Saturne – Meter Data Collection

Date: 27/08/2009
Version: Draft
Table of contents
Introduction..................................................................................................1
System architecture.....................................................................................2
Software....................................................................................................2
Hardware..................................................................................................3
Device management....................................................................................3
Meter reading...............................................................................................5
Push mode................................................................................................5
Pull mode..................................................................................................5
Scheduled readings...............................................................................5
On-demand readings.............................................................................6
Readings processing..............................................................................6
Meter reading history................................................................................7
Communication results..........................................................................7
Meter information..................................................................................7
Statistics................................................................................................7
Meter information consultation....................................................................8
Management of incoming events...............................................................10
Support to commissioning.........................................................................10
Integration with other systems .................................................................11
Sending information to other systems....................................................11
Receiving information from other systems.............................................11
Receiving action requests from other systems.......................................11
Seamless integration with Itron Enterprise Edition MDM........................11
Scalability, Robustness..............................................................................12
Ease of use.................................................................................................14
Technology.................................................................................................15
Supported Devices.....................................................................................17
The following metering devices are currently supported...........................18
Commercial and Industrial meters..........................................................18
Additional C&I meters (upon configuration/adaptation)......................19
Residential..............................................................................................19
Concentrators / gateways / dataloggers.................................................19
Additional residential meters (upon configuration/adaptation)...........20
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Intr oduction
Saturne is an advanced Smart Metering software built on industry
standards resulting of Asais’s 20 year experience in the energy market
and AMR technology.

Independent of meter manufacturers, based on a flexible architecture

and compatible with many communication technologies, Saturne is a
future-proof solution adapted to today’s fast changing energy markets.

Packed with powerful business oriented functions, Saturne remains easy

to master and to use thanks to its user friendly interface.

In a large scale AMR/AMI project, Saturne provides the Meter Data

Collection layer, in charge of:
• collecting information from C&I and/or residential meters and
sending it to the Meter Data Management (MDM) system
• collecting meter status information and alarms and sending them
to the MDM
• storing detailed information about the communications to be able
to provide statistics
• performing management actions on meters and communication
devices (disconnection/reconnection, tariff parameters change, clock
synchronization…)

Saturne manages meter data collection for all energies (electricity, gas,
cooling/heat) and water.
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System ar chitectur e
Software
Saturne system is organized in several programs. The main ones are:
• The Administrator program intended to configure the system
• The Consultation program available through an Internet browser
from which meter information and processing results can be seen
• The Communication Server which performs data readings from the
meters
• The Alarm Center which receives incoming events from the network
and triggers actions and/or forwards them to operators or to other
systems depending on user configuration.

Saturne distributed architecture allows the management of large scale

smart metering infrastructures.
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Hardware
Saturne processes can be installed on several physical servers if requested
by the volume of meters to handle.

A typical installation has:

• One database server
• One or several application servers
• Several communication servers

In order to minimize communication costs Communication servers can be

installed on remote locations.

Device management
Saturne manages Service Points, meters and communication devices
(such as concentrators and gateways).

Connection to meters can be:

• Point to point (C&I meters and isolated residential meters)
• Through concentrators or gateways

Services points hold the following information:

• Client identification
• Address of the premise where the meters are installed
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• References of the meters installed at this address

• History of the consumption (register and load profile) at the service
point
• Other information read from the meters (logbook, tampering,
quality)

Meters hold the following information:

• Meter ID
• Type of the meter
• Current status of the meter
• Id of the communication device to which they are linked, when
applicable
• Address of the meter (telephone number, ip address)

Communication devices hold the following information:

• Type of the device
• Communication technology
• Address of the device (telephone number, ip address)
• Security parameters
• Configuration information of the device

On a smart meter network, Saturne automatically manages

infrastructure evolutions according to meter installation/removal
messages sent by the network or the information system.

Information on these evolutions is forwarded to the MDM when applicable.

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Meter reading
Getting information from the meters can be done in “pull” or “push”
mode.

Push mode
In this mode, meter information is sent periodically by the meters or the
communication devices to the central system.
Saturne manages the reception of the incoming information and forward it
to the MDM.

