Consumer-Band BPSK 7.2 Kbps Power-Line Soft-Modem PICtail Plus Daughter Board
Buy/Sample Options AC164142
Contact Microchip
Development Tool Selector
Microchip Advanced Parts Selector (MAPS)
CiSAR (Service Request)
Consumer-Band BPSK 7.2 Kbps Power-Line Soft-Modem PICtail Plus Daughter Board 
Part Number: AC164142

Overview

The Power-Line Modem (PLM) PICtail™ Plus Daughter Board provides communication over power-lines using a Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation scheme. These boards interface to the popular Explorer 16 Development Board and operate in the CENELEC C consumer frequency band at a carrier frequency of 129.6 kHz. The software modem runs on the dsPIC33F Digital Signal Controller (DSC) and utilizes an Analog Front End (AFE) to interface to the AC power mains.

Each of the communication nodes utilizes a high voltage (HV) adapter cable that connects the Consumer-Band BPSK-Based 7.2 Kbps Power-Line Soft-Modem to the AC mains. The HV adapter cable incorporates the circuitry required to provide the noise-filtering and isolation from the power-line.

Features

Operates on 5V and 9V power supply

Modulation and demodulation in software

Software selectable baud rates: 1200, 2400, 3600, 4800, 5400 and 7200

Variable transmit power level setting

Compatible with 220V/50 Hz and 110V/60 Hz power-lines, or any AC line ranging from 0-220VAC at 50 or 60Hz

Getting Started

To get started, two Explorer 16 boards with dsPIC33FJ256GP710A devices and two 9V power supplies are required for point to point communication. The Power-Line Modem (PLM) PICtail Plus Daughter Boards allow insertion into the Explorer 16 development boards in only one orientation. The demonstration software provides all of the source code required to implement power-line communication. In addition, there are also five different demos with example source code. Two Consumer-Band BPSK-based 7.2 Kbps Power-Line Soft-Modems are included in this kit. Explorer 16 boards can be purchased separately.

Package Contents

Info Sheet

(2) Consumer-Band BPSK-based 7.2 Kbps Power-Line Soft-Modem PICtail Plus Daughter Boards

(2) High Voltage Adapter Cables

Downloads

Info Sheet

User’s Guide

Template Source Code

Pipe Demo

Ping Pong Demo

Talk Demo

Stream Demo

Sensor Monitoring Demo

Required Development Tools

Explorer 16 100 pin Development Board DM240001 (2 required)

MPLAB REAL ICE Programmer/Debugger DV244005 (other Microchip programmers/debuggers such as ICD3 are also compatible)

9 V Power Supply AC002014 (2 required)

dsPIC33F GP 100 pin PIM MA330011 (included with DM240001)

Downloads