1. The Development of Innovative Advanced Metering Infrastructure – Ubiquitous Metering System –
24th November, 2010
Jun Fujiwara , Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.
Masahiro Yasui , Osaka Gas Co., Ltd.
Hiroshi Ishida , Toho Gas Co., Ltd.
Good morning .
Thank you Mr. Toemchai Bunnag,
And Thank you for giving us a chance to make this presentation.
I’m Jun Fujiwara of Tokyo Gas.
I am now working on the development of the next generation smart gas meter and smart metering system in Japan.
The system ,I will show today, is called the “ubiquitous metering system” in Japan. And it was planned and designed by close cooperation with many companies in Japan.
And this system has been conceived mainly with Tokyo gas ,Osaka Gas and Toho Gas from the 1st stage of the draft .
So ,I would like to introduce this system on behalf of these three companies today. 1

2. Today’s Topics History of Japanese Domestic Gas Meters
Stages of Improvement
Innovation of Measurement technology
Situation of Existing AMR (Automatic Meter reading) in Japan
System Outline
Surrounding Issues
Next Generation Gas Smart Metering System
Over View of Ubiquitous Metering System
Features of Technology
In this presentation , I am going to talk about 3 topics and some issues.
At first , I would like to outline the history of how Japanese gas meters have improved , and the innovation of measurement technology.
Next , I will explain the situations of existing AMR systems in Japan, and also talk about the problems that should have been solved for such situations.
Last , I’m going to give an over view of our next generation smart metering system, and explain the features of some essential technology used for this smart system.
In addition , I will tell you our ongoing activities to standardize the technology in Japan and the US.
Let’s start with the history of the domestic Gas Meter in Japan. . 2

3. History of Domestic Gas Meter in Japan
Year 1961
Year 1965
Year 1976 ?
Measurement function
Safety functions
Year 1983~
On this slide , some stages of the domestic gas meter in Japan are shown.
All the gas meters shown on this slide , are diaphragm types.
The design of these were changed several times due to manufacturing technology and the demands on the business in each age.
The last meter is the “micom-meter.”
The “micom-meter.” began to spread in 1983.
The main purpose of the meter was to decrease gas leakage due to the earthquake , and the checking of abnormal gas use in the customer’s house.
For these purposes ,an earthquake sensor and low energy consumption CPU had been installed in the gas meter.
So, this meter was called the “micom meter”
Now, at long last , the “micom meter” has spread to all customers in Japan .
In 1987, the installation of micom-meter with a communication function started.
The purpose of this was for on-demand shutoff by customer.
Moreover, the meter of this type was used for AMR and some value added services.
Today, in Tokyo Gas has installed about 600,000 micon meters of this type.
In addition, we know that meters of this type are also used in Taiwan.
Though we do not have accurate number to our regret, we are very glad and wish to express our gratitude to the people who have installed these gas meters.
In 2005, we started to use a new gas meter which has new measurement technology.
An ultrasonic flow measurement technology is applied to this gas meter.
This gas meter is very innovative.
Let’ move on to explain about this innovative gas meter.
Communication functions
Year 1987~ 3

4. Hardware Evolution Ultrasonic Gas Meter Diaphragm Gas Meter 4
In this slide, you can see the change of the existing diaphragm gas meter to the newest ultrasonic gas meter.
As this picture indicates, this gas meter is extremely compact compared with the existing gas meter.
The volume and weight of the ultrasonic meter was reduced to around a half of the diaphragm gas meter
It is expected that the lifetime of the meter will be extended because all the movable components were removed and replaced by electronic parts for the measurement module in the ultrasonic gas meter.
Tokyo Gas has about 40,000 trial meters of this type installed now.
Diaphragm
Gas Meter
Featuring
Electronized measuring parts
Modularized components
Upgraded communication capability
Maintaining energy saving circuit
High durability and small-sized 4

5. Measurement Principle
Ultrasonic sensor （Upstream） T2 T1
Flow Speed U θ
This figure shows the measurement Principle of this gas meter.
It seems that the principle is very simple.
The pair of ultrasonic sensor is mounted as shown in this slide
The gas flow rate can be obtained by measuring the sonic arrival time difference between the upstream and downstream.
So, we are able to calculate the volume of gas consumption.
Now let me explain　the current AMR system in Japan.
Ultrasonic sensor （Downstream)
Sound speed is canceled 5

