ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE ST7538 POWERLINE FSK TRANSCEIVER DUAL CHANNEL REFERENCE DESIGN FOR AMR

1. INTRODUCTION
The ST7538 Dual Channel Reference Design has been projected as a useful tool for AMR unit development based on ST7538 power line transceiver. With this Reference Design, it is possible to evaluate the ST7538 features and its transmitting and receiving perfomances through an actual communication on the Power Line. The board allows ST7538 transceiver to transmit and receive on the mains using two different carrier frequencies: 72kHz and 86kHz, both in the CENELEC A-band used for AMR. The evaluation board can be considered as composed of three main sections: - Power Supply section; - Modem and Crystal Oscillator section; - Mains Coupling Interface section, including Tx and Rx filters. The connectors allow to plug the Mains on one side and the Communication Board (with ST7 microcontroller on board, for communication with a P.C. through RS232 interface) on the other side.

56mm

98mm

Fig. 1: Board photograph with outline dimensions

October 2005

1 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. 2. 3. 4. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................ 2 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS............................................................................................. 2 BOARD DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................... 2
4.1. 4.2. 4.3. Coupling Interface ........................................................................................................... 2 Thermal Dissipation......................................................................................................... 2 Oscillator Section ............................................................................................................ 2

5.

TROUBLESHOOTING ................................................................................................. 2

LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 1: Board photograph with outline dimensions.................................................................................... 1 Fig. 2: Scheme of the various sections of the board ................................................................................. 2 Fig. 3: SMPS Efficiency curve ..................................................................................................................... 2 Fig. 4: Modem and Coupling Interface schematic...................................................................................... 2 Fig. 5: Power Supply schematic.................................................................................................................. 2 Fig. 6: PCB layout - Top view ...................................................................................................................... 2 Fig. 7: PCB layout - Bottom view ................................................................................................................ 2 Fig. 8: Rx and Tx passive filters schematic................................................................................................ 2 Fig. 9: Rx active filter schematic................................................................................................................. 2 Fig. 10: Frequency response of the Tx Filter vs. Channel Frequency and Load ...................................... 2 Fig. 11: Frequency response of the Rx Passive Filter vs. Channel Frequency......................................... 2 Fig. 12: Frequency response of the Rx Active Filter vs. Channel Frequency ........................................... 2 Fig. 13: PCB Copper Area example............................................................................................................. 2 Fig. 16: Oscillator circuit scheme ............................................................................................................... 2 Fig. 15: Recommended Oscillator Section Layout..................................................................................... 2

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Bill of Materials .............................................................................................................................. 2

2 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

Dual Channel RX Active Filter

Power Suppl y (with ST Viper 12A)

Connection to C Board Connection to C Board

Dual Channel TX Filter

ST7538 Modem Section

Coupling Transformer

Dual Channel RX Passive Filter

Fig. 2: Scheme of the various sections of the board

3 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

2. ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS

PARAMETER MIN

VALUE TYP MAX

NOTES

POWER SUPPLY SECTION

AC Mains Voltage range Mains frequency SMPS Output Voltage SMPS Output Voltage ripple SMPS Output Power Efficiency at Pout=3.5W Nominal Transformer Isolation* Number of Holdup cycles Input Power Switching Frequency Switching Frequency 100mW -10% -10% 65kHz 21kHz +10% +10% Transceiver Section in Tx Mode Transceiver Section in Rx Mode 85V 9V 50-60Hz 10V 256V 11V 1% 5.6W Green Led ON IOUT = 600mA, VIN=85VAC See Fig. 3 Primary to Secondary/ Secondary to Auxiliary

4kV 0

TRANSCEIVER SECTION
Selectable Channel Frequencies: 72kHz (CH1), 86kHz (CH2)

1.1.1.1

TRANSMITTING SPECIFICATIONS (Tx Mode)

1VRMS 3.5VRMS The user can set different value of Output Voltage acting on a resistor divider The user can set different value of current limitation acting on a resistor divider Power Line Impedance from 2 to 20 Power Line Impedance from 2 to 20

Trasmitting Output Voltage level Transmitting Output Current level Second Harmonic Distortion Third Harmonic Distortion 60Hz attenuation

300mARMS -70dB -65dB 100dB

1.1.1.2

RECEIVING SPECIFICATIONS (Rx Mode)

48dBuVRMS 13.5VPP BER<10-3 ,no noise

Minimum Receiving Signal Clamping Voltage

* ST does not guarantee transformer isolation. ST assumes no responsibility for the consequences that may comes from that risk.

