GB2431754A

GB2431754A - Utility metering system with tariff display

Info

Publication number: GB2431754A
Application number: GB0621335A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David John Bowman; Cameron Mark Fitchener; Martin Christopher Gill; Deepali Garg
Original assignee: EMWEST PRODUCTS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: EMWEST PRODUCTS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2005-10-26
Filing date: 2006-10-26
Publication date: 2007-05-02
Also published as: GB0621335D0; AU2005227360A1

Abstract

A device 108 for providing a user with information related to a resource, the device comprising a processing and display means arranged to communicate 110, with a system 104, which is remote to the device, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and activate a visual indicator to inform a user that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs, thereby providing the user with information related to the resource. The resource may be a utility such as gas, electricity or water and consumption may also be monitored by a meter 102a-102c. The system may also provide information on carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of the resource. A computer 112, coupled to the system, may provide further functionality.

Description

* 2431754

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SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION RELATED TO A

RESOURCE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of monitoring consumption of one or more resources such as electricity, gas and. water.

Background to the Invention

It is generally very difficult and inconvenient for persons to monitor various aspects of their consumption of a resource such as, for example, electricity, gas and/or water. One of the main factors that make it difficult and inconvenient to monitor aspects of resource consumption is that meters for recording resource consumption are typically situated in inconvenient locations that are difficult to access. Furthermore, the meters may not provide the type of information that a person is really interested in obtaining, such a tariff information or actual cost of consumption. Existing meters are such that they typically only provide information on the actual amount of a resource consumed. There is a growing demand from consumers to easily obtain information on various aspects of their consumption and not just the total amount of a resource that has been consumed.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a device for providing a person with information related to a resource, the device comprising a processing means arranged to: communicate with a system, which is remote to the device, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and activate a visual indicator to inform the person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs, thereby providing the person with information related to the resource.

In an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention the visual indicator provides the advantage of enabling the person to readily discern the tariff, which allows the person to adjust their consumption of the resource if required. For example, if the tariff is relatively high the person may elect to turn off unnecessary appliances to minimise their cost of consuming the resource. Thus, the embodiment of the present invention is capable of providing the person with the ability readily obtain information associated with their consumption of the resource.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to: communicate with the system in order to ascertain details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed; process the first of the tariffs and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

In an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention displaying the cost of consuming the resource provides an advantage of allowing the person to quickly and easily determine the cost associated with their current consumption of the resource.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to display the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

In an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention displaying the actual amount of the resource that is being consumed is advantage because it enables the person to monitor their consumption of the resource, which can allow the person to determine whether certain appliances can be turned on or off.

Preferably, the cost and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that they represent, respectively, an instantaneous cost and an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed, and/or a cost over a predefined period of time and an amount of the resource consumed over the predefined period of time.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to: communicate with the system in order to obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; process the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed and the green house gas emission coefficient to obtain details about an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted; and display the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted.

In an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention displaying the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted enables the person to monitor their impact on the environment.

Preferably, the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted is such that it represents an instantaneous amount of the green house gas that has been emitted and/or an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted over another predefined period of time.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for providing a device, which is remote to the system, with information related to a resource, the system comprising a processing means arranged to: communicate with another system, which is remote to the system, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and communicate with the device to enable the device to ascertain the first of the tariffs, the device being arranged to activate a visual indicator to inform a person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to: obtain details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed; and communicate with the device to enable the device to obtain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed, the device being arranged to: process the first of the tariffs and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to: communicate with the other system to obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; and communicate with the device to enable the device to obtain the green house gas emission coefficient, the device being arranged to: process the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed and the green house gas emission coefficient to obtain details about an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted; and display the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to communicate with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the details about the amount of the S resource that has been consumed.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to: obtain general reporting information; and communicate with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the general reporting information.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to: receive resource consumption information from at least one metering device that is remote to the system; and communicate with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the resource consumption information.

