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Google Android for smart meters?

Tony Chan | July 8, 2009 | 0 Comments

Google’s Android operating system is reportedly being adopted as a platform to support smart meters in the home, according to this post by new blog, Smart Grid Communications.

Blog author Michael Palmeter didn’t give too many details, except that the solution is being developed by a Northern Californian company, and that it involved an appliance that would feature an embedded version of Android, which acts like a Home Area Network hub.

The appliance works on both fixed and wireless network and can be remotely managed by the utility company. Some of the other technologies highlighted by Palmeter include the use of a secure SIP connection for 2-way communications between the appliance and a utility’s monitoring and management systems, and a fully IMS-compliant software architecture.

What is most interesting about the use of Android is that it now enables the developer to adopt a network-agnostic approach. According to Palmeter, the system so far supports fixed Ethernet, Wi-Fi and GSM/GPRS/3G. A prototype will also feature short range wireless technology, Zigbee – likely for the in-home connections to meters and other appliances.

In this way, it doesn’t matter which networks are being used to connect each household to the utility, freeing the application from a reliance on a specific network provider. The application can use existing broadband connections. It doesn’t need a dedicated network, or a supplementary subscription package, unlike some of the solutions currently being deployed and proposed today.

Likewise, the utilities themselves have more options when rolling these devices out. Obviously, the use of wireless networks, which do require a dedicated subscription with a customized subscription package, could offer ubiquitous coverage that fixed networks might not. But at least the utilities can now have a choice between the two instead of being locked into a single technology platform.

More importantly, as Palmeter points out, the solution can be customized and enhanced with new features through the Android OS SDK and benefit “from all of the future developments that happens re the Android platform, without all of the complexities of Linux or the various commercial platforms out there.”

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