Utility Metering Design Solutions

Complete Utility Metering Solutions

Design Innovation in Gas, Water, Heat
and Energy Meters
Engineers face a variety of design challenges as they push
new innovations within their own applications. In meter
designs, innovation usually rests with increasing accuracy
and reliability while lowering total system cost. This is
true whether designers are creating the next-generation
electronic utility meter or migrating an existing mechanical
meter design to contain first-time electronics intelligence.
Several new devices have been introduced to address
the metering design challenges of accurate power
measurement, low cost display interfaces, low power
consumption, remote communication and billing.
We offer a complete portfolio of 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers,
16-bit digital signal controllers, energy measurement integrated
circuits (ICs), analog components, and serial EEPROMs which
allows designers to:
• Directly drive inexpensive LED and LCD displays
• Add wireless communication for automated meter reading
• Implement anti-tampering techniques
• Manage low-power design with nanoWatt technology
• Integrate real time clock for advanced billing schemes
• Simplify meter calibaration

Microchip’s Recommended Solutions for Utility Metering Designs

Device Type Gas Meter Water Meter Energy Meter Heat Meter
16-bit dsPIC®Digital Signal dsPIC30F3012
Controller
8-bit PIC®Microcontrollers PIC18F8490 PIC18F8490 PIC18F8490 PIC18F8490
PIC18F6490 PIC18F6490 PIC18F6490 PIC18F6490
PIC16F946 PIC16F946 PIC16F946 PIC16F946
PIC16F917 PIC16F917 PIC16F917 PIC16F917
PIC16F916 PIC16F916 PIC16F916 PIC16F916
PIC16F877A PIC16F877A PIC16F877A PIC16F877A
PIC16F876A PIC16F876A PIC16F876A PIC16F876A
PIC16F77 PIC16F77 PIC16F77 PIC16F77
PIC16F76 PIC16F76 PIC16F76 PIC16F76
PIC16F72 PIC16F72 PIC16F72 PIC16F72
PIC16F648A PIC16F648A PIC16F648A PIC16F648A
Energy Measurement ICs MCP3906
MCP3905
Interface (Infrared) MCP2122 MCP2122
MCP2120 MCP2120
Display AY0438 AY0438 AY0438 AY0438
Op Amps MCP6141 MCP6141 MCP6141 MCP6141
MCP601 MCP601 MCP601 MCP601
MCP6021 MCP6021
Programmable Gain Amplifiers MCP6S28
ADCs MCP3304 MCP3304
MCP3208 MCP3208
MCP3008 MCP3008
Digital Potentiometers MCP4021 MCP4021 MCP42010 MCP42010
MCP4021 MCP4021
DACs MCP4821
Voltage Supervisors MCP131 MCP131 MCP131 MCP131
MCP100 MCP100 MCP100 MCP100
Temperature Sensors TC75
TC75A
TC77
Serial EEPROMs Yes Yes Yes Yes
Development Systems MPLAB® ICD 2 In Circuit MPLAB ICD 2 In Circuit MPLAB ICD 2 In Circuit MPLAB ICD 2 In Circuit
Debugger Debugger Debugger Debugger
PICkit™ 2 Flash Starter Kit PICkit 2 Flash Starter Kit PICkit 2 Flash Starter Kit PICkit 2 Flash Starter Kit
PICDEM™ LCD PICDEM LCD PICDEM LCD PICDEM LCD
Demonstration Board Demonstration Board Demonstration Board Demonstration Board
MCP3905RD-PM1 Energy
Meter Reference Design
MCP3905EV Evaluation
Board
This table represents a sampling of device solutions recommended for utility metering designs. Microchip’s broad portfolio of 8-bit microcontrollers,
16-bit microcontrollers and digital signal controllers, analog and interface products, and serial EEPROMs contains hundreds of products that could
potentially be used for utility metering designs, depending upon the application requirements.
Energy Measurement ICs Development Systems
The MCP3905 and MCP3906 fully functional, stand-alone Low-cost and easy-to-learn development tools can save
energy-measurement ICs output average and instantaneous designers time, money and engineering resources.
real power. When these analog front ends are paired with
Microchip offers a number of development boards and
a PIC® microcontroller, engineers have a complete, highly
evaluation kits that demonstrate the capabilities of its
accurate solution for single-phase energy measurement in
silicon solutions for utility metering applications.
residential power meters and industrial applications.
These devices each integrate two 16-bit delta-sigma analog- MCP3905RD-PM1 Energy Meter Reference
to-digital converters (ADCs), an internal voltage reference, Design Board
plus all of the digital circuitry needed to calculate average This low-cost energy
and instantaneous real power from voltage and current meter board acts
channels. The MCP3905 features a programmable gain as a stand-alone
amplifier (PGA) with a maximum gain of 16. For energy energy meter or as
meters requiring higher accuracy, the MCP3906 has a the analog-front-
maximum gain of 32. These solutions meet or exceed end design for LCD
the requirements of the International Electrotechnical microcontroller-
Commission IEC62053 energy-metering specifications. based meters. The
MCP3905 design
Microcontrollers with On-Board LCD Modules is specified with an
energy measurement error of 0.1% typical across 1:500
Most metering designs require user interfaces that are low dynamic range for high accurate energy meter designs.
cost and easy to use. Microcontrollers with on-board liquid The board is compliant with EMC requirements per energy
crystal display (LCD) modules combine the control and metering standards IEC62053 and legacy IEC61036,
interface functions in a single device. IEC1046 and IEC687.
Microchip’s PIC18F8490 and PIC16F917 series of 8-bit MCP3905EV Energy Meter Evaluation Board
microcontrollers provide high-performance and cost-
effective solutions for metering applications. Both families This evaluation
offer Flash program memory, low power consumption board allows the
and integrated LCD control with a variety of features and user to test a
package options. variety of energy
meter designs. On
the input side, high
8-/16-bit Microcontrollers and 16-bit Digital
voltage line and load
Signal Controllers AC-plug headers are
Engineers require a variety of controller options to select included, along with
the optimum price and performance for their applications. mounting holes for
Microchip offers hundreds of 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers shunts, current transformers, and screw-type connections
and 16-bit digital signal controllers for metering designs for wiring. On the output side, a large prototype area
with numerous choices of memory types and sizes, pin is included along with optical isolation and a standard
counts, peripherals and much more. PICtail™ header for experimenting with a variety of
PIC microcontroller-based energy meter designs.

