Metering & comms topology

ISV Technology Committee · 28 May 2026 · STS, OEM, DLMS, SMS token delivery, redundant field paths

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Redundant communication channels

Channel	Typical tech	Role
SMS → phone	GSM / LTE SMS	STS token delivery — wide area, no meter feedback
Phone ↔ meter	BLE, NFC, proprietary RF	Token entry + meter query (CIU-equivalent); app must be certified
CIU ↔ meter	Proprietary RF / Bluetooth	Legacy 20-digit token entry; local stats (remaining energy)
Meter ↔ NAN	RF mesh, PLC (parallel)	Neighborhood AMI — trees/walls/rain block LOS
DCU → cloud	GPRS / 3G / 4G LTE	Primary WAN uplink — frequent bottleneck
Phone → cloud	LTE data	Proposed — relay when DCU path down
Repeaters	RF relay nodes, phone-as-relay	Supplement deployed mesh — not a replacement

Protocol stacks

Stack	Keys	Two-way?
STS	STS keys (≠ OEM, ≠ DLMS)	No — no per-meter consumption feedback
OEM	OEM keys; proprietary CIU language	Varies; edge self-registration
DLMS/COSEM	DLMS keys; MacFi tunnel over proprietary	Yes in principle

Field notes

• When comms go down, meters still consume remaining prepaid tokens locally.
• CIU holds stats the cloud wants but cannot reach when DCU fails.
• Mesh telecom is already deployed — need supplemental relay, not replacement.
• Per-village coverage map + drone/satellite 3D survey for repeater placement.
• Rahul (India IPP): investigate when two meters differ by > 5%.

Action items (tracked)

Full list at the top of this page and in Knowledge Base · Tasks. Comment and update status on GitHub Issues ↗.

Related

• ISV-HCK-001 · Circles of Power — village metering economics and Open Energy Hackathon EMS work
• Street Pole EMS Box (ems-dev)