The Internet is now moving from an “Internet of Human Beings” to an “Internet of Things.” The trend is to wirelessly connect millions of objects like thermostats, electric power meters, and every conceivable machine we use in our daily lives directly or indirectly to one another and to Access Points (APs) and servers so that these objects are managed in an optimal manner.
The pending disclosure describes an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) that includes a collection of Neighborhood Area Networks (NANs) having smart, wireless-enabled mesh-connected meters or sensor nodes. The NAN is a type of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) which meshes wireless-enabled meters together for applications such as electric meter reading. The meters are generally wireless-enabled by incorporating a module which allows two-way communication between the meter and an access point using wireless protocols known in the art. The wireless-enabled meter thus, may be called a “sensor node.”