Apator Metrix, manufacturer of gas meters, to use the Phoenix-RTOS operating system

Leader of the gas meter market in Europe, Apator Metrix has signed an agreement with the Phoenix Systems company, part of the Atende Software Group. The agreement relates to the use of the Phoenix-RTOS operating system as a basis for smart gas meter software.

Apator Metrix S. A. is one of the largest manufacturers of gas meters in Europe. A new generation of smart meters is intended for foreign markets, first of all, for the Italian market.

The Phoenix-RTOS operating system has been used as the basis for gas meter software — thus, the company has managed to create device software very quickly. The software has been developed in the same way as for traditional operating systems, but the company has managed to keep the very small size of the resulting code and to minimise the energy consumption, so that a gas meter could operate over 10 years with one battery. Several-month certification process has already started for the new gas meters.

As Arkadiusz Chmielewski, President of the Management Board, Apator Metrix, said: ′the rapid growth of the so-called smart buildings and smart grids makes the largest technology players on the IT market become interested in communications technologies associated with utility metering. This may also result in a change in the priorities for management of development works by meter manufacturers. A traditional model, in which a product was designed from start to finish within one company, ceases to be effective. AMR/AMI network technologies are moving quickly towards standardisation; our priority is becoming the maximum shortening of the route of the product to the market, which can only be achieved through outsourcing of a part of development works and focusing on fast implementation and adaptation of system solutions. We are gradually changing from meter manufacturers to hardware producers. Partnering with the Phoenix Systems company in the scope of the Phoenix-RTOS operating system is of a strategic nature and in line with our new R&D asset management strategy. We take advantage of external competences, in order to create a product tailored to the needs of a particular market as soon as possible and to take part in a meter exchange programme. At the same time, the smart meter architecture must be flexible enough, so that the product fulfilled the requirements of other markets after appropriate modification.′

′Smart gas meters are other devices of the Internet of Things where Phoenix-RTOS proves itself. Not everyone is aware of their rich functionality, notably the very stringent requirements for their construction and power consumption. I’m very proud that Phoenix-RTOS has served as the basis for our gas meter software. I believe that the devices will appear on the market soon,′ said Paweł Pisarczyk, President of the Management Board, Phoenix Systems.

Apator Metrix S.A. forms part of the Apator Capital Group and is one of the largest gas meter manufacturers in Europe. In 2016, the Company exported, mainly to Western European markets, 87% of their products, most of which were Smart Gas Meters.

Phoenix Systems sp. z o. o. is a technology start-up to have created and to be developing the Phoenix-RTOS real-time operating system designed for Internet of Things (IoT) appliances, especially for the Smart Utility market.