Renesas adds power line communication modem IC

The R9A06G061, introduced by Renesas, delivers high-speed communication at up to 1Mbps over long distances of a kilometer or more, without the need for relays, expanding the range of practical applications for PLC. Optimised analogue peripheral functions reduce the number of external components required, allowing for less expensive and more compact systems. With this combination, the new R9A06G061 is suited for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) control, lighting system control in office buildings, and string monitoring and power conditioner control in solar power systems.

Since it does not require the installation of dedicated cables, the R9A06G061 can enable low-cost system monitoring in applications such as monitoring of cellular antennas or motors in submersible pumps.

While Renesas’ current R9A06G037 PLC modem IC supports the G3-PLC, PRIME and Meters and More standards and can be used to implement large-scale multi-hop networks with a mesh topology, the new R9A06G061 is designed specifically for configuring simple peer-to-peer (P2P) networks with a bus or star topology. Improved transmission drive capability enables designers to increase the number of devices that can be connected twofold to more than 200 without the use of additional line drivers. In addition, the IC’s superior noise tolerance makes it suitable for a wide range of applications and environments.

“The cost and extended construction time associated with the installation of dedicated signal lines as well as the maintenance cost of additional devices are key issues for building and infrastructure device management,” said Toshihide Tsuboi, Vice President, Industrial Automation Business Division at Renesas. “PLC is an outstanding solution that overcomes these issues, and I am confident that our new product, designed specifically for P2P networks, will further broaden the scope of practical applications for PLC.”

Renesas also released evaluation kits for AC and DC power lines, respectively. These evaluation kits, along with tools for evaluating communication performance that run on a PC, support communication characteristics evaluation, error analysis, and troubleshooting. Renesas provides both the evaluation software and a variety of documentation to enable developers to immediately begin development and debugging. Design data for the hardware of the evaluation kits is available upon request in order to support more rapid product development.