Pull mode
In this mode Saturne calls the meters and the communication devices to
read their information.
With concentrators, Saturne can either read the information from the
concentrator memory or directly from the meter itself, using the
concentrator as a gateway.

Saturne manages both scheduled and on-demand readings.

Scheduled readings
Scheduled readings are managed through “Reading strategies” which are
defined by the following parameters:
• Periodicity of the readings (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly)
• Day of the reading (day of week for weekly, day of month for
monthly)
• Time of the reading
• Information to read (load profile, multi-tariff billing registers, meter
status information, logbook, tampering, quality). Possible choices
depend on meter type
• Information depth to be read. “Complement” reads what is new into
the meter compared to what is already available into the database;
“History” reads the whole depth available into the meters and
supersedes what could already be into the database.
• For meters behind concentrators, where to read the information:
from the concentrators memory or directly from the meters
• Operations to perform
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The following operations are possible on devices from Saturne (depending

on their capabilities):
• For the communication devices: clock synchronization and change of
parameters
• For meters: disconnection/reconnection, change of tariff parameters
including TOU, reset of registers, set next End of Billing parameters,
set Daylight Saving Time parameters, change of load profile
interval…

Saturne manages groups of devices (meters or communication devices).

These groups can be defined by the list of the devices they represent or
by criteria (all meters of a given area for example).
Groups defined by criteria are a key advantage in large scale deployments
as they automatically evolve when meters are installed or dismantled.
Users can define as many reading strategies and groups of devices as
needed which are stored in Saturne database. Some reading strategies
can be temporarily deactivated if needed.

A scheduled reading is a reading strategy applied to one or several groups

of meters.
The scheduler process of Saturne supervises scheduled readings and
queues them for execution each time it is requested due to the given
periodicity.

On-demand readings
On-demand readings can be requested at any time through Saturne
human interface (Administration program or Web based Consultation
program) or even from another system through a Web Service.
On-demand readings can be requested “as soon as possible” or at a given
date and time. They have higher priority than scheduled ones.

On demand readings have the same capabilities as scheduled ones: the

user can choose the information to be read and the actions to be
performed.

Readings processing
Once in the reading queue, readings are executed by the Communication
Servers.

Each Communication Server can handle several communication

channels (i.e. PSTN or GSM modems, Ethernet connections, SMS
Center…), allowing to read several communication devices and/or meters
in parallel.

Each Communication Server also handles several communication

protocols and uses the one which is adapted to the device being read.

In case of communication errors the Communication Servers automatically

handle retries according to user-defined parameter.
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All readings in progress can be monitored on the Communication Server

monitoring program.

Meter reading history

Communication results
All reading operations performed by Saturne are stored into the database.

For each operation the following information is recorded:

• Date and time the reading was put on the reading queue
• Date and time the reading was started by the Communication server
• Errors/Warnings during the reading if any
• Date and time the reading was finished

In case of retries, the same information is recorded for each trial, with the
trial number.
At the end of the last trial, the final status of the reading is recorded.

Meter information
The information read from the meters is stored into the database attached
to the Service Point to which the meter is linked.
Saturne stores all the history of the load profiles.
Saturne stores all end of billing consumption information, all special
reading consumption information and the current value of registers the
last time the meter was read (which is superseded each time a reading is
performed).
Saturne also stores into the database, attached to the meter itself, the
current status information of the meter.
The other information (logbook, tampering, and quality information –
depending on the meter type) is also stored into the database.

All information is stored into the database with the timestamp given by
the meters.

Topology information, when applicable, is also retrieved and stored into

the database.

Statistics
Saturne also stores all necessary information to provide communication
statistics both for LAN (PLC communications), when applicable, and for
communications on the WAN between the Central Station and the
communication devices or the meters.

On PLC network LAN communication statistics are based on “Credits”.

WAN communications statistics are percentage of reading success
between two dates for each PLCC.
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Meter infor mation consultation

All information read from the meters can be displayed in Saturne
Consultation module which runs on an Internet browser.

All meter information can be displayed:

• Load profiles are displayed either graphically as demand or energy
per period of time, or as values in a spreadsheet
• Billing information (with an history of end of billing values)
• Instantaneous values
• Logbook
• Quality information
• Status information

Displayed information can be uploaded on the user’s computer or sent to

the printer.

