ATM90E26 extends smart energy roadmap

Atmel has introduced the ATM90E26, a low-cost metering Analog Front End (AFE) IC. According to an Atmel engineering rep, the ATM90E26 is specifically designed for smart grid communications, electricity metering systems and energy measurement applications.

“The Atmel Smart Energy platform includes several System-on-Chip (SoC) devices built around a unique dual-core ARM Cortex M4-based architecture. The platform includes the SAM4C with advanced security, in addition to metrology-enabled versions for single- and poly-phase metering (SAM4CMx) and Power-Line Communications (PLC) enabled solution (SAM4CPx),” the Atmel engineering rep told Bits & Pieces.

“The new ATM90E26 is pin-to-pin compatible with the IDT 90E22/23/24/25 devices, featuring UART support and improved power measurement resolution. By providing the discrete metrology AFE ATM90E26 as well as various MCU/MPU and PLC/wireless solutions, our Smart Energy Platform offers designers multiple options and various levels of integration to address their smart metering designs. For example, the ATM90E26 can be bundled with the SAM4CPx for a complete smart metering architecture.”

Key ATM90E26 features include:

• Dynamic range of 5000:1 with 0.1% kWh accuracy and 0.2% kvarh accuracy.
• Temperature co-efficient of reference voltage 15ppm/ºC (typ.).
• Single-point calibration for active energy.
• Up to 24x PGA to support shunt sensing in L line current channel.
• Programmable startup and no-load power threshold.
• Measures Vrms, Irms, P(Q/S), frequency, power factor and phase angle. Enhanced resolution for RMS and mean power.
• Measurement accuracy better than 0.5%.
• Configurable high-pass filter (HPF) in each ADC channel.
• On-chip parameter diagnosis function and programmable interrupt output to reduce complexity and increase robustness of the meter.
• Standard four-wire, simplified three-wire SPI interface, or a UART interface.
• Dedicated voltage zero-crossing output pin (ZX); voltage sag detection.
• Software reset available.
• 3.3V single power supply; 5V compatible for digital input.

It should also be noted that Atmel’s ATM90E2x single-phase energy metering demo board can be used to evaluate and test ATM90E2x chips. More specifically, the board is capable of sampling single-phase voltage/current, meter active/reactive energy, output active/reactive energy pulses, as well as measure parameters such as voltage, current and power.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s smart energy platform? You can check out our detailed deep dive here.

Atmel’s SAM4L at the Colorado School of Mines

Analog aficionado and Linear Systems marketing maven Tim McCune saw some of our cool ARM Cortex M4-based SAM4L-EK demo kits at the last Analog Aficionados party. Turns out his son Clark just entered the Colorado School of Mines and Tim thought his son could learn a lot from the kit. This is the same kit that Atmel is featuring in its 2014 Tech on Tour training, where we drive a giant 18-wheeler truck onto your campus or company and then do training or product demos.

The Atmel Tech on Tour mobile trailer is available to drive to your location and conduct training for employees or students.

So I wangle a couple kits from Atmel events director Donna Castillo and sent them off to Clark. In addition to the ARM Cortex M4-based SAM4-EK, the training bundle had an AT86RF233 Xplained Pro wireless board and an 10-pin XPRO adapter PCB. This allows the SAM4 Xplained pro to take the RF board.

Tim reported the kits were a big hit:

“The kits arrived last Friday, before the three-day weekend, which was a great morale-booster for Clark. He was stuck there with not much to do, most of his friends were at home or skiing. Figuring out how to fire up the kits and start working in C was pretty fun. And when his classmates started drifting back he had the coolest new toys on the hall.”

Clark McCune and pal fires up the Atmel SAM4-EK at the Colorado School of Mines.

 

Here Clark McCune has both SAM4-EK kits at the ready, with the one hooked to the computer also sporting the AT86RF233 wireless board that comes with the Tech on Tour training.

Here are the kits I sent Clark McCune. The Tech on Tour training will get you up to speed on ARM Cortex M4 programming as well as wireless connectivity.

The SAM4L-EK has a board and a ton of cables including the micro-USB ones you will need to power the board.

Both displays have a protective film over them, so be sure to peel them off to get the best appearance.

Right out of the box the board is programmed to read the slider on the bottom right side. The number “104” changes in proportion to your finger posing. Note the smaller power consumption display above the main one. The L in SAM4L stands for low power, so Atmel includes a power monitor right on the board.

We also include the jumpers, just set off to the side, so you don’t have to hunt any down from your old Windows 95 add-in cards.