6. Current AMR System in Japan
Modem with
Center
Wireless Transceiver
Telephone Line
Telephone
Surrounding Issues
Diversity of phone line infrastructure
Driven by market penetration of cell phone
Imminent requirement
“Anywhere” & “Anytime” communication tool
429MHz
In this slide ,You can see the current AMR system in Japan.
Basically, the customer’s telephone line is mainly used for this system.
As shown here , the PSTN modem is installed inside the customer’s house, and connected with the mi-con meter outside the house by a wireless-transceiver for this system.
However, recently , the installation of the system is becoming difficult.
The main reasons is the spread of new communication services in recent years such as optical fiber , ADSL and the cellular phone.
On the other hand, it is expected that the AMR and some value added services , such as a energy management, home security ,and home automation, will be needed more in the near future because of energy industry trends.
So, We have planned a quite new metering system using an end-to-end wireless device.
This smart system will be able to connect and communicate as if “Any time & Anywhere”.
We are calling this system the “ubiquitous metering system”.
Micom Meter
with
Wireless Transceiver 6

7. General Configuration of the Ubiquitous Metering System
Innovative AMI composed of the following three:
Ubiquitous Meter (Next-generation ultrasonic gas meters with U-Bus )
WAN device
U-Bus Air (Adhoc Mesh Network) 　　　　　
多段中継無線
WAN
(Wide Area Network)
U-Bus Air
(Adhoc Mesh Network)
Base Station
U-Bus Air Device
WAN Device
This figure shows the outline of the ubiquitous metering system.
There are three essential pieces of technology in this system.
The first piece of technology is the next generation ultrasonic gas meter which is called the ubiquitous meter. A new communication interface called U-Bus is equipped in this meter.
The second piece of technology is new wide area wireless access service ,that has very low cost and energy consumption. We are calling the system ,the wide area ubiquitous network.
The third piece of technology is a new short distance wireless device which is called U-bas Air.
I’m going to explain briefly the features of each pieces of technology.
U-Bus
(New Communication I/F)
Fire Alarm
CO Detector
Ubiquitous Meter
(New Ultrasonic Gas Meter)
Gas Leak Detector
Control Box 7

8. Ubiquitous Meter (Next-Generation Ultrasonic Gas Meters)
Ultrasonic Meters replace conventional diaphragm meters (about 1/3 the size).
Extra CPU power enables advanced communication interface to be included. A2 A2 A1 A1 U1 U1 U2 U2 ＋ ＋ － －
U-Bus
Current
NCU
NCU
WAN
Device
U-Bus Air
Device
Alarm
This is the ubiquitous meter.
The ubiquitous meter has a new communication I/F , called U-Bus.
The U-Bus is very flexible communication I/F which has the high transmission rate, the smart packet data communication, and some very useful communication functions.
The U-Bus’s data transmission rate is 30 times more than the existing mi-con meter’s.
So, it means that the new meter can reduce energy consumption for communication , accordingly , extend　the life-time of the meter by several years.
In addition , U-Bus has many advanced communication functions for new types of sensor network service.
For example , U-Bus can be cascaded and even plug-in played with various kinds of sensors, and communication devices.
And, packet data transmission technology makes it easier to network the meter and sensors with new IP communication services.
It seems that U-Bas is the most important key for this innovative smart gas metering system.
U-Bus (Next-generation communication I/F)
→More extensive networking capability is achieved by packet communication and faster transmission speed, greatly improving the frequency of communication.
→The built-in gateway function expands the variety of service contents and enables downstream alarm devices, etc. to be controlled.
→Cost-efficiency is maximized by mass production, supported by the sharing of standard specifications between city gas meters and LPG meters. 8

9. Wide Area Access to Meters and Sensors < Wide Area Ubiquitous Network (WAUN) proposed by NTT >
IP Network
Health Care
Home Security
Meter Reading
Vending Machine Maintenance
Home Automation
Environmental Monitoring
Traffic Management
Cost effective network infrastructure for pervasively distributed movable wireless terminals (sensors and/or actuators)
Wide-area network with several km radius cell
Super low energy devices
In this figure, you can see the image of the wide area ubiquitous network.
Now this new type of wireless access service is being developed by NTT in Japan.
By using a large diameter cell , this system is expected to reduce the cost by a lot, compared with the current cellular phone service.
Additionally , in this system , some super low energy technology is also applied, it can run for over ten years on a single battery.
We are now in the field trial stage, and the service is expected to roll out within a few years.
WAUN will be applied to new type of network and service that goes beyond conventional mobile phone networks. 9

