Microchip announced the PIC32CXMT family of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCU) combined with a new MPL460 Power Line Communications (PLC) modem.
The new MCU devices are smart meter platforms for next-generation controls for industrial IoT, and commercial and industrial metering applications. It is increased performance with up to 200 MHz operation and broad scalability with up to 560 KB of memory (SRAM).
There are three different types of devices in the PIC32CXMT family all based on a single Arm Cortex-M4F core, a dual Arm Cortex-M4 core, and finally a system-on-chip (SoC) device. The MPL460 PLC modem integrates the line driver for signal amplification. That can reduce bill-of-materials while maintaining a top-performing signal injection above 40% due to its class-D topology. In this way the PLC modem helps increase efficiency and reliability. This is done through power delivered to the load and power taken from the supply resulting in an overall reduction in consumption during transmission from the source.
“The new PIC32CXMT MCUs, combined with an MPL460 PLC modem, deliver an unmatched level of scalability and performance to support the architecture of a wide range of meters,” said Kourosh Boutorabi, director of Microchip’s Smart Energy business unit. “This second generation of our highly successful metering products demonstrates our commitment to offering a broad portfolio of SoCs that enable a flexible and secure smart metering platform with options to select from best-in-class metrology to leading-edge connectivity.”
There are several transceiver solutions including a radio/PHY, a PLC/PHY, or the option to select a PLC+RF hybrid solution. There is also an option for a communications and metrology software suite that is compliant with American National Standards Institute (ANSI). There was also the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) metering standards up to class 0.2 percent accuracy. It also supports stands wireless and wired communications, such as PRIME and G3-PLC.
The family of MCUs offers standard and proprietary on-chip hardware security features to ensure optimal performance and memory utilization.
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The PIC32CXMT family and MPL460 modem are supported by Microchip MPLAB Harmony v3 embedded software framework. Other resources include IAR Systems, Arm, Keil Development Environment, G3-PLC, and PRIME software.
The PIC32CXMT family and the ML460 are now available on a limited basis for samples.
- SAM4C – PIC32CXMT-G series (single core)
- PIC32CXMT-C series (dual core)
- SAM4CM – PIC32CXMT – SH series (system-on-chip SoC)
For more information on the announcement see the press release.
Microchip Technology | microchip.com
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