How to leverage today’s connectivity and sensor technology in Smart Metering (English)

Tyler: Hello and welcome to this live discussion from TE Connectivity, discussing smart metering. Now the global smart electric meter market size stood at 16.39 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach 27.97 billion by 2025, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 7.95% during the forecast period. Now, there are a lot of drivers of this growth that includes sustainability, efficient consumption, and economical advantages [00:00:30] as well as smooth billing procedures. So we're going to dive into all of that and really get into the nitty-gritty of smart metering today. And we have a panel of experts from TE connectivity that I'm thrilled to welcome to the show. Now, first we have Gordon Barber Director of RF Solutions at TE Connectivity. Gordon, welcome to the show. 

Gordon Barber: Thank you very much, Tyler. 

Tyler: Absolutely. And we also have Jesus Jimenez. He's a Global Product Manager under TE devices sub vertical within the industrial business unit at TE connectivity. Jesus, welcome to the show. 

Jesus Jimenez S...: Hello [00:01:00] Tyler. Thank you very much for the invitation. Glad to join you. 

Tyler: Absolutely. Well, we are thrilled to have you. We also have Zack Noel. He is the Global Product Manager for Product Knowledge and Training for TE sensors. Zack, welcome 

Zackery Noel: Hey, Tyler. Thanks for having me. 

Tyler: You got it. And next we have Tyler Madden Manager of Global Product Management for Te Connectivity. I guess the show is big enough for two Tyler's. Tyler Madden, welcome to the program. 

Tyler Madden: Absolutely thanks. 

Tyler: And finally last, but certainly not least. We have Devin Brock Manager for Product Knowledge and Training for TE Sensors. [00:01:30] Devin, welcome to the program, thanks for joining us. 

Devin Brock: Thanks Tyler. Thanks so much for having me today. I appreciate it so. 

Tyler: Absolutely. What a panel of all stars we have here diving into the topic of smart metering. And so Gordon let's start off with you. Tell us a little bit about how smart metering applications have become such a large part of the smart grid ecosystem and how vital they are to the overall success of the system. 

Gordon Barber: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when we look at smart meters, they're a core part of, of this, this [00:02:00] set of applications, let's say, right. When we talk about smart grid, you, you, frankly, you start with smart metering, right. And if we look back on the history of metering where maybe within the last 20 years, we had people that essentially went to homes to, and see how the consumption was going or if any issues were arising. And now when we look to where we are today, you have fully automated systems driven by the latest wireless connectivity, which [00:02:30] facilitates anything from a consumer insight to provider insight problems, consumption, optimization. I mean, smart meters are really at the core of what you, when you think of a smart grid. 

Tyler: And there's also the added benefit, I suppose, of increased accuracy and reliability over the course of the life of this, right? And that's, that's certainly something, when you, when you talk about accuracy, it's going be important to people. 

Gordon Barber: [00:03:00] Yeah, precisely. I mean, when you look at both sides, starting from a user as an example, right. User can see the consumption that they have on a daily basis. You know, I live in a very hot climate and so how do I use smart metering? As an example, I can see what is my electricity consumption on a daily, hourly basis and optimize my consumption to align best with prices and how the prices fluctuate throughout the day where heavy electricity [00:03:30] is used as an example and in air conditioning systems. And so you can optimize that from a user perspective and it's, it's great, frankly, for your wallet, to be honest with you. And then when you look at the provider side, right, they can optimize the way they deliver products, the way they charge, the way they bill. They can incentivize their consumers to act in a particular way so that they can lessen the load. Again, if we think from a electric perspective in this case. So a lot of optimization, a lot of insight [00:04:00] provided to both parties 

Tyler: And now specific to smart grid and smart metering, Godon. What are some of the emerging trends are accelerating the technologies that are out there right now? 

