SoC provides more control of ac/dc supplies
1 min read
Maxim Integrated Products has launched what it describes as 'the industry's first' system on chip (SoC) energy measurement solution for ac/dc power supplies. According to the semiconductor specialist, the new Teridian/Maxim energy measurement SoC, the 78M6613 brings a higher level of management and control to servers and other equipment in data centres.
The device has been designed to enable the capture and reporting of real time energy data and provide data centres with the ability to quantify where energy is needed, being used and being stranded.
"Power capping, load shedding and virtualisation are all driving the need for real time energy measurement and resource management in data centres," said Jay Cormier, Maxim's director, Teridian/Maxim Business Management, Energy Measurement & Communications. "New technology and greater demands on data centres and enterprise networks are all making it even more important to understand where energy is going."
The 78M6613 has an embedded analogue front end and compute engine, and embedded firmware. It has been optimised to address the challenges of precision energy measurement inside ac/dc power supplies. According to Maxim, it features accuracy of ±0.5% over a 2000:1 dynamic range and provides tools for self calibration. It is a single phase, self contained ac power measurement and monitoring SoC integrated circuit with embedded ac load monitoring and control firmware.
The 32pin QFN package is suitable for real estate limited designs such as power supplies and features the full range of ac power diagnostics such as power, power factor, voltage current, voltage sag and dip. On chip flash and a microcontroller enable the storage of calibration coefficients and are designed to eliminate the need for external components.
Maxim acquired Teridian Semiconductor, a fabless mixed signal semiconductor company focused on electricity metering and energy measurement for the smart grid, in May 2010.