Preferably, the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that it represents an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed and/or an amount of the resource consumed over a predefined period of time.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for providing another system, which is remote to the system, with information related to a resource, the system comprising a processing means arranged to: obtain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the first of the tariffs, the other system being arranged to communicate with a device, which is remote thereto, to enable the device to obtain the first of the tariffs, the device being arranged to activate a visual indicator to inform a person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to: obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; and communicate with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the green house gas emission coefficient, the other system being arranged to provide the green house coefficient to the device, which is arranged to: process the first of the tariffs and details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to corrirnurilcaLe with the other system to obtain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to communicate with the other system to obtain general reporting information.

Preferably, the processing means is arranged to communicate with the other system to obtain resource consumption information that the other system obtained from at least one metering device that is remote to the other system.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing a person with information related to a resource, the method comprising the steps of: communicating with a system, which is remote to the device, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and activating a visual indicator to inform the person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs, thereby providing the person with information related to the resource.

Preferably, the method comprises the steps of: communicating with the system in order to ascertain details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed; processing the first of the tariffs and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

Preferably, the method comprises the step of displaying the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

Preferably, the cost and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that they represent, respective, an instantaneous cost and an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed, and/or a cost over a predefined period of time and an amount of the resource consumed over the predefined period of time.

Preferably, the method comprises the steps of: communicating with the system in order to obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; processing the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed and the green house gas emission coefficient to obtain details about an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted; and displaying the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing a device, which is remote to the system, with information related to a resource, the method comprising the steps of: communicating with another system, which is remote to the system, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and communicate with the device to enable the device to ascertain the first of the tariffs, the device being arranged to activate a visual indicator to inform a person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs.

Preferably, the method comprises the steps of: obtaining details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed; and communicate with the device to enable the device to ascertain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed, the device being arranged to: process the first of the tariffs and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

Preferably, the method comprises the steps of: communicating with the other system to obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; and communicate with the device to enable the device to obtain the green house gas emission coefficient the device being arranged to: process the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed and the green house gas emission coefficient to obtain details about an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted; and display the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted.

Preferably, the method comprises the step of communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

Preferably, the method comprises the steps of: obtaining general reporting information; and communicating with the other system to enabe the other system to obtain the general reporting information.

Preferably, the method comprises the steps of: receiving resource consumption information from at least one metering device that is remote to the system; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the resource consumption information.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing another system, which is remote to the system, with information related to a resource, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the first of the tariffs, the other system being arranged to communicate with a device, which is remote thereto, to enable the device to obtain the first of the tariffs, the device being arranged to activate a visual indicator to inform a person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs.

Preferably, the method comprises the steps of: obtaining a green house gas emission coefficient; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the green house gas emission coefficient, the other system being arranged to provide the green house coefficient to the device, which is arranged to: process the first of the tariffs and details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

Preferably, the method comprises the step of communicating with the other system to obtain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

Preferably, the method comprises the step of communicating with the other system to obtain general reporting information.

Preferably, the method comprises the step of communicating with the other system to obtain resource consumption information that the other system obtained from at least one metering device that is remote to the other system.

Preferably, the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that it represents an instantaneou amount of the resource being consumed and/or an amount of the resource consumed over a S predefined period of time.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention there is provided software comprising at least one instruction, which when executed by a computing device allows the computing device to perform the method according to the fourth, fifth and/or sixth aspects of the present invention.

According to a eighth aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer readable medium comprising the software according to the seventh aspect of the present invention.

A Brief Description of the Drawings

Notwithstanding any other embodiments that may fall within the scope of the present invention, a particular embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a flow chart of various steps performed by the system of figure 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a flow chart of various steps performed by the system of figure 1 in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 4 is a flow chart of various steps performed by the system of figure 1 in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

An Embodiment of the Present Invention With reference to figure 1, a system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises several meters 102, a data communication unit 104 that is coupled to one of the meters 102c via a physical data communication medium 106. The other meters 102a and 102b are also coupled to the data communication unit 104, but via a wireless medium. The system 100 also nc1udes an in-home display unit 108 that is coupled to the data communication unit 104 via a physical data communication medium 110, and a computer system 112 that is coupled to the data communication unit 104 via a wireless medium.