4 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

5V Regulated Voltage 5V Current Capability

AUXILIARY SUPPLY -5% 5.05V +5% 100mA OPERATING CONDITION

ST7538 Internally Generated

Ambient Operating temperature

85 C ST PARTS ON BOARD ST7538P ViPER 12 AS STTH1L06A STPS1H100 ESDA6V1L SM6T6V8CA

If ST7538 junction temperature exceeds 150C device shuts down

Transceiver Power Supply Ultrafast Diode Schottky Diode ESD Protection Transil

SMPS Efficiency vs. Iout

0.8 0.75 0.7

0.65 0.6 0.55 0.5 100 200 300 400 500 600 Iout [mA]

Fig. 3: SMPS Efficiency curve

5 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

3. SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
The board must be used only by expert technicians, in fact due to the high voltage (220Vac) present on the not isolated parts, special care must be taken in order to avoid risk for people safety. There are no protections against high voltage accidental human contact. After disconnection of the board from the mains all the live part must not be touched immediately because of the energized capacitors. Do not connect any oscilloscope probe to not isolated sections (shown in fig 1) in order to avoid instruments and demo tools destruction. It is mandatory to use mains insulation transformer (VARIAC) to perform any tests on the high voltage sections (the circuit sections highlighted in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5) in which test instruments like, for instance, Spectrum Analyzers or Oscilloscopes are used. ST assumes no responsibility for the consequences of use of such development tool.

6 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

4. BOARD DESCRIPTION

7 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

CN1

TEST PADS
ATOP2 ATOP1 RXFO RXTX GND ATO RAI Vadj CL CD/PD TXD RXD V10 CLRT BU 5V

X1 16Mhz L8 10uH C19 100nF VSENSE RXFO RAI 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 U3 Digital Analog Signal Analog Power 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 C24 100nF C23 47pF C22 18pF

5V C21 10uF

1 MCLK 3 VDDF_FORCE 5 7 9 REG_OK 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 CD/PD 35 REG_DATA 37 RxD 39 RxTx 41 ZCOUT 43 CLRT 45 TOUT 47 TxD 49 CON50A

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50

PLM_10V P10V VDD VDDF RESET NEG_CH2 CH2 B_ID_PLM_1 GND B_ID_PLM_0 GND

ATOP1

ATOP2

RXFO

RXTX

ATO

GND

TX

RAI

RX

CLRT

CD/PD

VADJ

P5V

10V

CL

BU

WD BU PG

ATO CL P10V P10V 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

VDC RAI RXFO TESTIN VSENSE AVDD XIN XOUT AVSS ATO CL

C17 10uF ATOP2 ATOP1 GND

C18 100nF

REG_OK CMINUS CPLUS COUT PG REG_DATA

CD/PD DVSS RxD Rx/Tx TxD GND TIMEOUT CLRT BU DVDD MCLK

NC TEST REG_OK CMINUS CPLUS NC C_OUT GND PG REG/DATA NC

ST7538

PAVCC ATOP2 AVSS ATOP1 DVSS NC ZCIN ZCOUT WD NC RSTO

ZCOUT

5V WD RESET R15 5K1 5V

R11 4K7 R14 5K1 MCLK BU CLRT TOUT R13 5K1 C15 100nF CPLUS COUT CMINUS C11 270pF R10 100K ACT_OUT

CD/PD RXD RXTX TXD

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ATO R20 5K VSENSE C26 5.6nF R22 2K Vadj R19 2k C25 100pF CH2 C13 100nF CL Q2 2N7002 1 P5V

ACT_IN R9 1K2 R12 680 3 C12 270pF

C29 680nF ATOP1 ACT_IN 1 3 2 JP2 CLOSE 2-3 C14 10nF RAI ATOP2 C16 3 JP1 LEAVE OPENED ACT_OUT NEG_CH2 Q4 2N7002 1 CH2 2 15nF R8 330 U2 1 1 JP3 CLOSE 2-3 2 3 R18 560 4 2 1 3 C20 33nF L7 100uH TRANSFORMER L5 100uH 6 4 8 C28 68nF X2 T2 5 L6 47uH P D6 SM6T6V8CA R21 3R3 R17 1M C27 56nF R16 1M N

