[December 05, 2012]

Accent New ASMgrid2 Chip Offering Brings Leading Metrology And Communications Capability From Single Phase To Three Phase Smart Meter Applications

Accent announced today the addition of the ASM231 to its industry-leading ASMgrid2^TM standard product family. The ASM231 provides a highly integrated, one-chip solution for both residential and commercial & industrial smart meters by integrating Accent's world-class energy measurement solution, scalable processing capability, and numerous meter system functions. As a result, the new device enables customers with best-in-class metrology capability and a future-proof platform easily supporting the operation of multiple communication stacks and other meter software. Furthermore, the offering's incredible system integration allows significant BOM and development cost reduction across of range of meter types, 1-Phase to 3-Phase.

Powered by a 196 MHz ARM926EJ-S^TM and SDRAM for code storage, the ASM231 is an industry-leading integrated metering processing platform that is highly cost-effective and scalable, easily outperforming alternative offerings that rely on embedded flash. For example, ASM231 is also available in single chip options with 2 MB or 8 MB configurations, densities that would otherwise be cost prohibitve with flash. With Accent's AEMET2^TM metrology solution, the SoC exceeds Class 0.2 polyphase meter accuracy requirements over the industry's widest dynamic range of 10:000 to 1. The key to this performance is AEMET2's six independent converters used to measure current and voltage as well as an ultra-efficient 64-bit DSP used for energy calculations. This system partitioning enables the ARM9 processor to be used solely for communication and application processing while also supporting advanced metrology calculations such as harmonic analysis. AEMET2 features an industry-leading 25.6 kHz sampling rate for calculating up to 256 harmonics. Additional system capabilities include a LCD controller, a flexible power management controller, and a complete set of communication interfaces and analog peripherals.

"The ASM231 represents a logical next step to the ground-breaking path set by ASMgrid2's set of products of combining high feature integration and product innovation", said Federico Arcelli, CEO of Accent. "This combination enables the ASM231 to provide more than a cost reduction compared to today's solutions but incredible system performance and unprecedented product scalability."

Availability

The ASM231 is currently available and sampling to lead customers.

About Accent

Founded in 1993, Accent (www.accent-soc.com) is an ISO 9001:2008 certified world leading semiconductor supplier of communications and metering technologies for the Smart Grid industry. The company is backed by renowned investors such as Sofinnova Partners and Tallwood Venture Capital. Accent is a worldwide operation with offices in Italy, China, France, and United States. Accent's ASMgrid product families integrate the widest technology breadth supporting current and future Smart Grid standards to provide equipment manufacturers off-the-shelf standard products plus complete software platforms for rapid time to market and significantly lowered production costs.

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