User Manual

Table Of Contents
FlexNet SmartPoint Radio Overview A-6
SmartPoint Module for the Elster A3 Meter ECMTM40000
Figure A-2: Remote Tower to SmartPoint mPass Buddy Mode Schematic
1. The tower sends an mPass-modulated message with the address of the out-
of-range transceiver as the primary address, and the address of the desired
relaying Buddy as the Buddy Routing Address. The Buddy receives the
message and identies it as one the Buddy is commanded to relay.
2. The Buddy transmits the repeated message in the mPass channel to the out-
of-range transceiver.
A.4 SmartPoint Data Security
The FlexNet system is designed with total data security in mind. Sensus is acutely aware that meter reads,
customer data, and telemetry data is highly condential, and extends every effort to ensure the protection and
integrity of that data. For the protection of customer meter-read data, all meter data can be encrypted at the
meter and remains encrypted throughout the entire communications path until it is inserted into the utility
database, safely inside the utility customer rewall.
A.4.1 SmartPoint Radio Data Security
The SmartPoint radio module is designed to integrate directly into the registers of the host meter.
Register values are read from the meter and encoded into a message inside the SmartPoint radio
module. This message is then mangled in a convolution algorithm, and then encrypted with the system
WEP key, 128 bit, for transmission. In addition, each RF packet is tagged with a sequence number that
allows detection of attempted tampering.
Lastly, the proprietary SmartPoint 7-FSK modulation is not public domain. It is not recognizable by a
spectrum analyzer and no off-the-shelf equipment can be purchased to demodulate it.
A.4.2 TGB Data Security
Once data has arrived at the TGB, additional security measures are added. Data is stored only for the
period of time needed to ensure accurate transmission over the backhaul link to the RNI. Data stored
in the TGB remains encrypted, and the encryption keys are never stored on the same device as the
data.
All communications between the TGB and the RNI occurs over encrypted channels. No data is ever
sent over any network, public or private, in clear text. All backhaul network interactions are conducted
over SSL tunnels using AES-256 encryption.