Complete Technical Resources for PICDEM™ LCD Demonstration Board

Metering Designs The PICDEM™ LCD
Board demonstrates
Engineering resources are often limited, which makes the main features
access to existing application reference designs and of the LCD Flash
technical documentation critical in reducing time to market. 28-, 40-, 64-
and 80-pin PIC
Microchip’s Utility Meter Design Center at www.microchip.com/ microcontrollers with
meter offers material that walks the reader through all of power management
the building blocks and considerations in creating a utility functions. The board
metering design. The “Introduction to Utility Metering” tutorial is populated with
supports those who are new to electronic design, offering an the PIC18F8490, and other devices are supported via a
overview of the migration from mechanical meter designs to transition socket. A sample LCD glass display is included
electronic-based solutions. The Design Center also features for custom prototyping. The PICDEM LCD Board provides
complete access to all of Microchip’s metering application tutorial firmware, which is included in the preprogrammed
notes, reference designs, and other technical documentation devices. The kit is shipped for plug-and-play operation.
to help engineers get their products to market more quickly
and efficiently.
 APPLICATION NOTES

Metering AN939 Designing Energy Meters with the PIC16F873A

AN994 IEC Compliant Active-Energy Meter Design Using the MCP3905/6
ANXXX Gas and Water Metering with the PIC16F91X Family of Devices
TBXXX Heat Metering Technical Brief

