NEC, Ariane Controls partner to support smart energy market

NEC, Ariane Controls partner to support smart energy market
Santa Clara, Calif. — NEC Electronics America, Inc. has licensed Ariane Controls' powerline communications (PLC) modem technology to support the development of command and control systems for smart energy applications such as utility metering, demand response, intelligent lighting and home area networks (HANs).

NEC plans to offer the PLC intellectual property (IP) as a building block for its ASIC and standard solutions customers. The Ariane PLC IP is optimized for medium data-rate applications used in command and control systems including whole house command centers that control lighting, appliances, climate, security and other systems.

Earlier this year, NEC and Ariane Controls worked together to develop the Ariane Controls PLM-1 standalone PLC modem IC, which offers a wide range of programmable transmission rates and communications frequencies. This agreement enables customers to purchase PLM-1 devices from NEC.

The standalone PLM-1 IC incorporates NEC Electronics' CMOS-9HD gate array platform in a 44-pin, low-profile quad flatpack (LQFP) package, allowing for easy integration into the powerline transceivers used for command and control system applications. The PLM-1 digital modem implements a half-duplex transmitter/receiver for PLCs using a frequency-shift key modulation technique, with programmable transmission rates ranging from 100 to 30,000 baud and communication frequencies ranging from 50 to 500 kilohertz (kHz).

The IC includes a complete set of programmable functions that allows designers to implement cost-effective PLC networks with greater design flexibility and reliability, said NEC. In addition, the device is protocol neutral, enabling the use of multiple protocols within one powerline network and the use of more than one protocol in a given application. The IC is RoHS compliant and operates at 3.3 volts (V) with power consumption levels as low as 24 milliwatts (mW).

The PLC IP for ASIC solutions is available from NEC Electronics America. The PLM-1 device is also available from NEC Electronics America and Ariane Controls.