AN4068 Application note ST7580 power line communication system-on-chip design guide By Riccardo Fiorelli, Mauro Colombo Introduction The ST7580 reference design has been realized as a useful tool that exploits the performance capability of the ST7580 power line networking system-on-chip. With this reference design, it is possible to evaluate, directly on the power line, the transmitting and receiving performance of a power line communication node based on the ST7580 device. The line coupling interface is designed to allow the ST7580 device to transmit and receive on the AC mains line using the available FSK and PSK modes within the European CENELEC EN50065-1 standard A band, specified for automatic meter reading (AMR) applications [5]. The circuit has been designed to be easily adapted to different frequency bands and application environments with very few modifications. An STM32 microcontroller has been included in the reference design to make it more flexible and suitable for use as a standalone smart PLC node. Figure 1. ST7580 reference design board with outline dimensions As can be seen from the board image, special effort has been made to make the reference design as compact as possible, while including all the features that enable the ST7580 to perform at its best. Note: July 2012 The information provided in this application note refers to the EVALST7580-1 reference design. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 1/63 www.st.com Contents AN4068 Contents 1 Abbreviations used in this document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2 Electrical characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3 Safety recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 4 ST7580 power line networking system-on-chip description . . . . . . . . 11 5 EVALKITST7580-1 evaluation tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 6 Test and measurement tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 7 ST7580 reference design description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 7.1 7.2 8 9 7.1.1 Transmission active filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 7.1.2 Reception passive filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 7.1.3 Power line coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 7.1.4 Zero crossing coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 STM32 section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 7.2.1 Direct connections between STM32 microcontroller and ST7580 . . . . . 29 7.2.2 Digital interfaces to the STM32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 7.2.3 General purpose pushbuttons and LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Reference design standard tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 8.1 Input impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 8.2 Conducted emission (CE) measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 8.3 EMI immunity tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Design guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 9.1 2/63 Line coupling section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 PCB layout guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 9.1.1 Thermal performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 9.1.2 Ground connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 9.2 Thermal impedance and power dissipation calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 9.3 Oscillator section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Contents 9.4 10 11 Power supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Application ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 10.1 3-phase architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 10.2 Received signal strength indication (RSSI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 FAQs and troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 11.1 FAQs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 11.2 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 12 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 13 Normative references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Appendix A Board layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 3/63 List of tables AN4068 List of tables Table 1. Table 2. Table 3. Table 4. Table 5. Table 6. Table 7. 4/63 Electrical and thermal characteristics of the ST7580 reference design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 TX_OUT level vs. TX_GAIN - typical values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Bill of material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Line coupling transformer specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Zero crossing coupling - measured timing characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Connections between STM32F103CBT6 and ST7580 devices on EVALST80-1 board . . 30 Document revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 List of figures List of figures Figure 1. ST7580 reference design board with outline dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Figure 2. ST7580 block diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Figure 3. Board drawing with the various sections indicated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Figure 4. Schematics of the ST7580 reference design board (part 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Figure 5. Schematics of the ST7580 reference design board (part 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Figure 6. Line coupling section schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Figure 7. Measured frequency response of the transmission active filter (typical) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Figure 8. Montecarlo simulation of the transmission active filter frequency response . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Figure 9. Measured frequency response of the reception passive filter (typical) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Figure 10. Montecarlo simulation of the reception passive filter response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Figure 11. Measured frequency response of the transmission line coupling loaded with the EN50065-1 LISN impedance (typical)26 Figure 12. Measured frequency response of the transmission line coupling loaded with 5 W + 15 µF (typical) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Figure 13. Montecarlo simulation of the transmission line coupling response loaded with the EN50065-1 LISN impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Figure 14. Isolated zero crossing coupling circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Figure 15. Zero crossing coupling - positive edge delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Figure 16. Zero crossing coupling - negative edge delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Figure 17. Connections between the STM32F103CBT6 and the ST7580 devices on the EVALST80-1 board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Figure 18. STM32F103CB external connections: schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Figure 19. STM32 configurable signalling LEDs and pushbuttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Figure 20. Measured input impedance modulus of the line coupling - reception mode (typical) . . . . . 35 Figure 21. Measured input impedance modulus of the line coupling - transmission mode (typical) . . 35 Figure 22. Conducted emissions test setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Figure 23. Conducted emissions: PSK transmission spectrum, peak measurement, 9 kHz - 150 kHz, line-to-earth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Figure 24. Conducted emissions: PSK transmission spectrum, peak measurement, 9 kHz - 150 kHz, neutral-to-earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Figure 25. Conducted emissions: PSK transmission spectrum, quasi-peak measurement, 150 kHz 30 MHz, line-to-earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Figure 26. Conducted emissions: PSK transmission spectrum, quasi-peak measurement, 150 kHz 30 MHz, neutral-to-earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Figure 27. Conducted emissions: FSK transmission spectrum, peak measurement, 9 kHz - 150 kHz , line-to-earth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Figure 28. Conducted emissions: FSK transmission spectrum, peak measurement, 9 kHz - 150 kHz, neutral-to-earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Figure 29. Conducted emissions: FSK transmission spectrum, quasi-peak measurement, 150 kHz 30 MHz, line-to-earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Figure 30. Conducted emissions: FSK transmission spectrum, quasi-peak measurement, 150 kHz 30 MHz, neutral-to-earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Figure 31. Common mode disturbance protection - positive disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Figure 32. Common mode disturbance protection - negative disturbance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Figure 33. Differential mode disturbance protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Figure 34. Example of stencil openings for the QFN48 package. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Figure 35. PCB copper dissipating area on top layer (left) and bottom layer (right) for the ST7580 reference design board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 5/63 List of figures Figure 36. Figure 37. Figure 38. Figure 39. Figure 40. Figure 41. Figure 42. Figure 43. Figure 44. Figure 45. Figure 46. 