In addition to displaying individual meter information, Saturne

Consultation module provides many queries allowing browsing the
content of the database to find specific information such as:
• Meters with given status information (hardware problem, tampering
suspicion…)
• Meters for which billing information or load profile is not complete at
a given date
• Communication statistics on the LAN and on the WAN
• Reading results
• Smart meter network topology
• …
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Management of incoming events

Saturne Alarm Center manages incoming events from the network.

Events can be filtered. They are displayed on screen and the system can
be programmed to trigger actions depending on their type.

Possible actions are any combination of:

• Forwarding the event to another system (as an XML message for
example)
• Sending an SMS to an operator
• Activating any process through a Web Service call.

Suppor t to commissioning
In a smart metering network, Saturne capacity to populate its database
from meter announcement information is a key advantage for large roll-
outs.

Gathering communication statistics provides essential information which

facilitates the commissioning of the communication on the WAN and on
the LAN.
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Inte gr ation with other systems

Saturne is designed to be integrated with other systems either through
XML messages exchanges or through a high level API.

Sending information to other systems

All the information read by Saturne from the meters is automatically sent
to relevant system, for example:
• Meter Data Management for consumption information
• Control Center for status information, events, communication results

Receiving information from other systems

Saturne can automatically import information on Service Points either
initially to populate the database, or regularly to reflect changes on the
field.

Receiving action requests from other systems

External systems can perform any on demand reading or any action on the
meters (such as disconnection/reconnection) through Saturne Web
Services interface.

Seamless integration with Itron Enterprise Edition MDM

When Itron Entreprise Edition (IEE) MDM is used as a centralized meter
data management system, Saturne can serve as a head-end for IEE.
For this purpose, Saturne is fully integrated with IEE MDM and supports the
following processes:

IEE MDM -> Saturne MDC

• Schedule based meter data reading
• On-demand actions such as read, disconnect/reconnect, configure
meters

Saturne MDC -> IEE MDM

• Meter readings
• Events
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Scalability, Robustness
Saturne is designed to be able to read thousands of C&I meters and
millions of residential meters in a short period of time.

Benchmarks demonstrated that, over time, the collection rate is stable

and resource consumption is predictable and steady.

CPU Total Disk Adapters (MB/s)

User% Sys% Wait% fcs3_read fcs3_write fcs6_read fcs6_write fcs5_read fcs5_write fcs1_read fcs1_write fcs7_read fcs7_write
fcs4_read fcs4_write fcs0_read fcs0_write fcs2_read fcs2_write
100
90
400
80
70
300
60
50
40 200
30
20 100
10
0 0
19:12

19:22

19:32

19:42

19:47

19:52

19:57

20:07

20:17

20:28

20:38

20:43

20:53

21:03

21:13
19:17

19:27

19:37

20:02

20:12

20:23

20:33

20:48

20:58

21:08

21:18

19:12

19:22

19:27

19:37

19:47

19:52

20:02

20:12

20:23

20:28

20:38

20:48

20:53

21:03

21:13

21:18
19:17

19:32

19:42

19:57

20:07

20:17

20:33

20:43

20:58

21:08
Stable Processor consumption Efficient use of the disk
array

Database monitoring shows no waste of processor power due to

contentions.

50000

45000

40000
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Stable collection rate over time

The communication with the communication devices and the meters can
be processed by several Communications servers in parallel. Each
Communication Server can manage a mix of communication media (PSTN,
GSM, GPRS…).

Readings to be performed will be automatically dispatched between all

Communication servers. They are not assigned to a given communication
port. Should any of them fail the remaining will perform all the readings.

Spare communication resources can be allocated in communication

servers, in order to provide h/w redundancy. In this case, the switch over
to a new modem resource is transparent.
Increasing the capacity of the system is achieved by adding more
communication servers, which can be done without impact on a running
system.

Important processes of Saturne, such as meter reading, are implemented

as system services. Should, for any reason one of these processes fail, it
will restart automatically.
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Ease of use
Saturne runs under Windows operating system. The Administrator and
Communication server modules are thick client programs. Their human
interface is based on the popular explorer tree design.