Communications AN833 Microchip TCP/IP Stack

AN965 Microchip Stack for the ZigBee™ Protocol
AN979 Interfacing an I2C™ Serial EEPROM to a PIC18 Device

Display AN234 Hardware Techniques for PICmicro® Microcontrollers

AN529 Multiplexing LED Drive and a 4x4 Keypad Sampling
AN557 Four Channel Digital Voltmeter with Display and Keyboard
AN563 Using PIC16C5X Microcontrollers as LCD Drivers
AN582 Low-Power Real-Time Clock
AN587 Interfacing PICmicro® Microcontrollers to an LCD Module
AN649 Yet Another Clock Featuring the PIC16C924
AN658 LCD Fundamentals Using PIC16C92X MCUs
AN785 Simplify A/D Converter Interface with Software (TC7135)
AN874 Buck Configuration High-Power LED Driver
AN948 Efficiently Powering Nine White LEDs with the MCP1650
TB029 Complementary LED Drive
TB060 Drive High Intensity White LEDs Efficiently Using the PIC16C781
TB062 High Power IR LED Driver Using the PIC16C781/782

Miscellaneous AN606 Low-Power Design Using PICmicro® Microcontrollers

AN731 Embedding PICmicro Microcontrollers in the Internet
AN851 A Flash Bootloader for PIC16 and PIC18 Devices
TB008 Transformerless Power Supply

Timekeeping AN582 Low-Power Real-Time Clock

AN590 A Clock Design Using the PIC16C54 for LED Displays and Switch Inputs
AN615 Clock Design Using Low-Power Cost Techniques
AN649 Yet Another Clock Featuring the PIC16C924
CE004 Real-Time Clock on the dsPIC30F
TB028 Technique to Calculate Day of Week

Security AN174 Wireless Home Security Implementing KEELOQ® and the PICmicro®
AN583 Implementation of the Data Encryption Standard Using PIC17C42
AN821 Advanced Encryption Standard Using the PIC16XXX
AN953 Data Encryption Routines for PIC18 Microcontrollers
 Product Specifications
Energy Measurement ICs (IEC Compliant)
Typical
Dynamic Measurement Typical Voltage Typical Supply Supply Voltage Temperature
Device Measurement Accuracy Gain Reference Drift Current Range (V) Range (°C) Features
Active (real) power
MCP3905 500:1 0.1% 1, 2, 8, 16 15 ppm 4 mA 4.5 to 5.5 -40 to 85
pulse output
Active (real) power
MCP3906 1000:1 0.1% 1, 8, 16, 32 15 ppm 4 mA 4.5 to 5.5 -40 to 85
pulse output

PIC® Microcontrollers
Flash EEPROM
Program Data Data TMR
Memory Memory RAM Analog Compara- CCP/ LCD 8-bit/
Device Bytes Bytes Bytes I/O (10-bit) tors I²C™/SPI™/Serial USART PWM Segments 16-bit Pins
PIC16F648A 7168 256 256 16 — 2 AUSART 1 — 2/1 18/20/28
PIC16F72 3584 — 128 22 5 (8-bit) — I²C/SPI 1 — 2/1 28
PIC16F76 14336 — 368 22 5 (8-bit) — I²C/SPI/USART 2 — 2/1 28
PIC16F77 14336 — 368 33 8 (8-bit) — I²C/SPI/USART 2 — 2/1 40/44
PIC16F876A 14336 256 368 22 8 2 I²C/SPI/AUSART 2 — 2/1 28
PIC16F877A 14336 256 368 33 8 2 I²C/SPI/AUSART 2 — 1/2 40/44
PIC16F916 14336 256 352 25 5 2 I²C/SPI/AUSART 2 4x15 (60) 2/1 28
PIC16F917 14336 256 352 36 8 2 I²C/SPI/AUSART 2 4x24 (96) 2/1 40/44
PIC16F946 14336 256 336 53 8 2 I²C/SPI/AUSART 2 4x42 (168) 2/1 64
PIC18F6490 16834 — 768 50 12 2 I²C/SPI/EUSART/AUSART 2 4x32 (128) 1/3 64
PIC18F8490 16834 — 768 66 12 2 I²C/SPI/EUSART/AUSART 2 4x48 (192) 1/3 80

dsPIC® Digital Signal Controller (DSC)

