Renesas Electronics America Announces Low-Power 32-bit Microcontrollers with up to 1MB Flash Memory and a Low-Power Demonstrator Give-Away Promotion

Enable Portable Systems with Increasing Software Needs While Extending Battery Life and Measuring the Low Current Consumption with the Low Power Demonstrator

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Renesas Electronics America Inc., a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the availability of its eight new 32-bit V850 microcontrollers (MCUs) in the existing V850 J Series. These new V850ES/Jx3-L MCUs are an extension of the successful low-power V850ES/Jx3-L 32-bit MCUs that were introduced in early 2010 and are designed for low-power, portable applications with high-density memory from 768 kilobytes (KB) flash/80KB RAM to 1 megabyte (MB) flash/80KB RAM to support increasing memory demand. The new MCUs achieve industry-leading, low power consumption with built-in large capacity memory, and four of these high memory-density MCUs are equipped with a USB 2.0 function interface to support communications. To demonstrate the low-power capability, Renesas Electronics America is offering a give-away promotion of a V850ES/Jx3-L Low Power Demonstrator Kit, which enables users to measure current consumption of different MCU operation modes and illustrates many features supporting low-power system design.

Ideal for applications such as portable healthcare equipment and healthcare systems, especially portable measurement and monitor devices such as blood glucose meters, can take advantage of the low power to extend battery life and utilize the large flash memory for data storage and increasing application needs. USB support enables healthcare systems to support patient-doctor information exchanges, like what the Continua Alliance standard provides. Moreover, the 32-bit processing power can support graphic computation for different displays from segmented LCD to dot-matrix and OLED.

Software complexity continues to increase in many applications. Product designers are faced with difficult design decisions such as extending a design cycle to reducing software size or paying for extra external memory to shorten design time. The high-density Flash memory eliminates this design dilemma as Renesas Electronics’ V850 MCUs with up to 1MB Flash memory can support many applications without resorting to external memory.

In conjunction with the product announcement, Renesas Electronics America is offering a give-away promotion for a V850ES/Jx3-L Low Power Demonstrator. This kit utilizes a V850ES/JG3-L MCU with 512KB of Flash memory to provide a platform that demonstrates the different standby modes. The kit supports current consumption measurements with the use of an ampere meter, and also demonstrates RAM retention and real-time clock operation in the lowest power mode. To register for a free kit (while supplies last) and to find more information about the give-away promotion, visit www.am.renesas.com/V850JX3LLPD. (NOTE: This link is case sensitive.)

Key features of the V850ES/JG3-L MCUs

(1) Large-capacity on-chip memory contributes to a reduction in system costs by eliminating external memory

The new MCUs provide either 768 KB or 1 MB of on-chip flash memory and 80 KB of on-chip RAM. Compared to earlier products, these devices can help to reduce the effort required to optimize software to fit into a small Flash size and eliminate the need for costly external memory.

(2) High-speed processing achieved with the industry's top class of low power consumption

These new devices achieve a power consumption of 0.9 milliwatts (mW) per 1 MIPS (Note 1) at 20 megahertz (MHz). Furthermore, while providing improved peripheral functionality, such as USB 2.0 and real-time counter functions, these devices achieve a low current consumption of 0.7 µA (microamps) (with only the real-time counter operating) in standby mode. These MCUs also support 2.0 volt (V) low-voltage operations when operating at 2.5 MHz, contributing to longer battery operating times in portable and battery-operated electronic equipment.

(3) Easy reuse of existing software assets from other V850 J Series devices

With the introduction of these new products, Renesas Electronics’ V850 J Series now includes a total of 125 products ranging from 16 KB to 1 MB of flash memory, from 8 KB to 80 KB of RAM, and from 40 to 144 pins. Since it is easy to reuse software assets within the same series, the V850 J Series devices are powerful and scalable MCUs, shortening development periods and reducing development costs.

More information about the Renesas V850 J Series products can be found at http://www.am.renesas.com/v850. Main specifications of the V850ES/JG3-L MCUs can be found at http://am.renesas.com/press/news/2011/news20110524_s.jsp.

Pricing and Availability

Samples of Renesas Electronics' new V850ES/JG3-L MCUs are available now with pricing dependent on memory capacity and package type. For example, an MCU equipped in a 100-pin LQFP package with 1 MB of flash memory in 10K resell units is priced at US$6.38 per unit. Mass production is scheduled to begin in July 2011 and is expected to reach a combined volume of 3,000,000 units per month with all eight products by FY2012. (Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.)

(Note 1) MIPS: The ability to execute one million instructions per second. The Dhrystone benchmark is a program used to evaluate arithmetic performance in computers.

Ranked #1 Supplier Worldwide for Microcontrollers

Renesas Electronics Corporation again has been ranked by Gartner as the number one MCU supplier worldwide based on revenues from shipments in 2010 for 8-, 16- and 32-bit microcontrollers in the March 2011 market share report*. More information about Renesas Electronics’ MCU offerings can be found at http://am.renesas.com/prod/mcumpu/.

About Renesas Electronics America Inc.

Renesas Electronics America Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), the world's number one supplier of microcontrollers and a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions, and a broad range of analog and power devices. In the Americas, Renesas Electronics America markets and sells industrial-type active-matrix LCD modules from NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., a global leader in innovative display technologies. More information can be found at http://www.am.renesas.com/.

*Source: Gartner "Market Share: Semiconductor Devices, Worldwide, 2010" March 2011

SuperFlash memory technology used in Renesas Electronics' 32-bit devices is licensed from Silicon Storage Technology Inc. All other registered trademarks or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.