of one propeller, one shaft, one set of water sealing, one compact plastic shaft holder and one casing with an extended basin. The basin of the casing of this turbine would be soldered to the water pipe to keep the turbine firm and to prevent any water leakage The flow of water inside the pipe causes the propeller of this turbine to rotate. Since the shaft is welded to this propeller, the shaft will rotate accordingly. (Detail design in DDWT
Drawing) [0004] The Power generator of the Wireless Water Meter [0002] is well known by people in this art. The main shaft of this power generator has a cross-shaped head that fills the cross-shaped hole of the shaft of the said turbine in [0003].
The joint between the said turbine in [0003], and this power generator transfers the rotation of the shaft of the said turbine in [0003], to this power generator. The Rotation of the shaft of this power generator produces electricity for the said Wireless Water Meter in [0002]. (Detail design in DDWG Drawing) [0005] All the Microcontrollers in this invention have common functionalities and unique duties. To avoid redundancy in the explanations and descriptions of the Microcontrollers, the common functionalities amongst all the Microcontrollers are described here while the specific and unique duties for each Microcontroller are described separately. All the Microcontrollers are designed to gather and transmit the specific data to the Data Receiver [0047] via the Radio Frequency or Broadband over the Power Line signals. They also save the data locally and retransmit the received data from other Microcontrollers to reduce the blind area All the Microcontrollers are programmed to repeat the transmission of the resource consumption data until receiving a confirmation of date and time from the Main Computer This mechanism covers the possibilities of loss of connection. Also, the repetition of the data transmission creates a two-way communication between the Main Computer and each of the individual wireless devices of this invention via the Internet. These Microcontrollers [0005] are designed to update their current programs remotely All the Microcontrollers go to a semi-hibernate mode whenever they are not on live power;
this means that they will not transmit any data, but will continue on with their other activities until their batteries runs low. These Microcontrollers [0005] will stop all other activities and go to a full-hibernate mode whenever the batteries are less than 50% of their full charge capacity. These devices [0005] protect the accuracy of the transmitted data by adding the Unique Identity of the device and a Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRC) value to the coded and packed data.

[0006] The Data Tables Memory is a "NAND-Flash" memory that saves the four major tables including "Receiving" table, "Transmitting" table, "Program" table and "Local"
table.
This type of memory is capable of keeping data even when there is no power at all (Module 61 in DDWM Drawing) [0007] The Microcontroller device of the Wireless Water Meter [0002], is a set of electronic modules and low-level programs designed to gather and transmit the water consumption data to the Main Computer. Its modules and their functionalities are described as follow. (Detail design in DDWC Drawing) [0008] The Transmitting module of the Microcontroller [0007] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident control program designed to read all the records in the "Transmitting" table [0006] and to pass these records to the Radio Frequency module (Module 59 in DDWM Drawing) in a serialized process. When a record is successfully transmitted, it is removed from the "Transmitting" table [0006]. (Module 54 in DDWM
Drawing) [0009] The Receiving module of the Microcontroller [0007] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident program designed to receive data from the Radio Frequency module (Module 59 in DDWM Drawing) in a serialized process and to add the received data to the "Receiving" table [0006]. (Module 53 in DDWM Drawing) [0010] The Heat calculation module of the Microcontroller [0007] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident program designed to receive temperature data from the Analog to the Digital Converter (Module 63 in DDWM Drawing) and to calculate the average temperature of the consumed water in the last minuet. (Module 56 in DDWM
Drawing) [0011 ] The Voltmeter module of the Microcontroller [0007] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident program designed to calculate the average voltage of the generated electricity every 2 seconds. This information will be used to calculate the Rotation Per Minute (RPM) of the main shaft of the turbine. (Module 62 in DDWM

