Knowledge connects.
Smart Meter abbreviations from A to Z.
Keywords and abbreviations in technical articles or presentations often only align to each other in a certain way. We clear some things up about smart meter vocabulary and explain to the most frequently used abbreviations.
Listed in alphabetical order
BZ: Basiszähler (electrical energy meter)
The base meter is the electricity metering device within the intelligent measuring system according to FNN/VDE requirement specifications.
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CLS: Controllable Local System
A secure communication link into the WAN to an external provider can be established via the CLS interface of the intelligent measuring system (iMsys). This controls connection user components such as photovoltaic systems or intelligent household appliance.
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Fieldbus
A fieldbus connects measuring sensors with communication participants such as Basic meters via the LMN interface with the Smart Meter Gateway.
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HAN: Home Area Network
Home area networks are used for intelligent households as well as home offices. HANs are the base for the central control of end-consumers and their functions.
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iMsys: intelligentes Messsystem (English: intelligent measuring system)
The intelligent measuring system is composed of multiple components. These include the Basic meter, gateways, and control box, as well as add-on devices. Energy consumption and supply are metered, determined and controlled by computer.
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IOP: InterOPerability
The interoperability describes the ability of a device to communicate with further devices of the same standard including a system environment which is comparable. With reference to the intelligent measuring system the aim is to guarantee the direct interchangeability of devices of different manufacturers.
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LAN: Local Area Network
The local or public network is a computer network which is restricted in its extent.
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LMN: Local Metrological Network
The intelligent meters of the local generators and consumers, as well as a gateway (within the intelligent grid), are networked with each other via the local metrological network. It can be used for energy management. Data communication occurs via LMN interface.
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M-bus: Meter-bus
The M-bus is a standardized fieldbus for recording of consumption data e. g. of energy, gas or water meters. It is a communication system for transferring meter data.
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MS 2020:MeasuringSystem 2020
MS 2020 is a project initiated by VDE and FNN in order to develop a future-oriented, standardized measuring system for the German market. The devices and IT solutions of different manufacturers should be usable in the future without modifications (keyword: interoperability).
In the future, the measuring system will consist of smart meters, gateways, add-on devices and an energy management system, and will communicate independently of manufacturer.
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OKK – Optischer Kommunikationskopf (English: optical communication head)
The optical communication head is a data sensor which is responsible for data communication between Basic meter with plug-in technology and smart meter gateway.
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P2P: peer-to–peer
The peer-to-peer connection is a communication model in which each party has the same rights and capabilities and therefore can initiate a communication session.For example at a ZERA Meter Test System it is possible that the basic meters can communicate inside the test environment LMN peer-to-peer. The type of communication complies with the structure of test cases according to FNN.
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Smart Grid
“Smart grid” describes the intelligent power grid that comprises the communicative networking and control of current generators, storage devices, electrical consumers, and power supply equipment in energy transmission and distribution networks of the electricity supply.
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Smart Meter
Very generally speaking, a smart meter is an intelligent energy meter. The label does not differentiate between intelligent electricity, water, or thermal meters.
Smart meters operate digitally and are equipped with their own, sometimes high intelligence. They detect not only energy consumption, but also the energy supplied by photovoltaic systems, for example.
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Smart Metering
Smart metering is the computer-based measurement, determination and controlling of energy consumption and supply. This is relevant both for corporations and for private households.
(Quelle:Bendel, Oliver. Smart Metering. Beitrag für das Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden 2015)
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SMG (also: SMGw): Smart Meter Gateway
The smart meter gateway is the central communication unit of an intelligent measuring system. The SMG is used for processing, saving, tariffing and forwarding the detected electrical energy (in Germany acc. to the guidelines of the German Federal Office for Information Security – BSI).
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SML: Smart Message Language
Smart Message Language is a communication protocol for electricity meters which was developed not only for the exchange of metering data, but also for firmware upgrades. This protocol is used in eHZ, SyM², EDL and base meters.
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TLS: Transport Layer Security
The transport layer security is used for security of networked systems and describes a protocol layer for encoding, for example, communication data. These data are exchanged – on WAN side – between the smart meter gateway and authorized participants or – on LMN side – between smart meter gateway and intelligent meters.
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WAN: Wide Area Network
The wide area network (WAN) is a computer network which, in contrast to a local area network (LAN), extends over a very large geographical area.
The number of connected computers is unlimited. WANs can extend across countries or even continents. WANs are used to network not only different LANs but also individual computers together.
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No guarantee of completeness