STMicroelectronics Extends Best-In-Class Powerline-Communication Chipset into 500kHz PRIME 1.4 Protocol Standard

Customer solutions for smart grids built around ST8500 PLC platform and its latest turn-key PRIME 1.4 certified protocol on extended frequency bands displayed at European Utility Week 2018 

The STMicroelectronics ST8500 power line communication platform is the first to achieve the certification on the latest PRIME version 1.4 covering the entire 500kHz bandwidth from CH1 to CH8.

The stack also features high-performing routing algorithms to ensure superior network coverage in all application domains.

New products from lead customers in the smart-metering and industrial sectors with embedded ST8500 have been displayed at ST’s booth (B.p19) at European Utility Week, Messe Wien, Vienna, on 6-8 November.

Fully programmable, containing a dedicated real-time engine to handle the modulation and coding schemes of different PLC standards and a power-efficient Arm^® Cortex^®-M4F core for upper-layer processing and system management, the ST8500 allows product manufacturers to address multiple markets and regions with a single hardware platform, and future-proof assets in the field by remote update. Dedicated peripherals for smart-energy applications, including an AES cryptographic engine, are also integrated. Consuming less than 100mW in receive mode, the ST8500 meets the most stringent industrial specifications to minimize the grid load imposed by new smart meters.

With a complete Analog Front End (AFE) on-chip, the ST8500 connects directly to ST’s STLD1 line driver to create a complete single-vendor powerline-transceiver solution in the market. The STLD1 ensures reliable communication even across noisy cables, with high drive capability and high linearity over a wide output range of 18V in single-ended or 36V in differential mode. The two-chip set delivers best-in-class performance, ultra-low power consumption, flexibility, and cost-effective connectivity for smart-grid and IoT applications.

Driving the powerline-communication market for more than 20 years, ST is a principal member of PRIME Alliance and has supplied around 100 million powerline-modem ICs mainly for smart-metering applications.

The ST8500 in 7mm x 7mm x 1mm QFN56 and STLD1 in 4mm x 4mm x 1mm QFN24 are available now. Please contact your ST sales office for pricing options and sample requests.

Please click here for further information.

PRIME v1.4 & changing the rules of the game
Realizing the promise of Wired Communication

The smart metering landscape is entering in to a new era filled with possibilities because of the resurgence of wired communication technologies led by PRIME PLC that offer robustness, reliability and security.

El Sewedy EMG was one of the first metering solution providers to take note of this resurgence and successfully championed a modular solution with PRIME PLC as the main communication technology in Egypt’s 1st large-scale Smart Metering Project.

The three deployment areas (Cairo, Menya & Assyout) in two Distribution Companies totaling 63,000 Smart meters that were allocated to El Sewedy EMG can be characterized as a complex mixture of urban, rural and Industrial areas with a combination of overhead & underground cabling that posed quite a challenge due to the high noise levels and aging infrastructure. However, El Sewedy EMG in collaboration with its ecosystem of strategic partners from the PRIME Alliance including Microchip managed to achieve excellent results in the field utilizing cutting edge PRIME v1.4 technology in the CENELEC and FCC bands. The tangible results achieved so far include the significant reduction in the number of repeaters, successful backward compatibility, lower noise levels and overcoming high attenuation, which allowed the deployment team to achieve a 99% Success Rate in its daily meter reading rates during the Proof-of-Concept and Pilot Phases. The full roll-out of the meters is expected to be complete within 2018.

The highly promising results achieved in the Egypt project have encouraged El Sewedy EMG to replicate its reliance on PRIME v1.4 technology in its upcoming projects across the MEA region and Europe starting with a pilot in Ghana and KSA’s large-scale smart metering project in the very near future.

These results have also encouraged El Sewedy EMG to explore other reliable and future proof wired communication platforms such as RS-485 for its Water and Gas smart metering projects, which the company is confident will offer new and exciting possibilities to utilities that are currently relying on constantly changing, costly to operate and largely unstandardized wireless communication technologies.

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About El Sewedy EMG: El Sewedy Electrometer Group is one of the leading providers of Electricity, Water & Gas metering solutions and services, with facilities operating worldwide and a broad range of versatile smart solutions and products tailored to Manage Utilities Better.