Renesas releases power line IC with evaluation kit and tools
A power line communication modem IC has been released by Renesas Electronics, together with evaluation kits and tools to allow developers to evaluate applications supporting high speed comms.
The R9A06G061 power line communication (PLC) modem IC delivers high-speed communication at up to 1Mbits per second over long distances of a km or more, without the need for relays. This broadens the practical applications that are available for power line communication (PLC), says the company.
The analogue peripheral functions reduce the number of external components required, which reduces the cost and size of systems in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) control, lighting system control in office buildings and string monitoring and power conditioner control in solar power systems. There is no need to install dedicated cables for use, enabling the R9A06G061’s use in inexpensive system monitoring in applications such as monitoring of cellular antennas or motors in submersible pumps.
The R9A06G061 is designed specifically for configuring simple peer-to-peer (P2P) networks with a bus or star topology. Improved transmission drive capability enables designers doubles the number of devices that can be connected to more than 200 without the use of additional line drivers. The noise tolerance also makes it suitable for a range of applications and environments.
Renesas has also released evaluation kits for AC and DC power lines. These evaluation kits, along with tools for evaluating communication performance that run on a PC, support communication characteristics evaluation, error analysis and troubleshooting. Evaluation software and documentation are provided to enable developers to immediately begin development and debugging. Design data for the hardware of the evaluation kits is available upon request.
Renesas has combined the R9A06G061 with complementary analogue and power devices that work together seamlessly, for example, combining it with the high speed and long distance PLC unit for AC line / DC line which also combines AC/DC and DC/DC converters.
The R9A06G061 ICs and evaluation kits are available now.
Renesas Electronics provides microcontrollers, analogue, power and SoC products, for a range of automotive, industrial, Infrastructure and IoT applications.
