Real Time VSAT based Load Metering
Prashant Saxena
Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited
A) Abstract
In the recent years, very small aperture
terminal (VSAT) technology has advanced in
number of significant ways. VSATs have
dramatically entered mainly focuses on
metering issues related to VSAT networks such
as architecture, multiple access techniques,
merits and demerits of VSAT Metering, VSAT
market statistics and various applications of
relevance and practical significance. This paper
also discusses the future of VSAT Metering
technology and the challenges in the context of
the Metering industry segments with unique
solutions. The effect on load monitoring and
scheduling and developing a model to keep
system under stability and with least line losses.
B) Introduction
Metering is a very wide area of
application which is regularly being updated and
amendments are continuously done for the
betterment in the industry. The different
approaches are being used for gas, water and
electricity metering. GSM , GPRS , CDMA and
PLC are the main mode of communication of
meter with the utility center. Automatic meter
reading, or AMR, is the technology of
automatically collecting consumption,
diagnostic, and status data from water meter or
energy metering devices (water, gas, and
electric) and transferring that data to a central
database for billing, troubleshooting, and
analyzing. This advance mainly saves utility
providers the expense of periodic trips to each
physical location to read a meter. Another
advantage is billing can be based on near real
time consumption rather than on estimates based
on previous or predicted consumption. This
timely
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Information coupled with analysis, can help
both utility providers and customers better
control the use and production of electric AMR
technologies include handheld, mobile and
network technologies based on telephony
platforms (wired and wireless), radio frequency
(RF), or power line transmission, gas usage, or
water consumption.
The different technologies that are currently
used and with their Disadvantages
1) Touch technology
With touch based AMR, a meter reader
carries a handheld computer or data collection
device with a wand or probe. The device
automatically collects the readings from a meter.
Disadvantage: The Meter Reader is to go and
collect the data and in the case of remote areas
or in areas where the Population per Kilometer
is very less its really a tedious JOB.
2) Radio frequency network, Mobile
Radio frequency based AMR can take
many forms. The more common ones are
handheld, mobile, and fixed network. There are
both two-way RF systems and one-way RF
systems in use that use both licensed and
unlicensed RF bands.
RF based meter reading usually eliminates the
need for the meter reader to enter the property
or home, or to locate and open an underground
meter pit. The utility saves money by increased
speed of reading, has lower liability from
entering private property, and has less chance of
missing reads because of being locked out from
meter access.
The majority of manufacturers of electricity
meters have radio frequency devices in the
frequency band of 433/868 MHz for large scale
deployment in European countries. The
frequency band of 2.4 GHz can be now used in
India for outdoor as well as indoor applications
but few manufacturers have shown products
within this frequency band. With mobile meter
reading, the reader does not normally have to
read the meters in any particular route order, but
just drives the service area until all meters are
read. Components often consist of a laptop or
proprietary computer, software, RF
receiver/transceiver, and external vehicle
antennas.
Disadvantages: The Meter Reader is to
generally go through a Van or some vehicle in
front of the Residence or meter so as to collect
the meter data in the HHU, But if the conditions
are like in Korea and other some other countries
where the roads are not proper and even no road
in some areas then it would result as a severe
drawback in this technology.
3) Fixed network
Fixed Network AMR is a method where
a network is permanently installed to capture
meter readings. This method can consist of a
series of antennas, towers, collectors, repeaters,
or other permanently installed infrastructure to
collect transmissions of meter readings from
AMR capable meters and get the data to a
central computer without a person in the field to
collect it.
There are several types of network topologies in
use to get the meter data back to a central
computer. A star network is the most common,
where a meter transmits its data to a central
collector or repeater. Some systems use only
collectors which receive and store data for
processing. Others also use a repeater which
forwards a reading from a more remote area
back to a main collector without actually storing
it. A repeater may be forwarded by RF signal or
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sometimes is converted to a wired network such
as telephone or IP network to get the data back
to a collector.