The meter 102c that is coupled to the data co[nmunication unit 104 via the physical data communication medium 106 is a P1 meter, which is arranged to monitor consumption of electricity, from Ampy Email Metering Pty Ltd of Australia. As persons skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the present invention is not restricted to being used with the P1 meter and can in fact be used in conjunction with other meters. The meter 102c includes an R8232 data port (not shown in the drawings) to which the physical data communication medium 106 is electrically coupled. The physical medium 106 is in the form of an RS232 serial cable. The meter 102c also includes an electronic circuit (not shown in the drawings) that is electrically coupled to the RS232 port. The electronic circuit is basically arranged to exchange data, which is related to the consumption of electricity, with the communication unit 104 via the RS232 port and the data communication medium 106, which is in the form of a RS232 serial cable.

One of the other meters 102a that is coupled to the data communication unit 104 via the wireless medium is a 750 meter, which is arranged to monitor consumption of gas, from Ampy Email Metering Pty Ltd of Australia. The other one of these meters 102b is a Single Jet meter, which is arranged to monitor consumption of water, from B-Meters of Italy. Persons skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is not restricted to using the 750 and Single Jet meters and that the present invention can in fact be used in conjunction with other similar meters. While not shown in the figures, each of the meters 102a and lO2b includes an electronic circuit (not shown in the figures) that is capable creating and transmitting the data in a low power radio frequency signal to the data communication unit 104. The data created by one of the meters 102a relates to consumption of gas, which the data created by the other meter 102b relates to consumption of water.

The data communication unit 104 comprises an RS232 port to which the physical data communication medium 106 is electrically coupled. Consequently, the data that is output on the RS232 port of the meter 102c will be transferred to the RS232 port of the data communication unit 104 via the physical data communication medium 106.

The data communication unit 104 also comprises an electronic circuit that is electrically coupled to the RS232 port of the communication unit 104.

The electronic circuit of the data communication unit 104 is basically arranged to exchange data with the meter 102c via the RS232 ports (of the communication unit 104 and the meter 102c) and the physical medium 106. The electronic circuit include a radio receiver for receiving the low power radio frequency signals from the gas and water meters 102a and 102b. The electronic circuit also includes a general packet radio service (GPRS) transceiver so that the electronic circuit can exchange data with the computer system 112. Persons skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is not limited to being used with a GRPS transceiver to exchange data with the computer system 112, and that an alternative embodiment of the present invention may employ, for example, long haul power line communication technology.

The electronic circuit of the data communication unit 104 is electrically coupled to the physical data communication medium 110, which is in the form of an electrical power cable used to carry electricity throughout a household. The electronic circuit of the communication unit 104 is basically arranged to exchange data with the in-home display Unit 108 via the physical medium 110. In this regard, the electronic circuit is arranged to exchange data via the physical medium 110 using the LonWorks power-line communication technology from the Echelon Corporation of the United States of America. Persons skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is not restricted to using the physical medium 110 and. the LonWorks technology.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention may, for example, use a wireless medium or another form of power-line communication technology if the physical medium is used.

The in-home display 108, which is located inside the house of a customer, comprises an electronic circuit that is electrically coupled to the physical data communication medium 110. The electronic circuit is basically arranged to exchange data with the communication unit 104 via the physical medium 110. In this regard, the electronic circuit uses the LonWorks power-line communication technology from the Echelon Corporation of the United States of America. The electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 comprises a visual display in the form of a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), both of which are not shown in the figures. The electronic circuit is arranged to use the LCD display and the LEDs to convey to a person information related to the consumption of electricity, gas and/or water.

The computer system 112 is in the form of a computer server that includes a GPRS modem. The GPRS modem enables the system 112 to exchange data with the communication unit 104. The computer system 112 is under the control of an encity that is responsible for collecting data from the meters 102, such as a utility or bill processing centre used by the utility. In addition to traditional hardware, such as a motherboard and hard-disk, the computer system 112 includes software for handling data related to consumption of the resource.

One of the desirable features of the system 100 is that it is capable of providing a consumer with information relevant to their consumption of resources (that is, electricity, gas and/or water) . In this regard, the in-home display unit 108 is arranged to perform several steps 202 to 218, which are represented in the flow chart 200 of figure 2, to provide the consumer with the information relevant to their consumption of the resources.

