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Client Name: City of Santa Ana I AMI FEASIBILITY REPORT mesh network may reduce the need for infrastructure, but is more data intensive on the MTUs. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration around broken or blocked paths by "hopping" from meter end point to meter end point until the destination is reached. A mesh network is a fully connected network topology by design. Mesh networks differ from other networks in that the component parts can all connect to each other via multiple hops. One major advantage of a mesh network is that it is self -healing. The network can still operate if an end point breaks down or a connection fails. As a result of the self -healing, a very reliable network is formed. One disadvantage with mesh networks is that the battery operated systems may need more power for the increased frequency of transmitting, thereby reducing battery life expectancy of the MTUs. In actual practice today, most mesh systems rely on electrically powered devices to perform the majority of the mesh management and data repetition (i.e., mesh systems that support water AMI require the use of electrically powered devices such as electric meters, repeaters, etc., to perform the mesh node operations and allow the individual water meters to transmit data through the additional network infrastructure). This may potentially change with improvements in battery technology. 5.3.3 Cellular Network A cellular solution does not require a network with DCUs or Towers, the public carrier (Telecom Company) is utilized to collect data from the meters and transmit to the AMI HES. The advantage in this solution is that there is no need to install a mesh or point to point network and the system can be up and running in a very short time. Another advantage is that there is no need to manage and maintain the network. Due care must be taken to verify that the cellular coverage is adequate in the service area covering AMI meters. Evaluation of the service level terms offered by the public carriers must be done to verify that it can meet all requirements for data collection. It must also be verified that the AMI vendor and public carrier service provider can support two way communications with the MTU within acceptable limits of time delay. Price negotiations maybe required to ensure that the price increase is justifiable (after a defined period) and discounts are given in case the data rates go down. Telecom companies must guarantee support for the AMI technology for the useful life of 20 years, otherwise there is a risk of early obsolescence of the AMI system. 5.4 WATER MARKET PERSPECTIVE The implementation of the AMI network will provide a foundation to support other transformational initiatives that City wishes to pursue. Figure 7 summarizes one set of results from the 2014 Water Utility Industry Survey performed by Black & Veatch in which utility professionals were asked to identify in which technologies their utility was planning to focus. Given the wide benefits and enablement of AMI solutions, they are uniquely positioned to provide value across all of the areas shown. BLACK & VEATCH I Smart Metering Technology 25G-139 21