A4 Metering Gatekeeper/Router

The device is the intelligent interface between the head-end (Connexo NetSense) and the local area network (Energy Axis LAN) which may include electric, water, and gasendpoints, as well as smart grid sensing and control devices.

The Gatekeeper communications module provides network security, storage fornetwork element data, management of the local area network, and multiple options for communication interfaces to wide area networks (WAN). In addition, distributed intelligence enables the gatekeeper to enhance network performance by setting andmanaging message priorities as well as filtering redundant and low priority messages.

Unlike other systems that offer only one type of collector or concentrator, EnergyAxis offers the choice of metering or non-metering Gatekeepers along with an extensive range of powering and WAN connectivity options. Next Gen Gatekeepers are designed for easy mounting at a variety of locations such as a meter box, transformer, pole, tower, or building.

Each Next Gen Gatekeeper manages a network of thousands of network elements by performing the following functions:

• Network traffic routing and data traffic prioritization
• Network element registration
• Broadcast message distribution
• Scheduled assignments
• Outage alert filtering
• Billing changes and endpoint TOU schedules
• Network communication optimization and performance
• Network performance metrics
• Subnet time synchronization
• Endpoint data collection and optimization
• Subnet element firmware distribution
• Endpoint TOU schedules