New Industry Products

Maxim Introduces Precision Polyphase, Multifunction Energy-Measurement IC

April 15, 2008 by Jeff Shepard

Maxim Integrated Products introduced the MAXQ3180 – described as a highly accurate and low-power polyphase IC for measuring electricity activity. The MAXQ3180 integrates an 8-channel analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a dedicated, high-performance MAXQ® microprocessor for computing a broad set of poly-phase multifunction energy metering parameters.

Six of the input channels are dedicated to the three phase voltages and three currents. One channel is dedicated for the neutral line current monitoring, and the 8th channel is for on-chip temperature monitoring. With this high integration, it is claimed that the MAXQ3180 makes it easy to monitor the power grid and load status.

The MAXQ3180 monitors neutral line current flow, detects a voltage sequence error, and measures current in the absence of the phase voltages. The device is said to exceed all relevant international standards for electricity metering (IEC 62053-21, IEC 62053-22, IEC 62053-23). To provide flexible operation, the device provides two configurable pulse outputs (typically for active and reactive energy) that can be set to output any of a large array of operational parameters. The MAXQ3180 interfaces with a host microcontroller through the standard SPI™ protocol.

The MAXQ3180 is said to integrate more metering features than any single competitive device. It is also said to meet the demanding performance specifications of today’s electricity metering industry while operating at the lowest power. The MAXQ3180 is packaged in a 28-pin TSSOP package and operates over the -40 to +85°C temperature range. Three-phase power-meter reference designs are available to speed designs and reduce time-to-market.

Prices start at $5.25 (1000-up, FOB USA).