6/63 AN4068 Packet-fragmented transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Measured ST7580 thermal impedance curve (typical) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Simulation model of the thermal impedance ZthJA of the ST7580 mounted on the reference design board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Example of power supply EMI input filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Scheme of principle for non-switched 3-phase architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Scheme of principle for switched 3-phase architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 3-phase isolated zero crossing coupling circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 3-phase non-isolated zero crossing coupling circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 PCB layout - components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 PCB layout - top view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 PCB layout - bottom view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 1 Abbreviations used in this document Abbreviations used in this document ● AC = alternate current ● AFE = analog front end ● AMR = automated meter reading ● AWGN = additive white gaussian noise ● BER = bit error rate ● BOM = bill of material ● CE = conducted emissions ● DC = direct current ● DL = data link layer ● DSP = digital signal processor ● EMC = electro-magnetic compliance ● EMI = electro-magnetic interference ● FSK = frequency shift keying ● GUI = graphical user interface ● NBI = narrow-band interferer ● LISN = line impedance stabilization network ● PA = power amplifier ● PCB = printed circuit board ● PHY = physical layer ● PLC = power line communication ● PSK = phase shift keying ● PSU = power supply unit ● RBW = resolution bandwidth ● SBW = signal bandwidth ● SNR = signal-to-noise ratio ● SoC = system-on-chip. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 7/63 Electrical characteristics 2 AN4068 Electrical characteristics Table 1. Electrical and thermal characteristics of the ST7580 reference design Value Parameter Notes Min. Typ. Max. Unit Thermal data Ambient operating temperature -40 ST7580 thermal resistance 85 °C 50 (1) °C/W Measured on the ST7580 reference design 2-side PCB with thermal pad and 4x4 thermal via array Transceiver section Transmitting specifications (Tx mode) 20 Transmitted signal -20 dB bandwidth 14.5 Transmitted output current limit 1 kHz FSK 9600 baud Any PSK mode A rms Receiving specifications (Rx mode) B-PSK coded, fC = 86 kHz, BER = 10-3 dBµ Vrms 44 Minimum detectable received signal B-FSK, 9600 baud, fC = 86 kHz, deviation=1, BER=10-3 58 Reception filter -3 dB bandwidth 65 kHz Mains coupling specifications Transformer isolation 4 (2) kV Power supply requirements VCC power supply voltage 8 VCC power supply current absorption – RX mode VCC power supply current absorption – TX mode 20 VDDIO digital supply voltage -10% VDDIO digital supply current absorption 13 18 V 5 mA JP7 closed (LK112SM33TR LDO not enabled) 65 mA JP7 open (LK112SM33TR LDO enabled) 500 mA VCC = 8 to 18 V, I(PA_OUT) = 0 to 1 A rms +10% V 3.3 60 mA JP7 closed No digital connection to external equipment 1. Measured over a continuous transmission period of 3000 seconds (steady-state thermal dissipation). See Figure 39 for thermal impedance typical curve. 2. Note that ST does not guarantee transformer isolation. ST assumes no responsibility for the consequences that may arise from such risks. 8/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Electrical characteristics Table 2. TX_OUT level vs. TX_GAIN - typical values TX_OUT TX_GAIN [dBµV rms] [V p-p] FSK PSK 31 3.900 123 120 30 3.450 122 119 29 3.100 121 118 28 2.750 120 117 27 2.450 119 116 26 2.200 118 115 25 1.950 117 114 24 1.750 116 113 23 1.550 115 112 22 1.380 114 111 21 1.225 113 110 20 1.100 112 109 19 0.975 111 108 18 0.870 110 107 17 0.775 109 106 16 0.690 108 105 15 0.615 107 104 14 0.550 106 103 13 0.490 105 102 12 0.435 104 101 11 0.390 103 100 10 0.345 102 99 9 0.310 101 98 8 0.275 100 97 7 0.245 99 96 6 0.220 98 95 5 0.195 97 94 4 0.175 96 93 3 0.155 95 92 2 0.140 94 91 1 0.125 93 90 0 0.110 92 89 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 9/63 Safety recommendations 3 AN4068 Safety recommendations The board must be used by expert technicians only. Due to the high voltage (85-265 Vac) present on the non-isolated parts, special care must be taken in order to avoid the risk of electric shock. There is no protection against accidental contact with high-voltages. After disconnection of the board from the mains, no live parts must be touched immediately because of the energized capacitors. It is mandatory to use a mains insulation transformer to perform any tests on the highvoltage sections, using test instruments such as, for instance, spectrum analyzers or oscilloscopes. Do not connect any probe to the high-voltage sections if the board is not isolated from the mains supply, in order to avoid damage to instruments and demo tools. ST assumes no responsibility for the consequences of any improper use of this development tool. 10/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 4 ST7580 power line networking system-on-chip description ST7580 power line networking system-on-chip description The ST7580 is a flexible power line networking system-on-chip (SOC) combining a high performing PHY DSP core and a protocol controller core with a fully integrated analog frontend (AFE) and line driver for a scalable future-proof, cost effective single-chip narrow-band power line communication solution. The device comes with embedded firmware providing a complete physical layer (PHY) and some data link layer (DL) services for power line communication. The ST7580 protocol services have been developed mainly for smart metering applications using CENELEC A band, but they are also suitable for other command and control applications. The embedded PHY layer, hosted in a DSP engine, implements two different modulation schemes: a B-FSK modulation up to 9.6 kbps and a multi-mode PSK modulation with channel quality estimation, dual channel receiving mode and convolutional coding, delivering a throughput up to 28.8 kbps. The embedded DL layer hosted in the embedded microcontroller offers framing and error correction services. Communication with an external microcontroller is based on a UART host interface, exporting all the functions and services required to configure and control the device and its protocol stack. For further details, please refer to [1] and [2]. Figure 2. ST7580 block diagram 0!?). 0!?). /.#()0 -EMORIES 4HERMAL -ANAGEMENT 0!?/54 #, /UTPUT#URRENT #ONTROL ,INE$RIVER 30)5!24 /.#()0 -EMORIES 4?2%1 28$ 48$ BIT!%3 48?/54 '!). #42, $!# 0ROTOCOL#ONTROLLER "0& 48!&% 7!4#($/' 4)-%23 $$3 0(9PROCESSOR "2 "2 28?). 0'! 28!&% 6## 6 0,?28?/. !$# 0,?48?/. "0& 0OWER-ANAGEMENT :ERO#ROSSING $ETECTION 6$$)/ 6 6##! 6 6$$ 6 #LOCK -ANAGEMENT :#?). 6$$?0,, 6 8). 8/54 !-V Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 11/63 EVALKITST7580-1 evaluation tools 5 AN4068 EVALKITST7580-1 evaluation tools The minimum set of evaluation tools to test the ST7580 power line communication requires two communication nodes, each made up of the following elements: ● a PC running the ST7580 GUI software tool ● one EVALKITST7580-1 demonstration kit, composed of two boards: – EVALST7580-1 PLC board; – one EVLALTAIR900-M1 board as power supply unit (PSU). For further details regarding the ST7580 GUI software and the available evaluation tools, please visit http://www.st.com/powerline. 12/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 6 Test and measurement tools Test and measurement tools ● Spectrum / network / impedance analyzer – ● Agilent 4395A: 10 Hz - 500 MHz Agilent 43961A impedance test kit – Differential active probe ● Agilent 1141A differential probe: 1 MΩ, 7 pF ● Agilent 1142A probe control and power module: DC reject 0.05 Hz ● EMC analyzer ● – Rohde&Schwarz ESL – 9 kHz - 3 GHz Two-line V-network (LISN) – ● Isolation transformer – ● 1000 VA, 0 - 250 V variable output Oscilloscope – ● Rohde&Schwarz ENV216 Tektronix DPO 7104C: 1 GHz, 20 GS/s Surge/burst generator – Volta UCS 500-M. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 13/63 ST7580 reference design description 7 AN4068 ST7580 reference design description The ST7580 reference design is made up of the following sections: ● ST7580 device section ● Line coupling section, including four subsections: ● – Transmission active filter – Reception passive filter – Power line coupling – Zero crossing coupling STM32 microcontroller section. The board has also six external connections: – AC mains (line and neutral) on CN1 connector; – VCC (8 to 18 V) and VDDIO (3.3 or 5 V) supply voltages on CN2 connector – SD storage card on CN3 micro SD connector – USB interface for PC connectivity on CN4 mini-USB connector – Digital interface on J2 (5x2 connector), collecting UART and I2C digital access to the onboard STM32 microcontroller – JTAG interface for STM32 microcontroller on JTAG1 connector (10x2 connector). Figure 3. Board drawing with the various sections indicated 9&&± 9'',2 368FRQQHFWLRQ /LQHFRXSOLQJVHFWLRQ 63,WHVW VZLWFKHV 6'FDUG FRQQHFWRU 670-7$*FRQQHFWRU =&FRXSOLQJ $&PDLQV FRQQHFWLRQ 67VHFWLRQ 670VHFWLRQ 86%FRQQHFWRU 8$57 ,& !-V Figure 4 gives a global view of the reference design. Table 3 lists the components chosen to realize the reference design board. All the parts have been selected in order to obtain good performance in a real case application. The layout of the printed circuit board is reported in Figure 44, 45, and 46. 