NEC Electronics today announced
the availability of four new 8-bit All Flash LCD microcontrollers
(MCUs) with an integrated metrology engine providing energy measurement
and management functions for smart electricity meters. The new chips
will simplify smart meter designs for homes around the world,
contributing to efficient energy usage and reducing the emission of
greenhouse gases. The 64-pin 78K0/LE3-M microcontroller comes in a 10
millimeter (mm) x 10mm low-profile quad flat package (LQFP) and is
designed for single-phase 2-wire electricity meters, while the 100-pin
78K0/LG3-M microcontroller comes in a 14mm x 14mm LQFP and is designed
for single-phase 3-wire electricity meters.
Most of the 2.5 billion electricity meters in use today are primitive
electromechanical devices that require manual reading of energy usage.
Smart electricity meters, a key component of smart grid systems, have
communication capabilities that facilitate automatic meter reading and
enable utility providers to manage energy supply and demand, ensuring a
stable and efficient power grid.
NEC Electronics’ 78K0/Lx3-M microcontrollers simplify smart electricity
meter designs by offering a rich set of integrated analog and digital
peripherals. The metrology engine consists of a high-precision 24-bit
ΔΣ (delta-sigma) analog-to-digital (A/D) converter; power calculation
hardware with calibration capability; power quality-management circuits
to detect power outages, current peaks, and voltage peaks; and
anti-tampering circuits to ensure the integrity of power usage data.
The devices also come with an LCD controller, able to drive up to a
160-segment display, and Flash memory ranging from 16 kilobytes (KB) to
60 KB. The 78K0/Lx3-M microcontrollers can manage communication
sub-systems through various serial interfaces.
