Power-line com dev kit enables low-cost design

Power-line com dev kit enables low-cost design

The AC164145 power-line soft-modem development kit enables low-cost communication and control in utility power meter, home energy monitoring and control, and smart-grid applications. The kit provides communication over power lines using a BPSK modulation scheme using the CELENEC A utility frequency baseband of 72 kHz, for communication at a rate of 6 Kbits /s.

The soft modem is based upon the scalable dsPIC33F digital signal controller iC and interfaces with the Explorer 16 development board. The kit includes two daughter boards and high-voltage adapter cables, schematics, demo code, and software in source-code format, and is supported by the free MPLAB IDE. ($225 — available now.)

by Jim Harrison

Microchip Technology , Chandler , AZ
Sales 480-792-7200
www.microchip.com