14/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 Q) & 5 . N 5 & Q)& * N 5 N 5 & S)& * 3$B,1 7R $'& / %*X+ Q) 9 & 73 3$B287 &/26( -3 9&& Q) 9 & ' 6736/$ X) 9 & ' 6736/$ 5 . ' 6079&$ 5 1& 5 5 . 5 5 5 / Q) ; 1& 1& 5 . 5 . ' 607&$ & & &B'& 5 . %*X+ 23(1 ' // 5 . 23(1 7'.65: (3;+: ( 7 -3 -3 ,62 7/3*% 1 / / 1 -3 &/26( 9&& 287 /.6075 *1' %<3$66 6+'1 ,1 8 9'', 2 7;' 5;' 7B5(4 9'', 2 -3 -3 3/&B5;' 3/&B7;' 3/&B7B5(4 676708$57&211(&7,21 X) 9 & 73 5;B,1 5;B,1 0! 3$B287 5 . 9&& 4 %&& 5 . 9&& $ 73 966 9&& &1 &2102/(;..3 ) 9 Q) & 73 7;B287 7;B287 3$B,1 & Q)& * N N 5 0(* =& B,1 & Q) 9&& $ 5 5 . 9&& 5 5 & S)& * S)& * S)& * & & 73 =& B,1 6833/<6(&7,21 . -3 &/26( &1 &2102/(;..312 / 1 Figure 4. 32:(5/,1(&283/,1*6(&7,21 AN4068 ST7580 reference design description Schematics of the ST7580 reference design board (part 1) Q) ) 9 & ) 9 Q) & !-V 15/63 VDDIO VDDIO NC R28 TCK TXD VDDIO R30 R23 VDD 1 100k TXD RXD VDDIO TRSTN TMS GND TCK TDO TDI RESETN VDD XIN 8MHZ_MCO 1 100nF/25V C34 100nF/25V C36 R27 SHIELD 2 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 100pF/C0G C29 100nF/25V C30 1 Q1 2N7002 R13 330R CL_SEL R18 10k VDDIO 3k9 R14 CL_ADC C47 10pF 100nF/25V C11 100pF/C0G R11 130R JP11 CLOSE VDDIO VDDIO 10k R44 3 SWA SWB CD COM C37 100nF VBAT PC13/TAMP/RTC PC14 PC15 PD0/OSC-IN PD1/OSC-OUT NRST STM32F103CBT6 VSSA VDDA PA0-WKUP PA1 PA2 C39 4.7uF/10V (TANT) 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 VDDIO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 SW4 PUSH_1 U3 EMIF06-MSD02N16 C46 10pF RDATA_VCC WP/CD VCC RDAT3_GND DAT2_EX DAT2_IN DAT3_EX DAT3_IN CMD_EX CMD_IN CLK_EX CLK_IN DAT0_EX DAT0_IN DAT1_EX DAT1_IN PA_ADC STM32_SD_NSS STM32_SD_SCLK STM32_SD_MISO STM32_SD_MOSI SD_CD TP9 PA_ADC VDDIO uSD_NSS uSD_MOSI uSD_SCLK uSD_MISO JP10 CLOSE JP8 CLOSE PLC_RXD 330R VDDIO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 U4 VBUS 10K SW3 PUSH_2 10K R36 C41 10uF/6.3V VDDIO 8MHZ_MCO VDDIO VDDIO SPI2_MOSI SPI2_MISO SPI2_SCLK SPI2_NSS STM32_USB+ STM32_USBUART1_RXD UART1_TXD C44 4 5 CN4 CN-USB JTAG_20P JTAG1 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 J2 VDDIO 2 4 UART1_TXD 6 UART1_RXD 8 10 BLM21PG600SN1D FB3 1 2 3 4 5 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 VDDIO 1 2 3 4 5 6 J1 STM32 SECTION JP9 STM32 BOOT CONFIG BOOT1 BOOT0 VDDIO SW1 DIPSW-4P-90 SPI2 CONNECTOR SPI2_MOSI SPI2_MISO SPI2_SCLK SPI2_NSS VDDIO I2C1 - UART1 CONNECTOR VDDIO 1 3 5 7 I2C1_SDA 9 I2C1_SCL 100nF/25V I/O2#4 6 STM32_USB_PWR I/O1#6 USBLC6-2P6 I/O2#3 GND I/O1#1 U5 R34 STM32_SD_NSS STM32_SD_MOSI STM32_SD_SCLK STM32_SD_MISO SD_CD SH2 SH2 SH1 SH1 BOOT1 C40 100nF/25V VDD2 VSS2 PA13 PA12 PA11 PA10 PA9 PA8 PB15 PB14 PB13 PB12 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 1K5 BOOT0 R43 3 2 VDDIO 22R 22R 2 CN3 uSDCARD-HRS-DM3DSF PLC_T_REQ PLC_TXD VDDIO 1 LED-RED 1 LED-Y ELLOW 1 LED-GREEN R42 R46 1 J_TDO STM32_RESET# J_TRSTN J_TDI J_TMS J_TCK 4 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 VDDIO R56 4K7 1% Y1 8MHz CL_ADC C42 2 DL5 2 470R DL4 2 470R DL3 470R 100nF/25V STM32_NRST PL_RX_ON PL_TX_ON 20pF C38 R45 R59 18K7 1% SH2 SH1 DAT2/RSV DAT3/CS CMD/DATA_IN VDD SCLK VSS2 DAT0/DATA_OUT DAT1/RSV SD_CD R22 100k VDDIO PA_OUT PLC_RESETN SW5 STM32 RESET VDDIO 20pF C33 R35 R38 R40 STM32_USB+ STM32_USB- 1 C18 C27 100nF/25V 100nF/25V C13 C8 10uF/25V 10K 10uF/6.3V C12 CL 1 VCC CL PA_INPA_IN+ TX_OUT RX_IN ZC_IN TP2 VCC GND R9 100nF/25V C10 VDDIO M25_Q 10uF/6.3V C14 VCCA VSS C21 100nF/25V VSSA FB2 BLM21PG300SN1 VDD_REG_1V8 PA_OUT M25_Q CL_SEL 560R VDDIO 560R VDDIO 100nF/25V C45 C28 10uF/10V ST7580 U2 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 LED-RED 2 R32 DL2 1 PL_TX_ON LED-GREEN 2 R31 DL1 PL_RX_ON 1 TP4 TREQ CL_SEL VSSA VDDIO GND NC#32 RESERVED0 NC#30 NC#29 VDDIO VDD_REG_1V8 PA_OUT VSS 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 VDD_PLL 1 VCC CL PA_INPA_IN+ TX_OUT RX_IN ZC_IN VCCA VDD_PLL VSSA GND XOUT FB1 BLM21PG331SN1 R47 10K 2 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 ST7580 SECTION TP8 TP7 TXD RXD C32 100nF/25V 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 TCK 8 9 PLC_RESETN 10 11 12 TXD RXD PL_RX_ON BR1 BR0 PL_TX_ON I2C1_SCL I2C1_SDA MISO1 RN3 10K VDDIO SHIELD SW2 ST7580 RESET SH2 SH1 VDDIO 10K 10K RN2 10K VDDIO 100nF/25V C35 EP VDDIO SCLK0 PL_RX_ON T_REQ BR1 BR0 PL_TX_ON RESERVED1 RESERVED2 RESERVED3 GND VDD RESERVED4 RESERVED5 49 1 VDD1 VSS1 PB11 PB10 PB2 PB1 PB0 PA7 PA6 PA5 PA4 PA3 SHIELD 47K I2C1_SCL I2C1_SDA MISO1 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 PA14 PA15 PB3 PB4 PB5 PB6 PB7 BOOT0 PB8 PB9 VSS3 VDD3 1 47K T_REQ BR1 BR0 C43 100nF/25V 8 7 6 5 I2C1_SCL I2C1_SDA 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 R48 R49 R51 R50 1 2 3 4 8 7 6 5 J_TCK J_TDI J_TDO J_TRSTN 10K 10K 10K 10K 1 2 3 4 J_TMS 47K 10K R29 R25 R26 10K 10K 10K 10K R24 R37 R33 4 3 2 1 16/63 10K 10K 10K 10K R39 R41 GND R55 R54 R53 R52 SH1 SH2 5 6 7 8 Figure 5. SHIELD VDDIO ST7580 reference design description AN4068 Schematics of the ST7580 reference design board (part 2) 3 1 2 EP 2 4.7uF/4V C31 AM11115v1 AN4068 ST7580 reference design description Table 3. Bill of material Reference Value Description CN1 CON-MOLEX-KK100-3P CON-MOLEX-42376-3P-90° (pin 2 removed) CN2 CON-MOLEX-KK100-3P CON-MOLEX-42376-3P-90° CN3 uSDCARD-HRS-DM3DSF uSDCARD-HRS-DM3DSF CN4 CN-USB USBMB-HRS-UX60SC C1_DC NC SMD-0805 C2 10 µF/50 V X5R SMD-1206 C3 18 nF/25 V SMD-0603 C4 220 nF X1 MKP safety capacitor - p=15 mm C5 NC MKP safety capacitor - p=22.5 mm C6 10 nF/25 V SMD-0603 C7,C10,C11,C13,C19, C24,C26,C27,C30,C32, C34,C35,C36,C40,C42, C43,C45 100 nF/25 V SMD-0402 C8 10 µF/25 V SMD-1210 C9 4.7 pF/C0G SMD-0402 C12,C14,C17,C41 10 µF/6.3 V SMD-0603 C15,C18,C23,C29 100 pF/C0G SMD-0402 C16 27 pF/C0G SMD-0402 C20 100 nF/C0G SMD-0402 C21,C44 100 nF/25 V SMD-0603 C22 1 nF/C0G SMD-0402 C25, C37 100 nF SMD-0603 C28 10 µF/10 V SMD-0805 C31 4.7 µF/4 V SMD-0402 C33,C38 20 pF SMD-0402 C39 4.7 µF/10 V (Tantalum) SMD-3216 C46, C47 10 pF SMD-0402 DL1,DL3 LED-green SMD-0603 DL2,DL5 LED-red SMD-0603 DL4 LED-yellow D1 D2,D3 D4 SM6T15CA (1) STPS1L30A(1) SM6T6V8CA (1) Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 SMD-0603 SMB DO214AC SMB 17/63 ST7580 reference design description Table 3. AN4068 Bill of material (continued) Reference Value Description D5 LL4148 SOD80 FB1 BLM21PG331SN1 Ferrite bead SMD-0805 FB2 BLM21PG300SN1 Ferrite bead SMD-0805 FB3 BLM21PG600SN1D Ferrite bead SMD-0805 ISO1 TLP781(GB) Photo-coupler DIP4 JP1,JP2 Open Jumper SMD JP3,JP4,JP10,JP11 Close Jumper SMD JP5 ST7580 UART STRIP 5x1 2.54 mm male JP6 STM32 PLC UART STRIP 3x1 2.54 mm male JP7,JP8 Close Jumper 2x1 2.54 mm male JP9 STM32 BOOT CONFIG Jumper 2x2 2.54 mm male 90° JTAG1 JTAG_20P FLAT connector 10X2 male 90° J1 SPI2 CONNECTOR STRIP 6x1 2.54 mm male J2 I2C1 – UART1 CONNECTOR STRIP 5x2 2.54 mm male 90° L1 15 µH EPCOS B82464-A4153K L2 220 µH EPCOS B82462-A4224K Q1 2N7002 SOT23 Q3 BC847C SOT23 RN2,RN3 10 kΩ RESN-CAY10 R1 NC SMD-1206 R2 0Ω SMD-1206 R3,R4,R7,R8 56 kΩ SMD-2512 R5 150 Ω SMD-0603 R6,R20 33 kΩ SMD-0402 R9,R10,R23,R30,R34, R36,R44,R47,R48,R49, R50,R51 10 kΩ SMD-0402 R11 130 Ω SMD-0402 R12 22 kΩ SMD-0402 R13 330 Ω SMD-0402 R14 3.9 kΩ SMD-0603 R15 5.1 kΩ SMD-0402 R16 1.5 kΩ SMD-0402 R17,R19 47 kΩ SMD-0402 18/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 ST7580 reference design description Table 3. Bill of material (continued) Reference Value Description R18,R25,R33,R37,R39, R41, R52,R53,R54,R55 10 kΩ SMD-0603 R21,R22 100 kΩ SMD-0603 R24,R26,R29 47 kΩ SMD-0603 R27 100 kΩ SMD-0402 R28 NC SMD-0402 R31,R32 560 Ω SMD-0402 R35,R38,R40 470 Ω SMD-0402 R42,R46 22 Ω SMD-0402 R43 1.5 kΩ SMD-0402 R45 330 Ω SMD-0402 R56 4.7 kΩ 1% SMD-0402 R57 1MEG SMD-0402 R58 24 kΩ 1% SMD-0402 R59 18.7 kΩ 1% SMD-0402 R60, R62 22 kΩ SMD-0402 SW1 DIPSW-4P-90 DIP switch 2.54 mm 4-way 90° SW2 ST7580 RESET Push button 90° SW3 PUSH_2 Push button 90° SW4 PUSH_1 Push button 90° SW5 STM32 RESET Push button 90° TP1 PA_OUT TP2 CL TP3 RX_IN TP4 T_REQ TP5 TX_OUT TP6 ZC_IN TP7 RXD TP8 TXD TP9 PA_ADC TP10 VSS T1 TDK SRW13EP-X05H002 / WE 750-510-231 PLC coupling transformer U1 LK112SM33TR(1) SOT23-5 U2 ST7580(1) QFN48 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 19/63 ST7580 reference design description Table 3. AN4068 Bill of material (continued) Reference Value U3 Description EMIF06-MSD02N16 (1) MicroQFN 16L 3.5x1.2 mm STM32F103CBT6(1) U4 U5 USBLC6-2P6 Y1 LQFP48 (1) SOT-666 8 MHz XTAL-HC49U 1. ST parts on board. 7.1 Line coupling section The line coupling section is made up of four different circuits: the transmission active filter, the reception passive filter, the power line coupling, and the zero crossing coupling. All four sections are described below. For each section, calculations and measured behavior are reported. The frequency response of the filters is usually sensitive to component value tolerance. Actual components used in the ST7580 reference design have the following tolerances: +/20% for the X1 capacitor and the coils, +/- 5% for SMD ceramic capacitors, +/- 1% for SMD resistors. To evaluate sensitivity to these possible variations, simulated responses are also included, with a Montecarlo statistical analysis of response variation vs. spread of component value. For the transmission active filter, C0G/NPO type capacitors are required to guarantee linearity and stability for any signal amplitude and frequency. Figure 6. Line coupling section schematics ĞƌŽĐƌŽƐƐŝŶŐĐŽƵƉůŝŶŐ 73 7;B287 S)&* S)&* 5 5 N N 5 . N N N 73 3$B287 & Q)&* & S)&* 5 . 