FR3113331A1 - Method and electronic device for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electric meter and associated computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

Method and electronic device for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electricity meter and associated computer program The invention relates to a method (54) for validating a pairing of a communication system (14) with an electricity meter (12), comprising: - two simultaneous phases (58, 60): - a phase of guided interactions (58) with the user, to turn on/off an electrical device within the associated electrical consumption location to an electricity meter whose access via the communication system (14) is authorized to the user; - a simultaneous storage phase (60) of information representative of electrical charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system during said phase of interactions with the user, and transmitted to said electronic validation device via said communication system; - a step (76) of processing said information representative of electrical charges, to detect electrical characteristics representative of said device; - a step (88) for validating the pairing of the communication system (14) with the electricity meter (12) in the event of positive detection. Figure for the abstract: Figure 2

Description

Method and electronic device for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electric meter and associated computer program

The present invention relates to a method for validating pairing of a communication system with an electric meter, the communication system being adapted to be connected to the electric meter and to transmit electricity consumption data from the electric meter to a user. in the event of validation of said pairing, the method being implemented by an electronic validation device.

The invention also relates to a computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement such a method for validating pairing of a communication system with an electric meter.

The invention also relates to such an electronic validation device.

The invention relates to the field of data transmission, such as electricity consumption data, from an electricity meter. This data transmission is carried out via a communication system adapted to be connected to the electric meter via a communication interface and to transmit data from the electric meter to a user.

The communication system is typically an ERL (for Linky ^TM Radio Transmitter) communication system, the electricity meter being a Linky ^TM electricity meter from the company ENEDIS equipped with a TIC interface (for Customer Remote Information) via which the data capable of being transmitted by the communication system.

Document FR 3 058 006 B1 discloses a communication system of the aforementioned type. The communication system is an ERL communication system coupled to a Linky ^TM electricity meter via a TIC interface. The communication system comprises an electric power supply device for supplying a communication device capable of transmitting data, such as electric consumption data, coming from the electric meter. The power supply device comprises a voltage source which is voltage-regulatory via a regulation signal, and a feedback device supplying said regulation signal so as to maintain a source power supplied by the voltage source around a power reference source. The power supply device also comprises a buffer power supply supplied by the voltage source and delivering buffer power contributing to the output power supplied by the power supply device, at least when said output power is greater than the source power reference.

The power supply device then allows the communication system to operate even if the communication device consumes, during at least certain phases of its operation, an electrical power greater than that capable of being delivered by the ICT interface.

However, such a communication system is likely to be connected to an electric meter whose access to data, via the communication system is prohibited to the user, and to nevertheless transmit the data from such an electric meter. to the unauthorized or even malicious user, which leads to privacy and data protection issues.

Indeed, it is common, especially within a building, for several identical electricity meters to be grouped together in the same location, and for a user to be unable to recognize the electricity meter for which access to the data, via the system of communication, is authorized to him and, without being malicious, makes a pairing error by connecting the communication system to an electricity meter whose access is not authorized to him instead of connecting it to the electricity meter whose access is authorized.

The object of the invention is therefore to propose a method and an electronic device for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electric meter making it possible to validate the pairing before transmitting data, such as consumption data electricity, from the electricity meter and to block such transmission in the event of invalidation, in order to improve the confidentiality and protection of such data.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a method for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electric meter, the communication system being adapted to be connected to the electric meter and to transmit to a user data from electricity consumption from the electricity meter in the event of validation of said pairing, the method being implemented by an electronic validation device and comprising at least:

- two phases implemented simultaneously including:

- a phase of interactions with the user, guided by said electronic validation device, to turn on/off an electrical device within the place of electrical consumption associated with an electrical meter whose access via the communication system is authorized to the user ;

- a phase of simultaneous storage of information representative of electrical charges read by said electricity meter connected to the communication system during said phase of interactions with the user, and transmitted to said electronic validation device via said communication system;

- a step of processing said information representative of electrical charges, capable of detecting therein electrical characteristics representative of said electrical apparatus;

- a step of validation of the pairing of the communication system with the electricity meter in the event of positive detection, the validation being worth recognition of the electricity meter connected to the communication system as the electricity meter whose access via the communication system is authorized to the user.

In other words, the method for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electricity meter according to the invention is based on the detection of electrical characteristics representative of an electrical device following its switching on/off within a place of electricity consumption associated with the electricity meter whose access via the communication system is authorized to the user.

According to other advantageous aspects of the invention, the method for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electric meter comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken in isolation or in all technically possible combinations:

- the phase of interactions with the user, guided by said electronic validation device, includes at least one iteration of the following steps:

- after a first predetermined time delay, generation and restitution of an ignition request by the user of said electrical device;

- after a second predetermined time delay, generation and return of a switch-off request by the user of said electrical device,

and in which, in parallel with the interactions phase, the storage phase comprises for each iteration of the interactions phase:

- a first step of storing ignition information representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system for a first predetermined duration, starting before and expiring after, the generation and restitution of an ignition request by the user of said electrical device, and storing the storage instant associated with each ignition information;

- a second step of storing extinction information representative of electrical charges read by said electricity meter connected to the communication system for a second predetermined duration, starting before and expiring after, the generation and restitution of an extinction request by the user of said electrical and storage device of the storage time associated with each extinction information;

- the step of processing said information representative of electrical charges is implemented after the third iteration of the interaction phase, and for each subsequent iteration up to a predetermined maximum number of iterations of the interaction phase;

- the processing step includes:

- within the ignition information and the extinction information associated with the same iteration among the iterations preceding the implementation of said processing step:

- the calculation of first variations of values within said ignition information and of second variations of values within said extinction information,

- the identification of a pair of variation values comprising one of said first variations and one of said second variations, said first variation of said torque and said second variation of said torque belonging to an interval of electrical values associated with said preselected electrical device, the ratio of the absolute value of said first variation of said torque on the absolute value of said second variation of said torque belonging to a range of predetermined values;

- in the event of identification of said couple, the detection of said couple in the information representative of electrical charges associated with each other iteration, preceding the implementation of said processing step, and distinct from the iteration associated with the identification of said couple , the detection of said torque, for two successive iterations, distinct and successive to the iteration associated with the identification of said torque, equivalent to positive detection of the electrical characteristics representative of said electrical device;

- in the event of absence of identification of said pair in the information representative of electrical charges associated with each of the iterations of a predetermined number of first iterations, the method comprises a step of restoring information representative of the invalidation of said pairing of the communication system with the electric meter, the invalidation being equivalent to recognition of the electric meter connected to the communication system as an electric meter whose access via the communication system is prohibited to the user;

- the processing step further comprises beforehand a step of completing and/or standardizing said ignition information and/or said extinguishing information, said completion associating, according to a predetermined storage frequency, a single value d ignition information and/or a single extinction information value at each storage instant obtained by applying said predetermined storage frequency to said first predetermined duration and to said second predetermined duration;

- the interaction phase further comprises beforehand a step of selecting said electrical device comprising:

- a restitution of a predetermined list of electrical appliances,

- generation and return of a request for selection by the user of an electrical device within said list to be switched on/off,

- receipt of the user's selection of said electrical device.

