Renesas Electronics Expands Arm Cortex-M Core-Based RA Product Family with 32-bit MCUs Supporting Bluetooth 5
TOKYO, Japan, May 7, 2020 – Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a leading global supplier of semiconductor solutions, today introduced the first RA microcontroller (MCU) with integrated Bluetooth 5 (Bluetooth® 5) The product RA4W1 supports Bluetooth low energy consumption. Integrates a 48 MHz 32-bit Arm® Cortex®-M4 core and a Bluetooth 5 core in a single-chip 56-pin QFN package. The combination of RA4W1 MCUs with an easy-to-use Flexible Configuration Software Package (FSP), plus out-of-the-box hardware and software modules in the Arm ecosystem that support RA MCUs, helps engineers start development right away.
The RA4W1 MCU helps embedded designers easily develop secure and reliable IoT end devices for applications such as Industry 4.0, building automation, metering, medical, consumer wearables, and home appliances. The MCU is also ideal for building IoT edge devices for wireless sensor networks, IoT concentrators, gateway add-ons, and aggregators for IoT cloud applications.
“This is not the first time Renesas has provided an MCU that supports Bluetooth 5, and the RA4W1 can help our customers use Bluetooth 5 more easily. Customers can also take advantage of the richness of MCU on-chip features, including Secure Encryption Engine (SCE) with strong key management, best-in-class transmit power consumption, and high sensitivity to meet the ultimate IoT security challenges. The RA4W1 provides an excellent link budget to support longer-range applications .”
Key Features of the RA4W1 MCU
l Integrated Arm Cortex M4 core and Bluetooth 5 core in 7mm x 7mm 56-pin QFN package: Single-chip RA4W1 48MHz MCU with field-upgradeable 512KB Flash, 96KB SRAM, USB, CAN, and Renesas’ popular Capacitive touch technology. The product also integrates Renesas’ Secure Encryption Engine (SEC), which supports symmetric encryption/decryption algorithms, hash functions, True Random Number Generator (TRNG), and advanced key management functions, including key generation functions and unique hardware-related MCU functions. Key wrapping function.
l Fully supports Bluetooth 5, with industry-leading low power consumption and high sensitivity, and can provide excellent reception performance: RA4W1 MCU can support complete Bluetooth 5 functions, such as 2Mbps data bandwidth, support all broadcast communication expansion functions, maximum Broadcast communication data (1650 bytes), periodic broadcast, and channel selection algorithm #2 for large data traffic applications. The RA4W1 also offers ultra-low power consumption, 3.3mA when receiving and 4.5mA when transmitting (@0dBm). Best-in-class 105dBm sensitivity is achieved in 125kbps mode (with no additional signal loss from external components).
l Basic protocol stack software package and all standard profiles: In addition to the Bluetooth 5 basic protocol stack software package, Renesas also provides API functions that meet the requirements of all standard profiles, including Heart Rate Profile (HRP), Environmental Awareness Profile (ESP) ) and the Automated I/O Profile (AIOP). These features help users get started quickly and accelerate prototyping and evaluation.
l Innovative development environment that supports simultaneous development of communication control and system control: The Renesas Smart Configurator graphical configuration tool can generate Bluetooth code, MCU peripheral function driver code, and MCU pin settings for the e2 Studio integrated development environment (IDE). The Renesas QE for BLE tool generates program code for custom configuration and embeds it in user programs to support application development. The Bluetooth Test Tool Suite (BTTS) graphical tool allows users to perform initial wireless characterization and verification of Bluetooth functionality. Within 30 minutes, users can set up the RA4W1 evaluation board, download the smartphone app, and start running the demo.
l Improve integration and reduce BOM cost: RA4W1 integrates a high-precision low-speed on-chip oscillator, and integrates an RF oscillator adjustment circuit and an on-chip matching circuit, which is convenient for antenna connection. High integration can reduce BOM cost and board area, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of IoT devices.
l The open architecture of the Flexible Configuration Package (FSP) enables customers to reuse legacy code and combine with software examples from Renesas and ecosystem partners: FSP for RA MCUs accelerates connectivity, security, etc. Complications. Integrate FreeRTOS and middleware to provide developers with advanced device-to-cloud connectivity options. These out-of-the-box functions can also be replaced and extended by other RTOS or middleware.
Availability
The RA4W1 is available now from Renesas Electronics global distributors for $3.98 in 10,000-unit quantities.
About Renesas Electronics Corporation
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), provides professional and trusted innovative embedded designs and complete semiconductor solutions designed to improve the way people work and live through the billions of connected smart devices that use its products. As the world’s leading supplier of microcontrollers, a leader in analog power devices and SoC products, Renesas Electronics provides comprehensive solutions for various applications such as automotive, industrial, home, infrastructure, and the Internet of Things, and looks forward to working with you to create Infinite future.