Some manufacturers are developing mesh
networks where meters themselves act as
repeaters passing the data to nearby meters until
it makes it to a main collector. The Swedish city
of Gothenburg is having their electric meters
connected in this manner, using the ZigBee
protocol. A mesh network may save the
infrastructure of many collection points, but is
more data intensive on the meters. One issue
with mesh networks it that battery operated ones
may need more power for the increased
frequency of transmitting. It also requires that
the meter devices be receivers as well as
transmitters potentially making individual
transceiver cost higher. However, the additional
cost may be outweighed by the savings of
multiple collectors and repeater antennas and
finding places to mount them.
Some fixed network systems are also capable of
being installed as a hybrid AMR system where
mobile and fixed network are intermixed by
design. In a hybrid system, part of the system is
read by fixed network, and parts may read by
mobile or other technology, or both. Utilities
with low density rural areas may not cost justify
the fixed network infrastructure for parts of their
service area, using it only for higher density
zones or commercial accounts. Some hybrid
networks allow reading of a meter by both
methods concurrently as a source of
redundancy. In the event of a failure of the
network due a natural disaster, sabotage, power
failure, or other network interruption, the mobile
reading system is available in their disaster
recovery plan as an alternative means of data
collection to the fixed network.
Disadvantages: The repeaters are used which
are very costly and in case if the meters are at a
very far distance (Like in Australia) then it is
very impossible to install repeaters in such a far
distance. In the Case of heavy storms and tides
which are very prominent in coastal regions. so
this type of methodology would be a
disadvantage for the Fixed network topology.
4) Wi Fi
The city of Corpus Christi became one
of the first cities in the United States to
implement city wide Wi Fi, which had been free
until May 31, 2007, mainly to facilitate AMR
after a meter reader was attacked by a dog.
Today many meters are designed to transmit
using Wi Fi, even if a Wi Fi network is not
available, and they are read using a drive-by
local Wi Fi hand held receiver.
The meters installed in Corpus Christi are not
directly Wi-Fi enabled, but rather transmit
narrow-band burst telemetry on the 460 MHz
band. This narrow-banded signal has a much
greater range than Wi-Fi, so the number of
receivers required for the project is far fewer
than the number of Wi-Fi access points covering
the same area. These special receiver stations
then take in the narrow-band signal and report
their data via Wi-Fi.
Most of the automated utility meters installed in
the Corpus Christi area are battery powered.
Compared to narrow-band burst telemetry, Wi-
Fi technology uses far too much power for long-
term battery-powered operation.
Disadvantage: A large area can not be covered
using the Wi-Fi technology because it is not
highly secure and even the initial cost is very
high
5) Power line communication
(PLC) AMR is a method where
electronic data is transmitted over power lines
back to the substation, then relayed to a central
computer in the utility's main office. This would
be considered a type of fixed network system
the network being the distribution network
which the utility has built and maintains to
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deliver electric power. Such systems are
primarily used for electric meter reading. Some
providers have interfaced gas and water meters
to feed into a PLC type system.
Disadvantage: The Biggest disadvantage of the
PLC is in case if the power line is being broken
from between somewhere then it is impossible
to connect the meter by the utility. Sometimes it
is a case found that user cuts his meter so as that
meter doesnt communicate with the utility.
C) Benefits of Advanced Metering
Advanced Metering systems can provide
benefits for utilities, retail providers and
customers. Benefits will be recognized by the
utilities with increased efficiencies, outage
detection, tamper notification and reduced labor
cost as a result of automating reads, connections
and disconnects. Retail Providers will be able to
offer new innovative products in addition to
customizing packages for their customers. In
addition, with the meter data being readily
available, more flexible billing cycles would be
available to their customers instead of following
the standard utility read cycles.
The benefits of smart metering are clear and
proven.
Accurate meter reading, no more
estimates
Improved billing
Accurate Profile Classes and
Measurement Classes, true costs applied
Improved Security for premises
Energy Management through profile
data graphs
Less financial burden correcting
mistakes
Less accrued expenditure
Less time chasing call centers to provide
meter readings
Transparency of cost to read metering
Improved procurement power though
more accurate data - de-risking price

D) VSAT Metering
A Very Small Aperture Terminal
(VSAT), is a two-way satellite ground station
with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3 meters.
