TI aims at smart meters with FRAM microcontrollers

Texas Instruments is aiming at smart metering with 46 low-power microcontrollers with up to 128kbyte of ferroelectric memory (FRAM) non-volatile memory, instead of flash, for low-power data storage.

Part of the MSP430FR69xx family, the low-power theme is extended to including TI’s ‘extended scan interface’ (ESI) which autonomously manages and monitors four external sensors and is preticularly aimed at flow meters for water gas and heat. There is also a 140µA (at 200ksample/s) differential input ADC.

Other peripherals include a 320 segment LCD controller, a 256bit hardware encryption (AES) accelerator for secure data transmission, and an intellectual property encapsulation module to protect code.

“Fast write speeds and low peak currents provide security advantages for generating new security keys and the saving state information in the event of power loss,” added the firm.

There is a $175 design kit (MSP-FET430U100D), and $300 flow meter evaluation kit (EVM430-FR6989) should be available in October.