Maxim Integrated Products has introduced the Newport smart meter reference platform that integrates metrology, security and powerline communications technology to give utilities a versatile way to evaluate smart grid technology.
The platform also gives manufacturers an easy-to-use smart-meter design to accelerate time to market. A separate G3-PLC concentrator board is available to support meter-to-concentrator communications testing.
It integrates the 71M6541 energy-metering system-on-chip (SoC) that provides 0.1% accuracy across a current range of 2000:1. The G3-PLC chipset, which includes the Max 2991 and 2992, uses adaptive tone mapping, notching and robust mode to ensure communications in noisy conditions. The Max Q1050 secure microcontroller supports scalable encryption standards and protects against physical attacks from hackers.
The demands of new applications, such as EV reverse flow control, also mean that there are evolving requirements in smart grid implementation. The components in the reference platform provide the flexibility to handle uncertainties such as security algorithms, different communications protocols and the need for field-upgradable meters.
Two communications sockets allow for independent neighbourhood area network (NAN) and home area network (HAN) interfaces. The G3-PLC chipset is installed in one socket to provide communications for either meter to concentrator (route A), meter to in-home display and home gateway (route B), or both. The chipset complies with the emerging IEEE P1901.2 standard for OFDM-based communications over power lines and offers guaranteed interoperability. The Max 2992 also includes an on-chip CCM authentication coprocessor with AES-128 encryption and decryption.
The SoC provides the metrology for the Newport platform. This has better than 0.1% accuracy over the -40 to +85˚C industrial temperature range. It combines a programmable and customisable 32bit metrology computation engine, a 22bit delta-sigma ADC using single converter technology; a 5MHz 8051-compatible MPU core with a low-power RTC and digital temperature compensation; flash memory; LCD driver; uarts; and I2C interface.
This combination of blocks allows the system to be optimised for specialised measurements and to work with various sensors including shunts, current transformers and Rogowski coils. The platform also supports isolated shunt-metering technology that reduces costs, while enhancing reliability and immunity to magnetic tampering.
The platform uses the Q1050 to support asymmetric encryption schemes such as elliptic curve and also protects against physical hacking. It incorporates a security mechanism to protect secret key data; two self-destruct inputs and various other environmental monitors (temperature and voltage sensors) erase secret key data when an attack condition is detected, thereby preventing sensitive information from falling into the hands of an attacker.
The device supports high-speed encryption with hardware accelerators for AES, RSA, DSA, ECDSA, SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256 and 3DES. A hardware random-number generator is included for key generation and challenge generation.
Power management is provided by the Max 17498, a current-mode pulse-width-modulated regulator for AC-DC and DC-DC power-conversion applications. The DS3231M real time clock provides timing accuracy, and the Max 13256 and 13412 provide an isolated RS485 interface.
