Freescale launches advanced chips to make smart meters more efficient and secure

Embedded leader introduces electricity, water and gas metering technology to help detect fraud, save energy and reduce costs BEIJING – May 24, 2010 – Freescale Semiconductor today introduced three advanced microcontroller (MCU) solutions targeting electricity and flow meters along with comprehensive smart-meter reference design solutions. Freescale’s microcontrollers enable smart meters to be designed with tamper detection mechanisms and real time usage monitoring, providing customers an extra layer of security for their smart meter products. Smart metering continues to gain momentum as the world’s leading economies overhaul outdated power grids and build out a smart grid. Smart metering products enable two-way communication with the utility companies and the consumer to eliminate waste, optimize power and encourage dramatic decreases in energy consumption. “Our goal is to provide developers with comprehensive plug-and-play solutions designed to alleviate cost and time-to-market concerns, while bringing everyone a step closer to a unified smart grid,” said Jeff Bock, director of product marketing for Industrial and Multi-Market microcontrollers at Freescale. “Freescale’s smart energy technologies address smart metering and smart grid applications across the grid, enabling customers worldwide to provide secure, next-generation energy management solutions.” The advanced Freescale devices have several key functions combined on one chip, which until now has been unavailable in a single solution. Thanks to the real-time clock (RTC) on Freescale’s metering solutions, utility companies may be able to implement different tariffs depending on time of the day, maximum demand and load availability. In addition, the RTC has tamper detection mechanisms to detect fraud and send a trigger or error notice to the utility company when tampering is detected. It can also run separately with its own battery power supply in the event of a main power failure, which adds an additional layer of security in case tampering occurs during a power outage. Two separate blocks of flash memory allow a meter to continue operating on one flash bank while the other is being updated with new firmware, avoiding costly downtime. Smart meters provide an economical way to measure energy consumption, base real-time pricing on demand and minimize energy consumption during peak loads, reducing the need to build additional generation capacity. According to ABI Research, about 212 million smart electricity meters will be installed worldwide by 2015 – an increase of approximately 130 million in just five years. Governments are rapidly implementing policies and programs to speed the deployment of smart metering systems in homes and offices worldwide. Freescale’s smart meter product highlights Solutions for polyphase electricity meters using the MCF51EM256: Features a 32-bit ColdFire V1 MCU core with multiply accumulate unit Includes a poly-phase software and hardware reference design for U.S. 110 volt and EMEA/ASIA 234 volt Pre-certified toward popular standards such as International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Four integrated 16-bit SAR ADC modules and a programmable delay block for phase error compensation enable 3-phase energy measurement Independent real time clock with calendaring and tamper detection capability Flexible LCD controller can run in ultra-low power modes, and support up to 288 segments Solutions for low-cost single phase electricity meters and energy monitoring using the MC9S08LH64 Features the 8-bit S08 core Low cost single-phase power meter solution with flexible, low-power integrated LCD driver Embedded ultra low power oscillator allows accurate time base in low power modes Integrated 16-bit SAR ADC can drive a low-cost energy measurement or be used for energy monitoring Cost-optimized single phase electricity meter reference design available on request Solutions for single phase electricity, gas and water flow meters using the MC9S08GW64 Features the 8–bit S08 core Integrated gas and water metering pulse counter provides automatic sensor decoding and flow management while the product is in stop mode, critical for flow meter applications Electricity metering analog front end with two independent 16-bit SAR ADCs and a programmable delay block for phase error compensation Multiple reference hardware and software reference designs in development, including a single-phase electricity meter with integrated AFE, as well as gas and water flow meter reference design. Freescale plans to announce a series of metering solutions later this year that fit into different points along the smart grid. Availability (Buscar con Electronica Seta, S.A. de C.V.) Freescale’s MCF51EM256 device for single and three-phase electricity meters are available now for suggested resale pricing of $3.97 (USD) for quantities of 10,000 units. The MC9S08LH64 devices are available for suggested resale pricing of $2.79 (USD) for quantities of 10,000 units. General availability of the MC9S08GW64 products will be announced later this year. Development Tools (Buscar con Electronica Seta, S.A. de C.V.) Freescale offers best-in-class hardware and software development tools for smart meter applications to help reduce development cost, ease design complexity and speed time to market. Online training, videos, webcasts, technical documentation and application notes available at www.freescale.com/coldfire,www.freescale.com/metering and www.freescale.com/mqx. About Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations around the world. www.freescale.com. Follow us on Twitter.