Drawing) [0012] The Water Consumption module of the Microcontroller [0007] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident control program designed to calculate the consumed water based on constant and variable data. The variable data is received from The Voltmeter module [0011] every 2 seconds. If the elapsed times between the last (temperature) request and now is equal to or grater than one minute, then the Water Consumption module [0012] requests the average temperature of the consumed water from the Heat Calculation module [0010]. Also, the said Water Consumption module [0012] is responsible for adding the water consumption records to the "Local"
table [0006] and send a reset signal to the Heat Calculation module, if the elapsed time of the last saved record is equal to or greater than 10 minutes. Each record in the "Local"
table [0006] has a unique sequence number. The Water consumption formulas are described in FNCS section [X.1]. (Module 57 in DDWM Drawing) [0013] The Data Manager module of the Microcontroller [0007] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident program designed to read the "Receiving" and "Local"
tables [0006] and to take proper actions including updating all the other tables. All the actions are described as follows (Module 58 in DDWM Drawing) [0014] Step One - The Data Manager module of the Microcontroller Reads a record from the "Receiving" table and Runs Cyclic Redundancy Checks to compare the record's CRC value and that of the calculated CRC. If both CRC values are equal, then the module extracts the actual part of the data from the record with the given length and unpacks it. Otherwise the received record is not reliable and is deleted from the "Receiving" table [0006].

[0015] Step Two - If the first 8 characters of the data in [0014] were equal to any modules' name, then the unpacked data [0014] should be added to the "Program"
table [0006]. Records with the same module name, version and sequence number are replaced.

[0016] Step Three - If the first 5 characters of the data in [0014] were equal to "PART#", then the next 20 bytes makes up the code for the requester device and the code of this meter is transmitted to the requester.

[0017] Step Four - If the first 5 characters of the data in [0014] were equal to "CLOCK", then the next 4 bytes represent the date and the second 4 bytes represent the Time. The clock of the system is then reset to these new values.

[0018] Step Five - If the first 10 characters of the data in [0014] were equal to "RETRANSMIT", then the Confirmation Date of the "Local" table [0006] is erased.
[0019] Step Six - If the first 20 characters of the data in [0014] wene equal to the unique ID of the current meter, then the proper record in "Local" table is updated by the confirmation date of the unpacked data.

[0020] Step Seven - If none of the above conditions hold true, then the record belongs to another device. If its creation date is less than 2 minutes ago, then the original record is added to the "Transmitting" table [0006] directly from the "Receiving" table [0006].

[0021] Step Eight - The Data Manager module [0013] deletes the processed records from the "Receiving" table [0006]

[0022] Step Nine - If the confirmation date of any record in the "Local" table [0006] is null or empty, then that record is added to the "Transmitting" table [0006].
The mentioned record has to be prepared for transmission by adding the meter's unique ID
to the record, coding the result to protect the data, packing the coded record to reduce the size of the record and adding a CRC check to the packed record to increase its reliability.

[0023] Step Ten - If the creation date of any of the records is earlier than 60 days, then that record would be deleted from the "Local" table [0006]

[0024] The Program Reloader module of the Microcontroller [0007] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident program designed to update the contents of each of the programmable modules. The only module that could not be reprogrammed is the Program Reloader Module [0024] itself. All the steps needed to reload the new program to the proper module are described as follows. (Module 60 in DDWM
Drawing) [0025] Step One - Sort all the records in the "Program" table [0006] based on the first 34 characters.

[0026] Step Two - Read all the sorted records [0025] to check whether or not all the sequences of one program with the same version have been received. If the records have not been received, then the Program Reloader [0024] ignores the patching program and checks for the next patching program.

[0027] Step Three - Concatenate all the binary parts of the received records [0026]
while the program code remains the same, sequence numbers are in order and the version is equal.

[0028] Step Four - Check to see whether the concatenation of the binary data [0027]
has been successful. If the concatenation were successful, then the Program Reloader module [0024] would load the concatenated result to the proper module addresses. Finally, the Program Reloader module [0024] removes all the processed records from the "Program" table [0006] and saves a confirmation record in the "Local"
table [0006].

[0029] The Time Manager module of the Microcontroller [0005] is a "NOR-Flash"
memory that has a resident control program designed to slice execution time between all the modules of the Microcontroller based on their priority. This is the first program that would be loaded into the RAM for execution and remains active forever Every 20 minutes, this program checks to see if a new version of itself is loaded into "Nor-Flash"
memory or not. If yes, then this program will load the new version of the program into the RAM and closes itself. Only one copy of each program is active in any given moment. (Module 65 in DDWM Drawing) [0030] The Wireless Power meter is a contact-less electricity power meter, it is small enough to fit in the area of the main switchboard or in the area between two drywalls.

