Freescale Semiconductor has expanded its metering MCU solutions with the introduction of the Kinetis KM34Z256 MCU – a secure, single-chip metering solution for IoT edge nodes. The new Kinetis KM34Z256 MCU is designed for 1-, 2- and 3-phase electricity meters, and features a 75MHz ARM, Cortex, -M0+ core plus metering algorithm hardware arithmetic unit (MMAU). The solution supports 32/64 -bit integer multiply divide and square root operations and deliver a 135 per cent performance increase over a standard equivalent MCU, and a 35 per cent increase versus higher cost ARM Cortex-M4 MCUs.
A sophisticated analogue front end (AFE) enables high accuracy voltage and current measurement from four 24-bit Sigma-Delta analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) – each with its own low-noise programmable gain amplifier. Complementing these are a precision voltage reference with low gain drift of 6 ppm/C°, a dedicated hardware block for dynamic sensor phase shift compensation, and three analog comparators for frequency detection in metres that use Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithms.
The KM34Z256 MCU extends the flash memory range of the Kinetis M series up to 256 KB, providing ample room for billing-related and application code. A key feature of all Kinetis M series MCUs is their ability to allow billing and application code to reside securely within a single MCU. This is achieved via the MCU’s on-chip memory protection unit, inter-peripheral crossbar, protected GPIO and DMA controller. Together, these technologies eliminate the need and costs of a separate MCU, while maintaining full compliance with WELMEC, OIML and other smart metering advisory guidelines.

 Freescale Semiconductor has expanded its metering MCU solutions with the introduction of the Kinetis KM34Z256 MCU – a secure, single-chip metering solution for IoT edge nodes. The new Kinetis KM34Z256 MCU is designed for 1-, 2- and 3-phase electricity meters, and features a 75MHz ARM, Cortex, -M0+ core plus metering algorithm hardware arithmetic unit (MMAU). The solution supports 32/64 -bit integer multiply divide and square root operations and deliver a 135 per cent performance increase over a standard equivalent MCU, and a 35 per cent increase versus higher cost ARM Cortex-M4 MCUs.
A sophisticated analogue front end (AFE) enables high accuracy voltage and current measurement from four 24-bit Sigma-Delta analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) – each with its own low-noise programmable gain amplifier. Complementing these are a precision voltage reference with low gain drift of 6 ppm/C°, a dedicated hardware block for dynamic sensor phase shift compensation, and three analog comparators for frequency detection in metres that use Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithms.
The KM34Z256 MCU extends the flash memory range of the Kinetis M series up to 256 KB, providing ample room for billing-related and application code. A key feature of all Kinetis M series MCUs is their ability to allow billing and application code to reside securely within a single MCU. This is achieved via the MCU’s on-chip memory protection unit, inter-peripheral crossbar, protected GPIO and DMA controller. Together, these technologies eliminate the need and costs of a separate MCU, while maintaining full compliance with WELMEC, OIML and other smart metering advisory guidelines.