Today at European Utility Week 2014, Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML), a global leader in microcontroller (MCU) and touch solutions, announced a new family of wireless transceivers. Atmel’s AT86RF215, the first sampling device, is the industry’s first dual-band sub-1GHz / 2.4GHz transceiver compliant to IEEE 802.15.4g-2012 and ETSI TS 102 887-1. Expanding the Atmel® | SMART metering portfolio, the new devices include the AT86RF215M, a single band sub-1GHz transceiver, and the AT86RF215IQ, a dual-band I/Q radio. All three devices deliver an output power of up to 14dBm. With receiver sensitivities down to -123dBm, an outstanding link budget of 137dB can be achieved.
The AT86RF215 offers superior flexibility by supporting a variety of data rates with three modulation schemes: multi-rate and multi-regional frequency shift keying (MR-FSK), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MR-OFDM), as well as offset quadrature phase-shift keying (MR-O-QPSK). This includes the physical layer used for ZigBee® PRO and ZigBee IP. Simultaneous operation at sub-1GHz and 2.4GHz enables new capabilities and the right cost structure in smart metering, smart lighting, home energy gateways and other industrial and automation equipment.
“We are excited to see the widespread adoption of standards-based connectivity solutions for the utility industry worldwide,” said Kourosh Boutorabi, sr. director of smart energy products, Atmel Corporation. “Expanding our portfolio of smart metering solutions to include new wireless transceivers reinforces our commitment to serve this growing market. We are continuing to deliver new platform solutions for the smart energy market, including powerline carrier connectivity and industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of metering system-on-chip solutions.”
