Renesas Launches New RA4 MCUs to Expand Low-Power Industrial and IoT Applications

By Tiera Oliver

Associate Editor

Embedded Computing Design

February 04, 2021

News

Renesas Launches New RA4 MCUs to Expand Low-Power Industrial and IoT Applications

RA4M2 MCUs Offer Low Active Power and 100 MHz Performance for IoT Applications

Renesas announced the expansion of its RA4 Series microcontrollers (MCUs) with 12 new RA4M2 Group MCUs. Per the company, the new devices deliver a combination of low power consumption, high performance, and enhanced security features that positions them as ideal solutions for industrial and IoT applications.

The power-efficient RA4M2 Group offer an operating current of 80 µA/MHz in active mode and low standby current of 0.7 mA.h. The new devices have a wakeup time from standby of 30 µs. With operating frequencies up to 100 MHz, the RA4M2 MCUs are ideal for performance hungry, low power applications such as industrial and IoT edge devices.

The RA4M2 MCUs employ the Arm Cortex-M33 core based on Armv8-M architecture. They feature Arm TrustZone technology and Renesas’ Secure Crypto Engine. The Secure Crypto Engine incorporates multiple symmetric and asymmetric cryptography accelerators, advanced key management, security lifecycle management, power analysis resistance, and tamper detection. This combination enables customers to realize secure element functionality, enabling safety and security in IoT edge devices for low-power applications.

Key Features of the RA4M2 Group

  • Very Low power consumption of 80 μA/MHz in active mode; 30 µs wakeup time
  • 100-MHz Arm Cortex-M33 with TrustZone technology
  • Renesas’ Secure Crypto Engine as part of a full security solution
  • Scalable from 48- to 100-pin LQFP packages; also available in 48-pin QFNs
  • Integrated flash memory of 512KB, 384KB or 256KB; 128K SRAM
  • Capacitive touch sensing unit
  • USB 2.0 Full Speed
  • Advanced analog with one ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) unit
  • QuadSPI
  • SDHI

The RA4M2 Group is supported by the Flexible Software Package (FSP), which includes a HAL driver. The FSP uses a GUI to simplify and accelerate the development process, while also making it suitablke for customers to transition from an original 8/16-bit MCU design. Designers using the RA4M2 MCUs also have access to the extensive Arm partner ecosystem, offering a wide range of tools that help speed time-to-market.

The RA4M2 MCUs can be combined with Renesas’ complementary analog and power offerings to create comprehensive solutions for a variety of applications. These combinations showcase the capabilities of the RA4M2 MCUs and the Renesas’ product line-up. Applications such as a Smart IoT Air PurifierIndustrial CAN Sensor Network, and more can be found at www.renesas.com/win.

The RA4M2 MCUs are available now from Renesas’ worldwide distributors. For more information, please visit: renesas.com/ra4m2.

 For more information, visit: renesas.com

Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor for Embedded Computing Design, is responsible for web content edits, product news, and constructing stories. She also assists with newsletter updates as well as contributing and editing content for ECD podcasts and the ECD YouTube channel. Before working at ECD, Tiera graduated from Northern Arizona University where she received her B.S. in journalism and political science and worked as a news reporter for the university’s student led newspaper, The Lumberjack.

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