D7 ESDA6V1L

WARNING! HIGH VOLTAGE REGION

Fig. 4: Modem and Coupling Interface schematic

8 / 19

C6

2.2 nF R3 10R 6W 5 C1 1 470pF 630V T1 2 D4 STTH1L06A D3 1 STPS1H100 8 L4 1 mH 2 D5 3 U6 BAS16 2L 1 Q3 BC857BL 3 2 5 3 D2 GREEN LED R6 560 + C4 100uF 16V C3 470uF 16V R2 1K5 L1 33 uH P10V 2 + C10 10uF/400V C2 47nF X2 1 L2 2x10mH 10 1 + C5 10uF/400V + 6 R1 220K L3 470uH

F1

2A

4
D1 BRIDGE

CN2

V10

1 2

AC LINE 85Vac to 256Vac

4 Vdd 3 FB 2 1 S C9 10 uF VIPER 12 AS DRAIN R23 10K

5 6 7 8

C30 220pF

4 TRANSFORMER

WARNING! HIGH VOLTAGE REGION

Fig. 5: Power Supply schematic

U1 3 4 C8 47 nF

1 2 SFH610-A 3 D9 BZX84C8V2

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

9 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

Fig. 6: PCB layout - Top view

Fig. 7: PCB layout - Bottom view

10 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

4.1.

Coupling Interface

The Mains Coupling Interface is composed of three different filters: the Tx passive filter, the Rx passive filter and the Rx active filter. The last one is designed around the internal operational amplifier of the ST7538 modem.

C29 680nF ATOP1 ACT_IN 1 3 2 JP2 CLOSE 2-3 C14 10nF RAI T2 ATOP2 JP1 LEAVE OPENED ACT_OUT NEG_CH2 Q4 2N7002 1 CH2 2 C16 15nF 3 TRANSFORMER 1 1 2 3 JP3 CLOSE 2-3 R18 560 4 2 1 C20 33nF L7 100uH 100uH L5 6 3 8 5

Tx PASSIVE FILTER
N C27 56nF D6 SM6T6V8CA R21 3 L6 47uH P C28 68nF X2 R17 1M R16 1M

D7 ESDA6V1L

4 U2
ACT_OUT

Rx PASSIVE FILTER

Fig. 8: Rx and Tx passive filters schematic

R15 5K1

5V

R14 5K1

C15 100nF

CPLUS COUT CMINUS

C11 270pF R13 5K1 ACT_IN R9 1K2 Q2 2N7002 CH2 1 2 R12 680 3

R10 100K

C12 270pF

Rx ACTIVE FILTER

Fig. 9: Rx active filter schematic

R8 330

13 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

Each filter is adjustable: the center frequency can be changed simply by inserting in the circuit (through the closure of a MOS switch) respectively an inductor (Tx filter), a capacitor (Rx passive filter) and a resistor (Rx active filter). Its also possible to choose the path of the Rx signal from the mains by soldering differently the three jumpers shown in Fig.4: the path can include only the passive filter, only the active filter, both of them or even none (no filtering). Here follow the characterization of the three filters behavior in the frequency domain.

72 kHz 86.05 kHz

Fig. 10: Frequency response of the Tx Filter vs. Channel Frequency and Load

72 kHz

86.05 kHz

Fig. 11: Frequency response of the Rx Passive Filter vs. Channel Frequency

14 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

72 kHz

86.05 kHz

Fig. 12: Frequency response of the Rx Active Filter vs. Channel Frequency

15 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

4.2.

Thermal Dissipation

A large PCB copper area is recommended to make an easier heat transfer from the ST7538 to the ambient. The device metallic slug must be properly soldered to the copper area on the PCB top side, as recommended in the datasheet; the large ground layer on the bottom side must be connected to the top side layer through multiple via holes (1520).

Top Layer

Bottom Layer

Copper Area

Soldering Area

Multiple via Holes

Large GND layer

Fig. 13: PCB Copper Area example

16 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

4.3.

