3 Quotes by Trent Butcher

The extra accuracy and gain allows you to use smaller shunts. A smaller current sensor requires more accuracy on the part of the chip, and it also less costly, smaller, and simplifies the design. So by having a more accurate measurement front-end on these chips, it allows a user to deploy a smaller sensor that is easier to implement.

Our customers are challenged to design smaller and smaller devices that use fewer components, while providing highly accurate measurements and longer battery life. With its low current operation, frequency rejection and 22-bit resolution, the MCP3550 A/D converter addresses these challenges.

In emerging markets in various parts of the world where new meters are being installed, a lot of meters have electrical counters that are designed for use in the simplest meters. Microcontrollers may sometimes be used to count pulses and for more complicated things like LCD displays.