It does not have any user interface and its power pick-up device is placed close to the main feeding wire of each apartment/unit to measure the consumed electricity and pick-up the electricity for its internal circuits units This apparatus is one of the equipment of the Solution for Sub-Metering [0001], it is made of one digital ampere meter, one contact-less power pick-up and one Microcontroller device. (Detail design in DDPM Drawing) [0031] The Microcontroller device of the Wireless Power Meter [0030], is a set of electronic modules and low-level programs to gather and transmit the electricity power consumption data to the Main Computer. Its modules and their functionalities are described as follows. (Detail design in DDPM Drawing) [0032] The Electricity Power Consumption module of the Microcontroller [0031]
is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to calculate the consumed electricity based on the data that it receives from the Digital Contact-less Ampere Meter (Module 76 in DDPM Drawing) every 500 milliseconds. Also, the said Electricity Power Consumption module [0032] is responsible for adding the electricity consumption record to the "Local" table [0006] if the elapsed time of the last saving record is equal to or greater than 10 minutes. Each record in the "Local"
table should have a unique sequence number. The Power Consumption formulas are described in FNCS section [X.2]. (Module 70 in DDPM Drawing) [0033] The Digital and Contact-less Ampere Meter module will be installed close enough to the main live feeding wire to obtain the consumed electricity from the strength of the magnetic field produced by the current flowing through the wire. This module is sensitive to 10mA and above. (Module 76 in DDPM Drawing) [0034] The Contact-less Power Picker of the Wireless Power meter [0030] is a wired coil that senses the current in the wire and picks up power to feed the Microcontroller device [0031]. This module works when the flowing current is more than 1 Ampere.
(Module 73 in DDPM Drawing) [0035] The Wireless Thermometer is a special contact-less thermometer that measures the average temperature changes of the air flown from the suctioning to the blowing air channels of the apartment's/unit's air conditioning system. Tne power pick-up device of the said thermometer is placed close to the apartment's/unit's thermostat feeding wire, it is designed to be small enough to fit in the area between two drywalls.
It does not have any user interface and it is one of the equipment of the Solution for Sub-Metering [0001]. This apparatus is made of two Digital Temperatures sensors, one Contact-Less Power Pick-up and one Microcontroller device. (Detail design in DDTM Drawing).

[0036] The Microcontroller device of the Wireless Thermometer [0035], is a set of electronic modules and low-level programs to gather and transmit the temperature data of the apartments/units to the Main Computer Its modules and their functionalities are described as follows. (Detail design in DDTM Drawing) [0037] Each one of the Digital Temperature Sensors of the Microcontroller [0036]
would be installed inside of the input and output air channels of the air conditioning system. The said digital temperature sensors get the current temperature of the flowing air inside of the input and output air channels every minute. (Module 83 in DDTM Drawing) [0038] The Temperature Calculation module of the Microcontroller device [0036]
is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to calculate the average temperature changes in the apartment. This module obtains the difference of the temperature between the two received data from the Digital Temperature Sensors [0037] and then calculates the average of the temperature changes during a period of minutes. It will save the average of the temperature changes and the total working time of the air conditioning system in the "Local" table [0006] every 10 minutes The Temperature Calculation formulas are described in FNCS section [X.3] (Module 81 in DDTM Drawing) [0039] The Signal Booster is designed to broadcast and improve the quality of the received data, which is transmitted by the wireless meters or it has been transmitted between the floors by the other Signal Boosters via a Broadband over Power Line (BPL) modem. The said Signal Booster improves the strength and the coverage of the received data by re-transmitting them again via the Broadband over Power Line (BPL) and Radio Frequency (RF) signals. The said Signal Boosters transmit data from the Data Receiver to the Wireless Meters and vise a versa to synchronize the data on both BPL and RF systems. Communicating with the Data Receiver is only through the Broadband over Power Line (BPL) modem and a Radio Frequency signal is used to communicate with the Wireless Meters. This is one of the equipment of the Solution for Sub-Metering [0001]. This apparatus is made of one integrated Broadband over Power line Modem and one Microcontroller device. This device [0039] uses the electricity of the building to operate. (Detail design in DDSB Drawing).

