STREETLIGHT-MOUNTABLE COMPUTING DEVICE AND METHOD OF OPERATION
A computing device includes a housing, a powerline interface, a wireless communication interface, a controller, and a load-side power metering circuit. The housing is mountable to a support structure of a streetlight. The powerline interface is configured though a boundary of the housing and connectable to an external power source. The wireless communication interface is operable to provide communicative coupling to a remote computing device. The load-side power metering circuit is operable to meter power consumed by the computing device. The computing device may further include a clamp to mechanically couple the housing to the streetlight's support structure. A method may include establishing a wireless communication link between a first computing device and at least one cellular transceiver; performing load-side power metering by the first computing device; and communicating at least metering data between the first computing device and a second computing device through at least the wireless communication link.
1 . A computing device comprising:
a housing mountable to a support structure of a streetlight;
a wireless communication interface operable to provide communicative coupling to a remote computing server;
a controller arranged to control operations of at least the streetlight;
a load-side power metering circuit operable to meter power consumed by the computing device;
a power interface configured though a boundary of the housing and connectable to a power source external to the housing; and
a power supply coupled to the power interface, the power supply receiving power from the power interface and supplying electrical power for at least the wireless communication interface and the controller.
2 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication interface is a cellular-based communication interface.
3 . The computing device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a line-side power metering circuit, wherein the line-side power metering circuit and the load-side power metering circuit are arranged to operate concurrently.
4 . The computing device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a clamp configured to enable mechanical coupling of the housing to the support structure of the streetlight.
5 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is an internet of things device or an industrial internet of things device.
6 . A computing system comprising:
a plurality of computing devices, wherein each computing device of the plurality of computing devices includes:
a housing mountable to a support structure of a respective streetlight;
a wireless communication interface operable to provide communicative coupling to a remote computing server;
a controller arranged to control operations of at least the respective streetlight;
a load-side power metering circuit operable to meter power consumed by the computing device;
a power interface configured though a boundary of the housing and connectable to a power source external to the housing; and
a power supply coupled to the power interface, the power supply receiving power from the power interface and supplying electrical power for at least the wireless communication interface and the controller.
7 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the wireless communication interface is a cellular-based communication interface.
8 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein each computing device further includes:
a line-side power metering circuit, wherein the line-side power metering circuit and the load-side power metering circuit are arranged to operate concurrently.
9 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein each computing device further includes:
a clamp configured to enable mechanical coupling of the housing to the support structure of the respective streetlight.
10 . The computing system of claim 6 , further comprising:
the remote computing server.
11 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein each computing device is an internet of things device or an industrial internet of things device.
12 . A method comprising:
establishing a wireless communication link between a first computing device and at least one cellular transceiver, wherein the first computing device is mounted to a streetlight, includes a controller arranged to control operations of at least the streetlight, and receives electrical power from an external power source;
performing, by the first computing device, load-side power metering to measure power consumed by at least the first computing device; and
communicating at least metering data between the first computing device and a remotely-located second computing device through at least the wireless communication link.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the second computing device is a computing server.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the first computing device is an internet of things device or an industrial internet of things device.
15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
performing, by the first computing device, line-side power metering to measure power received from the external power source, wherein line-side power metering and load-side power metering occur concurrently.