RF-MIMO for smart metering communication under harsh conditions

The utilities that want to remotely access their smart meters face a serious problem when it comes to the basement-to-dwelling or basement-to-concentrator barrier. In this paper, we design and implement a wireless communication system able to provide communication to the smart meters mounted in basements. Firstly, we analyze measurements of wireless channels in 100-1200 MHz frequency range, including 2×2 MIMO configuration. The measurements base on different propagation environments typical for big European cities. After the channel characterization, we propose a radio-frequency multiple-input multiple-output (RF-MIMO) extension for small-scale-fading compensation. Moreover, we study several RF-MIMO algorithms for spatial diversity gain. Subsequently, we identify the most suitable frequency bands - 169 and 869 MHz, and calculate a link budget for coverage estimation. Finally, we implement a proof-of-concept prototype.