The new USB Type-C Cable and Connector Specification Release 2.4 has lowered the voltage sensing thresholds (0.613 V for a 1.5 A source and 1.165 V for a 3.0 A source). The RA2L2 MCUs are the first in the industry to support these new levels.
The RA2L2 MCUs employ proprietary low-power technology, offering an active mode current of 87.5 µA/MHz and a software standby current of only 250 nA. They also feature a separate operating clock for the low-power UART, which can be used to power up the system when receiving data from Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth® LE modules. Combined with USB-C compatibility, this combination of features makes the RA2L2 the ideal solution for portable devices such as USB data loggers, charging cases, barcode scanners, and other products.
In addition to USB-C with DC sensing up to 15 W (5 V/3 A) and USB FS support, the new MCUs offer LP UART, I3C, and CAN interfaces, enabling designers to reduce the number of components, saving costs, board space, and power consumption.
The RA2L2 MCUs are compatible with Renesas' Flexible Software Package (FSP). The FSP enables faster application development by providing all the necessary infrastructure software, including multiple RTOSs, BSPs, peripheral drivers, middleware, connectivity and networking, as well as reference software for building complex AI, motor control, and cloud solutions. It allows customers to integrate their own legacy code and choose the RTOS with the FSP, providing complete flexibility in application development. The FSP also facilitates the migration of existing IP to and from other AR devices.
“The RA2L2 group MCUs are the first to offer full-speed USB along with USB Type-C connector support. They also ensure system costs remain low by reducing external components and offer the same low-power characteristics as our popular RA2L1 devices,” said Daryl Khoo, vice president of the embedded processing marketing division at Renesas. “These new devices demonstrate our commitment and ability to quickly deliver the solutions our customers need.”
Main Features of the RA2L2 MCU
Core: Arm Cortex-M23 at 48 MHz
Memory: 128-64 KB Flash, 16 KB SRAM, 4 KB Dataflash
Peripherals: USB-C, USB-FS, CAN, Low Power UART, SCI, SPI, I3C, I2S, 12-bit ADC (17 channels), Low Power Timer, Real-Time Clock, High Speed On-Chip Oscillator (HOCO), Temperature Sensor
Packages: 32, 48, and 64-pin LQFP; 32 and 48-pin QFN
Security: Unique ID, TRNG
Wide Ambient Temperature Range: Ta = -40 °C to 125 °C
Operating Voltage: 1.6 V – 5.5 V; USB Operating Voltage: 3.0 V to 3.6 V
