smart grid News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 26, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

AMD Spartan UltraScale+ SU35P FPGA evaluation kit supports Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Mikrobus, and Pmod expansion

AMD’s SCU35 Evaluation Kit is an affordable ($229) development board powered by the AMD Spartan UltraScale+ SU35P FPGA device, which targets low-power industrial, medical, and data center applications requiring I/O expansion and board management capabilities. Designed for headless applications, the board features a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port and a USB-C port for power, as well as plenty of headers and connectors compatible with off-the-shelf expansion boards or modules, including Arduino UNO headers, two 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO headers, two Mikrobus headers, four Pmod connectors, and an HSIO board-to-board connector. AMD SCU35 evaluation kit specifications: FPGA – AMD Spartan Ultrascale+ SU35P (XCSU35P-2SBVB625E) 36K Logic Cells 304 Max Total I/O• Board Management Controller Memory – 1.93 Mb on-chip memory Memory – 64 Mbit HyperRAM Storage 128 Mbit QSPI flash 64 Kbit EEPROM Networking – 10/100Mbps Ethernet RJ45 port Sensor – 3-axis linear accelerometer Expansion Arduino UNO headers 2x 40-pin Raspberry Pi […]

November 19, 2025November 19, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Zigbee 4.0 introduces ”Suzi” Sub-GHz connectivity and security enhancements

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has just announced the release of Zigbee 4.0, integrating security and interoperability improvements, as well as the Suzi Zigbee’s Sub-GHz feature operating in the 800 MHz (Europe) or 900 MHz (North America) band for longer range and lower interference compared to the traditional 2.4 GHz band. Highlights of Zigbee 4.0 release: Simplified certification processes Enhanced information exchange for smart home solutions. Formalized Parent Selection, Unique Link Key Monitoring, and Trust Center Connectivity improve network resilience Standardized network-level retries, more reliable data polling for sleepy end devices, and expanded use of APS acknowledgements increase overall network performance and reduce message loss. Sleepy-to-sleepy communication using Coordinated Sample Listening (CSL) allows direct, low-power exchanges between devices, optimizing energy and further extending battery life Security updates aligned with evolving international security standards Dynamic Link Key, Device Interview, and Smart Energy Authentication Level Control for stronger device authentication, selective communication […]

September 11, 2025September 11, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Quectel KCMCA6S industrial wM-bus modules target smart metering

cnx KCMCA6S series sub GHz Wireless M Bus (WM Bus) modules

Quectel’s KCMCA6S is a series of industrial wireless M-Bus (wM-Bus) modules built around Silicon Labs’ EFR32FG23 chipset. The modules operate in the 868 MHz, 169 MHz, and 433 MHz bands and support the EN13757-4 wM-Bus standard for smart metering and AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) applications. The device features an Arm Cortex-M33 processor, 32 KB of SRAM, 256 KB of flash, and a Sub-GHz transceiver. It supports multiple wM-Bus modes (T, C, S, R, N, F), with dynamic multi-mode switching, flexible frequency configuration, and low-power operation alongside multi-layer security mechanisms. Interfaces include USART, SWD, and GPIOs, with optional EUSART, I²C, and ADC through pin multiplexing. Available in two variants (with or without SAW filter), the module comes in a compact 25.4 × 14.0 × 2.9 mm LCC package for water, electricity, gas, and heat metering systems. Quectel KCMCA6S specifications: MCU- Silicon Labs EFR32FG23 Core – Arm Cortex-M33 core, up to 78 […]

August 22, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Renesas RA4C1 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU targets Smart Meters and energy-efficient IoT applications

Renasas RA4C1 microcontroller (MCU) group is based on an 80-MHz Arm Cortex M33 core and designed for utility meters and battery-powered IoT applications. It’s especially suited to devices that require advanced security and segment LCD support, such as smart locks, thermostats, building controls, and industrial user interfaces. The RA4C1 is very similar to the Renesas RA4L1 MCU designed for HMI applications, but it comes with more RAM (96KB vs 64KB), and being optimized for Smart Meters lacks features like capacitive touch and audio output. The new MCU group still comes with up to 512KB code flash, 8KB data flash, plenty of I/Os, and a low-power consumption down to 168 µA/MHz in active mode, and a standby current of less than 1.79 µA with all SRAM retained. Renesas RA4C1 specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 Armv8-M core up to 80 MHz Memory – 96 KB SRAM Storage 256 KB or 512 KB […]

