M-Bus IoT converter - Quick introduction and what's ahead

Would you happen to have a meter you would like to read data remotely from? Then there is a good chance it has an M-Bus communication and we can help you.

When installing new meters, you can pick the ones with communication - be it LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE, or a wM-Bus with a local infrastructure.

However, oftentimes times you do not need to replace the meter, you only need data from that meter to be "online".

To do that, our converter might be one of the solutions you could consider.

The typical use case is usually a district heating/cooling station with its BTU meters or a bulk water meter read out.

When retrofitting a meter with a similar solution, there are a few things to consider and some challenges to solve. Such as, but not limited to -

• Long payloads for given communication This might be the case with the LoRaWAN retrofitting solution where you can safely send up to 51 bytes in one message (SF12), but the whole M-Bus telegram has up to 240 bytes.
• There is no such thing as a universal solution, or is there? To avoid telegram splitting and support of multiple meters, some manufacturers give you a limited list of meters you can connect. We leave it up to you and with our support I am certain you can connect any M-Bus device
• Reading of multiple meters via one device M-Bus meters can be addressed via its primary or secondary address. We have thought of this as well.

You can read our approach within the case study below!

CASE STUDY

If you would like to properly test our solution, we have an integration manual ready for you as well as our technical support!

INTEGRATION MANUAL

Future development

As smart metering is always evolving, we have been taking notes during this year and we have planned some new features for you. The detailed technical specifications will be announced, but our customers can look forward to the following:

• M-Bus to wM-Bus functionality.Utilizing the LUA scripting interface, it is possible to configure the M-Bus to LoRaWAN converter in a way that it receives data over M-Bus and transmits them over wM-Bus. Perfect for customers with AMI infrastructure already in place.
• Support of up to 16 UL. Even on battery-powered units.
• Coulomb counter so you know exactly how much energy was consumed. No more guessing when the battery needs a replacement.
• Detection of connected devices and their power consumption. No more guessing how many ULs each meter requires.
• Circuit protection in case 2 masters are connected on the same line.
• New configuration and documentation for fully remotely configurable units.

Reach out to me at [email protected] and I will be happy to provide you with some test units.

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