Our Solutions

A Partnership You Can Rely On

The alliance between Cisco and Itron represents a major step forward in the realization of a modern, more intelligent energy infrastructure. Together, we are standardizing the architecture of the smart grid and creating an end-to-end utility network communications platform. The Itron/Cisco platform consists of several components:

CISCO CONNECTED GRID ROUTER

With a ruggedized, compact form factor and simultaneous support for multiple network technologies, the Connected Grid Router (CGR) delivers enterprise-class functionality to your utility network. It features unified and purpose-built security, network management and quality of service (QoS) elements to ensure the integrity of your data as it passes through the IPv6 network to the Itron Collection Engine. Modular in its design and application, the CGR enables multi-service capabilities for your smart grid network. It also communicates directly with Cisco’s Network Management System, giving you increased monitoring, visibility and control.

ITRON IPV6-EMBEDDED SMART METERS

Itron's OpenWay^® CENTRON^® smart meters, embedded with IPv6 networking technology, measure energy usage with unprecedented accuracy and help you better manage your resources across the network. These meters act as a self-healing mesh network to communicate information up through Cisco CGRs and back to the Collection Engine.

CISCO NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Supporting up to 5 million devices, the Cisco Network Management System (NMS) provides enterprise-class monitoring and visibility into your smart grid network. It displays routers and meters on a map that is linked to your GIS system, so you can see—at glance—what is happening across the network. It will help you identify events and alarms captured by devices in the field, and then create graphs and lists of any exceptions noted by the system. The NMS also helps you keep your meters and routers up-to-date by grouping devices by class and pushing configuration and firmware updates to those classes.

ITRON COLLECTION ENGINE

The Itron Collection Engine is the centralized hub between the smart metering system and your back-end utility processes. It helps you perform meter reads, interrogate and register devices, remotely disconnect and reconnect meters, and commission home-area networking (HAN) devices as they come online. It provides a direct interface to the Cisco NMS and integrates seamlessly into the IPv6 network, letting you capture native addresses for endpoints, device configuration statuses, and NMS statistics for system-wide analysis—and improvement.