Contactless Radio Frequency Technology Transforming Smart Meters with Secure Pre-Payment

Why Contactless RF Pre-Payment? | How Smart Meter RF Pre-Payment Works

Like the financial and transportation markets, smart electricity, water and gas meters are undergoing a new revolution when it comes to payment. Contactless radio frequency (RF) chip technologies — incorporated into the smart meter and a consumer payment card or token — are transforming smart meters into secure pre-payment devices. RF-enabled pre-paid smart meters give utilities access to a broader customer base while reducing the risk of non-payment and offer consumers a new, fast and convenient way to control and pay for services.

Advantages of Contactless RF Pre-Payment

• For Utility Companies:
  • Payment received in advance of usage
  • Increased revenue from broader customer base
  • Reduction in billing administration costs
  
  
• For Consumers:
  • Wave and ‘pay-as-you-go’ 24/7 convenience
  • Control over utility usage
  • Utilities not cut off unexpectedly

Why Contactless RF Pre-Payment?

MasterCard, Visa, AmericanExpress and banks worldwide are deploying secure contactless technology for fast and convenient “tap-and-go” credit, debit and stored-value payment applications at the retail point of sale. The technology is also speeding consumer payment for public transit and electronic parking meters. Contactless radio frequency technology securely stores and transmits data, such as micro-payments and personal identification information, over short ranges, typically less than 2 inches.

How Smart Meter RF Pre-Payment Works

Household electric, gas and water meters are equipped with contactless RF reader and microcontroller technology to enable contactless pre-payment of utilities. Residents purchase contactless cards from a kiosk or the utility company that contain a secure contactless RF chip loaded with a pre-paid amount. The cards are waved in front of the meters to activate them, and the amount is loaded into the smart meter and debited from the card.

TI’s Contactless RF Smart Meter Pre-Payment Solutions

Texas Instruments offers a complete contactless RF pre-payment solution, including tag and reader integrated circuits and microcontrollers, making it easy and efficient to RF-enable the latest generation of smart utility meters.

Put TI’s reliable and secure, standards-based RF technology to work in your next smart meter payment application.

Reader ICs – TI-RFid™ HF Reader IC

• TRF7960
• TRF7961
  • High level of integration and performance
  • Low-power and small size
  • Configurable and flexible architecture
  • Eases hardware and software system design
  • Low total Bill of Materials (BOM)
  • ISO/IEC 14443, ISO/IEC 15693 and Tag-it

Transponder IC – Secure Multi-Purpose Contactless IC/Module

• RF-HCT-WRC5-KP221
  • High-speed, low-power, secure smart IC platform
  • Industry-standard secure encryption
    • Triple DES, SHA-1 crypto-algorithms, ANSI X9.63 session key
    • Mutual authentication – authorized tag and reader complete transaction 
  • Flexible and configurable memory
  • Supports up to five applications on one card or token
  • ISO/IEC 14443 with ISO/IEC 7816 command set support