Here is the SAM4L set up with the AT86RF233 Xplained Pro wireless board and an 10-pin XPRO adapter PCB. I hope Clark had them in the right way because I just copied what he had in his picture.

Here is a close-up of the power monitor display. With the programs running full-bore, you can see the board is using 1.92 mA, but the firmware is nice enough to tell you it is using 159μA/MHz.

Press pushbutton PB0 and the board kicks into standby, where the PCB only draws 66μA. Sorry for the shaky camera, the display is sharp as a tack.

Speaking of shaky camera work, I tried to press the PB0 pushbutton and snap a pic at the same time, so you can see the little display on the SAM4L-EL work like a tiny oscilloscope, showing the power consumption dropping from 2mA to 69μA.

And finally, another shaky camera shot of the SAM4L-EK returning to full power mode.

What is really cool about the little power monitor is that it does show transient events, like when the code services an interrupt and returns to low-power mode. Oh, I forgot to show the back of the PCB, here is a shot:

The back of the SAM4L-EK has more chips, I assume to run the debugger and such. Note the nice clear rubber feet to keep the pins from scratching your desk.

This is such a well-done kit, and if you want to get on the ARM bandwagon, it is a perfect way to learn. Better yet, with the RF board it gets you familiar with the Internet of Things (IoT) applications the whole world is hungering for. So check out the Tech on Tour training and feel free to badger you local Atmel rep or FAE to bring the ToT mobile trailer to your school or company.

ARM @ Atmel’s EELive! ToT booth

ARM’s Andy Frame stopped by Atmel’s EELive! 2014 ToT booth to chat with our very own Andreas Eieland (@AndreasMCUguy), who looks after Atmel’s SAM D Cortex-M0+ based family of devices.

As you can see, Frame snapped a great picture of Andreas standing next to Atmel’s tricked-out Tech on Tour Truck which travels around the US showcasing a wide range of Atmel-powered products, including those based on ARM’s Cortex-M and Cortex-A5.

ARM’s Ronan Synnott was also at Atmel’s EELive! booth giving a presentation about ARM’s DS-5 support for Atmel SAMA5D3 devices. Ronan described how, with DS-5 Professional Edition, ARM provides a leading-edge software development tool chain for bare-metal, RTOS and Linux based projects. 

For the SAMA5D3 devices, ARM offers full debug support out of the box when used in conjunction with DSTREAM or ULINKproD JTAG debug units, the Streamline System Performance Analysis tool and the highly optimizing ARM C compiler.

We hope to hear more from Ronan over the next few weeks, so be sure to check Bits & Pieces for additional embedded news and reports.

Meanwhile, Atmel’s Tech on Tour trailer will be headed to Austin, Texas on April 8th. We’ll be talking about low-power system design using Atmel’s ARM-based SAM4L MCU, touch and wireless solutions, as well as offering an introduction to Atmel’s versatile SAM D20 microcontroller.

Interested in learning more? You can register here and check out future ToT stops here.

Atmel’s Tech on Tour heads to Napa

After a successful Tech on Tour (ToT) stop in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, the Atmel Mobile Training Center is heading to California’s sunny Napa Valley.

We’ll be at the Meritage Resort & Spa on 875 Bordeaux Way on March 23-24, 

showcasing a wide variety of tech across a number of spaces including touch, security, microcontrollers (MCUs), wireless, lighting and automotive.

More specifically, you can check out:

• Agent smartwatch (Secret Labs) powered by Atmel’s ARM-based SAM4S and tinyAVR MCU
• Philips Hue Bulbs with Atmel‘s ZigBee and Lightweight Mesh Stack
• Turtle Beach i60 Wireless Gaming Headset with Atmel Wi-Fi
• Direct
Roku3 remote with Atmel’s Wi-Fi Direct 
• Venstar Color Touch Thermostat with Atmel’s ARM9-based MCU
• Makerbot 3D printer with Atmel AVR microcontrollers
• ASUS T100 Transformer with Atmel’s MaxTouch T Series Cap Touch controller and XSense Metal mesh touch sensors

In addition, Sander Arts, VP of Corporate Marketing at Atmel, will be hosting a session on easy-to-use, fully integrated solutions for University students at 12:30 pm on March 23 in the Carneros Ballroom.

“In this short session, students will see how Atmel provides a broad portfolio of hardware and software solutions that are easy-to-use and cost-effective for the classroom environment. Our boards and software development kits provide students hands-on training with some of the latest electronics for developing fun applications using Ardunio-based boards to Atmel’s own development solutions,” Arts told Bits & Pieces.