Most VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2
m. Data rates typically range from 56 Kbit/s up
to 4 Mbit/s. VSATs access satellites in to relay
data from small remote earth stations (terminals)
to other terminals (in mesh configurations) or
master earth station "hubs" (in star
configurations). VSAT metering is the newest
way of Automatic Meter Reading and leads to
the different approach in the metering world.
The Diagram (a) shows the working of a VSAT
Metering Protocol. The different type of
topologies can be used depending upon the
nature of the communication need and
protocols.
A Meter, earth station, ground station, or
earth terminal is a terrestrial terminal station
designed for extra planetary telecommunication
with spacecraft, and/or or reception of radio
waves from an astronomical radio source. Earth
stations are located either on the surface of the
Earth, or within Earth's atmosphere. Earth
stations communicate with spacecraft by
transmitting and receiving radio waves in the
super high frequency or extremely high
frequency bands (e.g., microwaves). When an
earth station successfully transmits radio waves
to a spacecraft (or vice versa), it establishes a
telecommunications link.
A telecommunications link is generally one of
several types of information transmission paths
accomplished by communication satellites to
connect two points on earth.
1) An uplink (UL or U/L) is the portion of a
communications link used for the transmission
of signals from an meter to a satellite or to the
utility satellite. An uplink is the inverse of a
downlink.
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2) A downlink (DL) is the link from a satellite
to a ground station.
Configurations
Most VSAT networks are configured in one of
these topologies
A star topology, using a central uplink
site, such as a network operations center
(NOC), to transport data back and forth
to each VSAT terminal via satellite,
A mesh topology, where each VSAT
terminal relays data via satellite to
another terminal by acting as a hub,
minimizing the need for a centralized
uplink site,
A combination of both star and mesh
topologies. Some VSAT networks are
configured by having several centralized
uplink sites (and VSAT terminals
stemming from it) connected in a multi-
star topology with each star (and each
terminal in each star) connected to each
other in a mesh topology. Others
configured in only a single star topology
sometimes will have each terminal
connected to each other as well,
resulting in each terminal acting as a
central hub. These configurations are
utilized to minimize the overall cost of
the network, and to alleviate the amount
of data that has to be relayed through a
central uplink site (or sites) of a star or
multi-star network.
An innovative feature of VSAT is that the
technology has evolved to the point that
something that previously could only be done
with large, high-powered transmitting satellite
dishes can now be done with a much smaller
and vastly lower-powered antenna at the
customer's premises. In addition, several return-
path channels can co-exist on a single satellite
transponder, and each of these return-path
channels is further subdivided to serve multiple
customers. VSAT equipment consists of
two units:
One is
placed
outdoors for a line-of-sight to the satellite and
The second is placed indoors to interface with
the users communications device (e.g. data
terminal equipment). The outdoor unit consists
of small antenna, mount and electronics for
signal reception and transmission. The indoor
unit is a small desktop box that contains the
receiver and transmitter boards and an interface
to the users equipment. Many remote locations
with end user terminals can be connected
through VSATs to a centralized processing
center or the hub. Outbound information (from
the hub to the VSATs) is sent up to the
communication satellites transponder, which
beams the information down for reception to the
remote VSATs. The VSATs at the remote
locations send information inbound (from the
VSATs to the hub) via the same satellite
transponder to the hub station. This arrangement
where all network communication passes
through the networks hub processor, is called a
STAR Configuration. The hub station serves
as the center of the star-configured network.
Working of VSAT Metering
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We have discussed about the various
technologies on which we are working currently
in India and abroad, but the technology VSAT
metering will going to bring a great revolution
due to its lucrative approach and its benefits.