Zackery Noel: Yeah. Great question, Tyler. And again, if we step back and look at the history that reference that I gave right, 20 years ago, we had people that would go door to door or home to home to understand what was happening now, right. And then maybe 15 years or so you saw emerging wireless technologies that started with [00:04:30] really proprietary networks. So we had ISM communications where larger companies would put up networks to serve large municipalities and they would gain insight, right. But that was generally all done at a very, a level to the service provider might put that up or municipality might have to invest in and help with that. And as we move from that really privatized network, then we start to see technologies like Sigfox or LoRaWAN they [00:05:00] come out and they also are a proprietary network in a sense, but now you have companies driving the technology. 

It's not down to a municipality level or a one provider level. You have core technology providers helping with that. And as you move from that now into what we call 5G or IoT, now you mix in the mobile network connectivity, you mix in the cloud analytics, real-time data, real-time insight. You, you have the option as a municipality or a smaller [00:05:30] government agency. You don't have to put in a private network essentially on your own dime. You can leverage mobile network operators, networks, you can keep up with the technology, as it evolves. There's a huge change is coming and in metering. And frankly, over the last 20 years, it seemed quite a boon in terms of, you know, incorporating technology. 

Tyler: Absolutely. And maybe as a follow-up Tyler, I'm curious just from the product side, how do these industry trends influence a connector, design, and selection and things of that nature? 

Tyler Madden: [00:06:00] Yeah. Thanks, Tyler. Great question. You know, I think the number one driver as Gordon mentioned is miniaturization, when you think about the interconnect side. As you increase the functionality in these devices, you have to think through miniaturization. You're packing more and more into one package. And on the other hand, that package needs to get smaller, right. How do we make this appealing visually? How do we satisfy the consumer's [00:06:30] request to make your meters look aesthetically pleasing within their homes? And all of those tend toward miniaturization of the components within these devices. And that's a key trend for, for this industry and for connector suppliers as well. 

Tyler: Yeah. That's, that's an excellent point. And going back to what Gordon was talking about, he, he discussed predictive analytics. Now, what does this mean? And how does TE play a role when it comes to predictive analytics? Give us just a primer and I'll, [00:07:00] I'll open this up to the group, whoever wants to tackle this question. 

Gordon Barber: Well, I'll chime in on that Tyler, right. I mean, what do the analytics do? And it was kind of down the lines of what I was describing, right. I mean, when you, again, if we use that, that electricity consumption analogy. Right now when we have predictive analytics, we can understand, okay, what, what part of the day is the heaviest usage? What puts the greatest load on the grid as an example? I mean, if we saw what happened in [00:07:30] Texas recently, right, they large problem that arose because there analytics maybe failed in that nature. So what we're able to do now in this predictive analytics is see what's happening, we can see a load, we can, we can influence consumers to act in a particular way to help either a consumption of electricity and again, reduce any issues that may arise. 

But, as another example, when we see in predictive analytics, [00:08:00] I just read recently in London, in the sewer system, there is a huge blockage that is like tons two or three tons worth of waste that is blocking a pipe in, I believe it's actually in the greater London area. And they were, they were able to see this and understand this through essentially IoT and analytics, right. They saw the flow was reducing, they could sense that there was some issue there and they were able to deploy and get a, a methodology [00:08:30] to fix that in place before it became a larger issue and really shut things down and cost a lot more money, right. So there are two great examples there, how predictive analytics, how predictive insight has allow us to foresee problems and deter them. 

Tyler: Yeah, I think that's an excellent point, Gordon. And you make a good point about, people want to be able to use analytics and use data to be able to predict the future a little bit more and I think that the way you described that was really good. So tell me a little about what kinds of challenges are presented [00:09:00] by these new trends that we're seeing. Digitization is affecting every everyone and everything right now, but how are they affecting engineers who work in developing smart metering solutions? 

