Together with a fast-triggering high-speed on-chip oscillator (HOCO), these ultra-low-power MCUs offer an ideal solution for applications including battery-powered consumer electronics, small appliances, industrial system control, and building automation applications.
Renesas is already marketing the first group in the RA0 series, the RA0E1 group. These devices feature a set of features optimized for low-cost applications. They offer a wide operating voltage range of 1.6 V to 5.5 V, so customers do not need a variable frequency drive/level regulator in 5 V systems. The RA0 MCUs also integrate timers, serial communications, analog functions, safety features, and HMI functionality to reduce the customer's bill of materials cost. A wide range of package options is also available, including a tiny 16-pin 3 mm x 3 mm QFN package.
Furthermore, the new MCU's high-precision (±1.0%) on-chip oscillator (HOCO) improves baud rate accuracy and allows designers to forgo a separate oscillator. Unlike other HOCOs, it maintains this accuracy in environments ranging from -40°C to 105°C.
The RA0E1 MCUs include critical diagnostic safety features, as well as an IEC60730 self-test library. They also offer security features such as a real random number generator (TRNG) and AES libraries for IoT applications, including encryption.
Main characteristics of the RA0E1 group MCUs
: Core: Arm Cortex-M23 at 32 MHz;
Memory: Up to 64 KB of integrated Code Flash memory and 12 KB of SRAM;
Analog peripherals: 12-bit ADC, temperature sensor, internal reference voltage
; Communication peripherals: 3 UARTs, 1 asynchronous UART, 3 simplified SPIs, 1 I1C, 3 simplified I1Cs;
Security: SRAM parity checking, invalid memory access detection, frequency detection, A/D test, immutable storage, CRC calculator, register write protection;
Security: Unique ID, TRNG, Flash read protection
; Packages: 16, 24, and 32-pin QFN, 20-pin LSSOP, 32-pin LQFP
The new RA0E1 series MCUs are compatible with Renesas' Flexible Software Package (FSP). The FSP enables faster application development by providing all the necessary infrastructure software, including various RTOSs, BSPs, peripheral drivers, middleware, connectivity, networking, and security stacks, as well as reference software for building complex AI, motor control, and cloud solutions. It allows customers to integrate their own legacy code and choice of RTOSs with the FSP, thus providing complete flexibility in application development. Using the FSP will facilitate the migration of RA0E1 designs to larger RA devices if customers so choose.