The first step 202 involves the electronic circuit of the in-home display unit 108 communicating with the electronic circuit of the communication unit 104 to ascertain one of a plurality of tariffs that are associated with electricity, the consumption of which is monitored by one of the meters 102c. More specifically, this step 202 involves the electronic circuit of the in-home display unit 108 processing tariff data, which is received from the electronic circuit of the communication unit 104 via the physical medium 110, to ascertain a tariff at which consumption of the electricity is being charged.

Following on from the previous step 202, the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 performs the step 204 of activating a visual indicator to inform a person that consumption of the electricity will be charged at the tariff determined during the previous step 202.

More specifically, the step of activating the visual indicator involves activating (or turning on) on of the LEDs of the in-home display 108. In this regard, it is noted that each of the LEDs corresponds to a unique tariff that can be applied to consumption of the electricity.

Consequently, the LED that is activated by the electronic circuit is the LED that is associated with the tariff identified during the previous step 202.

In addition to the previous steps 202 and 204, the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 is also arranged to perform the step 206 of communicating with the electronic circuit of the communication unit 104 to ascertain details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed. More specifically, this step 206 involves obtaining consumption data from the communication unit 104 via the physical medium 106. The consumption data is such that it can represent the instantaneous amount of electricity being consumed (which is typically in kW/h) and/or the amount of electricity consumed of a previous period of time such as, for example, the previous 15 minutes, 1 day or 30 days.

Subsequent to performing the previous step 208, the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 carries out the step 208 of processing the tariff data (obtained during an earlier step 202) and the consumption data to obtain a cost of consumed electricity. The step 208 of processing the tariff data and the consumption data involves multiplying the amount of electricity consumed (which is represented by the consumption data) with the tariff (which is represented by the tariff data) to obtain the cost. Given that the consumption data can represent the current amount of the electricity being consumed and/or the amount of electricity consumed over a given period of time, the cost can represent the cost of the current consumption of electricity and/or the cost of electricity consumed over a given period such as, for example, 15 minutes, 1 day or 30 days.

Once the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 has calculated the cost, the electronic circuit thereof performs the step 210 of displaying the cost on the LCD of the in-home display 108. In addition to displaying the cost, the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 is also arranged to carry out the step 212 of displaying the actual consumption information, which is represented by the consumption data, on the LCD screen.

The electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 is also arranged to perform the step 214 of communicating with the communication unit 104 to obtain green house gas data that represents a green house gas emission coefficient. The electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 obtains the green house gas data via the physical medium 110. Following on from the last step 214 the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 proceeds to perform the step 216 of processing the green house gas data and the consumption data (which was obtained during a previous step 206) to determine an amount of green house gas that has been emitted. More specifically, this step 216 involves multiplying the green house gas coefficient (which is represented by the green house gas data) by theamount of the electricity that has been consumed (which is represented by the consumption data) to obtain the amount of emitted green house gas. After performing the previous step 216 the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 carries out the step 218 of displaying the amount of emitted green house gas on the LCD display of the in-home display 108.

As described in the preceding paragraphs, the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 is reliant on data provided by the data communication unit 104. In this regard, the electronic circuit of the data communication unit 104 is arranged to receive the tariff, consumption, and green house gas data from the electronic circuit of the meter 102c via the physical medium 106.

Once the electronic circuit of the data communication unit 108 has obtained the data from the meter 102c it forwards the data onto the in-home display 108 via the physical medium 110. Typically, the electronic circuit of the communication circuit 104 will send the data onto the in-home display 108 in response to the in-home display 108 requesting the data.

The electronic circuit of the meter 102c is arranged to perform various steps 302 to 322 (which are illustrated in the flow chart 300 of figure 3) in order to provide the data to the communication unit 108, which in turn forwards the data onto the in-home display 108. The first of the steps 302 involves communicating with the computer system 112 to obtain the tariff data, which as mentioned previously represents one or more tariffs applicable to the consumption of the electricity. More specifically, the step 302 of obtain the tariff data involves the electronic circuit of the in-home display 108 communicating with the computer system 112 via the communication unit 104. The electronic circuit of the meter 102c is such that it is capable of storing the tariff data for a period of time in memory.

