Time diversified packet protocol

A method of reporting information from a meter in an automated meter reading system, comprising:

• (a) reading the meter upon a series of reading intervals and associating each reading with a time stamp corresponding to when said reading was made;
• (b) transmitting a packet comprising first and second non-sequential readings from said series and an indicator of time elapsed since each said reading was taken, wherein said packet does not include a reading from said series between said non-sequential readings;
• and
• (c) subsequently transmitting a packet comprising a reading more recent than either of said non-sequential readings and another reading from said series between said first and second non-sequential readings.

A method of reporting information from a meter in an automated meter reading system, comprising:

• (a) receiving a first packet of data from a meter interface unit (MIU) that makes readings of said meter upon reading intervals, said packet containing at least two readings of said meter, each said reading being associated with an indicator of the time elapsed since said reading was taken based on a clock of said MIU and wherein at least two of the readings in said packet are nonsequential and the elapsed time between them exceeds a multiplicity of reading intervals;
• (b) associating each reading in said packet with the actual time said reading was taken based upon a clock of said receiving device and said time indicator;
• (c) repeating the preceding steps with a later packet, said later packet containing at least one of the same readings as said first packet, the elapsed time indicator of said same reading in said later packet being different than the elapsed time indicator of said same reading in said first packet;
• (d) comparing the actual time elapsed between said same readings based upon the clock of said receiving device with the reported time elapsed between said same readings based upon said elapsed time indicators.