TMCnet News

Renesas Electronics Adds Miniaturization, Power-Savings Enhancements to the RL78 Family of Ultra Low Power Microcontrollers
[April 17, 2013]

Renesas Electronics Adds Miniaturization, Power-Savings Enhancements to the RL78 Family of Ultra Low Power Microcontrollers


SANTA CLARA, Calif. --(Business Wire)--

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has developed the RL78/G10 Group as low pin count versions of the RL78/G1x Series of microcontrollers (MCUs) that feature excellent low-power operation as well as superb processing performance with on-chip flash memory capacities from 1 to 4 KB in 10-pin SSOP (Shrink Small Outline Package) and 16-pin SSOP packages. These MCUs are optimal for consumer products such as small appliances.

RL78/G10 (Photo: Business Wire)

RL78/G10 (Photo: Business Wire)

"The demand for finer control and greater power efficiency in increasingly smaller form factors is driving a shift from traditional switches to low pin count MCUs," said Ritesh Tyagi, senior director, Microcontroller Products & Solutions Marketing, Renesas Electronics America Inc. "Our RL78/G1x Series of MCUs continues to deliver superior power, performance and pricing for customers designing for areas like consumer and household appliances, and we are pleased to offer the RL78/G10 as an expansion to address these changing customer needs as the miniaturization in these markets continues."

The new products inherit the superlative features of the RL78 Family, which include the industry's lowest level of power consumption and the ability to reduce total system costs by taking advantage of the peripheral functions integrated with the MCU itself. Furthermore, the new products feature reduced operating current (46 uA/MHz - 20 MHz basic operation) by about 30 percent compared with existing Renesas' RL78/G13 Group of MCUs (66 uA/MHz - 32 MHz basic operation), by improvements such as optimization of the inner wiring.

Since consumers are now demanding high functionality in miniature devices, such as electric toothbrushes and electric razors, that were previously controlled by simple mechanical switches or logic circuit, finer control is now required in these products. Furthermore, here are increasing needs for even lower power consumption associated with battery drive in the miniature electronic equipment market, which requires these low pin count MCUs.



To respond to these needs, the new RL78/G10 Group low pin count MCUs in the RL78/G1x Series offers low power consumption and maintains the key peripheral functions of the RL78 Family in low pin count packages.

Key Features of the RL78/G10 Group of MCUs:


(1) Ultra-low-power consumption (46uA/MHz - 20MHz basic operation) contributes to lengthening battery life and smaller form factor products.
Designers can choose batteries with smaller capacity and smaller shape, thus the new products contribute to reducing product size.

(2) The small size of the package - down to 3.6mm x 4.4mm - allows the RL78/G10 MCUs to be retro fitted for small consumer products.
The RL78/G10 group is suitable for low-power, low-cost consumer products such as electric toothbrushes with battery drive. The new product facilitates replacement of mechanical components and adds new intelligent features, such as power optimization, battery monitoring and sensor management.

(3) The accurate high-speed on-chip oscillator (OCO) allows reduced system cost.
The integrated high-speed OCO incorporated in the new product eliminates the requirement for an external oscillator for many consumer electronic devices.

(4) As a controller of power ICs, the new device reduces system power consumption.
A complicate system with multiple power sources requires a power IC to control the power activation sequence. The power IC requires control from outside. The new ultralow power consumption RL78/G10 Group reduces such a system's power consumption by controlling the power IC. Renesas provides a kit solution with power ICs, including Renesas' RAA23021x series.

Renesas Electronics also provides a robust development environment for the RL78 Family. This includes Renesas' e2studio integrated development environment (IDE) and the low-cost E1 on-chip debugger, which also functions as a flash programmer. In addition, Renesas partner companies continue to expand ecosystem options with a wide variety of hardware and software development tools for the RL78 Family. This includes the IAR Systems Embedded Workbench IDE and optimized C/C++ compiler and debugger

Pricing and Availability

Samples of the 10-pin SSOP of the RL78/G10 Group of MCUs are available now, priced at US$0.29 per unit in 10,000-unit quantities for the 10-pin SSOP with 2 KB Flash. Mass production of the RL78/G10 devices is scheduled to begin in June 2013 and is expected to reach a scale of 1,000,000 units per month in May 2014. Samples of the 16-pin SSOP devices will be available in the end of 2013. (Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.)

(Remarks)

All product names and service names that appear in this press release are all trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), the world's number one supplier of microcontrollers, is a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions and a broad-range of analog and power devices. Business operations began as Renesas Electronics in April 2010 through the integration of NEC (News - Alert) Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723) and Renesas Technology Corp., with operations spanning research, development, design and manufacturing for a wide range of applications. Headquartered in Japan, Renesas Electronics has subsidiaries in 20 countries worldwide. More information can be found at www.renesas.com.


[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]