The new MCUs are designed for use in a variety of automotive body applications and offer numerous advantages. The RH850/F1x series comprises three groups and features over 50 products ranging from entry-level to high-end: the RH850/F1L, RH850/F1M, and RH850/F1H. They offer the largest flash memory chip capacities, from 256 KB to 8 MB, along with more compact package options (48-pin and larger). Dual-core versions are planned and will be available in the RH850/F1H group. The RH850/F1x series utilizes the same CPU core architecture and common peripheral functions, and their software is compatible within the same group. The RH850/F1x series utilizes a 40nm process and MONOS (Metal Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) [Note 1] flash memory structure with lower power consumption (0.5 mA/MHz for RH850/F1L) and increased reliability. Renesas has enhanced automotive networking functions (e.g., the number of LIN channels - Local Interconnect Network - [Note 2] expanded to 18) and added data encryption with the RH850/F1x series. These features will help customers build electronic control units that combine energy efficiency, high performance, and enhanced security.
Reducing electrical energy consumption in vehicles is becoming an increasingly pressing issue.
At the same time, automotive networks are becoming more diverse and complex, and the amount of data handled by electronic control units is growing. As these networks begin to connect with access points outside the vehicle, security measures become essential.
In response to these trends, manufacturers are working on developing platforms for electronic control units so they can build better cars more efficiently. The RH850/F1x series comprises a line of over 50 products offering a wide variety of package types, different flash memory chip sizes, and peripheral function options.
Main features of the RH850/F1x series MCUs:
(1) Wide range of products for better scalability.
The RH850/F1x series comprises three groups, ranging from entry-level to high-end. All groups share the same CPU core architecture and peripheral feature selection, enabling common software for use across different system units and facilitating easy MCU swapping between groups. Furthermore, all products in all groups incorporate power supply disconnect circuitry technology to reduce current consumption.
RH850/F1L Group
's CPU core was designed for lower power consumption and is capable of operating at 80 MHz. It delivers performance exceeding 2 DMIPS/MHz [Note 3] while maintaining a low current draw of 0.5 mA/MHz. Available in a 48-pin QFP package that is even more compact than previous comparable Renesas products, this MCU enables customers to achieve high-performance control systems with a 32-bit CPU core, even in units with limited mounting space. It is ideal for applications such as air conditioning control or LED headlight control.
RH850/F1M Group (under development)
MCU aims to combine high performance and energy efficiency. Its core is capable of operating at 120 MHz and incorporates a floating-point arithmetic unit. Available packages range from 100-pin to 208-pin, and flash memory capacity can be selected from 1.5 MB to 4 MB. The RH850/F1M is suitable for use in control modules requiring a large number of I/O pins.
RH850/F1H Group (under development)
This group utilizes a dual-core configuration to deliver the highest performance in the RH850/F1x Series. Each individual core has a maximum operating frequency of 120 MHz and can share on-chip peripheral functions. Available packages extend up to a 276-pin BGA. Ethernet functionality is included, in addition to CAN, LIN, and FlexRay [Note 4], enabling complex control using data from a variety of automotive networks. One application example for the RH850/F1H would be as a control MCU in a gateway module, and the adoption rate of these modules has increased in recent years.
(2) Flash Memory Chip Combining Low Power Consumption and High Capacity:
The RH850/F1x series flash memory chip employs a 40 nm process and a MONOS flash structure to achieve low power consumption and high reliability. Flash memory is available across the series, storing instruction ranges from 256 KB to 8 MB, allowing customers to choose the optimal memory size for their automotive system units, from high-performance to more affordable versions. It has a separate flash memory area available for data storage and can be reprogrammed up to 125,000 times per 64-byte block. The ability to store data that previously would have required external EEPROM reduces the number of external components needed and contributes to smaller board sizes.
(3) Other New Security and Diagnostic Functions
An intelligent cryptographic unit (ICU) [Note 5] for data encryption has been added to enable the necessary security functions in automotive units that are increasingly incorporating networking features. These functions can provide protection against theft or system tampering. In addition, diagnostic functions have been integrated into the on-chip peripheral functions to support the requirements of ISO 26262 [Note 6], which is expected to be adopted by the automotive industry. For example, the A/D converter can be used in conjunction with the on-chip self-diagnostic circuit to verify conversion results. Further ease of use is provided by an increased number of channels that support monitoring changes in digital or analog input signals in low-power mode without requiring CPU activation.
The development tools provided by Renesas for the RH850/F1x Series include the Renesas Eclipse Embedded Studio, e2studio, the E1 debugging emulator chip, and flash memory programmers. There are also plans to offer software tuning support for the Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR) standard.
Availability:
Samples of the RH850/F1L MCU group will be available starting in the second quarter of 2013.
Note 1
: MONOS: Renesas has been using MONOS technology in the flash memory chip of its EEPROM MCU products for over 20 years. The MONOS flash memory, which uses a 90 nm process and is used in MCUs of both the RX and SuperH families, has a proven track record in the industry.
Note 2:
LIN (Local Interconnect Network): Automotive LAN communication protocol.
Note 3
DMIPS (Dhrystone MIPS (millions of instructions per second)): An expression of a computer's processing power, measured using the Dhrystone performance measurement program.
Note 4
FlexRay: A LAN communication protocol used in automotive applications.
Note 5
UCI (intelligent cryptographic unit): An encryption circuit that provides greater security.
Note 6
ISO 26262: Functional safety specification issued by ISO as the automotive version of the international standard Functional Safety of Electrical/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-related Systems (ISO 61508).
