RISC-V MCUs Provide Builders a New Low-Energy, Excessive-Efficiency Choice Together with Full Toolchain Assist
Renesas Electronics Company, a premier provider of superior semiconductor options, immediately introduced the business’s first general-purpose 32-bit RISC-V-based microcontrollers (MCUs) constructed with an internally developed CPU core. Whereas many MCU suppliers have just lately joined funding alliances to advance the event of RISC-V merchandise, Renesas has already designed and examined a brand new RISC-V core independently, which is now carried out in a industrial product and obtainable globally.
The brand new, R9A02G021 group of MCUs gives embedded methods designers a transparent path to growing a variety of power-conscious, cost-sensitive functions based mostly on the open-source instruction set structure (ISA).
Whereas most of immediately’s RISC-V options goal particular functions, the R9A02G021 group MCUs are designed to serve a number of finish markets, reminiscent of IoT sensors, client electronics, medical gadgets, small home equipment and industrial methods. Just like current general-purpose MCUs, designers may have entry to a full-scale growth setting for the R9A02G021, supplied by Renesas and its in depth community of toolchain companions. This can permit them to considerably scale back prices, engineering sources and growth time.
“From our RISC-V purpose-built ASSPs to this new general-purpose MCU, our purpose is to ship commercially viable merchandise that clients can take to mass manufacturing shortly whereas demonstrating the advantages of the RISC-V structure,” mentioned Daryl Khoo, Vice President of Embedded Processing 1st Enterprise Division at Renesas. “As well as, clients typically face complicated design challenges and tradeoffs reminiscent of efficiency, energy consumption, reminiscence, or a selection of CPU structure. The brand new RISC-VMCU gives a further diploma of option to clients who wish to use merchandise with the open structure.”
As an early adopter of RISC-V, Renesas has a wealthy providing of RISC-V application-specific merchandise, together with its 32-bit voice-control and motor-control ASSP gadgets and RZ/5 64-bit normal goal microprocessors (MPUs), which have been constructed on CPU cores developed by Andes Expertise Corp. The R9A02G021 group represents the primary technology of general-purpose MCUs based mostly on the internally developed RISC-V core by Renesas that can roll out over the following a number of years.
“Till now, the MCU, a key potential marketplace for RISC-V has been missing sturdy industrial designs from main suppliers which make up round 85% of the MCU market,” mentioned Tom Hackenberg, Principal Analyst, Computing & Software program, Extra Moore Enterprise Line at Yole Group. “With Renesas introducing full industrial availability of a RISC-V multimarket MCU to its various MCU portfolio, in addition to much-needed assist from well-recognized business normal instruments suppliers, the RISC-V market is poised to lastly begin accelerating progress. As different main distributors comply with Renesas’ instance, RISC-V ought to method 10% of the general MCU market by the top of 2029 with vital progress potential past.”
Balancing Efficiency and Energy
The R9A02G021 RISC-V group provides ample efficiency with clock speeds as much as 48MHz whereas consuming extraordinarily low energy on standby at 0.3µA. It gives 128KB of quick flash reminiscence, 16KB of SRAM reminiscence and 4KB of flash reminiscence for information storage. Designed to face up to harsh situations, the MCUs can function reliably at ambient temperatures starting from -40 °C to 125 °C. The MCUs include normal serial communications interfaces, in addition to digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) features to facilitate high-speed and safe connections with sensors, shows and different exterior modules. The large 1.6V to five.5V enter voltage vary allows low-voltage, low-current operation and permits noise immunity, making the R9A02G021 perfect for battery-powered gadgets.
Key Options of the R9A02G021 MCU Group
- CPU: RISC-V core at 48MHz, 3.27 Coremark/MHz
- Reminiscence: 128KB code flash, 16KB SRAM (12KB and ECC SRAM 4KB) and 4KB information flash
- Energy Consumption: 162µA/MHz (Lively energy), 0.3µA (SW Standby), 4µs (Standby wakeup)
- Serial communications interfaces: UART, SPI, I2C, SAU
- Analog peripherals: 12-bit ADC and 8-bit DAC
- Temperature vary: -40°C to 125°C (Ta)
- Working voltage vary: 1.6 to five.5V
- Packages: 16 WLCSP, 24/32/48 QFN package deal (QFP possibility)
The R9A02G021 RISC-V MCUs are absolutely supported by Renesas’ e² Studio Built-in Growth Setting (IDE), supplied to clients without charge. The excellent toolchain features a code configurator, the LLVM compiler and a quick prototyping board (FPB). Full growth environments are additionally obtainable from Renesas’ companions: IAR with its Embedded Workbench IDE and I-jet debug probe, and SEGGER with the Embedded Studio IDE, J-Hyperlink debug probes and Flasher manufacturing programmers. Supporting documentation contains the FPB consumer guide, a Getting Began information, schematics, Invoice of Supplies (BOM), and Gerber recordsdata.
