Landis+Gyr Energy Management



Solutions (formally known as Hunt Technologies,

LLC,) design and manufacture remote monitoring

equipment for the power industry. A key

component of the system is the Substation

Processing Unit (Collector.) The Collector

receives a constant stream of non-stop

information from each endpoint. It also serves as

the control hub for sending commands to

endpoints individually, in defined groups or

across the entire network. The Landis+Gyr

Collector utilizes the power company grid to send

messages to and from endpoints that are installed

at a business or residence. The Collector also

manages the messages being sent to and from the

Landis + Gyr Command Center ? product.

Using the power grid as transmission medium to

communicate with endpoints is not only

challenging, but yields very low throughput.

Because of this, it is very challenging to effectively

test the system software in a real-time

environment.

?Designing the system to provide maximum

flexibility and modularity was imperative to

the success of the project?

The Solution? Saturn was contracted to

develop a simulation environment for the

Collector which would execute on a standard

Windows PC. Landis+Gyr engineers would use

this system to analyze signal processing

algorithms, DSP performance, and to verify

system software changes. Having an effective

simulator would also allow Landis+Gyr engineers

to greatly accelerate the simulated data acquisition

cycle.

The Result? Saturn developed the Collector

simulator as two separate software components.

The first a Wind River VxWorks? target

application developed using Wind River's

VxSim? product, and the second component a

scalable DSP simulator tool written in C#.Net.

The two software components closely emulate the

production environment simulating the same

protocols as the original DSP hardware. This

architecture allows separate testing of the Wind

River VxWorks application, with live or simulated

DSP's, as well as testing of the DSP's with a live

or simulated Collector application. Landis+Gyr

engineers are using the new tool to reduce the

time and cost required for new development and

maintenance of the Collector system.

About Saturn Systems? Saturn Systems is a

national provider of software engineering

solutions in the areas of device integration and

enterprise technologies through our Rural

Outsourcing business model.

Since 1990, Saturn Systems has created success

through innovative application of technical

expertise, a disciplined approach to project

management, and a command of emerging

technologies. Saturn Systems is a private

company headquartered in Duluth MN, USA.

For more information, visit our web site at

www.saturnsys.com. Outsource To America!