Interoperability

What are 2G, 3G and 4G?

Telecommunications and networks have always been, and will continue to be, the major technologies that Sagemcom uses in its products.

Sagemcom, which has been a player in the telecommunications industry for decades, has been deploying metering terminals for several years that integrate different technologies, such as 2G, 3G and 4G. Sagemcom is also a driving force behind the development of these technologies. Sagemcom pioneered the introduction of cellular solutions with the first mass deployment of an LTE Category 1 solution. in Europe.

What is NB-IoT?

NB-IoT is a network protocol in the LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) family. Cellular network operators provide NB-IoT solutions that make 4G and 5G voice and data networks available to terminals with limited bandwidth requirements, for economical and energy-efficient connections offering a good radio range.

Using frequency bands below 1 GHz optimises the penetration of waves into basements, where the meters are most often installed.

By offering the possibility to share radio resources, specialised operators help to optimise investments and network maintenance costs.

Since the NB-IoT solutions are deployed by cellular network operators, energy distribution utilities do not have to invest in any infrastructure to collect the metering data.

The deployment of these networks is outsourced to third parties that:

• Reserve the frequency bands
• Build the network and select the radio sites
• Maintain the equipment.

The initial investments are covered by rental fees that are paid by the energy utilities to the telecommunications operators for the use of their network, for as long as the meters remain in service.

What is G3 PLC?

The end-to-end G3 PLC solution has already been successfully tried and tested on advanced metering infrastructures, with more than 30 million smart meters deployed worldwide. G3 PLC is used to deploy advanced metering infrastructures in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The G3 PLC specifications use advanced two-layer error correction to establish communications that are 10 times more reliable than conventional PLC solutions. G3 PLC also uses mesh routing to transmit the metering data to the data concentrator.

This technology can switch from the low-frequency band (Cenelec A) to the high-frequency (bande FCC) to overcome noisy conditions, especially in the parts of the world where ageing hardware is still in operation and the grid of electricity lines makes the use of PLC very difficulty.

The G3 PLC specifications are described in an open standard that has been adapted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). G3 PLC certification is controlled by the G3 PLC Alliance, which has made significant efforts in the realm of the interoperability of devices and the levelling up of the different hardware suppliers in the field, which are essential for energy utilities that want to benefit from a multi-vendor offer for the deployment of their smart meters and grids.

Sagemcom offers a broad range of data concentrators (base nodes) and AMI meters (service nodes) that support G3 and will support the next generation of hybrid G3, which incorporates the combined PLC and RF technologies in the same meter.

What is PRIME PLC?

PRIME (PoweRline Intelligent Metering Evolution) is a secure and very reliable PLC technology. PRIME enables:

• the deployment of advanced metering solutions (AMI),
• grid control, which improves the detection of faults
• self-repair of the grids, without any interventions in the field
• the monitoring of assets to supervise the production and consumption units.

This solution was initially introduced in Spain more than 10 years ago, and in many other markets too. More than 20 million PRIME meters have been installed in more than 15 countries worldwide.

An evolving technology:

The recent introduction of PRIME 1.4 (replacing PRIME 1.3.6), which can operate in higher frequency bands of up to 470 KHz (FCC band), enables two-way communications that are highly resilient to interference and signal attenuation. This feature improves the accessibility and active upgradability of the networks.

This new and complete specification is a totally interoperable solution, based on the open standard adapted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Sagemcom also offers a broad range of data concentrators (base nodes) and smart meters (service nodes) that support PRIME1.3.6 and PRIME1.4 and will support the next generation of PRIME-Hybrid, which incorporates the combined PLC and RF technologies in the same meter.

What is hybrid RF/PLC?

Hybrid RF/PLC is the combination of the PLC and RF technologies in a single network. It enables:

• Networks to be adapted to requirements,
• The range of communications to be extended effectively,
• The performance of the network to be improved in order to produce perfect Key Performance Indicators (KPI),
• Installation costs to be reduced
• The excellent upgradability of the network to be demonstrated.

The integration of the Hybrid RF/PLC solution provides an automatic transfer mechanism between the PLC and RF communication interfaces, and dynamically distributes the communication resources in order to select the appropriate and best-adapted communication channel: This approach optimises the throughput of the system according to the density of the network data.

In addition to achieving improvements, the combination of the PLC and RF technologies allows for new use cases, such as battery-powered devices, which could open the way towards the integration of the electricity, water and gas grids in a single network.

The hybrid solution is entirely backwardly compatible with the existing PLC technologies (G3 PLC and PRIME PLC) and can be transparently and naturally deployed on these networks.