“They will also hear about Atmel’s revamped University Program and how we are using our latest social media channels, mobile trailer, challenges and competitions to engage with University students.”

Interested? You can register for the event here.

Atmel’s Tech on Tour heads to SF

After successfully wrapping up SXSW 2014 in Austin, Atmel’s Tech on Tour (ToT) trailer is back on the road to the Bay Area – with a long-awaited San Francisco SoMa stop scheduled for March 18, 2014.

We’ll be at China Basin, Lot C @ 185 Berry Street (between 3rd and 4th) from 10AM-6PM, showcasing a wide variety of tech across a number of spaces including touch, security, microcontrollers (MCUs), wireless, lighting and automotive.

More specifically, you can check out:

• Agent smartwatch (Secret Labs) powered by Atmel’s ARM-based SAM4S and tinyAVR MCU
• Philips Hue Bulbs with Atmel‘s ZigBee and Lightweight Mesh Stack
• Turtle Beach i60 Wireless Gaming Headset with Atmel Wi-Fi
• Direct
Roku3 remote with Atmel’s Wi-Fi Direct  
• Venstar Color Touch Thermostat with Atmel’s ARM9-based MCU
  
• MakerBot 3D Printer with Atmel AVR microcontrollers
• ASUS T100 Transformer with Atmel’s MaxTouch T Series Cap Touch controller and XSense Metal mesh touch sensors

Atmel’s ToT will also be hosting an industry panel on the rapidly evolving Internet of Things (IoT) at 4:00PM.

Join industry experts from Atmel, ARM, Humavox and August for an interactive discussion on how the IoT, the hottest topic in the technology sphere, is impacting today’s market across multiple segments.

Interested? You can register for the event here. See you in SoMa!!!

Atmel is ready to rock @ SXSW!

Atmel’s Tech on Tour trailer is on the road again and heading to Austin, Texas for SXSW. We’ll be at the Hyatt Regency Austin from March 7-9, 2014, so be sure to stop by during the show to see our latest demos.

We’ll be showcasing a wide variety of tech across a number of spaces, including touch, security, microcontrollers (MCUs), wireless, lighting and automotive.

More specifically, you can check out:

• Agent smartwatch (Secret Labs) powered by Atmel’s ARM-based SAM4S and tinyAVR MCU
• Philips Hue Bulbs with Atmel‘s ZigBee and Lightweight Mesh Stack
• Turtle Beach i60 Wireless Gaming Headset with Atmel Wi-Fi
• Direct
Roku3 remote with Atmel Wi-Fi Direct
• MakerBot 3D Printer with Atmel AVR Microcontrollers
• ASUS T100 Transformer with Atmel’s MaxTouch T Series Cap Touch controller and XSense Metal mesh touch sensors

In addition, we’re proud to host a guest appearance by Autodesk, the very same folks behind the world famous Instructables and 123D Circuits.

With 123D Circuits, you can breadboard and simulate your AVR-powered Arduino-based circuits, while writing, compiling and running code right in your browser. When you’re done, you can have the circuit board professionally made and shipped right to your doorstep.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s tech on tour? You can check out our official ToT page here.

Atmel introduces next-gen ZigBit wireless modules

Atmel has introduced its second-gen lineup of ZigBit wireless modules. Based on the company’s latest wireless transceivers and wireless microcontrollers (MCUs), the new ZigBits offer a wider range of features and reduced power consumption.

According to an Atmel engineering rep, the ZigBit modules – equipped with an integrated chip antenna – can be easily installed in a variety of devices without the need for any RF design or RF layout expertise.

“Simply put, the wireless modules offer customers a complete out of the box wireless system, pretested and certified for FCC (North America), ETSI (Europe) and IC (Canada),” the engineering rep explained. “This is because the second-gen ZigBits facilitate an optimized design path from evaluation to development, testing and certification, up to the final wireless end-product.”

As noted above, Atmel’s ZigBit modules can be easily integrated in a wide variety of devices including wireless sensor and control applications; lighting control; home automation; thermostats; occupancy sensors and home displays; environmental monitoring and proprietary wireless systems up to 2000kb/s.

In addition, support for the second-gen ZigBit wireless modules has been added to the Wireless Composer, which is available via Atmel’s Gallery. Essentially, the Wireless Composer provides devs with a performance analyzer application – complete with intuitive displays to configure, command and monitor test data originating from the target device.