- the method further comprises a pretreatment step comprising:

- storage, before the interaction phase, of information representative of electrical charges read by said electricity meter connected to the communication system over a predetermined prior period,

- a predetermined number of pre-processing iterations comprising the following steps:

- random extraction of a first part of the information representative of electrical charges successively stored over the predetermined prior duration, and of a second part of the information representative of electrical charges successively stored over the prior predetermined duration, the first part and the second part being distinct and respectively associated with a duration of the first part and a duration of the second part;

- calculation of value variations within said information of the first part and of value variations within said information of the second part,

- identification of a pair of variation values comprising one of the variations associated with the information of the first part and one of the variations associated with the information of the first part, the absolute value of said variation of said couple associated with the information of the first part and the absolute value of said variation of said torque associated with the information of the second part being respectively equal to a value included in a range of predetermined pre-processing values around a predetermined value of electrical characteristic belonging to a list of predetermined values,

the first part and/or the second part being randomly distinct from one iteration to another,

- modification of said predetermined list of electrical devices by excluding one or more electrical devices associated with a predetermined electrical characteristic value corresponding to the predetermined value(s) associated with the pair(s) of which the identification frequency within the predetermined number of pre-processing iterations is greater than a predetermined threshold, or

- return of a message proposing to the user the selection of electrical appliances to be switched on/off by excluding the electrical appliance(s) associated with a predetermined value of electrical characteristic corresponding to the associated predetermined value(s) ( s) to the pair(s) whose identification frequency within the predetermined number of pre-processing iterations is greater than a predetermined threshold.

The invention also relates to a computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method for validating pairing of a communication system with an electric meter, such as as defined above.

The invention also relates to an electronic device for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electric meter, the communication system being adapted to be connected to the electric meter and to transmit electricity consumption data to a user. from the electricity meter in the event of validation of said pairing, the electronic validation device comprising:

- two tools implemented simultaneously including:

- a tool for interactions with the user, configured to guide the user, to turn on/off an electrical device within the place of electrical consumption associated with an electrical meter whose access via the communication system is authorized to the user 'user ;

- a tool for storing information representative of electrical charges read by said electricity meter connected to the communication system, and transmitted to said electronic validation device via said communication system, configured to store, during a phase of interactions with the user guided by the interaction tool, said information representing electrical charges;

- a processing module configured to process said information representative of electrical loads, capable of detecting therein electrical characteristics representative of said electrical device;

- a validation module configured to validate the pairing of the communication system with the electric meter in the event of positive detection, the validation being equivalent to recognition of the electric meter connected to the communication system as the electric meter whose access via the communication system is allowed to the user.

These characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description, given solely by way of non-limiting example, and made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an electronic installation according to the invention for transmitting data from an electric meter, the transmission installation comprising a communication system connected to the electric meter and capable of transmitting data to a user from the electric meter, and an electronic device for validating pairing of the communication system with the electric meter;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method, according to the invention, for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electric meter, the method being implemented by the electronic device for validating a pairing of a communication system with an electric meter of figure 1.

In FIG. 1, an electronic installation 10 for transmitting data from an electric meter 12 comprises a communication system 14 adapted to be connected to the electric meter 12 and to transmit data from the electric meter 12 to a user via a network. 18. It further comprises an electronic device 20 for validating the pairing of the communication system 14 with the electricity meter 12.

The electronic transmission installation 10 further comprises a remote set 22 of servers and processors (set also called back-end in English) connected to the communication system 14 via the communication network 18. According to a preferred embodiment, the The remote assembly 22 of servers and processors is suitable for onboarding (i.e. integrating) at least partially or even completely the electronic validation device 20 according to the present invention.

The electronic transmission installation 10 is configured to regularly transmit to an authorized user data from the electricity meter 12, such as electricity consumption data, in particular in order to help the user manage the overall electricity consumption associated with this meter. electricity 12, as well as that of various electrical equipment powered by this electricity meter 12.

The electricity meter 12 is known per se, and preferably includes a connection interface 24 for connecting the communication system 14. The electricity meter 12 is typically a Linky ^TM electricity meter, from ENEDIS, and the connection interface 24 is an ICT interface via which the data can then be transmitted by the communication system 14.

The communication system 14 is typically an ERL communication system, such as the Atome key marketed by the company TOTAL DIRECT ENERGIE for example.

The communication system 14 is known per se and comprises in particular a transceiver, not shown, preferably able to send/receive data with the communication network 18 via a first data link 26, preferably wireless, and alternatively to send/receive data via a second data link 28, preferably wireless. The first data link 26 is for example compliant with the Wi-Fi standard, and the second data link 28 is a shorter distance data link, for example compliant with the Bluetooth standard, in particular the Bluetooth Low Energy standard, also denoted BLE.

The communication network 18 is known per se, and is for example partially based on the Internet network.

According to the preferred embodiment, where the remote assembly 22 of servers and processors is capable of onboarding (i.e. integrating) at least in part the electronic device 20 for validation according to the present invention, the electronic device 20 for validating the pairing of the communication system 14 is configured to validate the pairing of the communication system 14 with the electric meter 12 and comprises at least in part an interaction tool 30 with the user, configured to guide the user by transmitting requests (i.e. instructions) via a mobile phone or smartphone or alternatively via an electronic tablet, to turn on/off an electrical device within the place of electrical consumption associated with an electrical meter whose access via the communication system 14 is authorized to the user, a tool 32 for storing information representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the system communication system, and transmitted to said electronic validation device via said communication system, configured to store, during a phase of interactions with the user guided by the interaction tool, said information representative of electrical charges. The interaction 30 and storage 32 tools are configured to be implemented (i.e. operate) simultaneously.

The electronic validation device 20 also comprises a processing module 34 configured to process said information representative of electrical charges, and capable of detecting therein electrical characteristics representative of said electrical device.

In addition, the electronic validation device 20 also comprises a validation module 36 configured to validate the pairing of the communication system 14 with the electric meter 12 in the event of positive detection, the validation being equivalent to recognition of the electric meter 12 connected to the communication 14 such as the electricity meter 12 whose access via the communication system 14 is authorized to the user

As an optional addition, the electronic validation device 20 comprises a preprocessing module 38 configured to optimize the selection of the electrical appliance to be switched on/off according to the invention to validate the pairing of the communication system 14 to the electricity meter 12.

In the example of FIG. 1, the electronic validation device 20 comprises an information processing unit 40 formed for example of a memory 42 and a processor 44 associated with the memory 42. In this example, the device validation 20 also comprises a transceiver 46 able to send/receive data with the communication system 14 via the first data link 26, and able to send/receive data to a mobile telephone or ordiphone (English smartphone ) of the user or alternatively to an electronic tablet of the user.