Gordon Barber: You know, I can comment on that Tyler from the wireless technology perspective, and certainly some of my colleagues can, can speak to other aspects, but on the wireless technology what's happening, right. And when we look at the complexity as we move, as an example, from those, from those unlicensed [00:09:30] band systems where you're not on a mobile network operators network, you have a privatized network. There's a bit of a different performance expectation there. And you don't have the same constraints or the same issues because your network is much smaller, you're able to control it easier, you're able to put it in place precisely the way you want. But as you move to this mobile network operator spectrum, as we move to what is a really a much broadband solution, right, [00:10:00] when you think about cellular bands versus the unlicensed, it's a much more difficult RF solution, okay. 

You have an integration challenges when you want to integrate these operating bands inside of a meter, as an example, which tends to have a fair amount of metal. It tends to have an industrial design that the metering groups they want to work with, which may influence the performance. So one of the challenges from the wireless connectivity side is ensuring that robust communication [00:10:30] that you're looking for. Ensuring that your solution, when integrated into that meter, is operating the way you, the way you want, right. And then of course you have to meet the mobile network operators requirements to be on their network as well. So when we talk about the complexities of the RF solution, driven by the industrial design, coupled with the complexities of getting onto what is not really your own network, now somebody else's network, there is a lot more constraint. [00:11:00] There is a lot more performance need, a lot more detail that goes into the design to make sure you have an optimized network. So there's a fair amount of challenge there that that needs to be reviewed and understood when you go to integrate these products. 

Tyler: Absolutely. Yeah. Anybody have anything they want to say in following up on, on what Gordon was talking about there. Just about the challenges that are presented by these new trends and how they're affecting engineers who were working in, in developing smart metering solutions? Any anybody have anything they want to follow up on? 

Tyler Madden: Yeah. Tyler, [00:11:30] from my perspective, right. You know, as much as you need the antenna to work within the device, you need the device to work around the antenna as well. And so thinking about the ecosystem of connectors and other devices that sit around that antenna is equally critical, right. You need to, you know, manage EMI, you need to manage noise. And historically we'll do this through things like board level shielding and spring fingers for grounding and, and other mitigation options that you have from a [00:12:00] connector portfolio standpoint. 

So understanding how this antenna is integrated into your total device and making sure that it is successful related to that is critically important. 

Jesus Jimenez S...: I think another one of the things that is important to highlight is, again, the point that Tyler mentioned before about being tourist station. Because we have to be aware that even though the size is started getting smaller, this, the request for power is always there. So even though your, your devices are getting smaller, you're going to always want to have higher power [00:12:30] or at least be able to offer the same power at a smaller size in order to be able to offer more capability, to incorporate more components into the same electronic electronic device, or you're trying to sell out there. So at the end of the day, this is one of the main trends that we have to keep in mind at all points. 

Devin Brock: And just from a sensory standpoint, the same sort of thing with miniaturization, sensors are getting smaller and smaller. They're actually looking at combining sensor technology, so having multiple sensory technologies [00:13:00] in a single package. And to Jesus's point, from a power standpoint, the digital sensors can do things like go to sleep when they're not needed. So they can minimize the amount of power that they, that they need to ensure that the overall amount of power that used overall is saved for other things. 

Tyler: I want to bring Zack into the conversation and just ask what switches are mainly used for PCB Onboard applications. 

Zackery Noel: Thanks, Tyler. Yeah, this is a great question because [00:13:30] as both Tyler and Gordon, and everyone's been talking about, miniaturization or bringing more power to an application TE really offers a wide variety of board mounted switches, which include dip, dip switches, tactile switches, slide switches, push button switches, and even snap action switches. And really all these products are offered through a board mounting option, whether it's through hole or a surface mount option. When you do look at a surface mount switch, the customer has, [00:14:00] they have the capability of choosing whether it's a surface mount gull wing or surface mount J lead type of switch. But all these switches are being designed and really following that miniaturization capabilities and being able to handle more power that allow the customer really to develop these into their application that they're building. 

Tyler: It was maybe a, a good followup question to that, and just a question in general that that helps maybe establish some baseline knowledge for some folks is, is what is a switch in the first place? 

