Earlier this year, Atmel introduced the ATPL230A, a Power Line Communications (PLC) modem designed to implement the physical layer of the PRIME standard (Power Line Intelligent Metrology Evolution).
This month, the ATPL230A modem is featured in the June edition of EE Web’s Embedded Developer magazine. According to Atmel exec Kourosh Boutorabi, the ATPL230A offers OEMs a seamless and cost-efficient solution for smart metering platforms.
“Expanding on Atmel’s unique and highly flexible SAM4Cx platform, ATPL230A addresses the fifth pillar of [our] existing platform, the physical communication layer,” Boutorabi explained.
“Atmel’s ATPL230A can be paired with dual 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 RISC processors to deploy an unprecedented level of integration and accuracy for single and multi-chip architecture options for system integrators and OEMs.”
The ATPL230A also boasts a class D line driver for PLC signal amplification, providing optimized signal injection efficiency by up to 62 percent.
Combined with low power sipping, this feature enables improved thermal behavior, extends long-term reliability and reduces overall power consumption. Meanwhile, new transmission modes and frequency band extensions facilitate robust power line communications.
As Boutorabi told the publication, Atmel is currently working with top tier customers worldwide who are developing multiple products for individual markets such as the Spanish, French or U.S. market.
“These customers need a supplier that addresses all their markets’ requirements. Our solution addresses 90 percent of all of these markets,” he said.
“Every utility has different communication requirements, so to be able to address all of these segments with one solution is a significant achievement.”
To help accelerate the design process for engineers, Atmel is currently offering the ATPL230A evaluation kit which can be used to test the ATPL230A’s smart metering capabilities with embedded PLC.
Interested in learning more about Atmel’s Smart Energy Platform? You can check out our recent deep dive on the subject here.
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