5 7R $'& 5 ' 6736/$ 7 / 5 5 5 1& / & %*X+ X)9 Q); ' 607&$ 1 7'.65:(3;+:( & 5;B,1 73 5;B,1 WŽǁĞƌůŝŶĞĐŽƵƉůŝŶŐ Q)9 & / %*X+ Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 ' 6079&$ Q)9 ZĞĐĞƉƚŝŽŶ&ŝůƚĞƌ 20/63 & 3$B,1 Q) 5 . &/26( 5 / 5 . ' 6736/$ -3 5 ,62 7/3*% 9&& 3$B287 0! 5 5 . 5 . 9&& 3$B,1 & 4 %&& 5 0(* 7;B287 -3 &/26( & & Q)&* 5 . 5 . 9&& & Q) 1 ' // & =& B,1 5 . S)&* 5 . 9&& $ 73 =& B,1 & 9&& $ dƌĂŶƐŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ ĐƚŝǀĞ &ŝůƚĞƌ !-V AN4068 7.1.1 ST7580 reference design description Transmission active filter The transmission active filter is based on the ST7580 internal power amplifier (PA), whose input and output pins are externally available to allow a filtering network tailored around the amplifier. For the ST7580 reference design, a 3-pole low-pass filter has been realized by cascading a simple R-C low-pass stage and a Sallen-Key 2-pole cell. The R16-C22 low-pass stage has a corner frequency at nearly 110 kHz for a first filtering of the TX_OUT harmonics. The 1 nF value of C22 has been found to be the optimal value to obtain a good filtering action without yielding unwanted capacitive load distortion on the TX_OUT line. The transfer function of the 2nd order Sallen-Key cell is: Equation 1 A( s ) = A0 s 2 ωC 2 + s +1 ωC ⋅ Q where: Equation 2 A 0 = (1+ R6 ) =4.3=12.7 db R10 Equation 3 fC = 1 2π ⋅ R15 ⋅ R12 ⋅ C15 ⋅ C 23 =150 kHz Equation 4 Q= R15 ⋅ R12 ⋅ C15 ⋅ C 23 R12 C15 + R15 C23 + R15 C15 (1 − A 0 ) =1.03 Figure 7 represents the measured transfer function of the transmission active filter. It shows good rejection at signal harmonic frequencies. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 21/63 ST7580 reference design description Figure 7. AN4068 Measured frequency response of the transmission active filter (typical) A simulation of the transmission active filter response against component tolerance, depicted in Figure 8, shows +/- 1 dB variation in gain module within the signal bandwidth, while the Q variation is more sensitive around 100 kHz. Figure 8. 22/63 Montecarlo simulation of the transmission active filter frequency response Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 7.1.2 ST7580 reference design description Reception passive filter The reception filter is made up of the series of a resistor and a parallel L-C resonant. The transfer function of the filter can be written as: Equation 5 s ⋅ L 2 + RL R5 L 2C3 R( s) = s2 + R5RL C 3 + L 2 R 5L 2 C 3 ⋅s + R 5 + RL R 5L 2 C 3 where RL is the DC series resistance of the inductor (in this case, about 2 Ω). The center frequency and the quality factor of the filter can be expressed as: Equation 6 fc = 1 1 R5 + RL 1 ⋅ ωC = ≅ =80 kHz 2π 2 π R 5L 2 C 3 2π L 2 C 3 Equation 7 Q= R5 L 2 C3 R5R L C 3 + L 2 ⋅ ωC =1.3 It is quite evident that the quality factor and the filter selectivity depend not only on the R5 value, but also on RL. Higher RL leads to lower steepness of the resonance, while higher R5 gives higher selectivity. The RL value impacts insertion losses in a more evident way. To evaluate the relationship between RL and the received signal loss, the following simplified expression of R ( s ) at f=fc can be used: Equation 8 R( j ⋅ 2 πfC ) ≅ Q ⋅ ωC ⋅ L 2 R5 = 1 1 + RL ⋅ R 5 ⋅ C3 L2 With actual values of the components, there is a loss of about 1 dB. The same calculation gives unitary transfer if RL is set to zero. Looking at the first way to express the module of the transfer function, it can be seen that a higher Q can help to keep the losses small. However, a high Q would bring the response to a higher sensitivity of the components' tolerance. Figure 9 shows the measured frequency response of the Rx passive filter. The filter shows a -3 dB bandwidth equal to 65 kHz and an attenuation of less than 1 dB at fC. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 23/63 ST7580 reference design description Figure 9. AN4068 Measured frequency response of the reception passive filter (typical) Figure 10 represents a simulation of the response of the Rx passive filter with component tolerance effect. The shift on center frequency gives a worst-case loss of nearly 0.5 dB at center frequency. Figure 10. Montecarlo simulation of the reception passive filter response 7.1.3 Power line coupling The coupling to the power line requires some passive components in addition to the active filtering stage. In particular, it includes the DC decoupling capacitor C2, the line transformer T1, the power inductor L1, and the X1 safety capacitor C4. 24/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 ST7580 reference design description L1 has been accurately chosen to have high saturation current (>2 A) and very low equivalent series resistance (<0.1 Ω), to limit distortion and insertion losses even with heavy line load. Center frequency for the series resonance can be calculated at first approximation as: Equation 9 fc = 1 =85 kHz 2 π L'1 ⋅ C4 ′ provided that the capacitance of C2 is much greater than the C4 capacitance. L 1 is the series of L1 and the leakage inductance of the coupling transformer T1, adding about 1 µH to L1. The Q factor of this coupling circuit is driven by the mains line impedance: the choice of the L1 and C4 values, however, leads to limited attenuation due to either parasitic impedance or resonance selectivity. If loaded with 5 Ω line impedance, the coupling circuit shows a Q factor equal to 2 and a -3 dB bandwidth of 40 kHz (typical values). Particular attention has been paid to the choice of the line transformer. The required characteristics are listed in Table 4. In order to have a good signal transfer and minimize the insertion losses, it is recommended to choose a transformer with a primary (shunt) inductance of 1 mH or greater, a leakage inductance much smaller than L1 and a total DC resistance lower than 0.5 Ω. The 4 kV insulation voltage requirement, the last specified parameter, is described and codified by the EN50065-4-2 CENELEC document [2]. Table 4. Line coupling transformer specifications Parameter Value Turn ratio 1:1 Shunt inductance ≥ 1 mH Leakage Inductance ≤1.5 µH DC total resistance ≤0.5 Ω DC saturation current ≥ 15 mA Inter-winding capacitance ≤30 pF Withstanding voltage ≥ 4 kV In Figure 11 the measured response of the whole transmission coupling, loaded with the LISN impedance as set by the EN50065-1 document, is reported. The image highlights a further filtering effect added by the passive L-C series resonant combined with the LISN reactive load. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 25/63 ST7580 reference design description AN4068 Figure 11. Measured frequency response of the transmission line coupling loaded with the EN50065-1 LISN impedance (typical) Figure 12 shows the coupling response with 5 Ω + 15 µF line impedance. Figure 12. Measured frequency response of the transmission line coupling loaded with 5 Ω + 15 µF (typical) Figure 13 represents the Montecarlo simulation of the cumulated response of transmission active and passive filters, loaded with the LISN impedance as set by the EN50065-1 document. Due to the response slope and the effect of power components, the in-band variation is within +/- 1.5 dB. 26/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 ST7580 reference design description Figure 13. Montecarlo simulation of the transmission line coupling response loaded with the EN50065-1 LISN impedance Zero crossing coupling The zero crossing coupling circuit is aimed at providing a bipolar (AC) signal synchronous with the mains network voltage to the ZC_IN pin. This signal must be centered on VSS and limited to ± 5 V peak [1]. The isolated zero crossing circuit is realized through an optocoupler in an inverting configuration. Neutral and phase lines are brought to the optocoupler through four 56 kΩ, 1 W size SMD resistors in series, as represented in Figure 14. The LL4148 acts as a freewheeling diode during negative half-wave. The series resistors limit the photodiode input current to nearly 1 mA rms at 230 VAC, leading to less than 250 mW of total consumption of the solution. Having two resistors per line helps to prevent short-circuits in the case of resistor degradation. Figure 14. Isolated zero crossing coupling circuit 9&& $ 1 4 %&& ,62 7/3*% / 5 . 5 . 5 . 5 0(* 5 . ' // 5 . & Q) =& B,1 5 . 9&& $ 73 =& B,1 7.1.4 5 . !-V Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 27/63 ST7580 reference design description AN4068 The timing characteristics of this circuit, according to the oscilloscope screenshots reported below, are listed in Table 5. Table 5. Zero crossing coupling - measured timing characteristics Edge ZC delay Positive -75 +/- 300 µs Negative 430 +/- 300 µs Figure 15. Zero crossing coupling - positive edge delay Figure 16. Zero crossing coupling - negative edge delay 28/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 7.2 ST7580 reference design description STM32 section The EVALST7580-1 is equipped with an STM32F103CBT6 device, a medium-density ARMbased 32-bit microcontroller. For complete information on device characteristics, please refer to [3] and [4]. On the EVALST7580-1 board, the STM32F103CBT6 microcontroller can be used for the following purposes: ● to handle the ST7580 device through direct connections ● for external access through several interface types: USB, SPI, I2C, USART, JTAG ● to store and read data to/from an external µ-SD card ● to develop test functions. On the EVALST580-1, the STM32 microcontroller shares its VDD supply voltage with the VDDIO digital supply of the ST7580 device. A dedicated 8 MHz crystal has been provided with two suitable load capacitors according to recommendations in [4]. 