Zackery Noel: Yeah, so really a [00:14:30] switch is an electromechanical device that's used to control the flow of electricity. So very familiar with like a light switch within your house. Those switches that I mentioned in the previous question, really all follow that type of format. So they're all really made of a housing, a contact, there's terminals within the switch, and then following the actuator. But all these components work together to allow the customer to really control whatever application they'll need to allow electricity will flow in their device, or however they're designing in that product to work within [00:15:00] that application. 

Tyler: So one of the benefits mentioned in the trends related to leaks and loss due to theft, right? And so that's, that's obviously going to be a big topic of conversation. Let me open this up to the group, what products does TE have available to prevent tamper protection and things like that. 

Gordon Barber: I'll chime in here, Tyler. I mean, it strikes me that that TE provides a fair amount of components that would be built into a kind of theft prevention system, right. 

Tyler: Mm-hmm (affirmative). 

Gordon Barber: And [00:15:30] when you look across the group here and we represent different parts of TE, and it's pretty clear, I won't speak to the sensors, right, but it's pretty clear that you could, you have a system that might have a sensor that detects something. Okay? And then you have a system that then would communicate that something to, to someone, right. And so when, when you think about that really kind of high level comments, then you can break down, how does, what are the components that fall into place there? Tyler Madden was speaking to the connectors, Devin, speaking [00:16:00] to the sensors and Zack to the switches that all become part of that, that, let's say system or, or black box that you create, right. 

And then the piece that I was talking to earlier, when we talk about the wireless infrastructure. Now you have this system, this black box that's built that, again, understands what's happening. If we use a kind of oil leaks, so there's a change in pressure. We detect that change in pressure, sensor notices that, communicates in, in [00:16:30] inside of the little black box here that says, Hey, we have a problem, we've got to get this to the edge or to the core network, or however the network is built up and they facilitate a wireless communication system. Whether that be a meshing system or a 5B NB IoT IOT or Cat-M1 system that allows that facilitates that conversation. I think it's pretty clear from a theft prevention point of view, how TE is going to fit in and be able to assist you when you're building out such a solution or designing such a solution. 

Tyler: Absolutely. [00:17:00] Anybody have anything they want to, they want to follow up with from those comments. 

Devin Brock: Yeah, just to follow up from Gordon's comment on the sensor side. There is a couple of different technologies that are specifically used for tamper to deck detection. So Piezo film is one, most people aren't really familiar with that. But what that can do is actually detect any sort of vibration. So if, basically if anybody is trying to get into the enclosure itself, basically it can detect that basically through the vibration. We also have some board level vibration sensors that can do a similar [00:17:30] sort of thing. And some of those do have some edge computing, so they can actually do some of the detection and actually provide some feedback to the system to say, Hey, there's something going on. 

And then finally from a magnetic side. So many of the meters have, use magnetics as kind of how they're doing their metering. So we have some AMR, so anti subtropical magnetoresistance sensors, AMR sensors that actually can detect changes in the magnetic field. And so if somebody is actually not trying to [00:18:00] tamper with getting into the box per se, but actually trying to use or get around the system to get so-called free energy, it can detect that sort of tampering as well. So there's some different technologies. Some of the others they mentioned are pressure and temperature that are used as well. So again, there's lots of different technologies depending upon what the type of system is and what they are trying to detect because there's lots of different ways that people can try to get into the system. And again, there's lots of ways down the line where TE comes into play to take that basic information and then [00:18:30] get it to the user, to react to that sort of tamper type attempt from the user. 

Tyler: Absolutely. Thanks so much to Devin and Gordon for their answers on that question. Really, really great stuff. And so Jesus, I want to talk for a moment about resistors. What are resistors and what do they do? 

