FPGA-Based Smart Meter Interface Devon Billiard, Roberto Cordova, Steven Garbe, Brandon Tran

Introduction Create an electrical smart meter add-on using an FPGA board Communication of information Calculate kWh usage and costs Provides information in a user friendly format

Background Microcontrollers FPGA Electromechanical meters Smart meters Uses regular programming languages, less flexible FPGA Uses hardware design language Allows custom circuit design to fit application Allows for faster implementing changes Electromechanical meters One way system, only sends power to consumers, no data Not as accurate as digital Billing might be inaccurate Smart meters Two-way system, both power and data communication More accurate

System Diagram

Design Methodology Receive power consumption data from customer’s pre-existing AMI meter Perform analysis using received data Cost, Total Usage (in kWh) Based on time period defined by customer Relay Analyzed Data to Customer Printable Data Sheet Display

System Architecture Two main elements make up the system architecture: Communication and Data Analysis Communication GE Energy I-210+c Single Phase Smart Meter GE MeterMate Software UART Transceiver Xilinx Vivado Webpack Programming Suite Nexys 4 Artix-7 FPGA Trainer Board CSG324 Package Data Analysis Verilog

Constraints Design Performance Development Time Initialization of GE Energy I-210+c Single Phase Smart Meter Availability of MeterMate Software Programming Device Performance Synchronization issues between FPGA clock and PC serial port Code Optimization

Design Elements - Software Transmit and receive usage data via the Universal Asynchronous Transmitter and Receiver (UART) Process energy readings Calculate Kilowatt hours used Hourly, Daily, Monthly, and Yearly Calculate the cost of the power used Hourly, Daily, Monthly, and Yearly Provide warnings if power consumption is unusually high Present data in a user friendly format Excel Document 7-Segment Display

Software Diagram

Integration and Testing Plan Test UART Ability to send and receive data Test Calculations Keep accurate track of Hours, Days, Months, Years Accurately calculate a running total of usage on a hourly, daily, monthly, and yearly basis Using calculated usage, determine the cost of power consumption Integrate UART with Calculations Insure the data received on the UART can be accessed by the calculations module Create an Excel spreadsheet of all calculated data Implement code on the FPGA board Run the code on the physical FPGA board as opposed to the simulation

Ethical and Societal Considerations Keeping transmitted data safe Prevent manipulation of energy readings Must be tamper-proof ANSI C12 pertaining to meter accuracy and performance Must be held to same standards as the AMI meter Ensure accuracy of measurements and calculations

Conclusion Obtaining access to GE MeterMate software Reduce cost Needed for initialization of GE Energy I-210+c Single Phase Smart Meter Reduce cost Researching different FPGA boards Communication between hardware Synchronization issues