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Accent Adds Innovative Multi-Standard OFDM Powerline Communication System-on-Chip To Industry-Leading ASMgrid2 Family
[October 15, 2013]

Accent Adds Innovative Multi-Standard OFDM Powerline Communication System-on-Chip To Industry-Leading ASMgrid2 Family


MILAN --(Business Wire)--

Accent announced today the addition of the ASM220 to its industry-leading ASMgrid2TM standard product family. The ASM220 leverages the company's field-proven SUNFX-PLCTM silicon solution to deliver a leading edge OFDM PLC communication device supporting multiple leading standards (G3-PLC, PRIME, ITU G.990x, IEEE (News - Alert) P1901.2). The ASM220 targets the rapidly growing PLC-based Smart Meter market as well as emerging machine-to-machine (M2M) applications, such as distribution automation, solar, building automation, and street lighting.

The device tailors existing ASMgrid2 solutions primarily towards the communication as well as processing needs for many M2M applications. Accent's innovative SUNFX-PLC solution, already incorporated in Accent's ASM221 and which also recently completed G3-PLC interoperability testing, implements a hybrid hardware/software PLC modem as well as analog front end. An ARM (News - Alert) Cortex-M3 serves as the processor backbone for the SUNFX-PLC modem with performance intensive blocks implemented in hardware. The ASM220 also implements a scalable memory system, leveraging SDRAM technology, and when combined with its ample processor performance, enables the device to serve as both a host processor and a communication solution.



High-level ASM220 product features include:

  • SUNFX-PLC hybrid solution supporting various OFDM PLC standard specifications
  • Support for other PLC standard specifications including G1, Meters and More, etc.
  • Complete, certified communication stacks as well as DLMS-COSEM
  • Software programmability flexibility to adapt to future changes of current standards
  • ARM Cortex-M3 with 110+ DMIPS of performance, single processor system for application and communication processing
  • Embedded 256 KB/48 KB Flash/SRAM with 2 MB package option
  • Compliant with CENELEC, FCC (News - Alert), and ARIB bands of operation, from 10 kHz to 490 kHz
  • Integrated PLC AFE and low system bill-of-materials

The ASM220 fully leverages the ASMgrid2 solution platform, which includes communications stacks, development boards, and reference designs.


"The ASM220 is a natural next step to the ground-breaking path set by ASMgrid2's set of products of combining high feature integration and product innovation", said Federico Arcelli, CEO of Accent. "The new offering retains leading-edge, field-proven PLC capability and performance scalability to address a wider range of applications than all other solutions in the market."

About Accent

Founded in 1993, Accent (www.accent-soc.com) is an ISO 9001:2008 certified world leading semiconductor supplier of communications and metering technologies for the Smart Grid industry. The company is backed by renowned investors such as Sofinnova Partners and Tallwood Venture Capital. Accent is a worldwide operation with offices in Italy, China, France, and United States. Accent's ASMgrid product families integrate the widest technology breadth supporting current and future Smart Grid standards to provide equipment manufacturers off-the-shelf standard products plus complete software platforms for rapid time to market and significantly lowered production costs.


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