DALLAS, USA: Providing utility companies with a reliable, accurate and energy-efficient smart grid solution for electricity line monitoring, Optisense Network Inc. has selected Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) embedded processing and analog technology as the preferred solution for its primary measuring units (PMU).
TI's TMS320C2000TM microcontroller and high-performance analog technology enables a complete monitoring solution that gives utilities real-time visibility of primary voltage lines.
The PMU can be configured for primary metering, distribution automation, outage restoration, energy efficiency and power quality. The combination of Optisense's optical sensors and PMUs provides utilities with greater grid security and reliability as well as increased visibility for faster power outage response.
Additionally, utilities are able to realize optimized power flows that increase capacity and energy-efficiency, helping recover 25 percent of total load loss.
"Our unique combination of optical sensors and dual processors on a single chip provide power line measurements (voltage and current) in digital format, giving the processor flexibility for system wide grid reliability and efficiency," said Yossi Harlev, CEO/CTO.
"TI analog and embedded processing technology enables interface, actuation and power handling with reduced footprint and lower power consumption for a smooth transition from legacy systems to a complete smart grid solution."
"With the integration of TI's C2000TM MCU and analog technology, Optisense's highly accurate smart grid solution can execute real-time measurement, analysis and control," said Emmanuel Sambuis, general manager, metering business unit. "TI is committed to providing innovative solutions that enable developers to drive smarter grid solutions for improved accuracy and efficiency."
TI's broad portfolio drives smarter grid solutions
TI's comprehensive utility metering portfolio includes devices targeted at electricity, water and gas metering, as well as power line communications (PLC) and radio frequency (RF) interfaces for advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) that allow customers to design smart grid solutions.
From highly optimized application specific embedded processors, low power RF, high-performance analog, power management and RFID to dedicated software support for ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, WMBUS, OFDM and SFSK modulations, TI offers the most complete solution set for smart metering.
Showing posts with label TI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TI. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Xilinx on microprocessor trends, solar/PV
This semicon blog will basically examine the key trends in microprocessors, as well as whether companies such as Xilinx -- a key player in FPGAs -- has any kind of role to play in the solar/PV domain.
For the record, this is the concluding part of the discussion with Vincent Ratford, Senior Vice President, Solutions Development Group, Xilinx.
First, on to solar/PV! We have been reading and hearing a lot about the rapid advances being made in solar/PV. With so much investments in solar/PV happening globally, is there a role for Xilinx to play in this segment?
Ratford said: "Perhaps! Our devices are great for prototyping new ideas and often find their way into new markets. In base stations, our devices are used to reduce the power up to 50 percent. In signal processing applications, we have a decided performance/power advantage vs. discrete signal processors. Many of these 'Green' applications require some form of signal and embedded processing." Interesting, and this point needs some further examination!
Another area of main concern within the global semiconductor industry is low-power design. According to Ratford, there are a variety of ways to save system power.
He added: "We are designing features in our new products that will reduce active and standby power. We also have power-estimation and optimization tools. I would say, there is a lot more to be done in this area at all levels, software, IP and silicon."
Ratford was however, tight-lipped about Xilinx's product roadmap beyond the Virtex V. Obviously, we need to remain very tuned toward this!
Key microprocessor trends
Now this is another interesting area. A few weeks ago, I had received a great article from TI, which mentioned about five key microprocessor trends today.
Microprocessors have always been among the key areas of interest for semiconductor design and development. On being quizzed on what could be the five major trends for microprocessors, Xilinx's Ratford said: "For our embedded customers it is:
* Rising adoption of Linux.
* Increasing use of multi-core and some multi-processing.
* Accelerating trend to increase the connectivity, bandwidth and reduce the latency between the processor and the FPGA.
* Improve the OOBE (Out of the Box Experience) for non-FPGA developers.
* Reduce power.
Before signing off, my thoughts also veered toward LTE and TD-SCDMA, one 4G and the other, a 3G technology. Both these technologies have been very much in the news lately, especially, TD-SCDMA, which is currently in use at the Beijing Olympics.
As expected, Xilinx has also forayed into both LTE and TD-SCDMA spaces!
Ratford said: "Yes, we have complete reference designs for LTE and TD-SCDMA and have secured most of the prototype sockets for these air interface standards with Virtex-5. We have a very strong IP portfolio for the radio shelf and baseband and our Sytem Generator and AccelDSP tools are used extensively."
For the record, this is the concluding part of the discussion with Vincent Ratford, Senior Vice President, Solutions Development Group, Xilinx.
First, on to solar/PV! We have been reading and hearing a lot about the rapid advances being made in solar/PV. With so much investments in solar/PV happening globally, is there a role for Xilinx to play in this segment?
Ratford said: "Perhaps! Our devices are great for prototyping new ideas and often find their way into new markets. In base stations, our devices are used to reduce the power up to 50 percent. In signal processing applications, we have a decided performance/power advantage vs. discrete signal processors. Many of these 'Green' applications require some form of signal and embedded processing." Interesting, and this point needs some further examination!
Another area of main concern within the global semiconductor industry is low-power design. According to Ratford, there are a variety of ways to save system power.
He added: "We are designing features in our new products that will reduce active and standby power. We also have power-estimation and optimization tools. I would say, there is a lot more to be done in this area at all levels, software, IP and silicon."
Ratford was however, tight-lipped about Xilinx's product roadmap beyond the Virtex V. Obviously, we need to remain very tuned toward this!
Key microprocessor trends
Now this is another interesting area. A few weeks ago, I had received a great article from TI, which mentioned about five key microprocessor trends today.
Microprocessors have always been among the key areas of interest for semiconductor design and development. On being quizzed on what could be the five major trends for microprocessors, Xilinx's Ratford said: "For our embedded customers it is:
* Rising adoption of Linux.
* Increasing use of multi-core and some multi-processing.
* Accelerating trend to increase the connectivity, bandwidth and reduce the latency between the processor and the FPGA.
* Improve the OOBE (Out of the Box Experience) for non-FPGA developers.
* Reduce power.
Before signing off, my thoughts also veered toward LTE and TD-SCDMA, one 4G and the other, a 3G technology. Both these technologies have been very much in the news lately, especially, TD-SCDMA, which is currently in use at the Beijing Olympics.
As expected, Xilinx has also forayed into both LTE and TD-SCDMA spaces!
Ratford said: "Yes, we have complete reference designs for LTE and TD-SCDMA and have secured most of the prototype sockets for these air interface standards with Virtex-5. We have a very strong IP portfolio for the radio shelf and baseband and our Sytem Generator and AccelDSP tools are used extensively."
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