[0040] The Microcontroller device of the Signal Booster [0039], is a set of electronic modules and low-level programs designed to boost the signal coverage and to improve the quality of the received signals. This Microcontroller [0043]
checks the accuracy of the data and retransmits only the correct data. Its modules and their functionalities are described as follows. (Detail design in DDSB Drawing) [0041 ] The Data Receiver is design to receive data from the Signal Boosters via the Broadband over Power Line network, send the data to the Main Computer via the Internet and save the received data locally for 3 years. Whenever it receives any data from the Main Computer Center, it would pass it to the meters if the destination code of the received data were equal to the current Data Receiver's Unique ID. This is one of the equipment of the Solution for Sub-Metering [0001] and it does not have any user interface. Its modules and their functionalities are described as follows. (Detail design in DDDR Drawing) [0042] The Microcontroller device of the Data Receiver [0041], is a set of electronic modules and low-level programs designed to receive data from the Broadband over Power Line modem and to transmit the received data to its embedded Internet, Ethernet interface and vise versa. Its modules and their functionalities are described as follows. (Detail design in DDDR Drawing).

[0043] The Data Transceiver (Transmitter and Receiver) is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to manage the transmission and reception of the data between the Broad band via Power Line (BPL) modem and the Main Computer via the Internet. This module also saves all the transferred and the received data on a local disk. Transferable data should go through the security and negotiation procedures. If the unique ID of the received record were the same as the current data receiver's unique ID, then the extracted data would be saved locally and transferred to the meters via the BPL. (Module 103 in DDDR Drawing) [0044] The Part-Number Reader is a tool that reads the part number of all the devices of the Solution for Sub-Metering [0001] and displays their part number on the provided LCD screen. This uniquely designed tool is the only apparatus in this invention that would be used by users to obtain the part number of the equipment. It is designed to show the code of all the meters that have responded to the request. The latest response is shown on the first row of the LCD display. Each LCD display could take 3 to 4 lines to show messages and part numbers to the user. This is one of the equipment of the Solution for Sub-Metering [0001] and the apparatus's modules and their functionalities are described as follows. (Detail design in DDPR
Drawing).

[0045] The Part-Number Receiver Module is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to receive all the records from the Radio Frequency Communication module in a serialized process. This program goes through the following steps to get the part number of each meter. (Module 93 in DDDR
Drawing) [0046] Step One - The program Decodes, Unpacks and Checks the Accuracy of the received record. If the first 5 characters of the unpacked record [0046] were equal to "PART#" and the next 20 characters were equal to the unique ID of this Part-Number Reader then it is a valid record otherwise it should be ignored.

[0047] Step Two - The next 20 characters of the received record (26th to 45th characters) is one of the requested part numbers.

[0048] Step Three - If the received part number [0047] does not exist in the array of part numbers, then the received part number is added to the array of the part numbers. The new row would always be the first row and the existing part numbers move down.

[0049] Step Four - If the received part number [0047] exists in the array of the part numbers and it is not one of the first 2 part numbers then record is removed from array of the part numbers.

[0050] Step Five - If the part numbers in the first and second cells of the array of the part numbers belong to a Thermometer and a Power meter, then this means that the user wants to get the part number of the power meter Since the thermometer and the power meter are both on, they both respond to the Part-Number Reader [0044].
Therefore, the Part-Number Reader [0044] will show a message asking to turn off the thermostat of the apartment/unit and try again. The part number would be shown on the LCD display if the second time result were equal to the first time result.

[0051] The Part-Number Requisition is a "NOR-Flash" memory that has a resident control program designed to send a part number request. It creates a request record and delivers it to the Radio Frequency module in a serialized process through the following steps. (Module 94 in DDDR Drawing) [0052] Step One - Sets the record content to "PART#" and concatenate it to the part number of the current Part-Number Reader.

[0053] Step Two - Codes it, Obtains the packed record's Cyclic Redundancy Checks and concatenates the CRC to the packed record and Passes it to the Radio Frequency Module in a serialized process.