Communication servers Dashboard

The Communication Server process runs in the background as a system

service. The Communication server monitor program allows for
monitoring reading progress. All running communications (for all
communication ports of all communication servers) can be monitored on
the same screen.
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Service Point: Load profile

The Consultation module is a thin client program which runs on any

computer running an Internet browser and connected to Saturne server.
This module has a user friendly human interface made of Web pages
including sophisticated interactive controls based on Ajax standards.

Technology
Saturne has been developed using the latest industry technologies and
standards:
• Microsoft .NET framework.
• System interfaces using the SOAP protocol (XML-based)
• Compatible with a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Communication interfaces embedding XML messaging
• Ajax

The following relational databases systems (RDMS) are supported by

Saturne:
• Microsoft SQL server 6.5
• Oracle 10
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Suppor ted Devices

Saturne is a multi-vendor meter data collection system based on
standards.

It currently handles many communication protocols among which

DLMS/COSEM, IEC62056-21 and IEC62056-31 (Euridis).
The various communication media (PSTN, GSM, GPRS, Ethernet…)
available for the meters are also supported.

Saturne is designed to be extended to new protocols by addition of the

corresponding drivers without impact on the system core.

Managing a new DLMS/COSEM compliant meter is done mainly by

configuration.

All Cosem objects can be read by Saturne once they have been described
in Saturne meter configuration.
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T he following metering devices ar e

cur r entl y suppor ted

Commercial and Industrial meters

Baer
• DLX
EDMI
• MK6E
EMH
• LZQJ
• LZQM
Enerdis
• Trimaran 2
• Trimaran 2 M
• Trimaran 2P V1
• Trimaran 2P V2
Itron
• ACE8000
• SL7000
• ACE6000 DLMS
• ACE6000 Euridis
• Q1000
• QE16
• QE16 M
• A12E TJ
• A70 TJ
• ECHODIS
• CYBLE
• G4
Landis+Gyr
• METCOM
• FCL
• ZMB
• ZMD
• ZMQ
• ZMV
• ZMA9
LEM
• EM4T
Matra Chauvin-Arnoux
• Trimaran 1
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MECI
• CDV12
Sagem
• SAGELEC 3000
• C3000
• CX2500
Schlumberger
• CEVATEC 2000

Additional C&I meters (upon configuration/adaptation)

• DLMS/COSEM compliant
• MeterXml (Actaris Push protocol) compliant
• Modem-friendly FLAG / IEC 61107 / IEC 6256-21 compliant
• Modem-friendly IEC 62056-31 compliant
• IEC 60870-5-102 compliant
• Modem-friendly or on IP MODBUS compliant
• TRIMARAN compliant
• TRIMARAN+ compliant

Residential
Coronis
• Waveflow
• Wavesense
Iskraemeco
• ME340
Itron
• ACE4000 PLC
• ACE4000 GPRS
• ACE5000
• ACE6000 Euridis
Landis+Gyr
• L16C5
• L18C4
• FLEX
• MAR
• ZMF
Sagem
• S10C3
• S20C2
• CX1000 / CX1400 / CX 2000
Stepper
• U3C3

Concentrators / gateways / dataloggers

Itron/Maec
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• BPI (PSTN/62056-31 Interface)

• PLCC G1 to access PLAN/PLC 62056-31 connected meters
• PLCC G2 to access :
• PLC directly or indirectly connected meters
• PLC Interfaces to 62056-31 (Euridis) meters
• ACE4000 M-Bus Master – meter or Interface Unit
• M-Bus meters
Landis+Gyr
• CR3 V2/V3 to access :
• PLC directly or indirectly connected meters
• PLC Interfaces to 62056-31 (Euridis) meters :
• DLMS/COSEM meters
Coronis systems
• GPRS/Radio concentrator
MECI
• STA15
Energy ICT
• WebRTU datalogger

Additional residential meters (upon

configuration/adaptation)
• IEC 62056-31 compliant
• DLMS/COSEM compliant
• MeterXml compliant
• Xml GPRS Push meter