Lantronix, a global provider of smart connectivity technology, and Quadlogic, a provider of Power Line Communications metering technology, has announced that the Mall of America has upgraded its smart metering systems to provide accurate, real-time energy meter readings from anywhere at any time.
Originally installed over 20 years ago by Quadlogic, the metering infrastructure at the Mall of America was hard-wired directly into a larger system. A telephone line was required to transmit data from the central office. Mall of America elected to upgrade the entire submetering system, including the network communications technology, to decrease the time and cost associated with meter reading and billing.
“We were spending significant time and money due to the inefficiencies of our legacy energy infrastructure and needed a cost-effective way to update the system. With the new system in place, we can remotely retrieve data from each of the 485+ store’s individual meters,” said Charlie Brantl, Engineering Manager, Mall of America. “It was important that the vendor we selected was reliable and provided a technology that worked. Having previously worked with Quadlogic, we knew they could provide a cost-effective, dependable system.”
As a result of the implementation, Lantronix device servers provided Mall of America with the ability to remotely access and monitor the smart meters using serial-to-Ethernet connectivity. Quadlogic installed 485 of its RSM-5 sub-metering products, 12 ST-5 Scan Transponders, and 20 Lantronix UDS1100 device servers at the 1.2 million square-foot retail and entertainment complex.
“We have seen an uptick in requests from our customers, such as Mall of America, wanting to shift from telephone service to network-enabled metering systems,” said Thomas George, Director, Technical Services at Quadlogic. “Lantronix’ USD1100 is an essential asset to our products, as the ability to flawlessly transmit data enables us to provide our customers with superior remote management benefits in our metering technology.”