The VSAT metering is divided into Three Parts
Part I- It covers the Measurement of electricity
by the energy meter and convert it into the
digital form (in case the energy meter is not
digital) and transfer it to the data acquisition
unit (DAU) which convert it into a chipper text
by using a private key (In some cases SSL can
also be used for the purpose, it is for secure data
transmission) .The data is analyzed into the
DAU and make it ready for transmission
through small VSAT antennas (Ground station).
Part-II- The DAU is ready to transmit data
through the VSAT (Ground terminal) in two
way through TDM or FDM. The meter data is
ready to transmit to the satellite and with a high
level of security.
Part III- The Meter data is reached to the
receiving of the Utility end and data is analyzed
at the utility base station
Advantages
Availability: VSAT services can be
deployed anywhere having a clear view
of the Clarke Belt
Diversity: VSAT provides a wireless link
completely independent of the local
terrestrial/wire line infrastructure -
especially important for backup or
disaster recovery services
Deploy ability: VSAT services can be
deployed in hours or even minutes (with
auto-acquisition antennas)
Homogeneity: VSAT enables customers
to get the same speeds and service level
agreements at all locations across their
entire network regardless of location
Acceleration: Most modern VSAT
systems use onboard acceleration of
 protocols such as TCP ("spoofing" of
acknowledgement packets) and HTTP
(pre-fetching of recognized HTTP
objects); this delivers high-quality
Internet performance regardless of
latency (see below)
Multicast: Most current VSAT systems
use a broadcast download scheme (such
as DVB-S) which enables them to
deliver the same content to tens or
thousands of locations simultaneously at
no additional cost
Security: Corporate-grade VSAT
networks are private layer-2 networks
over the air
F) Real Time application of VSAT
Metering
The scopes of VSAT metering are not limited
to transmitting the analyzed data and
communicate with the utility base station but
also as a Load Monitoring and load scheduling.
The approaches are different in different type of
topographic regions and as per the utility
requirement. A continuous research is going on
in whole world regarding the VSAT based
online grid monitoring. The system has two type
of power i.e. active power and reactive power
both has its own area of application if any one
of the power is reduced in the system it will
results in a system shut down. The VSATS are
small dish antennas which have a very high
speed of up-Link and Down Link Speed. The
GSS are connected With the Real Time
monitored satellite. Some basic areas of
application of VSAT monitoring are discussed
below:
(1)Local area load scheduling:
To better understand this concept let us take a
example of 10 nos of clients or residence or
meters, where the Active powers and Reactive
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powers demands are P1, P2, , P10 and
Q1,Q2,.,Q10 respectively . The
maximum demands are fixed as per the
requirement of different customers i.e. MD1
,MD2, MD3, , MD10 . The generating
station has a capacity of generation given below
( If we consider only 10 nos of meters and
residences under surveillance)
10
Power Generated ( PG1) = Pn
n=1
Now let us consider that at 100 % of households
and designated meters crosses its Maximum
demand (MD) by approx x% (May be increase
or decrease) then the final Power needed is
Expressed below:
It is observed that the PG 2 > PG1 due to
different conditions, Now here if we add one
more factor PG as the difference between
PG1 and PG2 . So
PG1+ PG= PG2
The meter is connected through the VSAT and
continuous data is reaching at the utility base
station , An another VSAT is connected at the
GRID which is connecting the 10 nos of meters
under test and immediately locate that which
user is going more than its assign load demand.
Although the Intelligent GRID automatically cut
down the Meter supply of the meter exceeding
the MD( Maximum Demand) and also send a
immediate signal to the generating station that
PG amount of more energy is required at the
GRID so as to reduce the chance of shutdown of
system due to over Power demand. The VSAT
technology is very effective as well as
lightening fast that gives a quick access to the
GRID as well as to the generating station that
play a vital role in Local area Load monitoring.
(2) Real Time Voltage control:
The current methods that we are currently using
are effective but the transition time is very high
and sometimes its lead to a system instability.