According to another embodiment also illustrated by way of alternative in FIG. 1, the validation device 20 is directly embedded in a mobile telephone or ordiphone (from the English smartphone ), further comprising a screen of display 48 and an interface for inputting user responses to specific requests to be generated by the interaction tool 30 of the validation device 20, for example by touch input by means of said display screen 48, preferably touch , as shown in Figure 1. As a variant of this alternative embodiment, the validation device 20 is embedded in an electronic tablet also comprising the display screen 48 and an associated user input interface.

According to this alternative embodiment, the validation device 20 integrated within the mobile telephone or the electronic tablet is able to communicate with the communication system 14 via the link 28, data link at a shorter distance, for example in accordance with the Bluetooth standard, in particular the Bluetooth Low Energy standard, also denoted BLE.

According to another embodiment not shown, the validation device 20 is directly embedded within the communication system 14 and communicates with the telephone or the electronic tablet of the user, to interact with the user, via the link 28 link data over a shorter distance, for example conforming to the Bluetooth standard, in particular the Bluetooth Low Energy standard, also denoted BLE, or even via another type of local connection not shown.

Regardless of the embodiment considered, in all three cases, namely a validation device location 20 within the remote back-end assembly 22, or within the user's telephone or tablet, or even within the communication system 14, the validation device 20 is capable of restoring (i.e. transmitting) information to the user via the display screen and/or the loudspeaker of the telephone or the electronic tablet of the user to turn on / off an electrical device within the place of electrical consumption associated with an electricity meter whose access via the communication system 14 is authorized to the user.

According to the preferred embodiment where the validation device 20 is located within the remote back-end assembly 22, the validation device 20 is able to communicate using the communication network 18 with the telephone or the tablet of the user via a third data link 50, preferably wireless, such as a data link conforming to the Wi-Fi standard or based on 3G/4G type mobile networks.

In the example of figure 1, the interactions tool 30, the storage tool 32, the processing module 34 and the validation module 36, as well as in optional addition the preprocessing module 38, are realized each in the form of software, or a software brick, executable by the processor 44. The memory 42 of the validation device 20 is then able to store a software of user guidance interactions, a software of storage of information representative of electrical charges recorded by said electricity meter connected to the communication system, and transmitted to said electronic validation device via said communication system, software for processing said information representative of electrical charges, capable of detecting therein electrical characteristics representative of said electrical device, software for validating the pairing of the communication system with the electricity meter in the event of positive detection ive, the validation being worth recognition of the electric meter 12 connected to the communication system 14 as the electric meter 12 whose access via the communication system 14 is authorized to the user. As an optional addition, the memory 42 of the validation device 20 is also capable of storing preprocessing software configured to implement the preprocessing as previously described in relation to the preprocessing module 38. The processor 44 is then capable of executing each of the software from among the interaction software, the storage software, the processing software and the validation software, as well as, in optional addition, the preprocessing software.

In a variant not shown, the interaction tool 30, the storage tool 32, the processing module 34 and the validation module 36, as well as in optional addition the preprocessing module 38, are each produced in the form of a programmable logic component, such as an FPGA ( Field Programmable Gate Array ), or else in the form of a dedicated integrated circuit, such as an ASIC ( Application Specific Integrated Circuit ).

When the validation device 20 is produced in the form of one or more software, that is to say in the form of a computer program, it is also capable of being recorded on a medium, not shown, readable by computer. The computer-readable medium is, for example, a medium capable of storing electronic instructions and of being coupled to a bus of a computer system. By way of example, the readable medium is an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, a ROM memory, a RAM memory, any type of non-volatile memory (for example EPROM, EEPROM, FLASH, MVRAM), a magnetic card or an optical card. On the readable medium is then stored a computer program comprising software instructions.

The remote set 22 of servers and processors is able to communicate with the communication network 18 via a fourth data link 52, for example wired.

The first data link 26, between the communication system 14 and the remote assembly 22 of servers and processors, in particular between the communication system 14 and the communication network 18, is preferably secure. The first data link 26 is for example compliant with the Wi-Fi standard with WPA ( Wi-Fi Protected Access ) type security, preferably WPA2, more preferably WPA2 combined with a TLS protocol (from the English Transport Layer Security ).

The interaction tool 30 is configured to implement during an interaction phase with the user at least one iteration (i.e. loop of steps) of the two steps comprising on the one hand the generation and the restitution a request for switching on by the user of said electrical device, and on the other hand the generation and return of a request for switching off by the user of said electrical device located within the place of electrical consumption associated with the meter electric whose access via the communication system 14 is authorized to the user.

By "restitution", we mean the transmission for display via a display screen of the user's telephone or electronic tablet, and/or for sound broadcasting via a telephone speaker. or the user's electronic tablet.

At the same time, the storage tool 32 is configured to implement for each iteration of the interaction phase a first storage of ignition information representative of electrical charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system during a first predetermined duration, beginning before and expiring after, the generation and restitution of an ignition request by the user of said electrical device, and storage of the storage instant associated with each ignition information, and a second storage of extinction information representative of electrical loads read by said electricity meter connected to the communication system for a second predetermined duration, beginning before and expiring after, the generation and restitution of an extinction request by the user of said electrical device and storage of the storage time associated with each extinction information.

According to one particular aspect, the number of iterations specific to being implemented in parallel by the interaction tool 30 and by the storage tool 32 is between three and seven.

As an optional addition, the interaction tool 30 is capable of allowing the selection of said electrical appliance by restoring a predetermined list of electrical appliances, by generating and restoring a request for selection by the user of an electrical appliance within from said list to be switched on/off, and finally by receiving the user's selection from said electrical appliance.

In addition, according to a particular aspect, the module 34 for processing said information representative of electrical charges is activated after the third iteration of the interaction phase, and for each following iteration up to a predetermined maximum number of iterations, for example up to a maximum of a seventh iteration of the interaction phase as illustrated by FIG. 2. The predetermined maximum number is in particular reconfigurable, and according to the needs of the user, of an energy supplier or even of an entity for regulating the supply of energy is able to be modified in order for example to be equal to six, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, etc. iterations.

As an optional addition, as detailed below in relation to FIG. 2, the processing module 34 is configured to implement, within the ignition information and the extinction information associated with a same iteration among the iterations preceding its activation, the calculation of first variations of values within said ignition information and of second variations of values within said extinction information, the identification of a pair of variation values comprising one of said first variations and a of said second variations, said first variation of said torque and said second variation of said torque belonging to an interval of electrical values associated with said preselected electrical device, the ratio of the absolute value of said first variation of said torque to the absolute value of said second variation of said torque belonging to a predetermined range of variation, for example by being comp ris between 80% and 115% (or even between 75% and 120%, or even 90 and 110%, etc.), and in the event of identification of said torque, the detection of said torque in the information representative of electrical charges associated with each other iteration, preceding the implementation of said processing step, and distinct from the iteration associated with the identification of said pair, the detection of said pair, for two successive iterations, distinct and successive to the iteration associated with the identification of said couple, equivalent to positive detection of the electrical characteristics representative of said electrical apparatus.

According to a particular complementary and optional aspect, the processing module 34 is also configured to implement a completion and/or standardization (80) of said ignition information and/or of said extinction information, said completion associating, according to a predetermined storage frequency, a single ignition information value and/or a single extinction information value at each storage instant obtained by applying said predetermined storage frequency to said first predetermined duration and to said second predetermined duration.