Following on from the step 302 of communicating with the computer system 112 to obtain the tariff data, the electronic circuit of the meter 102c carries out the step 304 of providing the tariff data to the in-home display 108. The step 304 of providing the tariff data to the in home display 108 involves sending the tariff data to the communication unit 104, via the physical medium 106, which in turn sends the tariff data on to the in-home display 108.

In addition the previous steps 302 and 304, the electronic circuit of the meter 102c performs the step 306 of obtaining the consumption data, which as indicated previously represents an amount of the electricity that has been consumed. The consumption data is actually generated by the electronic circuit of the meter 102c based on the amount of electricity that has been consumed.

As with the tariff data, the electronic circuit of the meter 102c is capable of storing the consumption data for a period of time. Subsequent to the step 306 of obtaining the consumption data, the electronic circuit of the meter 102c performs the step 308 of providing the consumption data to the in-home display 108, which involves sending the consumption data to the communication unit 104 via the physical medium 106. In turn, the communication unit 104 sends the consumption data to the in-home display 108 via the physical medium 110.

The electronic circuit of the meter 102c is alscb arranged to perform the step 310 of communicating with the computer system 112 to obtain the green house gas data, which as described previously represents a green house gas emission coefficient associated with the consumption of the electricity. To obtain the green house gas data the electronic circuit of the meter 102c communicates with the computer system 112 via the communication unit 104.

Consequently, the green house gas data is transferred via the wireless medium linking the computer system 112 and the communication unit 104 and the physical medium 106.

The electronic circuit of the meter 102c is also arranged to store the green house gas data for a period of time.

Once the electronic circuit of the meter 102c has obtained the green house gas data it proceeds to carry out the step 312 of providing the green house gas data to the in-home display 108. This involves sending the green house data to the communication unit 104 via the physical medium 106. In turn, the communication unit 104 sends the green house gas data to the in-home display 108 via the physical medium 110.

In addition to performing the step 308 of providing the in-home display 108 with the consumption daLa, the electronic circuit of the meter 102c is arranged to perform the step 314 of providing the computer system 112 with the consumption data. The electronic circuit of the meter 102c provides the computer system 112 with the consumption data by forwarding the consumption data to the communication unit 104 via the physical medium 106. In turn, the communication unit 104 forwards the consumption data to the computer system 112 via the associated wireless medium (which as described previously is a GPRS link) . The computer system 112 uses the consumption data for billing purposes.

Another step 316 that the meter 102c is arranged to perform is to obtai.ri general reporting information. The general reporting information includes, for example, electricity theft and blackout reporting. In relation to electricity theft, the electronic circuit is arranged to monitor current in' and current out' to detect current theft and create the general reporting information on detecting theft. Similarly, the electronic circuit of the meter lO2c is arranged to detect interruptions to the supply of electricity and create the general reporting information on detecting an interruption.

Subsequent to obtaining (creating) the general reporting information the electronic circuit of the meter 102c is arranged to carry out the step 318 of providing the general reporting information to the computer system 112. The electronic circuit provides the information by sending it to the communication unit 104, via the physical medium 106, which in turn sends the general reporting information to the computer system 112 via the associated wireless medium.

The electronic circuit of the meter 102c is also capable of performing the step 320 of receiving resource consumption information issued by the other meters 102a and lO2b. In this regard, the resource consumption information represents an amount of gas arid water that has been consumed. The electronic circuit is arranged to store the resource consumption information for a period of time in memory. To receive the resource consumption information the information is sent via the wireless medium associated with the other meters 102a and lO2b and the communication unit 104, and the physical medium 106. Once the electronic circuit of the meter 102c has received the resource consumption information it carries out the step 322 of providing the computer system 112 with the resource consumption information. To provide the resource consumption information to the computer system 112 the information is sent via the physical medium 106 to the communication unit 104, which in turn sends the consumption information to the computer system 112 via the associated wireless medium.

As described in the preceding paragraphs, the computer system 112 is involved in exchanging data with the meter 102c. The various steps 402 to 414 performed by the computer system 112 when exchanging data with the meter 102c are shown in the flow chart 400 of figure 4.

