MTC-3058
Data Sheet
Preliminary
Application Specific Standard Products
Features
• Line Driver Receiver for Power-
Line Carrier Com-munications
• Supports most used Modula-
tion Schemes
• Very Low Distortion
• Low Standby Power Mode
• Integrated Noise Filter
• Integrated Zero-Cross
Detector and LED Driver
• "Babbling" Detection and
Thermal Overload Protection
Description
The MTC-3058 is a line driver / recei-
ver specially designed for Power Line
Carrier applications (PLC - data trans-
mission over the mains wiring). Though
designed specifically for the exchange
of data between intelligent electricity
meters and the utility supplier, the devi-
ce offers sufficient flexibility to be used
in domestic or other communications
systems, which also use PLC transmis-
sion (e.g. home automation buses
etc...). In order to comply with the very
strict European standards governing the
frequency spectrum of such PLC sys-
tems, the MTC-3058 has exceptionally
low distortion in the transmit path, so
reducing higher frequency harmonics.
NEGINP
ANSIGOUT
CROSS1
ANZCIN
VDD
VSS
VSS
ANTXIN
OUTF
CAPMMV
TXON
VREF
Fig.1: Device Pinout
CALTX
CURSENSE
ANRXOUT
AGND
The MTC-3058 device consists of a line
transmitter driver including an AGC
feedback section, a line receiver plus
limiter, a LED driver, a thermal shut-
down protection block, a zero-crossing
detector and a reference voltage gener-
ator. The block diagram in Fig.2 shows
the general configuration of the MTC-
3058. The MTC-3058 forms the OSI
“layer 1” interface between a suitable
MODEM device and the mains net-
work.
MTC
3058
ANSIGIN
VSS
VSS
DGND
OPTIN
OPTOUT
TXEN
PD
MTC-3058
C2
325pF
R3
16.5K
OUTF
1K
1.66K
TXIN
R1
22.6K
2.2K
C1
325pF
ANTXIN
R2
VDD
AGND
DGND
NEGINP
Filter Opamp
-
+
Driver Opamp
-
+
ANSIGOUT
0.47µF
2:1
VSS
MTC -3058
-
+
TSD
Thermal
Shutdown
VSS
VSS
VSS
1nF
5...20
ANRXOUT
Clamping
-
+
ANSIGIN
VREF
VREF
C3
1K
CURSENS
2
CALTX
OPTOUT
Clamping
-
+
-
+
Led Driver
OPTIN
MMV
TSD
BIAS Gen.
ZC
Detect
ANZCIN
TXEN
2.2µF
C4
TXON
CapMMV
PD
CROSS1
Fig.2: MTC-3058 General Block Diagram
Packaging
The MTC-3058 is supplied in a 24 pins
plastic dual in line, 300mills (PDIL). The
relatively high power dissipation
requires that the two center pins on
each side all be connected to VSS,
preferably with a large area of track so
as to minimize thermal resistance. The
high peak power which can be dissipa-
ted by the MTC-3058 in normal opera-
tion also leads to specific conditions for
the reliability of the device. (See section
"Quality and Reliability")
2
MTC-3058
Pin Description
Nr
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Name
NEGINP
ANSIGOUT
CROSS1
ANZCIN
VDD
VSS
VSS
ANTXIN
OUTF
CAPMMV
TXON
VREF
PD
TXEN
OPTOUT
OPTIN
DGND
VSS
VSS
ANSIGIN
AGND
ANRXOUT
CURSENS
CALTX
Type
ANAIN
ANAOUT
DIGOUT
ANAIN
POWER
POWER
POWER
ANAIN
ANAOUT
ANAIN
DIGIN
ANAOUT
DIGIN
DIGIN
ANAOUT
DIGIN
POWER
POWER
POWER
ANAIN
POWER
ANAOUT
ANAIN
ANAOUT
Description
Negative input of TX driver opamp
Transmit driver output
Zero-cross detector output
Zero-cross detector input
Positive power supply
Negative power supply
Negative power supply
Transmit filter input
Transmit filter output
MMV timing capacitor input
Transmit driver enable (direct control)
Buffered reference voltage output
Power down control signal
Transmit driver enable (through MMV)
LED driver output
LED driver control signal
Digital ground
Negative power supply
Negative power supply
Receiver analog input
Analog ground
Received analog output
Current sensing input
Transmit AGC output
Nominal Pass-Band
500
0dB
10K
530K
8M
freq. (Hz)
-20dB
RxAtt500Hz
RxAtt8MHz
Fig.3: Filter Characteristic of Receive and Current-sense Path
3
MTC-3058
Functional Description
Transmit Function
The transmit section can be divided into
two paths:
- In the feed forward path, it consists
of an opamp which will be configu-
red by the user as a second order
bandpass filter, and a class AB line
amplifier.
