ScioSense Launches Ultrasonic Flow Converter for Smart Metering

ScioSense has introduced the UFC23 ultrasonic flow converter, a fourth-generation sensing platform designed for high-precision, ultra-low-power smart metering applications involving water, heat, gas, and leak detection systems. The UFC23 was developed for smart meter manufacturers seeking improved measurement precision, extended battery life, and greater flexibility in system architecture design. The converter is intended for applications where flow calculations are increasingly handled through a central host microcontroller rather than by an integrated on-chip CPU.

The new ultrasonic flow converter extends the company’s ultrasonic sensing portfolio with a pure front-end architecture that omits the on-chip Central Processing Unit used in earlier generations. This approach allows Original Equipment Manufacturers greater flexibility when integrating the sensor into preferred metering system architectures while also improving analogue front-end performance.

In a typical DN15 water meter configuration, the UFC23 delivers a single-shot standard deviation of 35 ps and offset stability of ±7 ps with 128-sample averaging. The device also demonstrates drift below 10 ps across a temperature range from 0°C to 50°C, supporting high-precision smart metering requirements including R1000-class water measurement applications.

The UFC23 is optimized for battery-powered systems with standby current of typically 0.8 µA and operating current as low as 6.6 µA at an 8 Hz sample rate, supporting long-life smart metering deployments. The sensor integrates ultrasonic transducer drive functionality, received signal capture, and high-precision time-of-flight extraction within a single platform. It supports both 3.3 V single-ended drive configurations for water applications and full-bridge drive architectures for gas metering applications.

ScioSense also incorporated a programmable gain amplifier with increased gain and bandwidth to support weak signal environments, along with a programmable ultrasonic burst generator operating up to 4.4 MHz using an external reference clock of up to 20 MHz.

Additional system-level features include monitoring of up to three received wave amplitudes, extended pulse-width measurement for improved first-hit detection, and batch measurement modes capable of collecting up to 12 measurement bundles before waking the host controller to reduce overall system power consumption. The UFC23 additionally supports temperature measurement using external platinum sensors for heat metering and hot-water applications. Typical use cases include smart water meters, heat meters, smart gas meters, water heaters, smart faucets, and pump control systems.

“UFC23 addresses a clear requirement in the metering market for a high-precision, ultra-low-power ultrasonic flow converter that fits modern system architectures. It enables manufacturers to pair ScioSense analogue and timing performance with their chosen host microcontroller and software environment,” said Norbert Breyer, Director of Marketing and Product Management at ScioSense.

The UFC23 operates from a 2.5 V to 3.6 V supply range, supports operating temperatures from -40°C to 85°C, and is supplied in a QFN32 package. Samples and evaluation kits are now available.

About ScioSense

ScioSense develops semiconductor-based environmental and flow sensing technologies for industrial, building automation, automotive, consumer, IoT, and smart infrastructure applications. Headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, the company develops sensing platforms involving humidity, gas, air quality, pressure, temperature, and flow measurement technologies. ScioSense sensor technologies support applications involving smart metering, environmental monitoring, industrial sensing, building automation, connected devices, and energy management systems. To learn more, please click here.

Source/Photo Credit: ScioSense

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