Maxim Reference Platform Accelerates Next-Generation Smart Meter Design

SUNNYVALE, CA—October 4, 2011—Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ: MXIM) today announced the Newport Smart Meter Reference Platform. Integrating advanced capabilities in metering, security, and power line communication (G3-PLC) technology, the reference platform provides utilities with a variety of ways to evaluate smart grid technologies and provides manufacturers with an easy-to-use smart meter design that accelerates time to market.

High integration and industry-leading accuracy reduce infrastructure costs, while Newport components are reliable, flexible, and rugged, ensuring stable performance even under harsh conditions. This design is another achievement for Maxim, which continues to provide solutions for metering, communications, security, interface, power, and timekeeping for the smart grid. A separate G3-PLC concentrator board is provided to support meter-concentrator communication testing.

Support known system requirements and address future needs

The rapid adoption of smart grids is characterized by both certainty and uncertainty. All smart meters require high accuracy, reliable communication, security, and a long field life. To ensure designs meet these performance criteria, the Newport evaluation platform features the 71M6541 energy metering SoC, which delivers 0.1% accuracy over a wide 2000:1 current range.
The G3-PLC chipset, featuring the MAX2991 and MAX2992, features adaptive tone mapping, notching, and robust mode to ensure communication even in the most extreme noise conditions. The MAXQ1050 secure microcontroller supports scalable enhanced encryption standards and protects the system from physical attacks by hackers. Maxim's long-lasting quality ensures these components will perform well in all field conditions for an extended period of time.

The demand for new applications, such as EV reverse flow control, represents a growing demand for smart grid implementations. The robust components of the Newport smart meter reference platform provide the flexibility to address the needs for security algorithms, diverse communication protocols, and field-upgradable meters. Designers can use this smart meter platform to evaluate the MAX2991/MAX2992 G3-PLC-compatible chipset, the 71M6541 metering SoC, and the MAXQ1050 secure microcontroller for their next-generation smart meters.

Supports various functions with high integration

The Newport platform offers two communication sockets, enabling it to be used for both independent neighborhood area network (NAN) and home area network (HAN) interfaces. Maxim's G3-PLC chipset (MAX2991/MAX2992) is integrated into one socket to provide communication to the meter-to-concentrator (Root A), the meter-to-in-home display and home gateway (Root B), or both. The chipset complies with the new IEEE® P1901.2 standard for powerline OFDM-based communications, ensuring interoperability. The MAX2992 also features a CCM authentication coprocessor with AES-128 encryption/decryption capabilities.

The 71M6541 highly integrated metering SoC provides instrumentation for the Newport platform. This field-proven solution delivers <0.1% accuracy over a -40°C to +85°C industrial temperature range and a 2000:1 current range. The 71M6541 combines a powerful, programmable and user-adjustable 32-bit metering calculation engine, a 22-bit delta-sigma ADC using Maxim's Single Converter Technology®, a 5MHz 8051-compatible MPU core with low-power RTC and digital temperature compensation, flash memory, LCD driver, UART, and I2C interfaces. This combination of diverse functional blocks allows the solution to be optimized for professional measurements as well as for use with a variety of sensors, including shunts, current transformers, and Rogowski coils. The Newport platform is the only solution that supports isolated shunt metering technology, reducing bill-of-materials (BOM) costs and improving reliability and resistance to magnetic tampering.

A critical issue for smart grid security is grid access through meters. If compromised by cybercriminals, the entire grid could suffer devastating damage. To prevent this, the Newport platform adds the MAXQ1050, which supports advanced asymmetric cryptographic schemes such as Eleptic Curve and protects the system against physical hacking. The MAXQ1050 provides sophisticated security mechanisms to protect secret key data, two self-destruct inputs, and various environmental monitors (temperature and voltage sensors), which delete secret key data when an attack condition is detected, preventing sensitive information from falling into the hands of attackers. The device supports high-speed encryption with hardware accelerators for AES, RSA, DSA, ECDSA, SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, and 3DES. It also includes a fully functional hardware random number generator for key generation and response generation.

Additionally, the Newport Smart Grid Platform incorporates several key components to ensure successful design evaluation. The MAX17498, a current-mode PWM regulator for AC-DC and DC-DC power conversion applications, provides integrated power management. The DS3231M RTC provides enhanced timing accuracy, and the MAX13256 and MAX13412 provide isolated RS-485 interfaces.

Maxim will be demonstrating the Newport smart meter reference platform in several locations around the world. The schedule is as follows, and detailed information about the previews can be found on the website below. Metering, Billing/CRM Europe (October 4–6, Booth E70), CEATEC Japan (October 4–8, Booth 7F06), Metering, Billing/CRM Latin America (October 25–27, Booths 5, 6, 7).

* European Metering, Billing/CRM ( http://www.metering-europe.com/ )
* Japan CEATEC ( http://www.ceatec.com/2011/en/outline/detail.html?exh_id=E110119 )
* Latin American Metering, Billing/CRM ( http://meteringlatinamerica.com/english/index.asp)

The Newport smart meter reference platform is available for sampling to qualified customers. Request a sample at www.maxim-ic.com/Newport.