As a further optional addition, if the pairing of the communication system 14 with the electricity meter 12 has been previously authorized by the validation module 36 of the electronic validation device 20 according to the present invention, the storage tool 32 is configured to obtain , from the communication system 14, or from the remote assembly 22 of servers and processors, the data from the electricity meter 12, in particular electricity consumption data. On the other hand, if the pairing of the communication system 14 with the electric meter 12 has been previously prohibited by the electronic validation device 20 according to the present invention, the validation module 36 is able to transmit to the supervision equipment information representative of the attempted connection of the communication system 14 to an electricity meter 12 whose access via the communication system is prohibited to the user.

As a further optional addition, in the event of absence of identification of said pair in the information representative of electrical charges associated with each of the iterations of a predetermined number of first iterations, for example with each of the first five iterations, the validation module 36 is configured to restore information representative of the invalidation of said pairing of the communication system 14 with the electric meter 12, the invalidation being equivalent to recognition of the electric meter connected to the communication system as an electric meter whose access via the communication system is forbidden to the user. The predetermined number of first iterations is in particular reconfigurable, and according to the needs of the user, of an energy supplier or even of an entity for regulating the supply of energy is capable of being modified in order for example to be equal at four, six, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, etc. iterations.

The third data link 50, between the validation device 20 and the remote assembly 22 of servers and processors, in particular between the validation device 20 and the communication network 18, is preferably secure. The third data link 50 is for example according to the HTTPS protocol (English HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure ), that is to say according to the HTTP protocol (English HyperText Transfer Protocol ) combined with a security protocol , such as TLS or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

According to a particular aspect, the preprocessing module 38 is configured to:

- storing, before an interaction phase implemented by the interaction tool 30 with the user, information representative of electrical charges read by the electricity meter 12 connected to the communication system 14 over a predetermined prior period,

- implement a predetermined number of pre-processing iterations comprising the following steps:

- random extraction of a first part of the information representative of electrical charges successively stored over the predetermined prior duration, and of a second part of the information representative of electrical charges successively stored over the prior predetermined duration, the first part and the second part being distinct and respectively associated with a duration of the first part and a duration of the second part;

- calculation of value variations within said information of the first part and of value variations within said information of the second part,

- identification of a pair of variation values comprising one of the variations associated with the information of the first part and one of the variations associated with the information of the second part, the absolute value of said variation of said couple associated with the information of the first part and the absolute value of said variation of said torque associated with the information of the second part being respectively equal to a value included in a range of predetermined preprocessing values, for example between 80% and 120%, or even between 85% and 105%, or even between 90% and 110%, etc., around a predetermined electrical characteristic value belonging to a list of predetermined values,

the first part and/or the second part being randomly distinct from one iteration to another,

- modifying a predetermined list of electrical devices, suitable for being restored later by the interaction tool 30 during the interaction phase, by excluding one or more electrical devices associated with a predetermined value of electrical characteristic corresponding to the value or values (s) predetermined (s) associated with the pair (s) whose identification frequency within the predetermined number of preprocessing iterations is greater than a predetermined threshold, or

- restore a message proposing to the user the selection of electrical devices to be switched on/off by excluding the electrical device(s) associated with a predetermined value of electrical characteristic corresponding to the associated predetermined value(s) to the pair(s) whose identification frequency within the predetermined number of pre-processing iterations is greater than a predetermined threshold.

The operation of the validation device 20 will now be explained with reference to FIG. 2 representing a flowchart of the process 54 for validating the pairing of the communication system 14 with the electricity meter 12, the process being implemented by the confirmation 20.

During a first optional step 56, the validation device 20 implements a preprocessing step P which does not require any interaction with the user but only the connection of the communication system 14 with the electricity meter 12.

Such a pre-processing step 56 aims to optimize the choice of electrical device to be switched on/off by the user, avoiding electrical devices whose power is close to that of devices operating cyclically in the background and clean ( s) thereby distorting the validation method according to the present invention by being detected as false positives.

Indeed, if on the load curve associated with the information representative of electrical charges subsequently stored by the storage tool 32, an electrical device operates cyclically in the background, then the method 54 could conclude that the tested device by the user is well downstream of the meter when it is not necessarily so and it is on the contrary an electrical device which operates cyclically within the place of electrical consumption associated with the electrical meter 12 whose the connection with the communication system is in progress, and not of the electrical device that the user switches on and off within the place of consumption associated with the electricity meter whose access via the communication system is authorized to the user .

To do this, in a manner not shown, the preprocessing step 56 then comprises first of all a storage, before an interaction phase 58 with the user, of information representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system over a predetermined prior duration, for example thirty seconds before the start of the subsequent phase of interactions 58.

Then the preprocessing step 56 comprises a predetermined number of preprocessing iterations, for example four, comprising the following steps:

- random extraction of a first part of the information representative of electrical charges successively stored over the predetermined prior period, and of a second part of the information representative of electrical charges successively stored over the prior predetermined period, the first part and the second part being distinct and respectively associated with a duration of the first part, for example ten seconds, and with a duration of the second part, for example also ten seconds.

For example, for the same set of information representative of electrical charges read by said electricity meter connected to the communication system thirty seconds before the start of the subsequent phase of interactions 58:

- the first pre-processing iteration consists in extracting in the first part A ₁ the information representative of electric charges detected from the fifth to the fifteenth second and in the second part B ₁ the information representative of electric charges detected from the twentieth to the thirtieth second,

- the second pre-processing iteration consists in extracting in the first part A ₂ the information representative of electric charges detected from the first to the tenth second and in the second part B ₂ the information representative of electric charges detected from the tenth to the twentieth second,

- the third preprocessing iteration consists in extracting in the first part A ₃ the information representative of electric charges detected from the first to the tenth second and in the second part B ₃ the information representative of electric charges detected from the twentieth to the thirtieth second,

- The fourth pre-processing iteration consists in extracting in the first part A ₄ the information representative of electric charges detected from the tenth to the twentieth second and in the second part B ₄ the information representative of electric charges detected from the tenth to the twentieth second.

For each preprocessing iteration of the set of information representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system thirty seconds before the start of the subsequent phase of interactions 58, the preprocessing step 56 further comprises calculating variations in values within said information of the first part and variations in values within said information of the second part.

For example, the first part A ₁ resulting from the first iteration comprises the following ten values [50, 50, 50, 550, 560, 50, 1060, 1060, 50, 50] each associated with one of the ten seconds of collection duration of A ₁ from the fifth to the fifteenth second of the thirty seconds before the start of the subsequent phase of interactions 58, and the second part B ₁ resulting from the first iteration comprises the following ten values [150, 150, 150, 650, 660, 150, 1060, 1060, 50, 50] each associated with one of the ten seconds of collection duration of A ₁ from the twentieth to the thirtieth second of the thirty seconds before the start of the subsequent phase of interactions 58.