- In the feedback path, it consists of a
highpass and a lowpass filter section
which converts the line coupling trans-
former primary coil current into a cali-
bration voltage used for AGC pur-
poses by the modem device.
The Forward Transmission Path
The external signal from the modem,
ANTXIN, is first fed to a second order
bandpass filter in order to decrease the
second order harmonic distortion.
Because most of the characteristics of
the filter are defined by the external
components, the MTC-3058 can be
adapted to a wide range of standards
and modulation frequencies. After filte-
ring, the signal is fed to a class AB line
amplifier. This amplifier drives the pri-
mary coil of an external transformer (at
a frequency of 72kHz or 82 kHz typi-
cal). The secondary coil of this transfor-
mer is AC coupled to the mains. The
transformer has a ratio of 2 to 1. A
resistor is placed in series with the pri-
mary coil of the transformer and the
analog ground (AGND) . This external
resistor is used to sense the current
through the transformer coil and to
convert it to a voltage. This voltage is
then fed to the input pin CURSENS of
the feedback path. See block diagram.
The Feedback Path: Automatic
Gain Control (AGC)
To overcome distortion while maximiz-
ing the transmitted power, the amplitu-
de of the signal ANTXIN can be mea-
sured and externally regulated by
means of a control voltage CALTX
generated by MTC-3058. The voltage
at pin CURSENS is used for this purpo-
se. It is first fed to an AC coupled
bandpass filter, consisting of a first
order lowpass filter section followed by
a first order highpass filter section. The
nominal cut-off frequencies are 10kHz
and 530kHz (±45%), as shown in
Fig.3. The signal is filtered to reject all
noise induced by the mains distribution
line in the low frequency range, and is
then internally clamped for protection
purposes. The buffered signal is avai-
lable at pin CALTX, and is used as the
external amplitude control.
The TXEN Signal: (Transmit
Enable)
With the external control signal TXEN,
MTC-3058 can be put into its transmit
or its receive mode. If TXEN is made
logical zero (low voltage), the transmit
mode is activated. All functional blocks
perform their normal function, including
the receive path. If TXEN is made logi-
cal one (high voltage), the receive
mode is activated. In this mode, the
transmit section is powered down and
disconnected from the line. This is esta-
blished by putting the filter opamp and
the line driver into a high impedant
state. The calibration path is not affec-
ted by this action and stays operatio-
nal. To guarantee disconnection from
the line due to malfunction of one or
more modules, TXEN does not directly
control the transmit/receive mode, but
is first passed through a retriggerable
monostable multivibrator (called MMV),
used as a watchdog timer. (Continuous
transmission over a time would cause
the heat generated by the MTC-3058
to build up, eventually causing the ther-
mal shutdown protection to operate).
Transmit Time Watchdog - MMV
The MMV circuit consists of an external
capacitor at pin CapMMV, which is
charged with a constant current, and
who’s voltage is compared with the
internal reference Vref. The configura-
tion of the MMV and the relevant
timings are shown in figures 4 and 5.
To retrigger the MMV, the output is
rapidly discharged using an internal
pulldown transistor. The pulldown tran-
sistor is controlled by a filtered and
delayed signal, derived from the input
TXEN. The filtering plus delay prevents
switching due to short spikes. If TXEN is
high (receive mode) during this delay
time, the output of the MMV is reset
and the outputs of the filter opamp and
line driver are put in a high impedant
state. If TXEN goes low, the MMV is
triggered and the voltage on pin
CapMMV starts to rise. Under normal
conditions, the transmission duration is
always shorter than the total MMV
time, so the voltage on CapMMV will
not reach the trigger level of the com-
parator and no time-out will occur. If
however TXEN stays low beyond the
MMV time, the voltage on pin
CapMMV will increase above the refe-
rence voltage Vref of the comparator
and a time-out will occur. When a time-
out occurs, MTC-3058 is forced into
receive mode, independent of the state
of TXEN. If TXEN is made high again,
the capacitor at pin CapMMV is dis-
charged rapidly, and normal operation
is restored. To limit the discharge time
and current, the voltage at pin
CapMMV is clamped to a level just
above the internal reference.
Receive Function
The receive path consists of an AC cou-
pled first order bandpass filter, which
reduces the 50Hz component and
other noise from the line. The filter has
the same characteristics as the TXSense
filter. The filter is followed by a limiting
stage, which clamps the amplitude on
the output pin RXOUT to a safe value.
The receive path is always operating,
independent of the state of TXEN.
4
MTC-3058
Vref
-
MMV out
to logic
CapMMV
+
Cext
TXEN
DGND
TdisdelMMV
Fig.4: Principle of MMV
TXEN
<3s
3s…5s
INTERNAL
MMV output
enabled
VREF
charging
VcapMMV
TdisdelMMV
anti-spike delay
2 µs ... 10 µs
Fig.5: Timing of MMV Circuit
disabled
enabled
dis-
abled
charging
discharging
Clamping
5