The first step 402 performed by the computer system 112 is to obtain the tariff data, which is loaded' into the computer system 112 by an authorised person. Once the tariff data has been loaded into the computer system 112, the system 112 performs the step 404 of providing the tariff data to the meter 1020. The tariff data is sent to the communication unit 104 via the wireless medium (GPRS link) associated with the unit 104 and the computer system 112. In turn, the communication unit 104 sends the tariff data to the meter 102c via the physical medium 105.

In addition to the previous steps 402 and 404, the computer system 112 performs the step 406 of obtaining the green house gas data (which represents the green house gas emission coefficient) . The computer system 112 obtains the green house gas data in the same way as it obtains the tariff data; that is, an authorised person loaded the computer system 112 with the green house gas data. At this point the computer system 112 performs the step 408 of providing the green house gas data to the meter 102c, which involves sending the green house gas data to the communication unit 104 via the associated wireless medium.

In turn, the communication unit forward the green house gas data to the meter 102c via the physical medium 106.

The computer system 112 is also arranged to perform the step 410 of communicating with the meter lO2c to obtain the consumption data, which is sent from the meter 1020 via the physical medium 106, communication unit 104 and the wireless medium associated with the communication unit 104 and the computer system 112. The computer system 112 is basically arranged to use the consumption data for billing purposes. The computer system 112 also performs the step 412 of communicating with the meter 102c to obtain the general reporting information, which is also sent via the physical medium 106, the communication unit 104 and the wireless medium. The computer system 112 uses the general reporting information for several purposes including, for example, using an alarm in the event of a blackout or a reporting notification in the evenL of power theft.

In addition to performing the step 410 of communicating with the meter lO2c to obtain the consumption data, the computer system 112 is also arranged to perform the step 414 of communicating with the meter 102c to obtain the resource consumption information issued by the other meters lO2a and 102b. In this regard, the 26 resource consumption information is sent from the meter 102c to the communication unit 104, via the physical medium 106, which in turn sends it to the computer system 112 via the associated wireless medium. The computer system 112 uses the resource consumption information for billing purposes.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. A device for

providing a person with information related to a resource, the device comprising a processing means arranged to: communicate with a system, which is remote to the device, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and activate a visual indicator to inform the person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs, thereby providing the person with information related to the resource.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing means is arranged to: communicate with the system in order to ascertain details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed; process the first of the tariffs and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2,, wherein the processing means is arranged to display the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the 3D cost and. the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that they represent, respective, an instantaneous cost and an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed, and/or a cost over a predefined period of time and an amount of the resource consumed over the predefined period of time.

5. The device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the processing means is arranged to: communicate with the system in order to obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; process the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed and the green house gas emission coefficient to obtain details about an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted; and display the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted.

6. The device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted is such that it represents an instantaneous amount of the green house gas that has been emitted and/or an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted over another predefined period of time.

7. A system for providing a device, which is remote to the system, with information related to a resource, the system comprising a processing means arranged to: communicate with another system, which is remote to the system, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and communicate with the device to enable the device to ascertain the first of the tariffs, the device being arranged to activate a visual indicator to inform a person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the processing means is arranged to: obtain details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed; and communicate with the device to enable the device to ascertain the details about the amount of the resource that. has been consumed, the device being arranged to: process the first of the tariffs and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the processing means is arranged to: communicate with the other system to obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; and communicate with the device to enable the device to obtain the green house gas emission coefficient, the device being arranged to: process the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed and the green house gas emission coefficient to obtain details about an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted; and. display the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted.

10. The system as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the processing means is arranged to communicate with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

11. The system as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the processing means is arranged to: obtain general reporting information; and communicate with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the general reporting information.

12. The system as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the processing means is arranged to: receive resource consumption information from at least one metering device that is remote to the system; and communicate with the other systems to enable the other system to obtain the resource consumption information.

13. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that it represents an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed and/or an amount of the resource consumed over a predefiried period of time.

14. A system for providing another system, which is remote to the system, with information related to a resource, the system comprising a processing means arranged to: obtain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the first of the tariffs, the other system being arranged to communicate with a device, which is remote thereto, to enable the device to obtain the first of the tariffs, the device being arranged to activate a visual indicator to inform a person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs.

15. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the processing means is arranged to: obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; and communicate with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the green house gas emission coefficient to the other system being arranged to provide the green house coefficient to the device, which is arranged to: process the first of the tariffs and details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

16. The system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the processing means is arranged to communicate with the other system to obtain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

17. The system as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the processing means is arranged to communicate with the other system to obtain general reporting information.

18. The system as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the processing means is arranged to communicate with the other system to obtain resource consumption information that the other system obtained from at least one metering device that is remote to the other system.

19. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that it represents an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed and/or an amount of the resource consumed over a predefined period of time.

20. A method of providing a person with information related to a resource, the method comprising the steps of: communicating with a system, which is remote to the device, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and activating a visual indicator to inform the person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs, thereby providing the person with information related to the resource.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, comprising the steps of: communicating with the system in order to ascertain details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed; processing the first of the tariffs and the details S about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, comprising the step of disp:laying the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

23. The method as claimed in claim 21 or 22, wherein the cost and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that they represent, respective, an instantaneous cost and an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed, and/or a cost over a predefined period of time and an amount of the resource consumed over the predefined period of time.

24. The method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 23, comprising the steps of: communicating with the system in order to obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; processing the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed and the green house gas emission coefficient to obtain details about an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted; and displaying the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the details about the amount of the green house gas that has been emitted is such that it represents an instantaneous amount of the green house gas that has been emitted and/or an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted over another predefined period of time.

26. A method of providing a device, which is remote to the system, with information related to a resource, the method comprising the steps of: communicating with another system, which is remote to the system, to ascertain a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and communicating with the device to enable the device to ascertain the first of the tariffs, the device being arranged to activate a visual indicator to inform a person that consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs.

27. The method as claimed in claim 26, comprising the steps of: obtaining details about an amount of the resource that has been consumed; and communicating with the device to enable the device to ascertain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed, the device being arranged to: process the first of the tariffs and the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

28. The method as claimed in claim 27, comprising the steps of: communicating with the other system to obtain a green house gas emission coefficient; and communicating with the device to enable the device to obtain the green house gas emission coefficient, the device being arranged to: process the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed and the green house gas emission coefficient to obtain details about an amount of the green house gas that has been emitted; and display the details about the amount of the

I

green house gas that has been emitted.

29. The method as claimed in claim 27 or 28, comprising the step of communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

30. The method as claimed in any one of claims 26 to 29, comprising the steps of: obtaining general reporting information; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the general reporting information.

31. The method as claimed in any one of claims 26 to 30, comprising the steps of: receiving resource consumption information from at least one metering device that is remote to the system; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the resource consumption information.

32. The method as claimed in claim 31, wherein the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that it represents an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed and/or an amount of the resource consumed over a predefined period of time.

33. A method of providing another system, which is remote to the system, with information related to a resource, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a first of a plurality of possible tariffs associated with the resource; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the first of the tariffs, the other system being arranged to communicate with a device, which is remote thereto, to enable the device to obtain the first of the tariffs, the device being arranged to activate a visual indicator to inform a person that S consumption of the resource will be charged at the first of the tariffs.

34. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein the method comprises the steps of: obtaining a green house gas emission coefficient; and communicating with the other system to enable the other system to obtain the green house gas emission coefficient to the other system being arranged to provide the green house coefficient to the device, which is arranged to: process the first of the tariffs and details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed to obtain a cost for consuming the resource; and displaying the cost.

35. The method as claimed in claim 34, comprising the step of communicating with the other system to obtain the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed.

36. The method as claimed in any one of claims 33 to 35, comprising the step of communicatiri with the other system to obtain general reporting information.

37. The method as claimed in any one of claims 33 to 36, comprising the step of communicating with the other system to obtain resource consumption information that the other system obtained from at least one metering device that is remote to the other system.

38. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein the details about the amount of the resource that has been consumed are such that it represents an instantaneous amount of the resource being consumed and/or an amount of the resource consumed over a predefined period of time.

39. Software comprising at least one instruction, which when executed by a computing device allows the computing device to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 38.

40. A computer readable medium comprising the software as claimed in claim 39.