Project Title: Automated electricity metering system

The Challenge

The system is designed for automated registration, accumulation and processing of detailed electrical consumption information for public sector and industrial customers. Today the electricity sale stage is one of the most important ones both for energy companies and consumers. Any mistakes and inaccuracies on this stage influence economic results of both energy companies and consumers directly. That is why automated electricity metering systems (AEMS) with the technology of data transmission via electricity supply network represent the most prospective solution for public services companies.

AEMS "Continium" is the only automated metering system, used in commercial operation in Russia. The main reasons of similar foreign systems' low competitiveness are their high cost and maladjustment to Russian energy system. Constant perfection of both hardware and software parts of the system is vital for achieving customer satisfaction and maintaining positive image.

The urgency to develop new software for AEMS was driven by the fact of numerous problems in the operation of the previous system, such as the complexity of user interface, difficulties in maintenance, low OS compatibility, and conflicts prevention at ODBC level, outdated database, and security requirements.

The Solution

The customer provided only a part of formal requirements for the system. Many required features were not documented and customer had only a common vision about them; therefore our analysts performed thorough analysis and specification detailing for the system, and also a simplified prototype was worked out.

All principal drawbacks of the old system were considered and corrected. Thus, the old system consisted of a set of binaries (often with different versions), system's interface was not unified, and in fact each application had its "unique" interface. The system also lacked the possibility of automatic installation and updates of the system, which are a standard de facto today.

We designed and implemented a common basic system environment with a set of pluggable modules, and it allowed to unify the interface and functionality, and also rendered the possibility to use common mechanisms to provide identical behavior of precedents that are different in their essence. This approach allowed making the system flexibly modifiable for different customers' categories.

A strong emphasis was made on the development of the object model of the system with clear hierarchical objects structure and relations between them (using Rational Rose technology). It allowed presenting fundamental components of the system in a formalized form, and also increased the level of understanding both for the customer and developers.

Tools and Technologies

C++ Builder 5, Sybase ASA 8.0, OOP/OOD/ADO/OLEDB/ODBC/STL/VCL, CVS, MS Project, Rational Rose 2003, Rational ClearQuest

Related links

http://www.qulix.com/Case_Study_-_Continium.html

Post Your Story, Tell All About Your Success!

If you want the story of your company to appear on the portal please fill out this form and send it to [email protected]. We would also like you to leave contact information (name, e-mail, phone) of a person who is responsible for filling the form to clarify any questions, which could appear.

Available Success Stories From Companies:

Disclaimer

All information contained in this Section is owned by RUSSOFT.org and its Participants and is protected by Russian and international copyright laws. Any reproduction or republication of all or part of this Section has to remain intact and include a notice on the copyright of RUSSOFT.org or the Participants, as applicable.

While the information of this Section has been presented with all due care, RUSSOFT.org does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, usefulness and truth of Section’s information, links and logos derived from third parties. RUSSOFT.org is not liable for any loss or damage occurring from the use of this Section’s materials.