Maxim Integrated Products unveils new smart grid reference platform

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Maxim Integrated Products has announced the launch of a smart grid reference platform that allows smart meter designers to reduce time to market, raise the bar for higher accuracy, and secure their designs.

Powered by the company’s Zeus metering SoC, the new Capistrano reference platform protects designs with advanced cryptography, physical attack detection, and life-cycle security schemes. The technology is capable of securing any distributed node in the smart grid.

The solution is ideal for applications including smart meters, smart lighting, solar inverters, building automation, submetering, and other smart applications.

With more than 100 million smart electricity meters expected to be shipped in 2014, improving security and smart meter time to market and adapting to changing policy requirements will all be critical.

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The high integration in Capistrano simplifies smart grid designs by integrating four complex processors: an applications processor, metering microcontroller, metering front-end/DSP, and security coprocessor.

The solution delivers accuracy of 0.1 percent over a wide current range of 8000:1. The combination of advanced measurement, powerful security tools, and efficient processing allows Capistrano to support evolving application design requirements.

Capistrano can be easily connected to PRIME, G3-PLC, GPRS, and other modems. It has enough processing power to handle future application requirements.

“Capistrano offers the best performance and highest security for smart energy applications,” said Kris Ardis, executive director of Energy Solutions at Maxim Integrated. “It provides an excellent toolbox for building tomorrow’s smart grid.”

Capistrano reference platforms and Zeus samples are available for qualified customers.

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