The corresponding variations of the first part A ₁ have the following values obtained by difference between two successive values by applying a setting to zero of the negative variation values [0, 0, 500, 10, 0, 1010, 0, 0, 0] while the corresponding variations of the second part B ₁ have the following values [0, 0, 0, 0, -510, 0, 0, 0, -1010, 0] obtained by difference between two successive values by applying a setting to zero of positive variation values.

The maximum amplitudes in absolute variation values are obtained by summing a maximum of four consecutive variation values, i.e. for A ₁ [500, 10, 510, 1010, 1020, 1510, 1520] and for B ₁ [510, 1010].

For each preprocessing iteration of the set of information representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system thirty seconds before the start of the subsequent phase of interactions 58, the preprocessing step 56 further comprises the identification of a pair of variation values comprising one of the variations associated with the information of the first part and one of the variations associated with the information of the second part, the absolute value of said variation of said couple associated with the information of the first part and the absolute value of said variation of said torque associated with the information of the second part, belonging to a range of predetermined pre-processing values, for example being equal respectively to a value between 80% and 120% (or even between 90 and 110% or again between 95 and 105%, etc.) around a predetermined value of electrical characteristic belonging to u a list of predetermined values, for example a list of predefined powers of 30, 500, 1000 and 2000 watts, the first part and/or the second part being randomly distinct from one iteration to another.

According to the previous example relating to parts A ₁ and B ₁ resulting from the first iteration, the pairs (510,510) and (1010, 1010) are identified within the first iteration. For each following iteration, in a similar manner one or more pairs are identified from the parts A ₂ and B ₂ resulting from the second iteration, from the parts A ₃ and B ₃ resulting from the third iteration, and from the A ₄ and B ₄ resulting of the third iteration.

The more one of the torques from the list of predefined powers of 30, 500, 1000 and 2000 watts will be found in a large number of iterations, the higher the risk of false positives around the torque will be. It is therefore necessary to prevent the user from implementing the method according to the invention by using electrical appliances whose power is close to these power couples.

To do this, the pre-processing step 56 further comprises the modification of a predetermined list of electrical appliances suitable for being presented to the user so that he selects from it the electrical appliance to be switched on/off for the rest of the method 54, the modification consisting in excluding one or more electrical devices associated with a predetermined electrical characteristic value corresponding to the predetermined value(s) associated with the pair(s) whose frequency of identification within the predetermined number of preprocessing iterations is greater than a predetermined threshold, or alternatively the preprocessing step 56 comprises the return of a message proposing to the user the selection of electrical appliances to be switched on/off by excluding the electrical device(s) associated with a predetermined electrical characteristic value corresponding to the predetermined value(s) associated with the pair(s) whose identification frequency within the predetermined number of preprocessing iterations is greater than a predetermined threshold.

After the optional preprocessing step 56 previously described, the method 54 comprises two phases 58, 60 implemented simultaneously, namely on the one hand an interaction phase 58 with the user, guided by said electronic validation device 20 , via the interaction tool 30, to turn on/off an electrical device within the place of electrical consumption associated with an electrical meter whose access via the communication system 14 is authorized to the user, and on the other part a phase of simultaneous storage 60 of information representative of electric charges recorded by said electricity meter connected to the communication system during said phase of interactions with the user, and transmitted to said electronic validation device via said communication system.

More specifically, the phase of interactions 58 with the user, guided by said electronic validation device firstly comprises an optional step 62 of selecting said electrical appliance comprising a return of a predetermined list of electrical appliances, such as for example the following list of resistive electrical devices and their associated minimum and maximum power pair:

- Toaster: [Pmin=500, Pmax=2000]

- Microwave: [Pmin=500, Pmax=2000]

- Coffee machine: [Pmin=500, Pmax=1700]

- Kettle: [Pmin=1000, Pmax=3500]

- Radiator: [Pmin=500, Pmax=2000]

- Electric plate: [Pmin=500, Pmax=1500]

- Oven: [Pmin=1500, Pmax=3000]

- Mixer: [Pmin=200, Pmax=600]

- Hair dryer: [Pmin=1500, Pmax=3000]

- Straightener: [Pmin=50, Pmax=500]

- Iron: [Pmin=500, Pmax=1500]

- Vacuum cleaner: [Pmin=300, Pmax=2000]

- Clothes dryer: [Pmin=1000, Pmax=4000]

The optional step 62 of selecting said electrical appliance further comprises the generation and return of a selection request by the user of an electrical appliance within said list to be switched on/off, then the reception of the selection S of the user of said electrical device.

Alternatively, the electrical device to be used by the user is directly imposed by the remote assembly 22 of servers and processors on the electronic validation device 20.

Then, the interaction phase 58 with the user, guided by said electronic validation device 20 comprises at least one iteration of index n , initialized for example to one during an optional initialization step 64, of the following steps :

- after a first predetermined time delay, generation and restitution 66 of an R_A request for ignition by the user of said electrical device;

- After a second predetermined time delay T ₂ , generation and restitution 68 of a request R_E for extinction by the user of said electrical appliance.

For example, the first iteration with n=1 of the step of generating and restoring 66 an R_A request for switching on by the user is carried out after a waiting time delay T ₁ of ten seconds.

In response, the user switches on the electrical appliance within the place of electrical consumption associated with the electricity meter, access to which via the communication system 14 is authorized for him and validates its effective switching on within the interface of his telephone or of his tablet with the validation device 20 according to the invention.

Then the interaction tool 30 waits for the time of the second predetermined time delay T ₂ to ask the user to turn off this electrical appliance via the R_E request for extinction.

In response, the user turns off the electrical appliance within the place of electrical consumption associated with the electricity meter, access to which via the communication system 14 is authorized for him and validates its effective extinction within the interface of his telephone or of his tablet with the validation device 20 according to the invention.

Then after expiry of the time delay T ₃ for example of twenty seconds, the next iteration n=2 of the interaction phase 58 is launched up to a predetermined number of interaction iterations, tested at the test step 70, preferably between three and seven, and this by incrementing the index associated with the iteration in step 71, and so on continuously.

In parallel with the interaction phase 58, the storage phase 60 comprises for each iteration of the interaction phase 58:

- a first step 72 of storing ignition information C _A representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system for a first predetermined duration T ₄ , starting before and expiring after, the generation and restitution of a ignition request by the user of said electrical device, and storage of the storage instant associated with each ignition information;

- a second step 74 of storing extinction information C _E representative of electric charges read by said electricity meter connected to the communication system for a second predetermined duration T ₅ , starting before and expiring after, the generation and restitution of a request for extinction by the user of said electrical device and storage of the storage instant associated with each extinction information.

For example, when the electrical appliance selected is a straightener: [Pmin=50, Pmax=500], at the first iteration of interactions with n=1, the first storage step 72 obtains the ignition information C _{A , n=1} following:

C _{A , n=1} : [30, 30, 30, 230, 240, 240, 240, 240, 670, 410, 440, 440, 450, 440, 440] (in W or VA) respectively associated with the data of timestamp H _{A , n=1} following: [18/06/2020 13:27:06,18/06/2020 13:27:08,18/06/2020 13:27:10,18/06/2020 13: 27:12,18/06/2020 13:27:13,18/06/2020 13:27:15,18/06/2020 13:27:17,18/06/2020 13:27:19,18/ 06/2020 13:27:20,18/06/2020 13:27:22,18/06/2020 13:27:24,18/06/2020 13:27:25,18/06/2020 13:27 :27,18/06/2020 13:27:29,18/06/2020 13:27:30].

