DALLAS, Sept. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments
(TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) today unveiled a new family of MSP430™ microcontrollers (MCUs) with an integrated ultrasonic sensing analog
front end that enables smart water meters to deliver higher accuracy and lower power consumption. In addition, TI introduced two
new reference designs that make it easier to design modules for adding automated meter reading (AMR) capabilities to existing
mechanical water meters.
The new MCUs and reference designs support the growing demand for more accurate water meters and remote meter reading to
enable efficient water resource management, accurate measurement and timely billing.
More intelligence and precision to sense flow
As part of the ultra-low-power MSP430 MCU portfolio for sensing and measurement, the new MSP430FR6047 MCU family
lets developers add more intelligence to flow meters by taking advantage of a complete waveform capture feature and
analog-to-digital converter (ADC)-based signal processing. This technique enables more accurate measurement than competitive
devices, with precision of 25 picoseconds or better, even at flow rates less than 1 liter per hour. In addition, the integrated
MSP430FR6047 devices reduce water meter system component count by 50 percent and power consumption by 25 percent, enabling a
meter to operate without having to charge the battery for 10 or more years. The new MCUs also integrate a low-energy accelerator module for advanced signal processing, 256 KB of ferroelectric random access memory
(FRAM), a liquid crystal display (LCD) driver and a metering test interface. For more information on the MSP430FR6047 MCU, see
www.ti.com/MSP430FR6047-pr.
The MSP430
Ultrasonic Sensing Design Center offers a comprehensive development ecosystem that allows developers to get to market in
months. The design center provides tools for quick development and flexibility for customization, including software libraries, a
graphical user interface (GUI), evaluation modules with metrology and digital signal processing (DSP) libraries.
Add wireless communication to mechanical meters with compact, low-power reference designs
TI's new Low-Power Water Flow Measurement with
Inductive Sensing Reference Design is a compact solution for the electronic measurement of mechanical flow meters with low
power consumption for longer battery life. Enabled by the single-chip SimpleLink™ dual-band CC1350 wireless MCU, this reference design also gives designers the ability to add
dual-band wireless communications for AMR networks. Designers can take advantage of the reference design's small footprint to
easily retrofit existing mechanical flow meters, enabling water utilities to add AMR capability while avoiding expensive
replacement of deployed meters. The CC1350 wireless MCU consumes only 4uA while measuring water flow rates, enabling longer
product life.
A second new reference design is an ultra-low power solution based on the SimpleLink™ Sub-1 GHz CC1310 wireless MCU. The
Low-Power Wireless M-Bus Communications Module
Reference Design uses TI's wireless M-Bus software
stack and supports all wireless M-Bus operating modes in the 868-MHz band. This reference design provides best-in-class power
consumption and flexibility to support wireless M-Bus deployments across multiple regions. For more information, see www.ti.com/flowmeter-pr.
Availability
Download these resources to jump-start a design and add smart metering and communication capabilities to mechanical water
meters:
Learn more about TI's technologies for smart water meters
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company that develops analog integrated
circuits (ICs) and embedded processors. By employing the world's brightest minds, TI creates innovations that shape the future of
technology. TI is helping approximately 100,000 customers transform the future, today. Learn more at www.ti.com.
Trademarks
MSP430 and SimpleLink are trademarks of Texas Instruments. All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong to their
respective owners.
View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ti-introduces-the-most-accurate-single-chip-ultrasonic-sensing-microcontrollers-for-smart-water-meters-300525271.html
SOURCE Texas Instruments Incorporated