7.2.1 Direct connections between STM32 microcontroller and ST7580 The STM32F103 microcontroller provides connections to the ST7580 for both digital and analog parts. Figure 17 is an extract of the EVALST7580-1 board and it highlights the connections between the two devices only: Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 29/63 ST7580 reference design description AN4068 Figure 17. Connections between the STM32F103CBT6 and the ST7580 devices on the EVALST80-1 board 9'',2 3/B7;B21 3/B5;B21 '/ '/ 5 5 /('5(' 5 5 /('*5((1 8 9'',2 1& 5 67 &/B6(/ 966$ 9'',2 *1' 1& 5(6(59(' 1& 1& 9'',2 9''B5(*B9 3$B287 966 7B5(4 5;' 7;' 9'',2 3/&B7B5(4 3/&B7;' 3/&B5;' -3 -3 5 3/&B5(6(71 3$B287 5 5 . 5 . -3 &/26( 9%$7 3&7$0357& 3& 3& 3'26&,1 3'26&287 1567 966$ 670)&%7 9''$ 3$:.83 3$ 3$ 9'' 966 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3% 3% 3% 3% (3 9&& &/ 3$B,1 3$B,1 7;B287 5;B,1 =&B,1 9&&$ 9''B3// 966$ *1' ;287 9 Q) & 5 6+,(/' 6: 67 5(6(7 7;' 5;' 9'',2 75671 706 *1' 7&. 7'2 7', 5(6(71 9'' ;,1 9'' 966 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ N 6+ 6+ 3/B5;B21 7B5(4 %5 %5 3/B7;B21 5(6(59(' 5(6(59(' 5(6(59(' *1' 9'' 5(6(59(' 5(6(59(' 3$ 3$ 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% %227 3% 3% 966 9'' 8 3$B$'& -3 &/26( & S) &/ 0+=B0&2 5 5 5 5 5 9'',2 5 N & S)&* -3 &/26( 4 1 &/B$'& . & S) &/B6(/ !-V These connections involve several pins and features of the ST7580 modem, as listed in Table 6. Table 6. Connections between STM32F103CBT6 and ST7580 devices on EVALST80-1 board Connection Host interface type Digital ST7580 pins STM32F103 pins T_REQ PA1 RXD PA2 TXD PA3 Notes See [2] Reset Digital RESETN PC15 This direct connection allows the STM32 microcontroller to drive the RESETN pin of the ST7580. Clock Digital XIN PA8 The connection must provide an 8-MHz clock signal to the ST7580 modem in accordance with the specifications in [1]. PL_RX_ON PC13 PL_TX_ON PC14 Power line communication activity 30/63 Connection Digital Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 As the two lines give information about power line communication activity of the ST7580, the connections can be used as input data for the STM32. AN4068 Table 6. ST7580 reference design description Connections between STM32F103CBT6 and ST7580 devices on EVALST80-1 board Connection Connection type Transmitted power line signal levels Analog CL voltage level 7.2.2 Analog ST7580 pins STM32F103 PA_OUT CL Notes pins PB1 The connection allows the STM32 to monitor the ST7580’s PA_OUT voltage level. The connection is realized through a suitable partition (between two high-value 1% tolerance resistors) to properly limit the signal level within the STM32 input range. PA0 The connection allows the STM32 to monitor ST7580’s CL pin voltage level and to extract information about the ST7580 output current during power line transmission. Digital interfaces to the STM32 The EVALST7580-1 allows the STM32F103CB microcontroller to be accessed via its available interfaces: ● Serial wire/JTAG debug, that enables either a serial wire debug or a JTAG compliant debug through the JTAG1 connector ● USB 2.0 full speed through the mini-USB CN4 connector ● 2 SPI interfaces: – one is used to access an external µ-SD card with FAT32 support through the µ-SD CN2 connector – the second works at 18 Mbit/s and presents the SPI signals at the J1 strip connector ● I2C ● A second UART (TXD and RXD signals), in addition to the one used for the ST7580 connections. I2C and UART signals are accessible through the same J2 double strip connector. The NRST signal is externally accessible through a pushbutton. An extract of the EVALST7580-1 board schematics for the digital interfaces of the STM32 is depicted in Figure 18: Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 31/63 32/63 9'',2 8$57B7;' 8$57B5;' . . Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 . 5 6:$ 6:% 670B6'B166 670B6'B026, 670B6'B6&/. 670B6'B0,62 6'B&' %227 9'' 966 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3% 3% 3% 3% . . . . *1' 5 . 5 . &' &20 &1 X6'&$5'+56'0'6) 5 5'$7$B9&& :3& ' 9&& 5'$7B*1' '$7B(; '$7B,1 '$7B(; '$7B,1 &0'B(; &0'B,1 &/.B(; &/.B,1 '$7B(; '$7B,1 '$7B(; '$7B,1 6+ 6+ 9%$7 3&7$0357& 3& 3& 3'26&,1 3'26&287 1567 670)&%7 966$ 9''$ 3$:.83 3$ 3$ 5 5 5 5 . X6'B166 X6'B026, X6'B6&/. X6'B0,62 . 8 (0,)06'1 N 5 6: 6705(6(7 9'',2 8 '$7569 '$7&6 &0''$7$B,1 9'' 6&/. 966 '$7'$7$B287 '$7569 9'',2 . 5 9'',2 5 6'B&' . . . . 5 N 5 5 -7$*B3 )% %/03*61' 9'' 966 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 9'',2 5 5 5 5 -B7'2 670B5(6(7 -7$* & Q)9 ,2 9%86 ,2 86%/&3 , 2 *1' , 2 &1 &186% 3$ 3$ 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% %227 3% 3% 966 9'' -3 670%227&21),* . 9'' ,2 5 5 6+ 6+ 9'',2 5 5 5 670B86%B3:5 %227 ,&B6&/ ,&B6'$ %227 %227 -B75671 -B7', -B706 -B7&. 670B86% 670B86% 8 -B7&. -B7', -B7'2 -B75671 9'',2 - ,&8$57&211(&725 9'' ,2 ,&B6'$ ,&B6&/ - 6: ',36:3 63,&211(&725 9'',2 63,B026, 63,B0,62 63,B6&/. 63,B166 63,B026, 63,B0,62 63,B6&/. 63,B166 -B706 670B86% 670B86% 8$57B5;' 8$57B7;' ST7580 reference design description AN4068 Figure 18. STM32F103CB external connections: schematics & Q)9 6+,(/' (3 !-V AN4068 7.2.3 ST7580 reference design description General purpose pushbuttons and LEDs The EVALST7580-1 board provides configurable input and output connections to the STM32F103 microcontroller for both externally generated events and signaling purposes. In fact, the board presents: ● 3 signaling LEDs, connected to PB5, PB6, PB7 outputs ● 2 pushbuttons connected to PB10, PB11, to manually generate events triggering programmable functions. Figure 19 is an extract of the schematics for these features. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 6: 386+B . 5 . 9'',2 5 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+ 6: 386+B 8 670)&%7 /('5(' /('< (//2: /('*5((1 6+,(/' 5 9%$7 3&7$0357& 3& 3& 3'26&,1 3'26&287 1567 966$ 9''$ 3$:.83 3$ 3$ 5 '/ '/ 5 '/ 5 9'' 966 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 6+,(/' 5 3$ 3$ 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% %227 3% 3% 966 9'' 9'',2 5 9'' 966 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3$ 3% 3% 3% 3% Figure 19. STM32 configurable signalling LEDs and pushbuttons !-V 33/63 Reference design standard tests AN4068 8 Reference design standard tests 8.1 Input impedance The input impedance of a power line communication node is another critical point. According to the network impedance measurements carried out in certain European distribution networks (Italy, Germany and France), the following characteristics can be associated to the impedance of a typical low-voltage (LV) power line: ● Typical impedance magnitude is around 5 Ω ● Nearly 90% of measured values range between 0.5 and 10 Ω ● The impedance value depends on the measurement point ● The measured value changes over time. The reasons for these characteristics can be described as follows: ● The LV distribution network has a “tree” structure, with many branches and subbranches acting as parallel impedances ● Several electronic devices connected to the LV network offer a very low impedance, mostly because of the EMI input filters installed at their mains connection ● The type and number of electronic loads connected to the mains network varies over time. For all these reasons, particular attention must be paid to the impedance of the ST7580 line coupling circuit. Specifically: ● In receiving (idle) mode, the coupling impedance must be high enough to make the power line source impedance negligible and to minimize the mutual interference between different PLC nodes connected to the same network ● In transmitting mode, the coupling impedance must be very low inside the signal bandwidth but high enough for out-of-band frequencies. According to such requirements, the EN50065-7 standard document fixes the following constraints for the PLC node operating in the A band [5]: ● ● Tx mode: – free in the range 3 to 95 kHz – 3 Ω from 95 to 148.5 kHz Rx mode: – 10 Ω from 3 to 9 kHz – 50 Ω between 9 and 95 kHz only inside the signal bandwidth (free for frequencies outside the signal bandwidth) – 5 Ω from 95 to 148.5 kHz. Figure 20 and 21 show the input impedance magnitude vs. frequency measured in transmission and reception mode. The impedance magnitude values prove that the ST7580 reference design is compliant with the EN50065-7 requirements. At the same time, the line interface gives an efficient signal coupling both in transmission and reception. 