STMicroelectronics announced the world's first smart-meter integrated circuit (IC) with built-in support for the METERS AND MORE® open communication standard, which enables widespread interoperability among smart metering equipment using Power Line Communication (PLC). This will help to maximize smart-grid benefits for the environment, consumers and utility companies.
ST's ST75MM IC is the first to embed hardware and communication protocol support for METERS AND MORE®, simplifying meter design to ultimately enable faster, lower-cost and reliable deployments. The METERS AND MORE® is an open specification managed by the METERS AND MORE® not-for-profit Association comprising leading technology companies and utilities spanning the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Customers using the ST75MM can join the METERS AND MORE® Association and achieve Certification for their products to enable widespread use by utility companies. ST implemented METERS AND MORE® in its ST75MM IC to benefit from the protocol's strong features for smart meter and Advanced Metering Infrastructure applications, such as short messages, robust encryption and authentication features, support for network configuration and management, and retransmission management. The ST75MM joins ST's STarGRID® SoC portfolio of smart-meter system-on-chip devices, which also includes the ST7570 supporting IEC 61334-5-1 communication, and the ST7590, which implements the PRIME standard.
First samples of the ST75MM, in the 7x7mm QFN 48 package, will be available to selected customers by October 2013. For further information, including pricing, please contact your ST sales office.
METERS AND MORE® is an international not-for-profit association founded in 2010 and governed by Belgian Law (Association Internationale sans but lucratif - AISBL). The Association maintains and promotes the METERS AND MORE® PLC protocol, the most widespread open communication protocol for remote meter management, which enables bidirectional data transfer in an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system. METERS AND MORE® derives from the protocol already proven in Enel's Telegestore AMI solution, serving over 40 million customers worldwide.
The METERS AND MORE® open protocol is currently being deployed by Enel's Spanish subsidiary Endesa, which is, together with its Parent Company Enel, one of the founding members of the Association. Endesa is leading smart metering activities in Spain with its ongoing mass rollout project of 13 million smart meters, representing the largest ongoing smart metering rollout in Europe.