We know that
P= (V1 .V2 sin ) / XL
Where:
P= Power Transmitted
V1= Sending end voltage
V2=Receiving end voltage
= Rotor angle
XL= Line Reactance
From the above five quantities only one can be
easily varied, that is X. In the real time voltage
control, the series capacitors are used so as to
regularize the power, The GSS (Grid Sub
station) is connected through a VSAT and
whenever there is a variation in voltage the
various capacitors are connected through the
Control unit which decides how much
capacitance is needed to increase the power. So
this method is very much practically Possible. In
case of Faults (Line break or any other type) the
compensation is done 100 so as to make P =0.
so the capacitors that should be connected with
the line and controlled by VSAT control unit is
equal to XL ( Line Reactance).
(3)Communication between load dispatches
Centers :
With the VSAT system monitoring there will be
a very fast communication between the load
dispatch centers and also with the GSS so as to
regularize the system parameters and reduce the
chance of instability. The biggest advantage of
VSAT system monitoring is that the critical
clearing time of the power system is exactly
calculated and steps to safeguard the system
from instability by clearing the fault in time due
to fast communication between VSAT.
(4) Real time energy auditing:
In a country like India where losses are 25-35
% , the auditing of energy is really a tough task,
but with the VSAT metering , the exact data and
exact country load profile can be calculated
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even hourly and it is very exact then using a
conventional method. The energy auditing will
facilitate to find the loop holes in the current
power system scenario. The energy auditing
needs Sending end power and receiving end
power, which is almost very much accurate due
to VSAT connectivity between the two
terminals.
5) All type of metering (Gas, Water and
electricity) through a single channel.
6) kWh can be uploaded from a remote location
7) Credit can be transferred from one meter to
another.
8) If a USER (Meter) crosses its MD, line
automatically disconnected.
9) Internet and Telephony can be used on the
same channel.
10) Group metering can be encouraged at a very
lower initial cost.
11) No need of GSM/ GPRS network, as for
very remote location meters no need to install
new RF network.
12) Fast communication between meter to meter
and meter to utility.
13) Online- complaints through SMS service
14) Two Way Communication, which speed up
the data analysis.
F) Conclusion
The VSAT metering is a good solution
for the remote meters where GSM or Other
networks are not possible. Its a good solution
for a highly reliable and continuously
upgradeable approach for any future up
gradation. In this paper we have evaluated a
new method for metering in the remote areas
and where the reach ability is very low. Though
the concept is to more improvise but with a high 3. P= Power Transmitted
engineering end it can lead to be a new scenario 4. V1= Sending end voltage
and a revolution in the metering industry. The 5. V2=Receiving end voltage
Load monitoring is very effectively results after 6. = Rotor angle
the application of VSAT metering. The accurate 7. XL= Line Reactance
energy Auditing has achieved by VSAT 8. PG =Power
metering. difference in
generating and
G) References consuming
9. AMR= Automatic
1)Real Time GPS data transmission using VSAT
meter Reading
technology by Michael E. Jackson1*, Chuck Meertens1,
Oivind Ruud1, Spencer Reeder1, Warren Gallaher1, and 10. AMI= Advanced
Chris Rocken2 1University NAVSTAR Consortium metering
(UNAVCO), University Corporation for Atmospheric infrastructure
Research (UCAR) Office of Programs 2GPS Science & 11. PLC = Powel line communication
Technology (GST) Program, University Corporation for
12. SSL= Secure socket Layer
Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Office of Programs.
13. HHU= Hand Held Unit
2) V.S.A.T. By M. Habibullah Pagarkar of S.E.-I.T.
I) About the author
3)Trends in VSAT Networking By Rajesh Gera,
SATCOM.NIC.IN
Mr. Prashant Saxena is having a Graduate
4)Voice conferencing using VSAT Technology,BG Degree in Electrical engineering specialization
flowers (EBU) from University of Rajasthan. He is currently
working with Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran
5) Electrical Power system by CL wadhwa Nigam Limited. His main area of interest are
Power System monitoring, Power system design
and modeling, control systems and Real time
systems. He is currently working in the field of
H) Abbrevations power system to reduce commercial losses in
the system through real time application.
1. VSAT Very small apparture terminal
2. Pn= Power measured by nth meter