Digital utility meters

Austin, Tex.-based Freescale Semiconductor and Cirrus Logic are providing a turnkey reference design pairs consisting of Cirrus' CS5463 analog front-end chip with Freescale's 8-bit AC60 microcontrollers for digital utility meters. The meters will provide an economical way to measure energy usage in residential settings, provide real-time pricing based on demand. and minimize energy consumption during peak periods, allowing utilities to reduce their need to build more electrical-generation capacity.