Jesus Jimenez S...: Well, when we talk about resistors, we have to be aware that we're talking about electrical component that can reduce voltage and or limit the current flowing through a circuit. Basically these components can be used for many different [00:19:00] purposes or applications, but the main ones is the circuit protection. And this is basically for common occurrences that can happen to any circuit such as a search and power. So, and this can be found in every electronic product out there globally available. I'll give you an example, so uses for resistors could be voltage division, heat generation, matching and loading of circuits, control gains, and fixed or time constraints. Resistors are commonly available with resistance values over a range of more than nine [00:19:30] orders of magnitude. So basically they are using a vast array of applications and can be found in a wide range of sizes. From extremely small mounted, surface mount devices in a wide range of smaller like consumer electronics, such as your, an iPod or phone or any type of a smaller device like a remote, going into large dynamic breaking resisters that can be used for dissipation of energy in the shape of form of heat, such as for braking systems from train, large trains, or [00:20:00] even for large maritime ships for, and also airplanes in the air defense and military applications. 

Tyler: So, Jesus you, you mentioned that these are used in a wide range of applications, right? So what type of resistor would be most suitable for smart metering application? 

Jesus Jimenez S...: Coming back to my point about the space constraints about the, also the point that Tyler mentioned before. We have to think about for, for smart metering applications, we have to think about the, surface mount fixed resistors. [00:20:30] These are basically smaller resistors than the through-hole standard resistors. Instead of having wire leads that go through their pro [PCB 00:20:39], they have terminations that are soldered to the pads on the surface of the board. So basically this eliminates the need to have holes going through the PCB and will enable any engineer who is designing a circuit to be able to save space, while enabling the larger possibilities to incorporate more components into that same PCB. 

So there are different types that [00:21:00] are procedures that can be used within the surface mount, but, but there are the four most common ones would be thick film, thin film, which is, which would be the most accurate ones in stables. The third one would be a metal strip conversation, which is commonly used for current sensing applications, so kind of, kind of in the way of a sensor. And then the last one would be a wire one compensation, which would have a, a molded construction as opposed to a flat sheet composition. 

Tyler: [00:21:30] Fantastic stuff. Thank you so much for that, Jesus. I want to go to our, our sensor experts perhaps for this, this question, Devin and Zack. So what types of sensors are typically found in smart meters? Let me toss that over to you guys. And anyone can chime in, if you have something that you want to say on the types of sensors we find in smart meters. 

Devin Brock: Yeah, Zack, I'll, I'll start first. So we talked a little bit about the tamper detection sensors. So there's also sensors in there typically for a couple of things. So temperature sensing, as [00:22:00] Jesus had talked about, the current sensing that's done, especially in the electric meters. So there's terminals that connect basically the, the electric media to, to your house or to the business or to the grid. So when the current sensing is being done, there's typically temperature sensors on those terminals to make sure that they don't overheat. If there's something that happens, they'll be, checking the temperature and get feedback so they can disconnect that before any real issues occur. And then typically also some sensors [00:22:30] for compensation. So typically on gas meters, they need to compensate for the changes in temperatures, especially in colder climates. So you'll see temperature sensors, whether they're RTDs or NTC thermistor based sensors, basically to control the metering of the gas and make sure that it's done correctly. And then if there's other technologies that are used, so for example, some of the gas meters use orifice plates, then you're going to have pressure sensors that monitor that pressure and that's the other way that the metering is done and those types of ones. [00:23:00] So those are a couple of other sensors that are used there as well. 

Zackery Noel: Yeah, I think just to follow up and echo what Devin said, TE really has a robust portfolio of different sensors on a lot of different sensors that measure tampered detection, temperature pressure. So I think really depending on what the customer is looking for and how they're looking to incorporate those into their application, we really have a full portfolio of sensors that can back, whatever they need for that use. 

Tyler: Excellent stuff. Well, guys, we've had a, just an incredible conversation [00:23:30] today here talking about smart metering and the technology behind it. And you guys have provided some incredible insight. I want to open it up to give anybody the ability to make a closing statement and a closing thought. Anything we haven't covered yet, that, that you want to make sure it gets mentioned, or even just summary statement of, of what you hope gets communicated to, to the audience today? Let me open it up to you guys. Any final thoughts, any final statements you'd like to make? 

