Utility meter with enhanced communication, data storage, and firmware update capabilities

A utility meter system comprising:

• a meter housing;
• at least one sensor connected to the meter housing and configured to be connected to a utility system, the at least one sensor configured for measuring at least one parameter of the utility system and generating at least one analog signal indicative of the at least one parameter;
• at least one analog to digital converter connected to the at least one sensor, the at least one analog to digital converter configured to receive the at least one analog signal and convert the at least one analog signal to at least one digital signal to obtain measured data;
• a processing system including one or more processors, the processing system configured for receiving the at least one digital signal;
• memory connected to the processing system;
• and
• wherein the processing system is configured to implement a self-describing database stored in the memory, the self-describing database including a first tier of information storing objects associated with the utility meter and a second tier of information storing metadata associated with the objects, the metadata including at least a data dictionary associated with one or more of the objects.

A system for updating a utility meter, the system comprising:

• a utility meter including a processing system, memory, and a communication interface,
• wherein the processing system is configured to,
• receive a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file containing one or more configuration parameters via the communication interface,
• parse the JSON file to extract the one or more configuration parameters,
• validate the extracted configuration parameters to determine valid parameters and separate invalid parameters from the valid parameters,
• apply the valid parameters to update a configuration of the utility meter, and
• store the updated configuration in the memory.

A system for creating and distributing a firmware update file for a utility meter comprising:

• a plurality of utility meters configured to receive and implement an update file;
• one or more processors executing a firmware update process configured to:
• create the update file in a hex format containing one or more configuration parameters for one or more utility meters;
• convert the update file from the hex format to a binary format;
• divide the update file into a plurality of sections, each section containing a checksum and a data length;
• apply compression and encryption to the plurality of sections;
• create a file header including information about a target device for the firmware, a version, a build date, and a manifest;
• assemble the file header with the plurality of sections into a combined file;
• compute a checksum value for the combined file;
• and
• update the checksum value in the file header of the combined file;
• and
• a communication interface configured to transmit the combined file to the plurality of utility meters.