10. U-Bus Air Devices (Adhoc Mesh Network Devices)
New communication scheme in the 950MHz band characterized by the use of super-low power consumption and the support of adhoc and multi-hop communication among gas meters
U-Bus Air devices
WAN
device
HHT
※Using HHT GW instead of WAN Device
In this slide, I’d like to explain to you about U-Bus Air.
U-Bus Air Device is the new super low power consumption and short-range radio device by the support of ad-hoc and multi-hop network, and the device can network ubiquitous meters quite flexbly.
The U-Bus Air devices will be used when communication is not possible by the wide area ubiquitous network as I mentioned before.
The device automatically recognizes newly added or removed terminals ,so it reduces the cost and error risk in the installation process.
And the device has an automatic data routing function, so we are able to achieve high transmission reliability.
Therefore, it seems that this device can be applied to not only the metering but also a new sensor network service.
I’d like to show a example of the test results.
Automatic recognition of newly added terminals
(1) Simplified installation ⇒ Reduced installation cost
(2) Higher transmission reliability ⇒ Reduced maintenance cost
(3) Applicable to diverse sites (including auto-locked condominiums)
Automatic routing 10

11. Field Test of U-Bus Air Devices
U-Bus Air devices (trial model) are installed in meter compartments of an apartment block for testing communication reliability. The test is now being implemented (to be completed by the end of this fiscal year).
U-Bus Air device (Trial model)
This is the test site building for the U-Bus Air devices.
The building has 10 stories , and each story has 10 households.
Half of the households in the building were installed with the devices in each meter compartment.
Meter compartment
Test site building (10 stories, each story with 10 households) 11

12. U-Bus Air Devices Field Test Result (Data Collected up to Dec/1/2009)
1hop 10 9 8 7 6
2hops
3hops 23 18 15 14 11
4hops 28 26 25 24 5 35 33 32 31 30 41 39 38 37 36 46 45 44 43 42 52 50 49 48 47 57 56 55 54 53 69 67 64 59 58 74 72 70
Room 10
Room 9
Room 8
Room 7
Room 6
Room 5
Room 4
Room 3
Room 2
Room 1 F 9F 8F 7F 2F 1F 6F 5F 4F 3F
Plot
Clear
In this slide , the acquired data is shown.
The households are drawn as the squares.
The hop number is expressed by the color of the circle.
The Orange are 1st hop ,the pink are 2nd hop , and the sky blue are 3rd hop devices. And the base point is shown as the red solid circle.
And the black solid lines connecting the circles show the actual composed network routes .
You can see that U-Bus Air is able to network perfectly in this building. 12

13. Progress on Common Use of Specifications and International Standards
FY 2008
FY 2009
FY 2010
FY 2011
IEEE g
Ubiquitous Metering Forum Secretariat
NPO Japan Utility Telemetering Association
Japan Gas Association
The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan
Standardization of Smart Utility Networks (SUN)
Proposal on PHY&MAC layers for U-Bus Air
Preparing proposal on the integrated communication protocol
Submission of Proposal
Transfer of tasks (model number control, etc.)
Preparation of proposal on the communication protocol for city gas and LPG metering
Communication protocol for city gas metering
Participation of city gas utilities, water service agencies and other related organizations
Before the final slide, I’d like to talk about our activities ongoing activities to standardize the technology in Japan and the US.
The basic specification of U-Bus and U-Bus Air are now being standardized by the JUTA.
And PHY and MAC layer’s specification of U-Bus Air were proposed by the IEEE g & e working groups.
Both activities are expected to finish within a year, so you will be able to procure the devices and equipments of the “ubiquitous metering system” worldwide in only a few years.
Communication protocol for LPG metering 13

14. Development Schedule Wide Area Ubiquitous Network U-Bus Air Device
FY 2008
２００８ Ｑ１
２００８ Ｑ２
２００８ Ｑ３
２００８ Ｑ４
FY 2009
２００９ Ｑ１
２００９ Ｑ２
２００９ Ｑ３
２００９ Ｑ４
FY 2010
２０１０ Ｑ１
２０１０ Ｑ２
２０１０ Ｑ３
２０１０ Ｑ４
Wide Area Ubiquitous Network
Tests in the special district
U-Bus Air Device
Experimental
production
Sample for FT
production
Field test
Sample for PT
production
Ubiquitous Meter
This is the final slid.
The development schedule of the “ubiquitous metering system” is shown.
All of technological verifications and field tests for this system were started in this year, and we will get the all of the results of these trials by the end of 2012.
I think the ubiquitous metering system is one of the smartest gas metering system in the world.
Field test
Sample for PT production
Pilot Test 14

15. Thank you very much for your attention
Communication of Next Generation Enables Inspiring & Creative Life Styles
My presentation is finished.
Thank you very much for listening today.
Attentive Services
Energy Management
Security & Safety 15