34/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Reference design standard tests Figure 20. Measured input impedance modulus of the line coupling - reception mode (typical) Figure 21. Measured input impedance modulus of the line coupling - transmission mode (typical) 8.2 Conducted emission (CE) measurements The EN50065-1 standard describes the test setup and the procedures for these kinds of tests [5]. The compliance tests have been performed with a 230 VAC isolated supply. Different test conditions have been set for PSK and FSK: ● PSK: The test pattern consists of the continuous transmission of 200 ms packets with 50% duty cycle, random payload and B-PSK modulation with 86 kHz frequency. The Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 35/63 Reference design standard tests AN4068 output signal level has been set to nearly 9 V peak-to-peak (ST7580 TX_GAIN parameter = 26), corresponding to 127 dBµV rms. ● FSK: The test pattern consists of the continuous transmission of 200 ms packets with 50% duty cycle, random payload and FSK modulation with 82 kHz frequency at 9600 baud, deviation 1. The output signal level has been set to nearly 6 V peak-to-peak (ST7580 TX_GAIN parameter = 21), corresponding to 126 dBµV rms. Figure 22. Conducted emissions test setup 3& UXQQLQJ 67 *8, 0DLQV 6XSSO\ ,VRODWLRQ 7UDQVIRUPHU 5RKGH6FKZDU] (19 7ZR OLQH 9 QHWZRUN / 1 (9$/67 XQGHU WHVW വ 9 +] $/7$,5 3RZHU VXSSO\ XQLW വ 56 (6/ (0, 7HVW 5HFHLYHU AM11090v1 The conducted emissions measurement results are reported below. Quasi-peak measurements have been performed, as required by the EN50065-1 standard document, for measurements above 150 kHz. Peak measurements are performed for frequencies below 150 kHz to also show the output signal level compliance. The measured spectrum is always compared to the EN50065-1 compliance limit mask. 36/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Reference design standard tests Figure 23. Conducted emissions: PSK transmission spectrum, peak measurement, 9 kHz - 150 kHz, line-to-earth Figure 24. Conducted emissions: PSK transmission spectrum, peak measurement, 9 kHz - 150 kHz, neutral-to-earth Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 37/63 Reference design standard tests AN4068 Figure 25. Conducted emissions: PSK transmission spectrum, quasi-peak measurement, 150 kHz - 30 MHz, line-to-earth Figure 26. Conducted emissions: PSK transmission spectrum, quasi-peak measurement, 150 kHz - 30 MHz, neutral-to-earth 38/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Reference design standard tests Figure 27. Conducted emissions: FSK transmission spectrum, peak measurement, 9 kHz - 150 kHz, line-to-earth Figure 28. Conducted emissions: FSK transmission spectrum, peak measurement, 9 kHz - 150 kHz, neutral-to-earth Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 39/63 Reference design standard tests AN4068 Figure 29. Conducted emissions: FSK transmission spectrum, quasi-peak measurement, 150 kHz - 30 MHz, line-to-earth Figure 30. Conducted emissions: FSK transmission spectrum, quasi-peak measurement, 150 kHz - 30 MHz, neutral-to-earth 8.3 EMI immunity tests The specific structure of the coupling interface circuit of the application is a weak point against high-voltage disturbances that can come from the external environment. In fact, an efficient coupling circuit with low insertion losses realizes, consequently, a low impedance path from the mains to the power line interface of the device. For this reason it is recommended to add some specific protection on the mains coupling path, to prevent high energy disturbances coming from the mains from damaging the internal power circuitry of the ST7580. 40/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Reference design standard tests Possible environments for this kind of application can be both indoor and outdoor: residential, commercial and light-industrial locations. To verify the immunity of the system to environmental electrical phenomena, a series of immunity specification standards and tests must be applied to the power line application. The immunity requirements for any PLC metering application, communicating in the European A band (9-95 kHz), are listed in the EN50065-2-3 document, which refers to EN61000 and ENV50204 for the tests to be applied [5]. These standards include surge tests, both common mode and differential mode (+/- 4 kV peak, tR = 1.2 µs, tN = 50 µs) and fast transient (burst) tests (+/- 2 kV peak, tR = 5 ns, tH = 50 ns, repetition frequency 5 kHz). For the application to be able to withstand such a severe electrical overstress, the line coupling capacitor C4 must be an X1 or Y2 type part, rated for 4 kV or higher pulses. In the case of non-metering applications, communicating outside the A band, the requirements are listed in the EN50065-2-1 document, which sets lower pulse levels. In addition to the line coupling capacitor, safety and robustness of the application are guaranteed by protection devices included in the board design, such as input varistor (MOV) and protection diodes. The effect of the protection diodes is described below. Figure 31 and 32 show the protection against common mode disturbances. The low-drop Schottky diodes D2 and D3 are able to quickly absorb fast transient disturbances exceeding the supply rails. Figure 31. Common mode disturbance protection - positive disturbance 6## $ 3403,! 0!?/ 54 # & # N& 8 , ( 0 4 $ $ 3403,! 3-4#! . !-V Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 41/63 Reference design standard tests AN4068 Figure 32. Common mode disturbance protection - negative disturbance 9&& ' 6736/$ & ) 3$B287 & Q) ; / + 3 7 ' ' 6736/$ 607&$ 1 !-V Figure 33 describes the protection intervention in the case of differential mode disturbances. A differential voltage higher than 15 V p-p is clamped by the D1 bi-directional Transil™ diode. D1 is the most robust protection and also the one that is able to absorb most of the energy of any incoming disturbance. Figure 33. Differential mode disturbance protection 6## $ 3403,! 0!?/ 54 # , & ( # N& 8 0 4 $ $ 3403,! 3-4#! . !-V 42/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Design guidelines 9 Design guidelines 9.1 PCB layout guidelines 9.1.1 Thermal performance The ST7580 device can operate within the standard industrial temperature range, from -40 to 85 °C ambient temperature. Especially in high ambient temperature conditions, the effect of the power dissipation of the device must be considered in order to keep it operating in safe conditions. Even though the ST7580 features a built-in thermal shutdown circuitry which turns off the power amplifier (PA) when the die temperature (TJ) exceeds 150 °C, it is recommended not to exceed 125 °C during normal operation to ensure the functionality of the IC. A QFN48 package with exposed pad has been chosen for the ST7580 device in order to obtain very good thermal performance. However, in order to take full advantage of this, the PCB must be designed to effectively conduct heat away from the package. To get a low impedance thermal path to the PCB, a 5x5 mm thermal pad has been realized on the top layer under the device. In order to effectively remove the heat, the exposed pad must be well soldered to the PCB thermal pad. Therefore, the out-gassing phenomenon due to the soldering process must be controlled to reduce solder voids between the QFN48 exposed pad and the PCB thermal pad. To achieve this, smaller multiple openings in the solder paste stencil should be used instead of one big opening on the thermal pad region. This also has the advantage of reducing the amount of solder paste used, therefore avoiding bridges with perimeter pads. A suitable example for the QFN48 package is shown in Figure 34. Figure 34. Example of stencil openings for the QFN48 package XMMSQUARES MM0ITCH #OVERAGE !-V Another technique to improve heat conduction on the top layer is to fill all unused areas with copper tied to the dissipating ground plane. In order to have an effective heat transfer from the top layer of the PCB to the bottom layer, thermal vias need to be included within the thermal pad area. If properly designed, thermal vias are the most efficient paths for removing heat from the device. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 43/63 Design guidelines AN4068 An array of 4 x 4 thermal vias at 1.0 mm pitch, with a via diameter of 0.3 mm, has been incorporated into the thermal pad, as shown in Figure 35. To minimize the solder wicking effect due to open vias, possibly leading to poor soldering of the QFN48 exposed pad, the via encroaching technique has been adopted (see bottom-side image in Figure 35). The bottom-side solder resist has only small openings (nearly 0.2 mm larger than the via drill diameter) around the vias; the reduced area of exposed copper on the bottom reduces the amount of solder paste flowing down the vias. Figure 35. PCB copper dissipating area on top layer (left) and bottom layer (right) for the ST7580 reference design board Another important parameter for effective heat dissipation is the copper thickness for both top and bottom layers. 1 oz copper is considered as the minimum value to ensure good dissipation. The bottom-side routing plays an important role too. The solid ground area of copper under the device must be as large as possible to minimize the thermal impedance. Therefore, traces on the bottom side must run as far as possible from the device area. 9.1.2 Ground connections Good soldering of the ST7580 exposed pad is required also to minimize ground noise. Being the exposed pad connected to VSSA, its cleanliness is directly related to the noise level detected by the receiving circuitry (i.e. to the actual sensitivity level) and to the PLL behavior. It is very important to filter each supply pin to its respective ground: VCC to VSS, VCCA and VDD_PLL to VSSA, VDDIO and VDD to GND. 9.2 Thermal impedance and power dissipation calculation The relationship between junction temperature (TJ) and power dissipation during transmission (PD) is described by the following formula: 44/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Design guidelines Equation 10 T J ( t TX , d) = TA + PD ⋅ Zth JA (t TX , d) where TA is the ambient temperature (from -40 to +85 °C) and ZthJA is the junction to ambient thermal impedance of the ST7580 IC, which is related to the length of the transmission (tTX) and to the duty cycle d = tPKT / (tPKT + tIDLE), assuming a packetfragmented transmission as illustrated by Figure 36. Figure 36. Packet-fragmented transmission 4RANSMISSION INPROGRESS T0+4 )DLE STATE T)$,% T48 !