Zackery Noel: Yeah Tyler, I'd like to add a comment. I mean, from my side, what has become clear to me in this conversation, [00:24:00] right. If you're, if you're designing such a system, a smart meter, or you're designing a system to detect theft, like we were describing, right. What you have in TE is a partner that can provide a lot of content. That's very clear, right. And when you look across the ecosystem and you look at contributors to these kind of designs, you might have people or, or, you know, ecosystem providers that have pieces or some portion of the components. But when you look at TE, you look [00:24:30] almost, you can build out a major part of the system you're creating from one supplier that can partner with you in different levels and bring a lot of content, right. So I think from my perspective, when I, when I think about TE that's one of the, one of the huge values that we bring to the table here. That we can really be a one-stop shop for a lot of the different components and technologies that you need. And that's the message I'd like to convey. 

Tyler Madden: Yeah. And I think just adding to that, taking Gordon's comment one step farther, right. You know, TE [00:25:00] is also here to support challenges, right. And that's one area where we strive, right. If you're having a challenge within your design, if you have a particular issue on interconnect or an antenna or sensing we have the expertise to partner with you and help you overcome those design challenges. And that is our key interests, in working with our customers is, is overcoming those challenges together to create value. 

Tyler: So if people do have questions do have challenges that [00:25:30] they want to discuss further with TE what's the best way for them to reach out to you guys. What's the best way for them to get in touch or, or just find more information? 

Gordon Barber: That's A good question. I don't know if we were prepared for that Tyler. 

Jesus Jimenez S...: I think at the end of the day it just comes to being able to access our products through TE.com. You know, any customer that has an inquiry or any type of doubt regarding any of our products or how they can incorporate them to their applications, they should be able to reach out to us through our [00:26:00] big center product information center. And at the end of the day, they will be able to reach out to us and we will be able to get back to them. 

Devin Brock: Yeah. And then just to expand upon that, Tyler, is he's made some great comments there. I mean, certainly, we're, we're a global company. As you mentioned, 24 hours a day, there are people that are available on, on chat or via, via email. So send the questions in and we'll, we'll make sure that you get to the right, the right people in the right place that can, can help you, regardless of whether you're in the Americas, [00:26:30] APAC or AMEA. So again, we're pretty much there 24 hours a day. And if there's specific questions, certainly we'll make sure we get you to the right technical expert and get you taken care of. Same thing on, if it's needs something from distributors, we certainly have distributors throughout the world that can handle the, you know, the initial touch and, and get you the product you need as well. 

Tyler: Fantastic stuff Jesus and Devin. Thanks for coming through in the clutch with the contact info and the ways to get in touch with, [00:27:00] with TE. Very, very good stuff, guys. Well, this has been just an awesome panel discussion here, discussing smart metering. And so Gordon, Jesus, Zach Tyler and Devin, guys, thank you all so much for joining us for this panel discussion and sharing your insights and your expertise here with us today. 

Gordon Barber: Thanks for having us, Tyler. 

Tyler Madden: Thank you, Tyler. 

Jesus Jimenez S...: Thank you very much. 

Devin Brock: Yes, thanks so much. 

Tyler: Well, coming up next we have a Q and A section, which is going to be excellent with, with our panel of experts here. So if you have a question, drop it in the chat, we're going to be answering as many questions [00:27:30] as we possibly can get to. So get those questions in. If, after we're done with this, if you still have questions, you can always visit TE.com. You can live chat. You can email, you can call in. Lots of weeks for you to get your questions answered if you have further questions after this broadcast today. And of course you can also visit TE.com/smart-metering for more information there as well. And so lots of options and lots of ways for you to get more information after the broadcast today for you to follow up with this team of experts from TE. We're going to step aside [00:28:00] for a quick moment and when we get back, we're going to be answering your questions. So get those questions in now, and we'll see you back here in a moment.