Renesas Introduces Microcontrollers with Ultra Low Power and USB Connectivity

Renesas Electronics has introduced the first in its RX100 Series of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) -- the new RX111 Group. The RX111 is produced on an ultra-low-power zero wait state flash process supporting market leading 32-bit power consumption / performance levels as well as supporting fast wake-up, with a wide range of standard peripherals and multiple safety functions as well as an integrated USB 2.0 peripheral supporting host, device and on-the-go (OTG) functionality. This new device group brings the ultra-low-power features of the Renesas 🙄16-bit RL78 MCU Series to the 32-bit RX product lineup, offering a greater range of device scalability and functionality. The new RX111 devices are designed to support a broad range of low-end 32-bit embedded applications including mobile healthcare, smart meters, sensors/detectors, and industrial and building automation.

Renesas’ True Low-Power capability offers designers the lowest possible power consumption across a vast range of temperatures and voltages, including all peripherals and Flash memory, while also providing maximum flexibility with multiple operational and sleep modes. This allows for the lowest possible power consumption for the user’s application environment.

“Performance and efficiency are key factors for embedded developers, and we have strengthened our partnership with industry-leading Renesas Electronics to continue supplying developers with the highest performing tools,” said Stefan Skarin, CEO IAR Systems. “As the only tools provider covering the entire range of Renesas’ 8-, 16- and 32-bit microcontroller families, IAR Systems is proud to announce full support for the RX111 devices in IAR Embedded Workbench. The high performance scores achieved on the CoreMark benchmarks confirms IAR Embedded Workbench and the RX100 series as a great choice for customers aiming to create true low-power, high-performance applications. To give developers an opportunity to try this powerful combination, we also provide a free 64KB-limited version of the tools.”

Renesas’ ultra low power technology delivers flexible power management and optimum power consumption for all use cases. The RX111 Group of MCUs offers three different run modes, three low power modes and a flexible clock system. For instance, the Low Power Fast Wake-up capability enables the MCUs to operate at 100 uA/MHz in Run Mode and 350 nA in Software Standby from which it can wake-up in only 4.8 us. It integrates a Zero Wait State Flash with Erase/Write as low as 1.8 V, 1 KB erase block size and background operation (BGO), and offers erase times as low as 10 ms per block.

The new RX111 devices feature 32 MHz operating speeds and 1.56 Dhrystone MIPS (DMIPS)/MHz throughput, with power consumption as low as 64 uA/DMIPS. The MCUs also achieve 3.08 CoreMark/MHz and 14.9 CoreMark/mA. The new devices support multiple communications peripherals, including USB 2.0 host/function and battery charging, OTG, I2C, and SPI (serial peripheral interface) protocols. Analog functions include a 12-bit ADC (analog-to-digital converter) with internal voltage reference, an 8-bit DAC (digital-to-analog converter) and a temperature sensor.

Samples of the RX111 devices are available from July 2013. Mass production is scheduled to begin in September 2013.