NEC Electronics America Smart Energy Solutions Connect the Home at
DistribuTECH 2010
PowerLine, ZigBee, SoC and Microcontroller Technologies for Smart Home Applications
Showcased in Corporate Systems Engineering Booth #203
To highlight the strength of its smart energy solution lineup, NEC Electronics America, Inc. announced
that its innovative Smart Home demonstration will be featured in Corporate Systems Engineering's (CSE)
booth #203 at DistribuTECH, March 23-25, in Tampa, Florida. This demonstration, among others,
showcases that NEC Electronics America’s smart energy technologies can be combined with CSE’s
Demand Response solution, to empower utilities and consumers with a cooperative approach to Energy
Management.
NEC Electronics America has developed a model of a Smart Home of the Future, equipped with
“green” features to showcase key technologies involved in the smart energy concept, including smart
meters, smart thermostats, LED lighting and a user-control panel. These green applications are
networked by ZigBee® and powerline communication (PLC) technologies to support a cooperative
approach for conserving energy. The Smart Home will spotlight NEC Electronics America’s PLC, ZigBee,
custom system-on-chip (SoC), display and microcontroller (MCU) technologies in a variety of applications
designed to provide communications solutions that enable a connected home experience.
Powerline Communications and ZigBee for the Smart Home
In addition to the PLC and ZigBee technology demonstration in its Smart Home, NEC Electronics America
will highlight two PLC displays in the CSE booth at DistribuTECH. To demonstrate ZigBee-PLC support
for appliance-control applications, the company will display its PLC-ZigBee reference design board,
featuring one of NEC Electronics’ 8-bit MCUs, as well as its PLM-1 narrowband PLC modem applicationspecific standard product (ASSP), a cost-effective and highly configurable modem integrated circuit (IC)
developed in conjunction with leading PLC technology developer Ariane Controls. More information about
the company’s PLC offerings can be found at http://www.am.necel.com/plc. More information about the
company’s ZigBee solutions can be found at
http://www.am.necel.com/micro/technology/zigbee/index.html.
NEC Electronics is also introducing the Eval-PLM-78K0-PLCNET evaluation kit featuring its single-chip
PLM-1 modem and low-power 8-bit 78K0/KC2 MCU. The evaluation kit provides a small form factor and
cost-effective module that is required for smart energy applications and is part of the Smart Home
demonstration. Available today, the kit comes with two PLC modules, power supplies and accessories to
make a minimum two-node PLC network.
Microcontroller Solutions for the Smart Home
Designers developing PLC- and ZigBee-enabled applications can take advantage of NEC Electronics
MCUs, including the high-performance 32-bit V850 series, to support the increased communication
software requirements in smart meters, low-power LCD MCUs for smart climate control and specialized
LED MCUs for LED lighting.
Smart Meter: This smart electricity meter reference design features NEC Electronics’ V850ES/Jx3 MCU
and ZigBee Pro® communication module to demonstrate the communication of electricity usage between
a utility provider and the home. This module supports the Smart Energy Profile – a specific application
profile running on top of the ZigBee Pro stack to enable interoperability between different ZigBee Pro
nodes in a ZigBee Pro network. As part of the Smart Home system, a built-in TFT LCD display enables
users to monitor their energy usage and make adjustments as needed in real time. More information can
be found at http://www.am.necel.com/smartenergy.
Smart Climate Control and Lighting: The Smart Home also leverages NEC Electronics’ 8-bit 78K0/Lx3,
78K0/Ix2 and multi-channel high-current drive (HCD)/LED MCUs with the ZigBee Pro network to
demonstrate efficient wireless control of thermostats, climate controls and LED lighting. When combined
with a demand-response switch such as those provided by CSE, the network allows utility providers and
consumers to better understand and adjust their electricity usage for more efficient energy consumption.
More information can be found at http://www.am.necel.com/led.
LED Lighting: This demonstration will show how to drive energy-efficient HB-LEDs using NEC Electronics'
multi-channel HCD/LED MCU, the new MD-PLM-78K0/KC2 evaluation kit and networked lighting control
via protocols, such as PLC and wireless (ZigBee), to demonstrate support for the growing trend toward
networked street and area lighting. More information about the complete MCU offerings from NEC
Electronics America can be found at http://www.am.necel.com/micro.
#1 Supplier Worldwide for 32-bit Microcontrollers
NEC Electronics Corporation has retained the number one supplier ranking for 32-bit MCUs worldwide
based on revenue in 2007 and 2008 as ranked by Gartner in its April 2009 report. In addition, the
company has moved into the number one position for 32-bit automotive MCUs; the number two position
for overall MCUs, and the number two position for 8-bit MCUs.
About NEC Electronics America, Inc.
NEC Electronics America, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of
NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a leading provider of semiconductor products encompassing
advanced technology solutions for the broadband and communications markets; system solutions for the
mobile, PC, automotive and digital consumer markets; and multi-market solutions for a wide range of
consumer applications. NEC Electronics America offers local manufacturing in Roseville, California, and
the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company. In the Americas, NEC Electronics America
markets and sells industrial-type active-matrix LCD modules from NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., a global
leader in innovative display technologies. More information about the products offered by NEC
Electronics America can be found at http://www.am.necel.com.
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V850 and NEC Electronics America are either registered trademarks or trademarks of NEC Electronics
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. NEC Electronics is a registered trademark or
trademark of NEC Corporation. ZigBee and ZigBee Pro are registered trademarks of the ZigBee Alliance.
All other marks are property of their respective owners.