Similarly, at the first iteration of interactions with n=1, the second storage step 74 obtains the following extinction information C _{E, n=1} :

C _{E, n=1} : [440, 440, 440, 440, 440, 310, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240] (in W or VA) respectively associated with the data of timestamp H _{E, n=1} following: [18/06/2020 13:27:32,18/06/2020 13:27:35,18/06/2020 13:27:36,18/06/2020 13: 27:38,18/06/2020 13:27:40,18/06/2020 13:27:42,18/06/2020 13:27:43,18/06/2020 13:27:45,18/ 06/2020 13:27:47,18/06/2020 13:27:48,18/06/2020 13:27:50,18/06/2020 13:27:52,18/06/2020 13:27 :53,18/06/2020 13:27:55,18/06/2020 13:27:57].

Similarly, at the second iteration of interactions with n=2, the first storage step 72 obtains the following ignition information C _{A , n=2} :

C _{A , n=2} :[240, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240, 310, 410, 450, 450, 450, 450, 450, 450] respectively associated with timestamp data H _{A , n=2} following: [18/06/2020 13:27:59,18/06/2020 13:28:00,18/06/2020 13:28:03,18/06/2020 13:28:05, 18/06/2020 13:28:06,18/06/2020 13:28:08,18/06/2020 13:28:10,18/06/2020 13:28:11,18/06/2020 13 :28:13,18/06/2020 13:28:15,18/06/2020 13:28:16,18/06/2020 13:28:18,18/06/2020 13:28:20,18 /06/2020 13:28:22,18/06/2020 13:28:23,18/06/2020 13:28:25].

Similarly, at the second iteration of interactions with n=1, the second storage step 74 obtains the following extinction information C _{E, n=2} :

C _{E, n=2} : [440, 440, 440, 450, 450, 450, 450, 450, 440, 450, 440, 440, 340, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240] respectively associated with data from timestamp H _{E, n=2} following: [18/06/2020 13:28:27,18/06/2020 13:28:29,18/06/2020 13:28:31,18/06/2020 13: 28:33,18/06/2020 13:28:34,18/06/2020 13:28:36,18/06/2020 13:28:38,18/06/2020 13:28:39,18/ 06/2020 13:28:41,18/06/2020 13:28:43,18/06/2020 13:28:45,18/06/2020 13:28:46,18/06/2020 13:28 :48,18/06/2020 13:28:50,18/06/2020 13:28:51,18/06/2020 13:28:53,18/06/2020 13:28:56,18/06 /2020 13:28:57].

As illustrated in FIG. 2, as soon as at the end of the test 70 it is detected that the third iteration has been performed, a processing step 76 T is then implemented.

Processing step 76 comprises several sub-steps 78, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86.

At sub-step 78, the ignition information and the extinction information stored at each of the first three iterations are retrieved by the processing module 34 of the validation device 20.

At sub-step 80, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 optionally implements a completion C and/or a standardization of said ignition information and/or of said extinction information, said completion associating, according to a frequency of predetermined storage, a single ignition information value and/or a single extinction information value at each storage instant obtained by applying said predetermined storage frequency to said first predetermined duration and to said second predetermined duration .

Indeed, according to this optional variant embodiment, the method 54 proposed according to the present invention is based on a predetermined data storage frequency, for example of one power datum per second (mean frequency specified for sending power frames on the user port of the Linky ^TM meters).

However, depending on the manufacturers of the meters, there are variations in the frequency of transmission of the data frames. On the other hand, frames can be lost during data transmission.

For these reasons, the sub-step 80 consists, for each set of information on ignition C _A or extinction C _E , in unifying this information by adding and deleting data to obtain a datum (ie information representative of electric charge ) per second. If a second is missing, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 automatically copies, for example, the power value of the previous second. If two power values are associated with the same second, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 automatically deletes the second.

The processing module 34 of the validation device 20 nevertheless ensures before these operations that it has enough data to conclude properly. For this, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 considers that there is enough data if there is at least, for example, 50% of the data, for example if the timestamp period of the information of ignition C _A extends over a period of ten seconds, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 ensures that it has recovered from the storage tool 32 at least five power data. If this is not the case, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 will automatically exclude the iteration associated with such incomplete and impossible-to-complete information.

For example, for the information representative of electrical charges C _{A , n=1} and C _{E, n=1} associated with the first iteration, the following sets of completed information are obtained at the end of the completion sub-step 80 where the underlined values have been added: C _{A C , n=1} : [30, 30 , 30, 30 , 30, 30 , 230, 240, 240 , 240 , 240 , 240, 240 , 240, 670, 670, 410 , 410, 440, 440, 440, 450, 450, 440, 440] with respectively H _{A C , n=1} : [18/06/2020 13:27:06, 18/06/2020 13:27:07, 06/18/2020 13:27:08, 06/18/2020 13:27:09, 06/18/2020 13:27:10, 06/18/2020 13:27:11, 06/18/2020 13 :27:12, 06/18/2020 13:27:13, 06/18/2020 13:27:14, 06/18/2020 13:27:15, 06/18/2020 13:27:16, 18 /06/2020 13:27:17, 06/18/2020 13:27:18, 06/18/2020 13:27:19, 06/18/2020 13:27:20, 06/18/2020 13: 27:21, 06/18/2020 13:27:22, 06/18/2020 13:27:23, 06/18/2020 13:27:24, 06/18/2020 13:27:25, 18/ 06/2020 13:27:26, 18/06/2020 13:27:27, 18/06/2020 13:27:28, 18/06/2020 13:27:29, 18/06/2020 13:27 :30], and

C _{E C , n=1} :[440, 440, 440 , 440, 440, 440, 440, 440 , 440 , 440 , 310, 240, 240, 240, 240, 240 , 240, 240 , 240, 240, 240 , 240, 240, 240, 240, 240], with respectively H _{E C , n=1} : [18/06/2020 13:27:32, 18/06/2020 13:27:33, 18/06/2020 13:27:34, 06/18/2020 13:27:35, 06/18/2020 13:27:36, 06/18/2020 13:27:37, 06/18/2020 13:27:38, 06/18/2020 13:27:39, 06/18/2020 13:27:40, 06/18/2020 13:27:41, 06/18/2020 13:27:42, 06/18/2020 13 :27:43, 06/18/2020 13:27:44, 06/18/2020 13:27:45, 06/18/2020 13:27:46, 06/18/2020 13:27:47, 18 /06/2020 13:27:48, 06/18/2020 13:27:49, 06/18/2020 13:27:50, 06/18/2020 13:27:51, 06/18/2020 13: 27:52, 06/18/2020 13:27:53, 06/18/2020 13:27:54, 06/18/2020 13:27:55, 06/18/2020 13:27:56, 18/ 06/2020 13:27:57].

