A closer look at Atmel’s smart energy platform (Part 4)

In part one of this series, Bits & Pieces introduced Atmel’s recently launched SAM4C series of products, with a spotlight on the SAM4C16 and SAM4C8. In part two, we took a closer look at both the software and hardware metrology of the SAM4Cx. In part three, we discussed Atmel’s family of PLC physical layer and system-on-a-chip (SoC) area standards-compliant OFDM-based solutions, designed for narrowband communications using a low-voltage electric power distribution network.

Today we’ll be talking about wireless connectivity products in the context of Atmel’s smart energy platform. As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, efficient smart energy wireless applications require both high-performance and power efficiency, which is why Atmel’s transceivers deliver a leading RF link budget with the industry’s lowest power consumption.

In addition, we offer the most feature-rich IEEE 802.15.4-compliant transceiver family available. Indeed, Atmel transceivers support both regional 700/800/900MHz, as well as global 2.4GHz frequency bands. This enables engineers to develop wireless applications for customers worldwide, including emerging markets like China.

“Powerful hardware features like antenna diversity or external power amplifier support let engineers further boost transceiver performance to maximize network reliability and RF range of their system,” an Atmel engineering rep told Bits & Pieces.

“Atmel MCU wireless transceivers support not only IEEE 802.15.4-compliant applications, but provide on-air data rates up to 2Mbit/s for general purpose ISM applications, with pin compatibility ensuring an easy transition between devices or frequency bands.”

Key products include Atmel’s AT86RF212B, a low-power, low-voltage RF transceiver for the regional 700/800/900 MHz frequency bands which is available in Japan, China, Europe and North America. This transceiver offers an extremely optimized 120 dB link budget (-110 dBm receiver sensitivity /+10 dBm transmit power) designed for low-cost IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee and high data rate ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) applications.

Meanwhile, Atmel’s AT86RF233 transceiver is targeted at the 2.4GHz ISM band, available worldwide. This transceiver offers link budgets up to 105dB (-101dBm receiver sensitivity/+4dBm transmit power). To help engineers accelerate system development and prototyping, Atmel also offers a variety of free software suites, various hardware evaluation boards, as well as development kits and modules.

These include:

Metering

• SAM4CMP8/16/32 Metrology Demo Board
• ATM90Exx AFE + SAM4C Demo Board
• ATM90Exx AFE + SAM4L Demo Board
• SAM4C Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit

Power Line Carrier

• SAM4CP16 PLC evaluation kit.
• Certified PRIME stack (base node and meter).

Wireless

• Evaluation Kits and Reference Designs for IEEE 802.15.4 compliant Transceivers and SOCs,
• e.g. AT86RF212B (sub-1GHz) and AT86RF233 (2.4 GHz).
• SAM4 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kits combined with wireless extension boards.

General

• SAM4S and SAM4L Xplained Pro evaluation kits.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s new comprehensive smart energy platform? Be sure to check out our official smart energy product page, along with part one, part two and part three of our deep dive.

A closer look at Atmel’s smart energy platform (Part 3)

In part one of this series, Bits & Pieces introduced Atmel’s recently launched SAM4C series of products, with a spotlight on the SAM4C16 and SAM4C8. In part two, we took a closer look at both the software and hardware metrology of the SAM4Cx.

Today, we’ll be discussing Atmel’s lineup of PLC physical layer and system-on-a-chip (SoC) area standards-compliant OFDM-based solutions, designed for narrowband communications using a low-voltage electric power distribution network. Proven in large-volume deployments across several utilities and markets, our unique technology offers high performance and integration levels, low power sipping, reduced bill-of-materials (BOM) costs, PRIME / ITU-T G.9904 and CENELEC compliance.

“Offered in a single chip SoC and in a two chip PHY+MCU configurations respectively, the Atmel SAM4CP16B and ATPL230 PRIME version 1.4 compliant devices include two additional Robust modes, DQPSK and DBPSK – achieving an increase in gain of up to +14.5 dB as compared to version 1.3.6 devices,” an Atmel engineering rep told Bits & Pieces.

“These devices also can operate at a wider span of FCC and ARIB bands with up to 8 selectable channels achieving baud rates ranging from 5.4 to 1028.8 kbps.”

Meanwhile, Atmel’s built in Class-D amplifier architecture is up to 30% more efficient than competing solutions with only a handful of external discrete components – neatly reducing power waste due to heat dissipation and increasing long-term reliability via optimized thermal behavior.

In addition, an extensive array of system IO, LCD, memory, RTC, DMA and cryptographic resources available in SAM4CP16C facilitates integration of application, communication and metrology software (using external ATSENSE devices) to achieve highly reliable, flexible and cost effective smart meter designs.

“Plus, with free certified PRIME stacks for Atmel, devs will be able to concentrate their development efforts on application development,” the engineering rep noted.

“With modular software architecture and the advanced capabilities of the management plane, the Atmel stack provides unparalleled flexibility in software architecture, while reducing the memory requirements of the top-level application.”

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s new comprehensive smart energy platform? Be sure to check out our official smart energy product page, along with part one, part two and part four of our deep dive.