OUR CELLULAR & RF MESH AMI COMMUNICATION MODULE

Mirach Network Interface Card (NIC) is a modular, high-reliability communications modem engineered for ANSI and IEC DLMS/COSEM smart electricity, gas, and water meters. Designed to slide directly into smart meter module bays, Mirach NIC connects meters to Head End Systems via cellular NB-IoT, 4G LTE, and hybrid RF Mesh with zero firmware overhead for meter OEMs.

Key Features

Multi-Carrier eSIM & 4G/NB-IoT

Embedded MFF2 industrial eSIM supporting multi-operator roaming and automated best-signal fallback.

Hardware Cryptographic Engine

Dedicated Secure Element (SE) supporting AES-GCM-128/256, ECDSA, and DLMS Security Suite 0, 1, and 2.

Supercapacitor Last-Gasp Outage

Ultra-capacitors power immediate distress broadcasts during sudden grid power blackouts.

Universal UART / SPI / RS-485

Form-factor compatible with Landis+Gyr, Itron, Schneider, Secure Meters, and Genus smart meter bays.

Remote FOTA & Dual Boot Memory

Fail-safe dual-bank flash memory allowing delta firmware-over-the-air upgrades with zero downtime or field visits.

Eliminate communication obsolescence with hot-swappable NIC modules that decouple smart meter hardware lifespan from shifting telecommunication network generations.
Mirach NIC — High-Assurance Field Connectivity for Smart Grid Automation.

Smart Meter Network Interface Card Hardware Module

Pluggable Smart Meter NIC Variants & Supported Protocols

Interchangeable communication modules engineered for diverse AMI topologies and DLMS/COSEM transport

NAN MESH TOPOLOGY

RF Mesh NIC (Wi-SUN / Sub-GHz)

Operates over license-exempt Sub-GHz bands (865–867 MHz) using self-forming, self-healing multi-hop routing to relay meter packets to Data Concentrator Units (DCUs).

Protocols: IEEE 802.15.4g, Wi-SUN FAN, 6LoWPAN, RPL, IPv6
DIRECT WAN STAR

Cellular NIC (4G LTE / NB-IoT)

Connects directly to public or private utility cellular towers via LTE Cat-1, Cat-M1, and NB-IoT with automated 2G/GPRS fallback, eliminating intermediate field gateways.

Protocols: 3GPP LTE/NB-IoT, PPP, TCP/UDP, IPv4/IPv6, DLMS Wrapper
AC POWERLINE BUS

PLC NIC (Power Line Comm)

Modulates telemetry signals directly over existing low-voltage AC distribution lines back to transformer DCUs, penetrating deep underground basements and concrete shafts.

Protocols: G3-PLC, PRIME, HPLC, IEEE 1901.2, 6LoWPAN
AUTO-FAILOVER HYBRID

Dual-Mode Hybrid NIC

Combines RF Mesh + Cellular (4G/NB-IoT) or G3-PLC + RF on a single PCB, dynamically switching transport paths to prevent communication blind spots and meet strict SLAs.

Protocols: Wi-SUN + LTE/NB-IoT, G3-PLC + RF Dual-Stack
LONG-RANGE LPWAN

LPWAN Star NIC (LoRaWAN)

Ultra-low-power, long-range chirp spread spectrum radio engineered for battery-operated smart water and gas meters or dispersed rural grid monitoring endpoints.

Protocols: LoRaWAN Class A/C, SCHC-DLMS, MQTT/CoAP
SUBSTATION & LOCAL

Wired & Local NIC (ETH / RS-485 / BLE)

Provides galvanic-isolated RS-485 and RJ45 Ethernet for substation, feeder, and DT meters, paired with onboard Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for field diagnostics.

Protocols: IEEE 802.3, HDLC, Modbus RTU/TCP, BLE 5.x

NIC Technology & Protocol Specification Matrix

NIC Module Type Core Protocols & Standards Network Topology Typical Data Rate Primary AMI Deployment
RF Mesh NIC Wi-SUN, IEEE 802.15.4g, 6LoWPAN, RPL, DLMS/IPv6 Self-healing mesh to DCU 50 – 300 kbps Dense urban residential clusters
Cellular NIC 4G LTE Cat-1, NB-IoT, Cat-M1, GPRS, PPP, DLMS Wrapper Point-to-point star to tower 25 kbps – 10 Mbps Scattered residential, C&I / HT meters
PLC NIC G3-PLC, PRIME, IEEE 1901.2, HPLC, 6LoWPAN AC powerline bus/tree to DCU 30 kbps – 2 Mbps High-rise towers, shielded basements
Dual-Mode Hybrid Wi-SUN + 4G/NB-IoT or G3-PLC + Sub-GHz RF Mesh with auto WAN/RF failover 50 kbps – 10 Mbps High-SLA utilities, mixed terrain
LPWAN Star NIC LoRaWAN Class A/C, SCHC-DLMS, CoAP Long-range star to gateway 0.3 – 50 kbps Smart water/gas meters, rural sensors
Wired & Local NIC Ethernet (802.3), RS-485 (HDLC / Modbus), BLE 5.x Point-to-point or daisy-chain 9.6 kbps – 100 Mbps Substation, feeder, DT boundary meters

Embedded Hardware Architecture & Security

Ruggedized industrial metrology interface built to endure severe electromagnetic interference

Cellular smart meters deployed in rural or high-density urban substations face extreme RF reflections, electrical surges, and ambient operating temperatures up to 85°C. Mirach NIC integrates an automotive-grade cellular baseband processor with high-efficiency RF front-ends.

The integrated DLMS/COSEM HDLC protocol engine parses meter registers locally, dramatically reducing cellular bandwidth usage and data subscription costs while delivering sub-second command turnaround for load disconnect relays.

3GPP Rel 14 NB-IoT / LTE-M IEC 62056 DLMS/COSEM Client Hardware Root of Trust (RoT) -40°C to +85°C Industrial Temp Supercap Last-Gasp Outage TX Hot-Pluggable Interface

Conformal coating and 6kV surge immunity shield sensitive transceiver electronics from lightning strikes and extreme environmental humidity.

Smart Meter AMI Deployment Workflow

Seamless plug-and-play onboarding from factory assembly to live grid telemetry

STEP 01

Tool-Less Slot Insertion

Module slides into standard meter communication bay, establishing secure physical connection via gold-plated edge pins.

STEP 02

Zero-Touch APN Provisioning

eSIM negotiates connection to private utility APN, performs cryptographic mutual authentication, and syncs device clock.

STEP 03

Two-Way Telemetry Live

Continuous 15-minute load profiles stream to Mirach HES, ready for real-time billing determinants and outage alarms.

AMI Field Reliability & Lifecycle ROI

Guaranteed communication uptime across decades of utility service

Communication SLA Benchmarks

  • Cellular Connection Availability: 99.95%+
  • Last-Gasp Outage Alert Delivery: < 1.8 Seconds
  • Module Field Failure Rate: < 0.1% / Year
  • FOTA Delta Update Speed: < 4 Minutes

Universal AMI Interoperability

Certified compatibility with leading meter manufacturers and cellular telecom operators:

IEC 62056 DLMS/COSEM Mirach Head End System (HES) GSMA eSIM Spec MFF2 Landis+Gyr / Itron Meters Private APN / VPN IPSec OTA Cryptographic Keys