“The GUI is used to configure and execute packet error rate testing, perform energy density scans on the available channels and perform FCC testing for setting the device in continuous transmission mode,” the Atmel engineering rep continued. “The Wireless Composer supports all Atmel RF devices and can be easily adapted to execute performance measurements on the customer’s board.”

ZigBit wireless modules are available at Atmel’s official store and via local distributors, while samples can be ordered using the “Free Atmel Tools” service.The modules ship in single quantities and tape & reel of 200.

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, Atmel also offers developers a lineup of ZigBit Xplained PRO extensions and USB sticks for evaluation and application development using ZigBit wireless modules.

Basically, the ZigBit Xplained PRO extensions are designed to interface with any Atmel Xplained PRO series of evaluation boards using the standard 20pin connector. Of course, the boards can also act as a standalone wireless node using an external battery case.

It should be noted that ZigBit Xplained PRO extensions ship preprogrammed with a bootloader and Atmel’s Radio Performance Analyzer application for easy evaluation of key features and RF performance. The same goes for ZigBit USB sticks, which are ideal for use with the Wireshark packet sniffer available in Atmel Studio 6.

The ZigBit Xplained PRO extensions and ZigBit USB sticks are available at Atmel’s official store and via local distributors.

Analyst Patrick Moorhead talks IoT

The rapidly evolving Internet of Things (IoT) is clearly an idea whose time has finally come. Indeed, falling technology costs, developments in complementary fields like mobile and cloud, together with support from governments have all contributed to the dawning of an IoT “quiet revolution.”

In fact, over three-quarters of companies are now actively exploring or using the IoT, with the vast majority of business leaders believing it will have a meaningful impact on how their companies conduct business. In a recent report sponsored by ARM, Clint Witchalls confirms that consumers will likely soon be awash with IoT-based products and services – even if they may not realize it.

Commenting on the Witchalls report in Forbes, analyst Patrick Moorhead notes that business leaders seem to be highly optimistic about the IoT and its ability to transform their business, either by driving new sources of revenue or by making operations more efficient.

“This is a good sign that leaders think they can make more money and save more money. It isn’t often that you can find both of these together,” he explains. “The [Witchall report] also shows that most companies are investing in IoT right now, but most are just researching what they can do with it versus planning, piloting, or implementing projects.”

So how far are we along the continuum from early adoption to mass adoption?

Well, 95% of those surveyed in the above-mentioned ARM report say they believe their companies will be using IoT in three years.

“While most in surveys are optimistic, this is a huge number when you think of it, even if, in reality, it’s four to five years,” Moorhead notes. “While I think 95% is overly-aggressive, this would be as pervasive as a smartphone or a personal computer use.”

Interestingly, Moorhead splits the concept of IoT into two distinct segments: the Industrial IoT (IIoT) and the Human (HIoT).

“The IIoT brings autonomous monitoring and operations capability to factory boilers, HVAC systems, and hospital medical systems,” he says. “IIoT systems are very high availability and companies like General Electric GE  and Echelon ELON play in this space. The HIoT comprise of more interactive, consumer-based devices like a FitBit, Revolv Hub and a Nest Thermostat. ARM, the study sponsor, obviously plays heavily in both the IIoT and the HIoT.”

Interested in learning more? The full text of the Forbes article can be read here, while the ARM-sponsored Witchalls report is available here.

The IoT connects a cast of billions

Based on current estimates, the number of “things” predicted to be connected to the Internet by the end of this decade range from a staggering 30bn to 50bn. However, as Clint Witchalls notes in a recent report sponsored by ARM, having connected “things” is the easy part. More difficult will be getting these things to communicate with each other—where human involvement is still necessary.

“With the traditional Internet it was easy to ‘go it alone.’ Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) start-ups did not first sit down with telecommunications operators and work out how they would fit together in the ecosystem,” Witchalls explains. “[In] contrast, the IoT tends to follow Metcalfe’s Law, which says that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of its users. Thus, a more cooperative approach than that shown in the past by telecoms and Internet companies will be required. Many users are needed to achieve the ‘network effects.'”

Kevin Ashton, who originally coined the term the “Internet of Things” (IoT) in 1999 while working at Proctor & Gamble, draws another clear distinction between the Internet and the IoT. As Ashton points out, the rollout of the traditional Internet happened relatively quickly, with companies granted access to a system that could interoperate before they had invested too heavily in systems that could not.

