Granted Patent B2

US 8,667,261 · App. 13/192,001 · Granted Mar 4, 2014

Abstract

Claims (39)

1. A method for configuring a utility meter, the method comprising:

executing, by a device comprising one or more computers, a meter configuration application;

receiving, by the device, a plug-in module associated with a utility meter type;

building, by providing the plug-in module to the meter configuration application, a configuration file for the utility meter type, wherein building a configuration file comprises utilizing the plug-in module to invoke one or more abstract interface classes associated with the configuration application; and

configuring, by the device, the utility meter utilizing the configuration file.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein executing a meter configuration application comprises executing predefined functionality associated with the configuration application that may be adapted for use by a plurality of different meter types.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predefined functionality comprises one or more interfaces that may be adapted for use by the utility meter type.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a plug-in module comprises receiving a dynamic-link library assembly associated with the utility meter type.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein utilizing the plug-in module to invoke one or more abstract interface classes comprises invoking one or more bidirectional interfaces.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the utility meter comprises:

receiving, by the device from the utility meter, data associated with the utility meter;

modifying, by the device utilizing the received data, the configuration file; and

providing the modified configuration file to the utility meter.

7. A system, comprising:

at least one memory configured to store computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to:

execute a meter configuration application;

receive a plug-in module associated with a utility meter type;

build, by providing the plug-in module to the meter configuration application, a configuration file for the utility meter type, wherein the at least one processor is configured to build the configuration file by executing the computer-executable instructions to invoke, utilizing the plug-in module, one or more abstract interface classes associated with the configuration application; and

configure a utility meter utilizing the configuration file.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the meter configuration application comprises predefined functionality that may be adapted for use by a plurality of different meter types.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the predefined functionality comprises one or more interfaces that may be adapted for use with the utility meter type.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plug-in module comprises a dynamic-link library assembly associated with the utility meter type.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more abstract interface classes comprise one or more bidirectional interfaces.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to configure the utility meter by executing the computer-executable instructions to:

receive, from the utility meter, data associated with the utility meter;

modify, utilizing the received data, the configuration file; and

provide the modified configuration file to the utility meter.

13. A method for configuring a utility meter, the method comprising:

receiving, by a device comprising one or more computers, a plug-in module associated with a utility meter type;

invoking, by the device utilizing the plug-in module, a meter configuration application comprising predefined functionality that may be adapted for use by a plurality of different meter types to build a configuration file for the utility meter type, wherein invoking a meter configuration application comprises invoking one or more abstract interface classes associated with the configuration application; and

configuring, by the device, the utility meter utilizing the configuration file.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein invoking a meter configuration application comprising predefined functionality comprises executing a configuration application comprising one or more interfaces that may be adapted for use with the utility meter type.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein receiving a plug-in module comprises receiving a dynamic-link library assembly associated with the utility meter type.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein invoking one or more abstract interface classes comprises invoking one or more bidirectional interfaces.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein configuring the utility meter comprises:

receiving, by the device from the utility meter, data associated with the utility meter;

modifying, by the device utilizing the received data, the configuration file; and

providing the modified configuration file to the utility meter.

Assignments (9)