STMicroelectronics ST8500 powerline-communication chipset

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The STMicroelectronics ST8500 powerline-communication (PLC) solution features a G3-PLC CENELEC B certified protocol stack for industrial applications beyond utility metering, such as in smart cities, street lighting, renewable energy management, and railway smart tunnels and stations.

In addition to covering all G3-PLC standards and frequency bands, the product also offers certified libraries for all PRIME standards, from PRIME 1.3.6 to PRIME 1.4 in CENELEC and FCC bands. Each of the stacks features high-performing routing algorithms to ensure good network coverage in all application domains.

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 chipset allows manufacturers to address multiple markets and regions with a single hardware platform, and futureproof assets in the field by remote update. Dedicated peripherals for smart-energy applications, including an AES cryptographic engine, are also integrated. Consuming less than 100 mW in receive mode, the device meets industrial specifications to minimise the grid load imposed by 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 communication even across noisy cables, with high drive capability and high linearity over a wide output range of 18 V in single-ended or 36 V in differential mode. The two-chip set delivers high performance, ultralow power consumption, flexibility and connectivity for smart-grid and IoT applications.

For more information: www.st.com//st8500-stdl1-pr.