Renesas Electronics introduces 32-bit microcontrollers

     Renesas Electronics, a global provider of semiconductor solutions, announced the introduction of the 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) RX671, adding a new high-performance, versatile single-chip solution with contactless operations such as touch sensing and speech recognition to the popular RX family of products. Part of Renesas' popular mainstream RX600 series, the RX671 MCU is built on an RXv3 CPU core, runs at 120MHz, and has integrated flash memory supporting 60MHz fast read access for superior real-time performance and a CoreMark score of 707. The power efficiency is 48.8 CoreMark/mA, which is among the best in its class.

     Available in a variety of packages with pin counts ranging from 48 to 145, and with up to 2MB of flash memory and 384KB of SRAM, the RX671 MCU is ideal for applications that require advanced features, high energy efficiency, and compact size, such as HVAC, smart meters, and smart appliances. For devices that are limited in size and require advanced features, the RX671 is available in an ultra-small 4.5mm × 4.5mm 64-pin TFBGA package with 2MB flash memory.

     The COVID-19 pandemic has created new requirements for health and safety and changed the way people interact with devices and the environment, particularly with more hygienic contactless user interfaces. Optimized for contactless applications, the new RX671 MCU integrates a capacitive touch sensing unit with high sensitivity and excellent noise tolerance to enable contactless proximity switches. In addition, a serial audio interface can be used to connect digital microphones that support remote speech recognition. These capabilities, combined with voice recognition middleware from Renesas RX ecosystem partners, enable developers to leverage voice recognition to create superior contactless applications in a short amount of time.

     Sakae ITO, Vice President, iot Platform Business Division, Renesas Electronics, said: "I am pleased to announce the RX671, a product with an RXv3 CPU core that brings new capabilities and compatibility with the popular RX651 in the current RX family of products. The new product combines real-time performance, power efficiency, HMI capabilities, security features and a wide range of packaging options to meet our customers' needs."

     The RX671 integrates Renesas Trusted Secure IP (TSIP) as part of its built-in hardware security engine. The engine includes a cryptographic engine that supports AES, RSA, ECC, and SHA, as well as a true random number generator (TRNG) and cryptographic key management mechanism. These features, combined with on-chip dual-zone flash memory and protection mechanisms, bring users features such as secure firmware updates and secure boot.

     Renesas also introduced two new evaluation boards based on the new MCU product group. The RX671 object board makes it easier to evaluate the RX671 without an external debugger; The RX671 development Kit Renesas Starter Kit+ supports a detailed evaluation of the key MCU features. Both boards are equipped with connectors that can connect to the Wi-Fi Pmod expansion board (RTK00WFMX0B00000BE) for easy evaluation using wireless network connectivity. The Renesas Starter Kit+ and Wi-Fi Pmod expansion board combination for RX671 has been certified by FreeRTOS, allowing users to take a proven sample program from GitHub and connect to AWS to instantly start RX671 development.

     Renesas combines the RX671 MCU with its accompanying power supply to provide a complete contactless key solution that can be used on a wide range of devices to achieve more hygienic proximity sensing switches that prevent viruses or dirt from sticking to users' fingers. The solution is part of Renesas's "Portfolio of success", which consists of complementary analog + power + embedded processing products as a complete and proven solution designed to help customers accelerate the design process and reduce time to market. Based on multiple products that work seamlessly together, Renesas now offers more than 250 "winning product portfolios" for a wide range of applications and end products.