-V When soldered to a proper dissipating area on the PCB as explained above, the ST7580 IC is characterized by a steady-state thermal resistance RthJA of about 50 °C/W. The thermal impedance curve obtained as the power dissipation step response is given in Figure 37. Figure 37. Measured ST7580 thermal impedance curve (typical) It can be seen that the transient of ZthJA takes some thousand seconds, after which the static value of 50 °C/W is reached. This means that during the transient phase (i.e. if the transmission time tTX is some seconds or even less) the IC is able to dissipate a power that is far higher than the one sustainable at steady-state. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 45/63 Design guidelines AN4068 For this reason, a complete thermal analysis requires that the characteristics of the transmission, i.e. duty cycle and duration, are taken into account, determining the value reached by the thermal impedance and then the allowed power dissipation. The thermal impedance as a response to dissipation at different duty cycle and duration values can be estimated by simulating a 6-cell equivalent model obtained through the curve fitting from Figure 37, as shown in Figure 38. Figure 38. Simulation model of the thermal impedance ZthJA of the ST7580 mounted on the reference design board 2 # # 2 0$ 2 2 2 2 ĺ ;; #7= #7= # ĺ ;7 S #= # 2 4! # # E # E !-V The actual dissipated power PD can be calculated as: Equation 11 PD = PIN − POUT where PIN = V CC ⋅ I CC and POUT = V OUTrms ⋅ I OUTrms. Note that power consumption by the receiving circuitry and linear regulators is considered negligible for thermal analysis purposes. The relationship between current absorption from the power supply (ICC) and PA output current to the load (IOUT) is shown in Figure 2. A transmission output level VOUT rms of 2.5 V, together with the current limit IOUT rms(LIMIT) of 1 A, corresponds to a maximum output power POUT of 2.5 W over a 1.5 Ω line load (considering a 1 Ω coupling series impedance in transmission at 86 kHz frequency). In these conditions, the required dissipation results as follows: Equation 12 PD (LIMIT) = PIN(LIMIT) − POUT(LIMIT) ≅ (13V ⋅ 0.48A) − (2.5V ⋅ 1A) = 3. 7 W Referring to the relationship between dissipated power and temperature, it can be proved that in a continuous transmission, i.e. with ZthJA at its steady-state value of 50 °C/W, with an ambient temperature of 25 °C, the maximum dissipation can be 2 W. However, by controlling the transmission duty cycle and total duration it is possible to obtain a higher dissipation. 46/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Design guidelines An example of communication with realistic values can be used in order to understand the point: ● 9.3 B-PSK: considering 64 bytes of payload per message, the time to transmit one message is nearly 65 ms. Transmitting five messages per second, the duty cycle is 32.5%; at this rate, sending 100 messages takes 20 seconds. According to the model in Figure 38, in these conditions the ZthJA reaches 16.0 °C/W, allowing maximum dissipation PD(LIMIT) with an ambient temperature up to 66 °C. Oscillator section The ST7580 internal oscillator circuitry requires a crystal having a maximum load capacitance of 20 pF and a maximum ESR of 100 Ω. It is recommended to choose a quartz crystal with overall tolerance not greater than 150 ppm to ensure stability of carrier frequency and digital timing. It is very important to keep the crystal oscillator and the load capacitors as close as possible to the device. The resonant circuit must be far away from noise sources such as: ● Power supply circuitry ● Burst and surge protection ● Mains coupling circuits ● Any PCB track or via carrying an RF switching signal. To properly shield and separate the oscillator section from the rest of the board, it is recommended to use a ground plane on both sides of the PCB, filling all the area below the crystal oscillator. No tracks or vias, except for the crystal connections, should cross the ground plane. Connecting the case to ground may be good practice in order to reduce the effect of radiated signals on the oscillator. 9.4 Power supply The power supply requirements for the ST7580 reference design are listed in Table 1. However, the power supply circuit design is not only relevant in terms of available power. Two points are particularly sensitive for a power line communication application: ● The noise injected on the line ● The input impedance of the power supply unit. For the first point, a quasi-resonant switching mode power supply based on the ALTAIR04900 device has been chosen. This kind of switching controller spreads the switching disturbances over a wide frequency range, therefore minimizing the overall disturbance amplitude. The second point involves the EMI input filter design. The suggested circuit in Figure 39 has been designed to have minimum influence on the ST7580 line coupling circuit, in terms of load impedance and linearity. The 220 nF X2 capacitor has been put close to the bridge to avoid capacitive loading on the ST7580 transmitted signal. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 47/63 Design guidelines AN4068 Figure 39. Example of power supply EMI input filter / 3 P+ &0 59 & 6. 1 '% Q) ; 17& [ P+ : !-V 48/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Application ideas 10 Application ideas 10.1 3-phase architecture The ST7580 modem can be used to communicate on a 3-phase network. This is especially required for low-voltage substation nodes (concentrators), collecting data from several energy meters all along the three phases of the distribution network. In the example scheme of Figure 40, the line coupling circuit allows the signal to divide into the three phases via capacitive coupling. That structure has been designed to keep similar impedance on each phase, therefore optimizing the signal distribution between the phases. A critical point regarding this solution may be the total impedance that the ST7580 power amplifier is required to drive, which is the result of the three phases in parallel. For concentrator nodes, however, the impedance per phase is likely to be considerably above the driving limit of the power amplifier, as all the electrical devices supplied by the power line are placed at a certain distance from the substation. Figure 40. Scheme of principle for non-switched 3-phase architecture # 0 N& 8 # 0 N& 8 0!? /54 # !#?/54 4 , # # U( U& N& 8 0 N& 8 $ 3-4#! . !#?/54 2 2 28?). # N& # , N& U( $ 3-46#! 633! !-V In the switched coupling scheme of Figure 41, a more complex circuit is shown, being the coupling to each phase selectable via opto-switches. Only one phase at a time can be used to transmit. The received signal, however, can be picked up from either one phase at a time (J1 closed, J2 open) or any phase at the same time (J1 open, J2 closed). Both solutions can work well: the first solution offers the advantage of reducing crosstalk between the three phases, while the second allows the whole network to be listened to at the same time. The choice depends on electrical and performance tests as well as on specific protocol requirements. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 49/63 Application ideas AN4068 Figure 41. Scheme of principle for switched 3-phase architecture 5 9'',2 3B(1$%/( 8 /&$ $&B287 7 / & X+ 5 Q) ; ' 607&$ 9'',2 3B(1$%/( 3 1 8 /&$ B $&B287 7 / X+ 5 9'',2 3B(1$%/( & 3 Q) ; ' 607&$ 1 & & $&B287 3$B287 8 /&$ 7 & / X) X+ 3 Q) ; ' 607&$ 1 $& &B287 5 5;B,1 & Q) & / Q) X+ ' 6079&$ 966$ !-V For the zero crossing coupling, even if only one phase at a time can be used as reference, the possibility to switch to another phase is required in case of a fault on the reference line. This can be achieved through one of the suggested circuits in Figure 42 and 43. The external host must control the LCA715 opto-relays according to the phase status information provided by the measurement circuitry. The host controller is also responsible for ensuring that only one opto-relay is turned on, therefore guaranteeing isolation between the three phases. 50/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Application ideas Figure 42. 3-phase isolated zero crossing coupling circuit (/34'0)/?! 1 . 6$$)/ 2 5 ,#! 6$$)/ K7 K7 2 2 K7 K7 0? $ ,, N& . (/34'0)/?" 2 6$$)/ 1 . 5 ,#! 2 2 K7 0? K7 (/34'0)/?# 6$$)/ 2 1 . 5 ,#! K7 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 2 2 2 K :#?). # )3/ 4,0 2 2 K7 0? !-V 51/63 Application ideas AN4068 Figure 43. 3-phase non-isolated zero crossing coupling circuit (/34'0)/?! 1 . 6$$)/ 2 5 ,#! 2 2 K7 (/34'0)/?" 1 . 6$$)/ 2 0? K7 5 ,#! 2 2 K7 0? K7 (/34'0)/?# 1 . 6$$)/ 2 5 ,#! K 2 2 2 :#?). K7 $ ":8#6 $ ":8#6 2 2 K7 10.2 0? K7 . K7 !-V Received signal strength indication (RSSI) In many application fields, measuring the strength of the incoming signal is useful in order to: 1. Evaluate the SNR (signal to noise ratio) at the node 2. Choose the best routing through the network (if repeaters are allowed). As explained in [1] and [2], the ST7580 embeds estimators for SNR values. These estimators are calculated during valid packet reception. The external host is notified of the values during each data indication message [2]. 52/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 11 FAQs and troubleshooting FAQs and troubleshooting In this section the most frequently asked questions and solutions to common ST7580 reference design usage problems are described. 