Freescale furthers embedded development capabilities with addition of five advanced Tower System modules

Freescale furthers embedded development capabilities with addition of five advanced Tower System modules

Modules provide developers with building blocks for advanced microcontroller and microprocessor development AUSTIN, Texas – May 27, 2010 – Freescale Semiconductor continues to enable advanced development through rapid evaluation and prototyping with its Tower System development platform. Today, the company announced two processor modules, three interchangeable peripheral modules and a number of partner-developed modules for the reconfigurable development platform. The processor modules are specific for industrial networking, automotive, human-machine-interface and portable handheld and metering applications. The peripheral modules offer graphical LCD, serial memory and capacitive touch functionality, allowing for the development of highly advanced microcontrollers, with the same ease-of-use and customization features already inherent in the Tower System. The Tower System provides a customizable embedded design environment that allows developers to mix and match processor and peripheral boards to create reconfigurable development platforms that suit their design needs. Interchangeable modules promote reuse of hardware across multiple architectures, which helps speed time to market. The modular design scales down overall tool costs, while providing an inexpensive entry point. Advanced microcontroller and microprocessor modules The MPC5125 module (TWR-MPC5125) is one of the first microprocessor modules available as part of the Tower System. Designed for industrial networking, automotive, and human-machine interface (HMI) solutions, the TWR-MPC5125 module features HDMI, USB2.0 OTG, Ethernet, microphone, and stereo audio output and can serve as a single-board computer. The MC9S08LH64 module (TWR-S08LH64) features the ultra low power MC9S08LH64 segment LCD controller with integrated 16 bit ADC, providing the user with development hardware for portable handheld and entry-level metering applications. These modules compliment the previously announced MCF52259 V2 ColdFire connectivity module (TWR-MCF5225X), the MCF51CN128 V1 ColdFire Ethernet module (TWR-MCF51CN), and the MC9S08LL64 8-bit segment LCD module (TWR-S08LL64). In future months, Freescale and its partners plan to provide Tower System support for additional embedded devices, including other ColdFire MCUs, 8-bit MCUs and digital signal controllers (DSCs). Peripheral modules The LCD module (TWR-LCD) adds graphical LCD functionality with a 3.2-inch QVGA display, touch panel, integrated display controller and frame buffer. The Memory module (TWR-MEM) enables Serial Flash, MRAM, SD Card and Compact Flash interface functionality. The Swappable Sensor module (TWR-SENSOR-PAK) provides capacitive touch, accelerometer, barometer, pressure, ambient light and temperature controls. These three modules complement the previously announced peripheral modules, including the serial module, (TWR-SER), which supports Ethernet, USB, RS232, RS485 and CAN; the elevator modules (TWR-ELEV) that connect the processor and peripheral boards; and the prototyping module (TWR-PROTO), which allows for custom circuitry design. Partner module development Complimenting a growing portfolio of Tower System modules from Freescale are a number of partner-developed modules. New to the Tower System are: StackableUSB™ I/O Device Carrier module from Micro/sys – enabling additional expansion of the Tower System with StackableUSB I/O devices. i.MX515 ARM Cortex™-A8 Tower Computer Module from Micro/sys – featuring ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 800MHz, SDRAM, Flash, USB, Ethernet, Controller Area Network (CAN), serial ports, SD/MMC card slot and 16 bits of digital I/O. Rapid Prototyping System (RPS) FM1 module from iMn MicroControl – providing simple hardware and software modular prototyping and reconfiguration capabilities within and across Freescale processor families without incurring software programming changes. Rapid Prototyping System (RPS) AM1 module from iMn MicroControl – used to prototype hardware designs using Surface Mount Device (SMD) and through hole components. About the Tower System The Tower System helps developers quickly evaluate and prototype their applications. As they require more functionality and design capabilities, developers can easily add more modules to their Tower System library. In addition, standardized, open-source hardware allows Freescale customers and partners to design additional modules for added functionality and customization. Pricing and availability (buscar con Electronica Seta, S.A. de C.V.) The TWR-MPC5125 module is available for a suggested resale price of $119 (USD). The TWR-MPC5125-KIT includes the TWR-SER and TWR-ELEV modules and is available for a suggested resale price of $169 (USD). The TWR-S08LH64 module is available for a suggested resale price of $69 (USD). The TWR-S08LH64-KIT includes the TWR-PROTO and TWR-ELEV modules and is available for a suggested resale price of $99 (USD). The TWR-LCD module is available for a suggested resale price of $99 (USD). The TWR-MEM module is available for a suggested resale price of $89 (USD). The TWR-SENSOR-PAK module is available for a suggested resale price of $149 (USD). The Tower System portfolio, online training, videos, and technical documentation are available at www.freescale.com/tower. Online community To provide engineers with an opportunity to interact with each other when designing with the Tower System, an online community called Tower Geeks has been developed. Tower Geeks gives engineers an outlet to interact, explore and create new Tower System designs through video posts, forums, blogs and more. Members can also follow the Tower System through various social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter. Visithttp://www.towergeeks.org/ for more information. About Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations around the world. http://www.freescale.com/.