The ISM (Industrial Scientific and Medical) bands in the radio frequency space in India offer two alternative spectra to implement wireless network for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). These bands lie in the range of 2.4GHz and sub-GHz frequencies 865 to 867 MHz This paper aims to examine the suitability of both options by designing and executing experiments in laboratory as well as carrying out field trials on electricity meters to validate the selected option. A parameter, communication effectiveness index (CEI2) is defined to measure the effectiveness of 2 way data communication (packet exchange) between two points under different scenarios of buildings and free space. Both 2.4 GHz and Sub-GHz designs were implemented to compare the results. The experiments were conducted across 3 floors of a building. Validation of the selected option was carried out by conducting a field trial by integrating the selected radio frequency (RF) modem into the single phase electricity meters and installing these meters across three floors of the building. The methodology, implementation details, observations and resulting analytical conclusion are described in the paper.

Date Published: 28 January 2013
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 8760, International Conference on Communication and Electronics System Design, 87602D (28 January 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2012650

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8760:
International Conference on Communication and Electronics System Design
Vijay Janyani; M. Salim; K. K. Sharma, Editor(s)