Trilliant Inc. and Cooper Power Systems have announced the deployment of a jointly developed product, the SecureMesh Powerline Repeater, that enhances Smart Grid coverage at Hydro One in Ontario, Canada.

The SecureMesh Powerline Repeater serves as an intermediate wireless node in the SecureMesh Neighborhood Area Network (NAN) to relay messages to and from SecureMesh-enabled electric meters, gas meters, and in-building devices. The Repeater provides an easy way to increase the local density of mesh devices, reduce the range between devices, and improve overall SecureMesh NAN performance while at the same time offering additional flexibility in deployment capabilities.

The SecureMesh Powerline Repeater leverages Cooper’s Energy Harvesting (EH) Power Supply, using a current transformer to power operation of a variety of radios and sensors through inductive coupling with the power line.

The SecureMesh Powerline Repeater combines Cooper Power’s EH Power Supply technology and Trilliant's SecureMesh NAN radio into one integrated unit designed to improve a utility’s radio coverage, mesh-network density, and communications reliability. Using the Cooper-patented clamp mechanism and spring-action current transformers, the Repeater can be installed on almost any power line, including energized lines. As a result, the device can be flexibly deployed based on communications and network connectivity requirements without being constrained by the availability of a 120-240VAC power source.

Installation of a SecureMesh Powerline Repeater is simple and economical, with no wires to connect and no special tools required. In cases that require the additional of a 120-240VAC supply crew installation time is reduced from hours to minutes.