Date: 23/09/2010

Spain's utility company uses ST's power line comm chip in a meter management project

Spain's utility company uses ST's power line comm chip in a meter management project

STMicroelectronics' new STarGRID ST7590 power-line communication (PLC) System-on-Chip (SoC) is being used in Automatic Meter Management (AMM) equipment in the new 'STAR Project' in Spain.

The 'STAR Project' is the advanced metering infrastructure program from the IBERDROLA utility company. It is based on the PRIME (PoweRline Intelligent Metering Evolution) standard. The release states that 100,000 (approx) PRIME-compliant smart meters is expected to will have been being installed by IBERDOLA in the city of Castellon in Spain by 2011in the first deployment, with over 10 million smart meters expected to be deployed over the next few years in Spain. The AMM equipment employing ST's STarGRID ST7590 SoC has passed all PRIME-compliancy certification tests, performed by KEMA.

The ST7590 SoC is the latest amongst ST's STarGRID family. This chip offers a power-line communication platform that can be easily adapted to different smart-grid application needs and protocol standards. According to ST this platform optimizes power consumption and system cost more effectively than solutions based on multi-purpose stand-alone DSPs which require additional external Analog Front End and Power Line Driver components.

"Being selected as the silicon technology provider for the STAR Project in Spain is a significant testament to ST's leading-edge know-how in this field," said Pietro Menniti, VP and General Manager, Industrial Power Conversion Division, STMicroelectronics. "STarGrid is a breakthrough in power-line communication technology that offers a flexible System-on-Chip platform meeting major worldwide smart-metering and smart-grid standards. The high level of integration and flexibility of STarGRID allows key customers to simplify their product designs and significantly reduce bill-of-materials costs."

The STarGRID ST7590 is built using ST's BCD8 smart power technology. STarGRID allows the integration of DSP engine for different modulation schemes and physical layer services management, a digital 8-bit industrial microcontroller core for system supervising and protocol stack management, the full receiving and transmitting analog front end and an integrated power amplifier with on-board programmable filtering, capable of more than 1A (RMS) of current to drive very low impedances loads. The device features optional integration of specific functions such as a hardware accelerator for 128-bit AES data encryption management, a built-in channel quality estimation feature based on signal-to-noise and line impedance measurements, and other critical functions increases system performance and capabilities, while the integration of full analog-front-end and high linear power-amplifier blocks reduces both the system bill of material and the customer development effort.

The ST7590 has a robust OFDM modulation up to 128kbps and is compliant with PRIME protocol standard specifications. The STarGRID platform also includes the ST758x family, which can perform dual-channel communication with n-PSK modulation schemes up to 28.8kbps and it is suitable for different protocol implementations, such as the 'Meters & More' specification, which has been adopted by the ENEL group for the recent ENDESA multi-million metering project in Spain.

The STarGRID platform also includes the ST7570, which performs an S-FSK modulation up to 2.4 kbps and integrates a full turn-key IEC 61334-5-1 compliant protocol stack with new communication features to address standard automatic meter-reading services and other command and control applications, such as street-lighting control and sub-metering systems.

Package: pin-to-pin compatible 7x7mm small-footprint QFN48