11.1 FAQs ● Q: Is it possible to use ST power line transceivers on medium or high voltage AC lines? – ● Q: Is it possible to use the ST7580 on a DC or de-energized line? – ● A: Yes. In fact, the EN normative compliance intrinsically guarantees the compliance with FCC part 15 regulations as well. Q: What distance can be covered with a PLC signal? – ● A: The ST7580 device has been conceived as an open protocol device and can be used according to the application needs. The user can develop their own protocol or use a standard one. Q: Does the ST7580 reference design meet FCC part 15 specs? – ● A: Yes. The ST7580 can communicate over any wired connection, given that a suitable coupling circuit is used to connect the device to the line. Q: Which kinds of protocols can be used with the ST7580? – ● A: Yes. The same circuit solution as for low-voltage AC lines can be used, provided that the coupling interface (and particularly line transformer, power inductor and the X1 capacitor) guarantees an adequate and safe isolation from the AC line. A: Given a transmitted signal level of 2.5 V rms, in PSK mode the ST7580 device is able to transmit through a channel attenuating up to 86 dB. This means that in a point-to-point link, a distance of several km can be covered, according to the characteristics of the line. Nevertheless, the allowable distance can be reduced because of noisy devices and low-impedance loads connected on the power line; such elements impact on the actual SNR seen by the receiver. Q: Why, with power line communication, can I not get 100% reachability even though the range is few meters? – A: A probability lower than 100% to reach a PLC node within such a small distance can depend on two main factors: a) Attenuation or losses on the power line (for example because of some heavy capacitive load connected close to the transmitter) b) Noise coming from electric or electronic equipment connected on the power line (for example SMPS, ballasts, motors). It may be useful to measure the signal level at transmitter and receiver to understand if there are undesired losses. It is also important to measure the noise level and spectral distribution to find out whether the PLC channel is somehow “jammed” by noise. ● Q: Does the power line communication work if a power distribution transformer is present between two nodes? – A: The communication may work, but the transformer impedance at the signal frequency must be taken into account, as it can introduce strong attenuation in the Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 53/63 FAQs and troubleshooting AN4068 signal level. A signal coupler (for example, a capacitive coupling) between the two sides of the distribution transformers may be required. ● Q: What method of coupling is preferred for a medium-voltage and low-voltage mains line: capacitive or inductive? – ● Q: Is it possible to detect the channel quality through the ST7580 device? – ● A: For an MV line, capacitive coupling is preferable for narrow-band PLC. In the case of an LV line, having an unpredictable actual line impedance because of the number of electrical devices connected on it, the solution should be an L-C series resonant circuit tuned at channel frequency, designed to have low Q even with very low line impedance (5 Ω and below). A: Yes. Using the ST7580 estimators for SNR, always available for the external host, it is possible to evaluate the channel quality over the physical link between transmitter and receiver. Q: Why use zero crossing synchronization? – A: Zero crossing synchronization is not mandatory for the power line communication, however it has several advantages. For instance, it can improve the communication immunity against line noise, since most of the electrical equipment generates noise on the power line in correspondence with the mains voltage peak. Zero crossing synchronization allows the establishing of the link between the transmitter and receiver during the time with the minimum time-dependent noise. Zero crossing synchronization is also needed for 3-phase communication. In a case where one node must communicate with nodes that are connected on other phases of the mains network, zero crossing synchronization understands which phase a certain message is coming from via delta-phase calculation. ● Q: What is the minimum signal-to-noise ratio that the ST7580 can manage? – ● 54/63 A: A bit error rate (BER) of 10-3 is used as reference. In this condition, the ST7580 can have good receiving performance with a signal-to-noise ratio down to 3-4 dB for B-PSK coded mode. Q: What could be the main sources of harmonic distortion in the ST7580 transmitted signal? – A: Generally, harmonics can increase because of: a) High output current, due to low line impedance b) Saturation of magnetic components in the line coupling circuit, due to either poor dimensioning of the saturation current or to 50 Hz residual current c) Capacitive load applied to the power amplifier output d) Insufficient margin to the supply rails (low VCC or high output voltage). Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 11.2 FAQs and troubleshooting Troubleshooting 1. Problem: the ST7580 reference design board doesn't work at all. What to check: 2. a) Check that the AC mains supply cable is well connected. b) Check the voltage on VCC, VDDIO, VCCA, VDD, VDD_PLL lines. All these voltages must be present to turn the ST7580 on. c) Verify if an 8-MHz clock is present on the XOUT pin (13) of the ST7580 device. Problem: the ST7580 reference design board is not responding. What to check: 3. a) Check if there is activity when trying to communicate via USB with the board. b) Try disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable; sometimes the USB driver fails during COM port opening. c) Try to reinstall the USB VCP driver for the STM32 on the PC. d) Try to reprogram the STM32 with the VCP driver FW. Problem: the ST7580 reference design board does not transmit. What to check: 4. a) Check the bias voltage on the PA_OUT test point (TP1) with the oscilloscope probe referred to VSS power ground. A DC voltage of VCC/2 must be measured. b) Set the ST7580 in transmission via the ST7580 GUI. A modulated signal should be detected by the oscilloscope probe, with amplitude equal to the TX_OUT programmed level multiplied by the PA gain (see Section 7.1.1). If so, there is no problem with the transmitter section of the ST7580. Problem: the ST7580 reference design board transmits only for a short while; the transmission is interrupted. What to check: 5. a) Verify the internal temperature of the ST7580, available inside the management information base (MIB) and accessible via the ST7580 GUI. b) Check if there is short-circuit (i.e. capacitive) impedance on the mains at the carrier frequency. It may lead to device overheating and PA thermal shutdown. Problem: the ST7580 reference design board does not receive. What to check: 6. Note: a) Check if the transmitted signal reaches the ST7580 device by measuring the RX_IN line voltage (TP5) with the oscilloscope probe referred to VSSA signal ground. b) Check that the GUI is setting the transmitter and the receiver to use the same tone frequencies. Problem: during a communication test, the ST7580 GUI shows high ‘bit error rate’ (BER). This point refers to a half-duplex communication involving two ST7580 reference design boards communicating with each other. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 55/63 FAQs and troubleshooting AN4068 What to check: a) Check that both reference design boards have the same ST7580 GUI settings. b) Verify the SNR of the communication. If the signal is too low or the noise is too high with respect to each other, the communication performance is poor. Try to: Check the SNR estimation of the receiving ST7580 device. Measure the signal level S and the noise level N on the RX_IN line of the receiving board. 56/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 12 References References 1. ST7580 datasheet 2. User manual UM0932 3. STM32F103CB datasheet 4. AN2867 application note Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 57/63 Normative references 13 Normative references 5. 58/63 AN4068 EN50065: signaling on low-voltage electrical installations in the frequency range 3 kHz to 148.5 kHz: – Part 1: general requirements, frequency bands and electromagnetic disturbances – Part 2-3: immunity requirements – Part 4-2: low-voltage decoupling filters - safety requirements – Part 7: equipment impedance. Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Board layout Appendix A Board layout Figure 44. PCB layout - components Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 59/63 Board layout AN4068 Figure 45. PCB layout - top view 60/63 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Board layout Figure 46. PCB layout - bottom view Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 61/63 Revision history AN4068 Revision history Table 7. 62/63 Document revision history Date Revision Changes 27-Mar-2012 1 Initial release 04-Jul-2012 2 – Changed: Figure 4, 6, 14, 15 and 16 – Modified: Table 3 and 5 Doc ID 022923 Rev 2 AN4068 Please Read Carefully: Information in this document is provided solely in connection with ST products. STMicroelectronics NV and its subsidiaries (“ST”) reserve the right to make changes, corrections, modifications or improvements, to this document, and the products and services described herein at any time, without notice. All ST products are sold pursuant to ST’s terms and conditions of sale. Purchasers are solely responsible for the choice, selection and use of the ST products and services described herein, and ST assumes no liability whatsoever relating to the choice, selection or use of the ST products and services described herein. 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