Then, in sub-step 82, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 calculates first variations V of values within said ignition information and second variations of values within said extinction information. Such a variation calculation is implemented between the consecutive values, by applying a zeroing of the negative variation values associated with the completed ignition information and by applying a zeroing of the positive variation values associated with the ignition information. extinction completed. Thus, from the sets of information completed above C _{A C, n=1} and C _{E C , n=1} we obtain in particular the following sets of variations V _{A C, n=1} and V _{E C , n= 1} , such that: V _{A C, n=1} :[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 200, 10, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 430, 0, 0, 0, 30, 0, 0, 10, 0, 0, 0] and _{VEC, n=1} : [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, -130, -70, 0, 0, 0 , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0].

Then at sub-step 84, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 attempts to identify a pair of variation values comprising one of said first variations and one of said second variations, said first variation of said couple and said second variation of said couple belonging to an interval of electrical values associated with said preselected electrical device, the ratio of the absolute value of said first variation of said torque to the absolute value of said second variation of said torque belonging to a range of predetermined values, for example being between 80% and 115%, or between 75% and 120%, or between 90% and 110%, etc.

More specifically, the sub-step 84 aims to find, for each simultaneous iteration (ie loop) of the interaction 58 and storage 60 phases, ignition power variation values V _{A C} corresponding to variation values of extinction power V _EC (the variations in ignition power V _{A C} having to be the negative of the variations in extinction power V _EC ). For this, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 calculates in particular combinations of variations by summing the values of the list V _{A C} (or respectively V _EC ) by taking, for example, a maximum of 4 consecutive power variation values .

The amplitudes of the power torque to be found must also be located in the power range of the electrical appliance selected and turned on/off by the user, in particular between 50 and 500 watts for the straightener, according to the previous example, verification allowing to ensure that the identification 84 is consistent with the type of electrical device selected and then operated by the user.

For the correspondence between the ignition power variations V _{A C} and the extinction power variations V _EC , a margin of error is tolerated by the processing module 34 of the validation device 20, the absolute value of the variations of extinction power V _EC must be between 80 and 115% of the absolute value of the ignition power variations V _{A C} .

Furthermore, in the event of identification D_C_P by the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 of pairs of similar values (V _{A C} , V _EC ), the processing module 34 automatically retains, for example, those whose difference between the ignition power amplitude V _{A C} and the extinction power amplitude V _EC is the lowest.

Returning to the previous example, the possible amplitudes of V _{A C, n=1} are [200, 210, 10, 430, 30, 40, 10], and those of V _{EC, n=1} are after passing in absolute value : [130, 200, 70], so that the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 identifies the possible pairs while respecting the conditions stated previously: [(200, 200), (210, 200)]. As the power amplitude is the same on the V _{EC, n=1} of the two possible pairs, namely 200, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 retains the pair [(200, 200)] because 200-200= 0 < 10 = 210 – 200.

In other words, such a couple is representative of the symmetrical profile of electrical charge variation linked to its switching on/off.

In the absence of detection of such a torque by processing the ignition information and the extinction information associated with the first iteration, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20, during a sub-step 85, tests the value of the iteration index n . If 3≤n<5 then the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 requires the interaction 30 and storage 32 tools to implement a following iteration after incrementation 71 of the value of the index n .

On the other hand, in the event of identification of said couple, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 implements, during a sub-step 86, the detection of said couple identified in the information representative of electrical charges associated with each other iteration, preceding the implementation of said processing step, and distinct from the iteration associated with the identification of said pair, the detection of said pair, for two successive iterations, distinct and successive to the iteration associated with the identification of said torque, equivalent to positive detection of the electrical characteristics representative of said electrical device.

In other words, in the event of identification of the torque in the ignition and extinction information associated with the first iteration, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 seeks to find the same torque in the ignition and extinction information. extinction associated with the second iteration, in order to confirm the identification of the first loop, and also to find the same torque in the information of ignition and extinction associated with the third iteration in order to add an additional level of security , and this with a predetermined torque value tolerance associated with the second and third iteration, for example from 80% to 120% (or even from 70% to 130%, or even from 90% to 110%, etc.) of the value of the torque identified thanks to the previous iteration. Returning to the previous example of the pair (200, 200) identified with the information values for turning on and off at the first iteration, at the second iteration a pair with a value between 160 and 240 watts is then sought with the switching on and off information values of the second iteration, and a couple with a value between 160 and 240 watts is also sought with the switching on and off information values of the third iteration.

In the event of failure to find this torque in the on and off information associated with the two successive iterations corresponding to the second and the third iteration, the processing module 34 of the validation device 20 seeks to find the identified torque. using the on and off information associated with the first iteration in those associated with the two successive iterations corresponding to the third and the fourth iteration, once the fourth iteration has been carried out and so on up to a maximum of seven iterations (i.e. (n=7)).

At step 88, the validation module 36 of the validation device 20 detects whether or not the processing module 34 has succeeded in identifying a pair of substantially equal values by processing the ignition and extinction information associated with three distinct iterations, two of which are successive, among at least three successive iterations and at most seven successive iterations.

If so, such a test 88 is worth validation corresponding to the recognition of the electric meter connected to the communication system as the electric meter whose access via the communication system is authorized to the user, and at step 90, the validation module 36 generates and restores by A_S display or in audio form that the pairing is successful and that the user is indeed authorized to access the electricity meter currently connected to the communication system 14, which authorizes subsequent transmission ( not shown) electricity consumption data from the electricity meter 12.

If not, during a step 92 the validation module 36 of the validation device 20 tests the value of n to find out if the limit on the number of iterations implemented simultaneously by the interaction 30 and storage 32 tools has been reached, namely according to the example of FIG. 2, if n=7. In the event of a positive result for test 92, during a step 94 the validation module 36 generates and restores by display A_E or in audio form that the pairing is a failure and that the user is not authorized to access the electricity meter currently connected to the communication system 14, which blocks any subsequent transmission (not shown) of electricity consumption data from the electricity meter 12. Such generation and restitution 94 by display A_E or in audio form that the pairing is a failure is also specific to being implemented by the processing module 34 of the validation device 20, if during the sub-step 85, it is detected that n≥5. In other words, if no torque is detected at the end of the five successive iterations, the validation device 20 concludes with a failure from the fifth iteration.

In the event of a negative result to the test 92, the validation module 36 requires the interaction 30 and storage 32 tools to implement a following iteration after incrementation 71 of the value of the index n .

Those skilled in the art will understand that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, nor to the particular examples of the description, the embodiments and the variants mentioned above being suitable for being combined with each other to generate new embodiments of the invention.

The present invention thus makes it possible to guarantee that the user capable of recovering electricity consumption data via the communication system 14 connected to the meter 12 is authorized to do so by avoiding erroneous pairings that are malicious or simply implemented inadvertently.

The validation device 20 and the validation method 54 according to the invention then make it possible to improve the confidentiality and the protection of the data, such as electricity consumption data, coming from the electricity meter 12 by adding a level of identification and security upon pairing.

