Aug 19 2014
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC), a committed leader that collaborates with technology companies to create breakthrough designs, today announced the newest addition to its TX04 series of ARM® Cortex®-M4F core-based microcontrollers (MCUs).
The TMPM411F20XBG MCU facilitates electric power calculation and communication in smart meters, as well as sensing and communications in other measurement devices. Samples are now available in the U.S.
According to market research firm IBISWorld, smart meter manufacturing industry revenue in the U.S. has swelled over the past five years. In 2014 alone, the industry is expected to grow 17.7 percent, reaching $1.5 billion overall. Moreover, the federal government has committed $3.4 billion for grid modernization, further fueling demand for smart meters and enabling products.
"As use of smart meters and other advanced sensing devices escalates, there is a need to reduce their overall form factor while increasing performance. One way to achieve this is to offer controllers that allow development of smaller products with greater functionality," said Jun Kawaguchi, senior business development manager, Mixed-Signal Business Unit at TAEC. "Toshiba is committed to developing microcontrollers that support widespread use of smart meters and other sensing solutions for utility applications."
A typical smart meter comprises separate controllers for electric power calculation, data communication, and output display. By integrating multiple functionalities, the TMPM411F20XBG achieves independent control of the electric power calculation and communication control in a single chip, reducing the circuit board area within the smart meter.
The TMPM411F20XBG implements tamper detection and failure detection with very low power consumption, and also incorporates key security functions suitable for secure network communication. These include Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) and Entropy Source Generator (ESG). Its large on-chip Flash memory allows for robust code and data storage as required for extensive service lifetime.
The TMPM411F20XBG operates at 2.7 to 3.6V, with a maximum operating frequency of 80MHz. It has an internal memory of 2048 Kbytes Flash and 290 Kbytes total SRAM, 34-channel direct memory access (DMA), 9-channel 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The product is available in 14x14mm VFGBA193 package.