Method and system for detection of communication activities of a meter board

#This application is related to and claims benefit of co-pending application Ser. No. 13/232,224, filed on Sep. 14, 2011, and co-pending application Ser. No. 13/232,235, filed on Sep. 14, 2011, both of which are fully incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof.

#This invention generally relates to utility communications, and in particular, to systems and methods for detecting communications between a first meter board and a device.

#The increasing demand for energy and the use of finite resources for energy production have led to the use of increased technology for the production, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy in order to make, distribute and use energy more efficiently and wisely. To that end, utility service providers have begun employing information technology systems integrated with their energy production, transmission, distribution and metering systems to enable more efficient monitoring and operation of such systems. Concurrently, vendors and manufacturers have also begun employing similar technology in products and devices that consume electricity, such as appliances (e.g., refrigerators, washing machines and dryers, dishwashers, HVAC systems, lighting systems, stoves, water heaters, etc.) and electronics (e.g., televisions, stereos, computers, etc.). These efforts are often broadly categorized as smart grid, smart meter and smart appliance or smart device technologies.

#The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the methods and systems:

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a section of an exemplary utility distribution system;

#FIG. 2 is an exemplary illustration of an embodiment of a system comprised of a meter configured to communicate with a device such as computing device or a smart appliance over a first network or a second network;

#Before the present methods and systems are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that the methods and systems are not limited to specific synthetic methods, specific components, or to particular compositions. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.

#As used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Ranges may be expressed herein as from “about” one particular value, and/or to “about” another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by use of the antecedent “about,” it will be understood that the particular value forms another embodiment. It will be further understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint, and independently of the other endpoint.

#“Optional” or “optionally” means that the subsequently described event or circumstance may or may not occur, and that the description includes instances where said event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not.