The validation device 20 then makes it possible to avoid unwanted spying of the data which could be carried out via the coupling between a communication system 14 and an electricity meter 12 for which said communication system 14 would not be authorized.

Claims (10)

Method (54) for validating a pairing of a communication system (14) with an electric meter (12), the communication system (14) being adapted to be connected to the electric meter (12) and to transmit to a user (16) of electricity consumption data from the electricity meter (12) in the event of validation of said pairing, the method being implemented by an electronic validation device (20) and characterized in that it comprises at least:
- two phases (58, 60) implemented simultaneously comprising:
- a phase of interactions (58) with the user, guided by said electronic validation device (20), for switching on/off an electrical device within the place of electrical consumption associated with an electrical meter, access to which via the communication system (14) is authorized to the user;
- A simultaneous storage phase (60) of information representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system during said phase of interactions with the user, and transmitted to said electronic validation device via said communication system;
- a step (76) for processing said information representative of electrical charges, capable of detecting therein electrical characteristics representative of said electrical device;
- a step (88) for validating the pairing of the communication system (14) with the electric meter (12) in the event of positive detection, the validation being equivalent to recognition of the electric meter connected to the communication system as the electric meter whose access via the communication system is granted to the user. Method (54) according to claim 1, in which the phase of interactions (58) with the user, guided by the said electronic validation device, comprises at least one iteration of the following steps:
- After a first predetermined time delay (T ₁ , T ₃ ), generation and restitution (66) of an ignition request by the user of said electrical device;
- after a second predetermined time delay (T ₂ ), generation and restitution (68) of a switch-off request by the user of said electrical device,
and in which in parallel with the interactions phase (58), the storage phase (60) comprises for each iteration of the interactions phase (58):
- a first step (72) of storing ignition information representative of electric charges detected by said electric meter connected to the communication system for a first predetermined duration (T ₄ ), starting before and expiring after, the generation and restitution of an ignition request by the user of said electrical device, and storage of the storage instant associated with each ignition information;
- a second step (74) of storing extinction information representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system for a second predetermined duration (T ₅ ), starting before and expiring after, the generation and restitution of 'a request for extinction by the user of said electrical device and storage of the storage instant associated with each information of extinction. Method (54) according to claim 2, in which the step of processing (76) said information representative of electric charges is implemented after the third iteration of the phase of interactions (58), and for each following iteration until at a predetermined maximum number of iterations of the interactions phase (58). A method (54) according to claim 3, wherein the processing step (76) comprises:
- within the ignition information and the extinction information associated with the same iteration among the iterations preceding the implementation of said processing step:
- the calculation (82) of first variations of values within said ignition information and of second variations of values within said extinction information,
- the identification (84) of a pair of variation values comprising one of said first variations and one of said second variations, said first variation of said torque and said second variation of said torque belonging to an interval of electrical values associated with said preselected electrical device, the ratio of the absolute value of said first variation of said torque to the absolute value of said second variation of said torque belonging to a range of predetermined values;
- in the event of identification of said couple, the detection (86) of said couple in the information representing electrical charges associated with each other iteration, preceding the implementation of said processing step, and distinct from the iteration associated with the identification of said couple, the detection of said couple, for two successive iterations, distinct and successive to the iteration associated with the identification of said couple, being equivalent to positive detection of the electrical characteristics representative of said electrical device. Method (54) according to claim 4, in which, in the event of absence of identification of said pair in the information representative of electrical charges associated with each of the iterations of a predetermined number of first iterations, the method comprises a step of restoring (94) information representative of the invalidation of said pairing of the communication system (14) with the electric meter (12), the invalidation being equivalent to recognition of the electric meter connected to the communication system as an electric meter whose access via the communication system is prohibited to the user. Method (54) according to any one of Claims 3 to 5, in which the processing step (76) also comprises beforehand a step of completing and/or standardizing (80) said ignition information and/or or of said extinction information, said completion (80) associating, according to a predetermined storage frequency, a unique ignition information value and/or a unique extinction information value with each storage instant obtained by application from said predetermined storage frequency to said first predetermined duration and to said second predetermined duration. Method (54) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the interactions phase (58) further comprises beforehand a step of selecting said electrical device comprising:
- a restitution of a predetermined list of electrical appliances,
- generation and return of a request for selection by the user of an electrical device within said list to be switched on/off,
- A receipt of the user's selection of said electrical device. A method (54) according to claim 7 further comprising a pretreatment step (56) comprising:
- storage, before the interaction phase (58), of information representative of electrical charges read by said electricity meter connected to the communication system over a predetermined prior period,
- a predetermined number of preprocessing iterations comprising the following steps:
- random extraction of a first part of the information representative of electrical charges successively stored over the predetermined prior duration, and of a second part of the information representative of electrical charges successively stored over the prior predetermined duration, the first part and the second part being distinct and respectively associated with a duration of the first part and a duration of the second part;
- calculation of value variations within said information of the first part and of value variations within said information of the second part,
- identification of a pair of variation values comprising one of the variations associated with the information of the first part and one of the variations associated with the information of the first part, the absolute value of said variation of said couple associated with the information of the first part and the absolute value of said variation of said torque associated with the information of the second part being respectively equal to a value included in a range of predetermined pre-processing values around a predetermined value of electrical characteristic belonging to a list of predetermined values,
the first part and/or the second part being randomly distinct from one iteration to another,
- modification of said predetermined list of electrical devices by excluding one or more electrical devices associated with a predetermined electrical characteristic value corresponding to the predetermined value(s) associated with the pair(s) of which the identification frequency within the predetermined number of pre-processing iterations is greater than a predetermined threshold, or
- return of a message proposing to the user the selection of electrical appliances to be switched on/off by excluding the electrical appliance(s) associated with a predetermined value of electrical characteristic corresponding to the associated predetermined value(s) ( s) to the pair(s) whose identification frequency within the predetermined number of pre-processing iterations is greater than a predetermined threshold. A computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method according to any preceding claim. Electronic device (20) for validating a pairing of a communication system (14) with an electric meter (12), the communication system (14) being adapted to be connected to the electric meter (12) and to transmit to a user (16) of electricity consumption data from the electricity meter (12) in the event of validation of said pairing, the electronic validation device (20) being characterized in that it comprises:
- two tools implemented simultaneously including:
- an interaction tool (30) with the user, configured to guide the user, to turn on/off an electrical device within the place of electrical consumption associated with an electrical meter, access to which via the communication system ( 14) is authorized to the user;
- a tool for storing (32) information representative of electric charges read by said electric meter connected to the communication system, and transmitted to said electronic validation device via said communication system, configured to store, during an interaction phase with the user guided by the interaction tool, said information representing electrical charges;
- a processing module (34) configured to process said information representative of electrical charges, capable of detecting therein electrical characteristics representative of said electrical device;
- a validation module (36) configured to validate the pairing of the communication system (14) with the electric meter (12) in the event of positive detection, the validation being equivalent to recognition of the electric meter connected to the communication system as the electric meter whose access via the communication system is authorized to the user.