GSM
An international standard of digital cellular communication based on which it is possible to deploy AMR/AMI in the existing mobile operators networks without creating own infrastructure, which is the main advantage of such systems.
G3-PLC
PLC (Power Line Communication) technologies provide data transmission by power supply lines. There are several different PLC technologies: for data transmission over high-voltage power lines, telemetry data transmission and broadband data transmission over low-voltage networks.
PLC
The PLC technologies which provide a narrowband data communication within the frequency range CENELEC A (35 – 91 kHz, Europe), CENELEC B (98 – 122 kHz, some European countries) and FCC (155 – 487 kHz, USA) are used to build AMR/AMI systems.
Currently there are standardized PLC PRIME and G3-PLC data communication technologies on the market that provide comparable characteristics, as well as a number of proprietary technologies.
G3-PLC
The technology is also an international open standard focused on global application.
The mesh network topology is used. The data transfer speed is not high, to 35 kbps (CENELEC)/128 kbps (ARIB).
Advantages of the standard:
| transmission and uploading of IPv6 packets via the Internet with the ability to access each meter from anywhere in the world; | operation with various types of equipment, not only with electricity meters. |
The communication range
The average communication range (without retransmission) when using PLC is about 100 m, the maximum is 400 m. The communication range depends on the quality of the electrical network (the presence of twists, multiple soldering, etc.) and the presence of interference. The communication range practically does not depend on the communication technology used. The outdated systems provide a shorter range compared to the systems operating in a non-standard (prohibited) frequency range or exceeding the permitted power.
Additional advantages of G3-PLC+RF Hybrid:
| increase of noise immunity and throughput due to ‘seamless’ mutual redundancy of data transmission media; | stable communication due to automatic selection of a better channel. |
Advantages of PLC technologies
Extremely low deployment and operation costs. If there is a power supply line, there is a communication channel with a meter.
Other technologies
