Redhorse provided system engineering, system implementation, and test and evaluation services in support of the Navy’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program at nine Navy Region Southwest installations. The AMI program was implemented to comply with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and to improve efficiency and accountability for utilities used on military facilities. Redhorse installed a mesh network to support smart meters for electricity, gas, water, chilled water and steam, to better monitor and control the use of these consumables. More than 3000 meters and radios were installed at Navy and Marine Corps installations in the southwest U.S. Redhorse helped plan, design, and implement the advanced communications network to support the installation of the AMI systems at each location. The work included installing a radio frequency (RF) mesh network at each installation which enabled the smart meters to provide usage data in near real time to a centralized control facility. Field activities included installing and testing radios, ensuring compliance with Navy IT and communication security requirements, and balancing the mesh network for performance parameters such as throughput, hop count, and interference. Redhorse also optimized the network performance and made network improvements during the installation.

Redhorse engineers were instrumental in identifying a critical flaw in one component of the mesh network. Our engineering and technical team worked closely with the prime contractor engineers to isolate the problem and find a solution. The solution involved creating a new network architecture. After a pilot test of the new design, Redhorse completed the installation and set-to-work efforts of the network.