Since then, companies have built up their own networks, with significant investment. The challenge? To convince corporations to see the benefits in a common network. A simple example of one of these “walled gardens,” says Ashton, is employee office passes or ID badges, many of which are fitted with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. While swiping an ID card will get an employee into his or her workplace, the employee still has to fill out a form or wear an identity sticker when visiting a different office building. A common network between landlords could eliminate this inefficiency, while creating a much richer data set on employee whereabouts.

“What we have right now is a lot of IoT-type technology that is heavy on things and light on Internet,” Ashton confirms. “That’s [really] the bit that needs to change.”

Unsurprisingly, much of the collaboration currently under way within industry verticals is around standards, such as information-exchange protocols. According to Elgar Fleisch, the deputy dean of ETH Zürich, there is an extensive standardization effort going on.

“The main impact of standardization is that every computer can talk to every other computer and everything can talk to every other thing,” he says. “That dramatically reduces the cost of making things smart. The IoT will not fly if we don’t have these standards.”

Clearly, the full potential of the IoT will only be unlocked when small networks of connected things, from cars to employee IDs, become one big network of connected things extending across industries and organizations. Since many of the business models to emerge from the IoT will involve the sale of data, an important element of this will be the free flow of information across the network.

Interested in learning more about the rapidly evolving IoT? Part one of this series can be read here, part two here and part four here.

Taking the IoT to the next level

Over three-quarters of companies are now actively exploring or using the Internet of Things (IoT), with the vast majority of business leaders believing it will have a meaningful impact on how their companies conduct business. Clearly, the the IoT is reaching a tipping point.

Although the concept of an Internet of Things has been around for at least a decade, the IoT is beginning to become an important action point for the global business community. As Clint Witchalls notes in a recent report sponsored by ARM, there is no doubt that IoT-related technology is already having a broad impact across the world. Although the precise effect is likely to vary by country and by company, it is hard to imagine any sector will be left untouched by rapidly evolving Internet of Things.

Kevin Ashton who originally coined the term the “Internet of Things” (IoT) in 1999 while working at Proctor & Gamble, points out that the recent “trickle” of IoT product releases is all part of a larger plan to test market appetite.

“We are trying to understand before we get in too deep, because once you are financially invested and committed you cease to become agile. Then you really have to start building on the thing you’ve already invested in,” Ashton explains. “In the early stages of technology deployment it’s a charitable act really to explore a new technology because the return on investment isn’t there, it’s too expensive and it’s too unknown. That’s where government has a role.”

Looking ahead, investment in the IoT should continue to increase as more and more senior executives move up the IoT learning curve. According to Witchalls, the costs associated with the IoT will continue to fall concurrently – just like any nascent technology. Indeed, a number of early adopters believe that the technology is already mature enough and cheap enough to make IoT products and services viable without the need for a big upfront investment, at least for initial trials.

“You don’t need a lot of R&D, it’s more about integration,” says Honbo Zhou, a director of China’s Haier. “Everyone can build it [into their products]. It’s just a matter of finding a business model that works.”

Meanwhile, Elgar Fleisch, the deputy dean of ETH Zürich, a science and technology university, says he believes IoT adoption will be quite different from what he dubs the “Internet of people revolution.”

During the first phase of the Internet, he maintains, anyone with a good idea and a computer could start an organization with global reach. However, Fleisch sees the initial advantage in the “IoT revolution” going mainly to bricks-and mortar organizations, especially large firms with many assets to track and monitor. Meaning, we are unlikely to see another Facebook, Yahoo or eBay.

“There will be winners and losers, but we are unlikely to see entirely new big players entering the market,” Fleisch opines.

Notwithstanding the significant involvement of the physical world of assets and products, the IoT is still expected to be a less visible revolution than the traditional Internet.

“PayPal, Groupon and YouTube are well-known Internet companies, yet few people are probably aware that the smart meter in their cellar means that their home is a part of the IoT,” writes Witchalls. “As organizations move towards the ‘productization’ of the IoT, there are signs that business leaders recognize that this need not be a major hindrance: undeveloped consumer awareness is not seen as one of the top obstacles to organizations using the IoT. After all, consumers will always want products and services that are better, cheaper, greener and more convenient.”

As Ashton notes, “Consumers are not going to demand the Internet of Things. Nobody is going to demand the underlying infrastructure.”

Rather, says Ashton, consumers will demand some value and benefit.

“They’re going to demand a security system that they can control from their smartphone. You don’t go to the end user and talk about the Internet of Things. You go to the end user to talk about benefits,” he adds.

Want to learn more about how the IoT revolution is gathering pace and reaching a tipping point? Part one is available here, part two here, part three here and part four here.