Gridmetrics, a unit of CableLabs that uses network-based sensors to monitor the power grid and detect outages, has shifted to a licensing model. A startup helmed by the former president of Gridmetrics is the first to sign on.
Gridmetrics, a company incubated at CableLabs that's been using a network of sensors to monitor the state of the US power grid, has changed gears and shifted to an intellectual property (IP) licensing model.
Scott Caruso, a former CableLabs exec who was leading Gridmetrics, has started up a new company that is among the first – if not the first – to license Gridmetrics' technology.
"We have completed our Gridmetrics research and have announced a licensing structure to the IP that is available to all outside organizations – as we have done in the past (e.g., PNM [proactive network maintenance], PMA [profile management application], mobile Wi-Fi, etc.)," a CableLabs official tells Light Reading via email. "As is critical for CableLabs and the vendor ecosystem, we ensure vendor neutrality while enabling our members who funded this work to operate freely when deploying technology, products and services that leverage CableLabs' patents."
An updated web page about CableLabs' patent licensing activities also notes that Gridmetrics' IP is now available for licensing. "Gridmetrics is now on a path to expanding its market reach," the updated post explains.
CableLabs has not posted the financial terms of the Gridmetrics license, but a spokesperson tells Light Reading that it includes an upfront fee for non-exclusive rights to the intellectual property, plus ongoing royalty payments.
"Gridmetrics as an entity remains and will remain a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of CableLabs," the official added.
The focus and aim of Gridmetrics started to become public more than three years ago. Its first product, called the Power Event Notification System (PENS), tapped into hundreds of thousands of network-based sensors (including those based in cable network fiber nodes) to monitor the state of the US power grid and to use that near real-time data to quickly pinpoint outages and determine the root causes of power events. Early on, PENS aggregated data from about 300,000 sensors on networks largely run by CableLabs cable operator members.
Such a system, it was reasoned, would be particularly valuable to hospitals, emergency response centers and nursing homes.
Multiple people familiar with the unit said it was still largely in the pre-revenue stage at the time CableLabs shifted Gridmetrics to the current licensing model.
"Anyone can license and create a business around the Gridmetrics IP or any of our other IP available for licensing. Established vendors in the space have shown strong interest in the Gridmetrics IP," the CableLabs official said.
The first known licensee is a new company founded by two former CableLabs execs – Caruso and Steven Glennon. Caruso is the former president of Gridmetrics and former VP of strategic ventures at CableLabs. Glennon is a distinguished technologist who had been with CableLabs for more than 16 years, most recently focusing on AR, VR, mixed reality and other types of low-latency applications.
Caruso confirmed that their new company, called Instrument the Grid, has acquired a license to the Gridmetrics technology.
"We are creating power grid modernization solutions supplying high-fidelity grid visibility utilizing the existing broadband infrastructure," Caruso announced on LinkedIn.
Potential snag
Gridmetrics' shift to an IP licensing model faces a possible wrinkle.
Robert Cruickshank, another cable industry vet, claims that he is due compensation for work that laid the groundwork for Gridmetrics and work that was done after Gridmetrics was established as a unit of CableLabs. Cruickshank, who has been with companies such as Cablevision Systems, Arris, CableLabs and Time Warner Cable during his industry career, claims he came in the door with a working product and a business model.
He said he has tried to engage with CableLabs to discuss a possible remedy for the compensation he believes he is due. Cruickshank made a similar claim on Caruso's LinkedIn page, but that post has since been deleted.
"I'd like to be compensated for what I brought to the table and what I helped to develop while I was there," said Cruickshank, whose LinkedIn page lists him as a founder and "R&D liaison" for Gridmetrics.
CableLabs declined to comment on Cruickshank's claim.
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