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Microchip - Utility-band Power-Line Soft-Modem development kit

30th August 2011

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Microchip announces the Power-Line Modem PICtail Plus Daughter Board Development Kit (AC164145) for the utility frequency band. The kit supports the development of products which communicate using the same wiring that provides power, allowing instant networks to be created at low system and deployment costs. The kit provides communication over power lines using a Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation scheme, with the on-board modem using the CELENEC A utility frequency baseband of 72 kHz, for communication at a rate of 6 kilobits per second (kbps). In addition, the modem hardware is compatible with the universal power-line, and can operate on 110V or 220V electrical systems. The soft modem is based on the scalable dsPIC33F Digital Signal Controller architecture and interfaces with Microchip’s Explorer 16 Development Board. It is supported with royalty-free schematics, demo code and software in source-code format.

Key Facts:
6 kbps software modem for low-cost communication and control in utility applications
Kit allows designers to start running demos in minutes
Compatible with universal power-line
Supports power meter, in-home energy monitoring and control, and smart-grid designs

Applications for power-line communication include utility power meters, in-home energy monitoring and control, and smart-grid products. The utility-band development kit is Microchip’s second low-cost power-line carrier solution, following the launch of the consumer-band PLM PICtail Plus Daughter Board Development Kit earlier this year. The utility-band daughter board includes two nodes for out-of-the-box, point-to-point communication, allowing customers to start running a selection of demos in minutes. The BPSK scheme provides a robust modulation method that performs well in noisy environments, and the data rate can be selected in software. Microchip’s wide portfolio of dsPIC33F DSCs allows customers to select a device to optimises performance and cost for each application.