June 20, 2025November 12, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

AI-On-The-Edge-Cam ESP32-S3 board aims to digitize legacy utility meters

AI-On-The-Edge-Cam is an ESP32-S3 board with a 2MP camera, microSD card, WiFi, BLE, and PoE Ethernet connectivity designed to digitize legacy utility meters such as water meters, gas meters, or electricity meters that require manual onsite reading. AI-On-The-Edge-Cam is also the name of the firmware running on the board and was initially designed for the ESP32-CAM board. But the new board adds a few features that make it more versatile, like PoE support and a microSD card slot for storage, as well as RGB LEDs acting as a flash to allow meter reading at any time of the day or night. AI-On-The-Edge-Cam specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U-N16R8 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz Memory – 512KB SRAM, up to 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16 MB flash Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 IPEX antenna connector Storage – microSD card slot […]

June 11, 2025June 11, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Quectel KCM0A5S Wi-SUN FAN module targets large IoT deployments for Smart Cities and Smart Agriculture

Quectel KCM0A5S is a Wi-SUN FAN module based on Silicon Labs EFR32FG25 Arm Cortex-M33 Sub-GHz wireless MCU, designed for applications such as street lighting, precision agriculture, industrial IoT, smart meters, and Smart Cities. Wi-SUN (IEEE 802.15.4g) is an LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) standard leveraging IPv6 mesh networking for large-scale IoT deployments in Smart Cities and Smart Agriculture. The KCM0A5S module specifically supports the Wi-SUN Field Area Network (FAN) 1.1 protocol and operates across the 470–928 MHz frequency range. The module can act as a leaf node, a router, or a border router when paired with a Linux host in RCP (Radio Co-Processor) mode. Quectel KCM0A5S specifications: Wireless SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32FG25 CPU core – Arm Cortex-M33 core @ 97.5 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit for signal processing Memory – 256 KB RAM data memory Storage – About 2MB flash program memory Radio – Sub-GHz radio operation […]

April 15, 2025April 22, 2025 by Sponsored Post - No Comments

Harnessing the Power of AI in Industrial Automation (Sponsored)

ModBerry 500 CM5 AI predictive maintenance

The industrial IoT (IIoT) landscape is undergoing a transformative shift, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Among the frontrunners of this revolution is the ModBerry 500 CM5, a cutting-edge IoT platform enhanced by optional AI modules like the Hailo-8L and Geniatech AIM-M2. With the integration of these modules, the ModBerry 500 CM5 becomes a powerhouse for industrial automation, offering unparalleled performance and scalability. Let’s dive into the exciting capabilities of this innovative combination and explore the current and future applications of AI in IIoT. ModBerry 500 CM5: The Core of Smart Industrial Automation At the heart of the ModBerry 500 CM5 is the powerful Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5, featuring a quad-core Cortex-A76 processor and support for up to 16GB of RAM. When paired with AI acceleration modules like the Hailo-8L and Geniatech AIM-M2, the ModBerry 500 CM5 evolves from an IoT hub into a sophisticated AI-enabled system capable […]

November 21, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

216MHz GigaDevice GD32G5 Cortex-M33 MCU features analog interfaces and accelerators for industrial applications

Starting with the GD32G553 SKUs, the 216 MHz GigaDevice GD32G5 high-performance Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller family features 256KB to 512KB of embedded Flash with dual-bank Flash support, 128KB of SRAM, and a range of hardware accelerators including a DSP, single-precision FPU, a trigonometric function accelerator (TMU), and other hardware acceleration units, filter algorithms (FAC) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Designed for industrial applications, the GD32G5 microcontrollers also offer a wide range of digital and analog interfaces and enhanced security capabilities suitable for digital power systems, charging stations, energy storage inverters, frequency converters, servo motors, and optical communication. GigaDevice GD32G5 specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M33 Armv8-M core clocked at up to 216MHz with DSP instruction set and single-precision FPU; up to 316 DMIPS, CoreMark score: 694. Memory/Storage 128KB SRAM (80KB SRAM0 + 16KB SRAM1 + 32KB TCMSRAM) 256KB to 512KB on-chip flash, QSPI interface for external storage External memory controller (EXMC) […]