Flash EEPROM
Program Data Data TMR
Memory Memory RAM Analog Compara- CCP/ LCD 8-bit/
Device Bytes Bytes Bytes I/O (12-bit) tors I²C™/SPI™/Serial USART PWM Segments 16-bit Pins
dsPIC30F3012 24 1024 2048 12 8 — I²C/SPI/USART 2 — 0/3 18/28
Worldwide Sales & Service

At Microchip, we understand that it takes more than product specifications to

create loyal customers. In addition to a broad product portfolio, we understand
the value of a complete design solution. That’s why we maintain a worldwide
network of sales and support. Our global network of experienced field application
engineers and technical support personnel are ready to provide product and
system assistance to help you further streamline your design, prototype and
production activities.

Sales Office Listing

Technical Support:
http://support.microchip.com

AMERICAS ASIA/PACIFIC ASIA/PACIFIC EUROPE

Atlanta Australia - Sydney India - Bangalore Austria - Weis
Tel: 770-640-0034 Tel: 61-2-9868-6733 Tel: 91-80-2229-0061 Tel: 43-7242-2244-399
China - Beijing India - New Delhi
Boston Tel: 86-10-8528-2100 Tel: 91-11-5160-8631 Denmark - Copenhagen
Tel: 774-760-0087 India - Pune Tel: 45-4450-2828
China - Chengdu
Tel: 86-28-8676-6200 Tel: 91-20-2566-1512
Chicago
China - Fuzhou Japan - Yokohama France - Paris
Tel: 630-285-0071
Tel: 86-591-8750-3506 Tel: 81-45-471- 6166 Tel: 33-1-69-53-63-20
Dallas China - Hong Kong SAR Korea - Gumi
Tel: 972-818-7423 Tel: 852-2401-1200 Tel: 82-54-473-4301
Germany - Munich
China - Qingdao Korea - Seoul Tel: 49-89-627-144-0
Detroit Tel: 86-532-8502-7355 Tel: 82-2-554-7200
Tel: 248-538-2250 China - Shanghai Malaysia - Penang
Italy - Milan
Tel: 86-21-5407-5533 Tel: 604-646-8870
Kokomo Tel: 39-0331-742611
China - Shenyang Philippines - Manila
Tel: 765-864-8360 Tel: 632-634-9065
Tel: 86-24-2334-2829
Netherlands - Drunen
China - Shenzhen Singapore
Los Angeles Tel: 31-416-690399
Tel: 86-755-8203-2660 Tel: 65-6334-8870
Tel: 949-462-9523
China - Shunde Taiwan - Hsin Chu
Tel: 886-3-572-9526 Spain - Madrid
San Jose Tel: 86-757-2839-5507
Tel: 34-91-352-30-52
Tel: 650-215-1444 China - Wuhan Taiwan - Kaohsiung
Tel: 86-27-5980-5300 Tel: 886-7-536-4818
Toronto Taiwan - Taipei UK - Wokingham
China - Xian
Mississauga, Ontario, Tel: 886-2-2500-6610 Tel: 44-118-921-5869
Tel: 86-29-8833-7250
Tel: 905-673-0699 Thailand - Bangkok
Tel: 66-2-694-1351

www.microchip.com/meter
Microchip Technology Inc. • 2355 W. Chandler Blvd. • Chandler, AZ 85224-6199

The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo, dsPIC, MPLAB, PIC, PICmicro and KEELOQ are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries.
PICDEM and PICkit are trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. I2C is a trademark of Philips Corporation. SPI is trademark of Motorola. ZigBee™ is a
trademark of the ZigBee Alliance. All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective companies. ©2005 Microchip Technology Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. 10/2005.
DS01008A

*DS01008A*