System and method to improve connection reliability on smart meters

An advanced metering system, comprising:

• a plurality of smart meter systems, each smart meter system comprising:
• a utility meter configured to measure real-time distribution of a resource and generate metrology data indicating a quantity of the resource consumed;
• a wireless communication device configured to establish a connection with one or more mobile networks based on one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) or SIM with multiple mobile operator profile one or more programmable embedded SIMs (eSIMs), the wireless communication device comprising a transceiver capable of sending and receiving information via the one or more mobile networks;
• and further comprising one or more RAT configuration;
• a processor, and storage, the storage storing one or more mobile network operator (MNO) profiles, one or more radio access technology (RAT) configurations for respective MNOs, a stack switching performed (SSP) flag, an operator switching (OS) flag, a stack counter (SC) value representing a selected one of a plurality of RAT configurations available for a currently selected mobile network operator, and an operator counter (OC) value representing a selected one of a plurality of mobile network operators;
• wherein the processor is configured to:
• determine that a connection using the currently selected mobile network operator is unreliable,
• when the SSP flag and the OS flag are not true, switch from a first RAT configuration to a second RAT configuration according to the SC value for the currently selected mobile network operator,
• increment the SC value, and,
• when the incremented SC value is greater than a maximum number of RAT configurations available for the currently selected mobile network operator, reset the SC value to 1 and set the SSP flag and the OS flag to true;
• and
• wherein the processor is further configured,
• when the connection is unreliable and at least one of the SSP flag and the OS flag is true, switch from a first mobile network operator to a second mobile network operator by changing the wireless communication device to use a SIM card or eSIM profile corresponding to the second mobile network operator according to the OC value,
• increment the OC value, and,
• when the incremented OC value is greater than a maximum number of mobile network operators available, reset the OC value to 1 and set the SSP flag and the OS flag to false wherein, in response to a first condition being met, the wireless communication device switches from a first RAT configuration to a second RAT configuration;
• wherein, in response to a second condition being met, the wireless communication device switches from a first mobile network operator to a second mobile network operator;
• and
• a head-end system (HES) configured to communicate with the plurality of smart meters via the one or more mobile networks.

A method operating a smart meter, the method comprising:

• measuring, using a utility meter and sensor of the smart meter, a distribution of a resource;
• generating, using a processor, metrology data indicating a quantity of the resource consumed;
• establishing, using a wireless communication device, a connection with a first mobile network based on a first subscriber identity module (SIM) and a first RAT configuration;
• determining, using a processor and storage of the wireless communication device, if the connection with the first mobile network has become unreliable, wherein the connection is determined to be unreliable if a first threshold is satisfied;
• switching, in response to the first threshold being satisfied, from a first RAT configuration to a second RAT configuration corresponding to the first SIM reading, from the storage, a stack switching performed (SSP) flag, an operator switching (OS) flag, a stack counter (SC) value, and an operator counter (OC) value, the SC value representing a selected one of a plurality of RAT configurations available for a currently selected mobile network operator, and the OC value representing a selected one of a plurality of mobile network operators;
• when the connection is unreliable and the SSP flag and the OS flag are not true, switching from the first RAT configuration to a second RAT configuration according to the SC value for the currently selected mobile network operator;
• incrementing the SC value;
• when the incremented SC value is greater than a maximum number of RAT configurations available for the currently selected mobile network operator, resetting the SC value to 1 and setting the SSP flag and the OS flag to true;
• when the connection is unreliable and at least one of the SSP flag and the OS flag is true, switching from a first mobile network operator to a second mobile network operator by changing the wireless communication device to use a SIM card or eSIM profile corresponding to the second mobile network operator according to the OC value;
• incrementing the OC value;
• and,
• when the incremented OC value is greater than a maximum number of mobile network operators available, resetting the OC value to 1 and setting the SSP flag and the OS flag to false.