Oscillator Section

5V Sub threshold Amplifier XIn

27

5V
Regulation Circuit

X1

XOut
26

Clk

C23 C 18

C22 C 19

ST7538

Fig. 14: Oscillator circuit scheme It is very important to keep the crystal oscillator and the load capacitors as close as possible to the device. The resonant circuit must be far away from noise sources such as: Power supply circuitry Burst and surge protections The modem coupling circuits to the mains (TX Filter components) Any PCB track or via carrying a signal. To properly shield and separate the oscillator section from the rest of the board, its recommended to use a ground plane, on both sides of the PCB, filling all the area below the crystal oscillator and its load capacitors. No tracks or vias, except for the crystal connections, should cross the ground plane.
Its also recommended to use a large clearance on the oscillator related tracks, to minimize humidity problems. See

Fig. 15. Connecting the case to ground is also a good practice to reduce the effect of radiated signals on the oscillator. Increasing the C23 capacitor from 47pF to 68pF or 82pF could increase the oscillator immunity to noise and spikes coupled from the ground (jitter and instability problems). ST7538
25 26 SGND XOUT 27 XIN

TOP Layer

Clearance

BOTTOM Layer

Fig. 15: Recommended Oscillator Section Layout

17 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

5. TROUBLESHOOTING
In this section the most frequently asked questions are described. 1. PROBLEM: the ST7538 Reference Design board doesnt work at all. What to check: a. Check that the AC MAINS Supply cable is well connected to CN2. b. Check if the green LED D2 is on. c. Check voltage on the 10V testpoint near the ST7538. The value must be 9 to 11V. 2. PROBLEM: the ST7538 Reference Design board is not responding. What to check: a. Check 5V voltage. During the commutation, check the shut down voltage with the oscilloscope ground probe connected to the IC signal ground pin. The driver shut down become active when the voltage is below 1.5V. Such a situation can happen in a noisy application, when spurious voltage spikes could shut down the driver. b. Verify if MCLK selected frequency is present. c. Verify the connection between the Reference Design board and the Communication Board and between the Communication Board and the P.C. 3. PROBLEM: the ST7538 Reference Design board does not transmit. What to check: a. Check voltage on ATOP1 and ATOP2 testpoints with the oscilloscope ground probe connected to the AVSS signal ground. Programmed Carrier frequency must be present on both lines. b. Check that programmed board channel (CH1/CH2) is matching the Carrier frequency selected through the Control Register panel of the Reference Design Software window. c. Check there is no short circuit impedance on the mains at the selected transmitting channel. d. Check CL voltage. CL voltage fixes the current limiting threshold. It has to be lower than 1.9V, otherwise the IC is put in Current Limit mode. If Current Limit mode is forced on the transceiver, check the value of R19 feedback resistor and if there are any short circuits in the transmission path on the board. 4. PROBLEM: the ST7538 Reference Design board transmits only for a short while. What to check: a. Check Transmission Timeout setting. It has to be disabled for continuous transmission. b. Check if Continuous or Single Sequence transmission is selected in the Tx panel of the Reference Design Software window. Select Continuous mode to be able to force a lasting transmission. c. Check if Zero Crossing function is enabled. If yes, verify the ZCOUT synchronization bit. d. Check there is no short circuit impedance on the mains at the selected transmitting channel. 5. PROBLEM: the ST7538 Reference Design board does not receive. What to check: a. Check if JP2 and JP3 are closed. Please refer to paragraph 4.1 for receiving path configuration. b. Check if Carrier frequency is present on RAI pin voltage with the oscilloscope ground probe connected to the AVSS signal ground pin. c. Check that programmed board channel (CH1/CH2) is matching the Carrier frequency selected through the Control Register panel of the Reference Design Software window. d. Check Preamble Detection setting on the Control Register panel of the Reference Design Software window. e. Check if data are present on RxD pin. 6. PROBLEM: During a Ping test or a transmission test, the ST7538 Reference Design board shows high Bit Error Rate.

18 / 19

ANxxxx APPLICATION NOTE

(NOTE: This point refers to a half-duplex communication involving two ST7538 Reference Design boards communicating with each other.) What to check: a. Check that both Reference Design boards are programmed to transmit/receive on the same Carrier frequency. b. Check on both Reference Design boards that programmed board channel (CH1/CH2) is matching the Carrier frequency selected through the Control Register panel of the Reference Design Software window. c. Check Preamble Detection setting on the Control Register panel of the Reference Design Software window. d. Check if data are present on RxD pin.

19 / 19