Renesas Technology Expands R32C/100 Series With 50 New MCUs With Fast On-chip Flash and Peripheral Sets for Automotive Applications, Among Others

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Renesas Technology America, Inc. today announced an extensive expansion of its R32C/100 series of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs): 50 new products have been added, comprising 11 groups for automotive and other applications. The new MCUs are built around the R32C/100 high-performance 32-bit CPU core, the most advanced available in the M16C family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) devices. They operate at speeds as fast as 64MHz, incorporate high-speed flash memory, and have peripherals such as FlexRay™ controllers that implement essential, cost-saving functions for embedded system tasks.

The first products that will be shipped are the MCUs in the 100-pin, 64MHz R32C/120 and R32C/121 groups for body control systems. Next will be the 144-pin, 60MHz devices in the R32C/133 and R32C/134 groups that enable X-by-Wire applications that use electronic control to manipulate mechanical systems. The third set of products to be introduced will be the 144-pin, 64MHz chips in the R32C/151, R32C/152, R32C/153, R32C/156, and R32C/157 groups, which include devices with up to 1Megabyte of flash memory. Last will be the 80-pin, 48MHz devices in the R32C/160 and R32C/161 groups, which are simple-featured, lower-cost products.

This massive product line expansion is driven by the rising demand for MCUs — the core devices in automotive electronic control units (ECUs) — that have sophisticated on-chip functionality and deliver the higher levels of performance needed to rapidly execute large amounts of control code. The devices’ on-chip flash memory combines fast read/write performance with excellent reliability. Also, it includes special flash areas for data storage called electrically erasable/programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) emulation flash (EE Data Flash) that has an endurance of 100,000 rewrite cycles. A background operation (BGO) function allows the CPU to access programs stored in the flash memory even as the content of the EE Data Flash is being rewritten. (Product versions without EE Data Flash are also available.)

The extensive on-chip peripheral functions integrated into the new members of the R32C/100 series include timers for three-phase motor control, watchdog timer, advanced intelligent I/O, A/D converter, serial interface, and direct memory access (DMA) controller. Additionally, there is an on-chip oscillator that can be used in conjunction with the wait operating mode to reduce the MCU’s power consumption.

A single-wire debugging (NSD) interface allows evaluation and calibration to be performed with the MCU installed in the finished product. This interface allows debugging of all functions, and also can be used to program the on-chip flash memory.

Summary of key features of the 11 new product groups
Group		Frequency (MHz)		Pins		Flash Memory		On-chip Peripherals		Comments
R32C/120		64		100		128KB, 256KB		Extensive set, including 1ch or 2ch CAN and 2ch LIN		Aimed at ECU applications
R32C/121						128KB, 256KB, 384KB, 512KB
R32C/133		60		144		256KB, 384KB, 512KB		Includes 2ch or 3ch CAN, and 2ch FlexRay controller		For X-by-Wire applications
R32C/134
R32C/151		64		144		768KB, 1024KB		Includes up to 4ch CAN and 4ch or 8ch LIN		For automotive systems with large control programs
R32C/152
R32C/153
R32C/156						256KB, 384KB, 512KB				Lower-cost versions
R32C/157
R32C/160		48		80		128KB, 256KB		1ch or 2ch CAN & 1ch LIN, but fewer other features		For apps that need small size, low cost
R32C/161

Renesas Technology is currently developing a bus driver with support for FlexRay and plans to offer system solutions including MCU and bus driver components. The company is an active member of standardization bodies such as the FlexRay Consortium, JasPar, and AUTOSAR. In cooperation with partner tool vendors, Renesas offers software components that comply with standards established by AUTOSAR and JasPar. Coordinated efforts are made to ensure that customers have system development environments they can use with confidence.

Prices and Availability
Product Groups		Sample Price/Availability
R32C/120, R32C/121		$10-20/Q3 2008
R32C/133, R32C/134
R32C/151, R32C/152, R32C/153, R32C/156, R32C/157
R32C/160, R32C/161

About Renesas Technology

Renesas Technology Corp. is one of the world's leading semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (Audio Visual) markets and the world's No. 1 supplier of microcontrollers. It is also a leading provider of LCD Driver ICs, Smart Card microcontrollers, RF-ICs, High Power Amplifiers, Mixed Signal ICs, System-on-Chip (SoC), System-in-Package (SiP) and more. Established in 2003 as a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. (TOKYO:6501) (NYSE:HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO:6503), Renesas Technology achieved consolidated revenue of 953 billion JPY in FY2006 (end of March 2007). Renesas Technology is based in Tokyo, Japan and has a global network of manufacturing, design and sales operations in around 20 countries with about 26,500 employees worldwide. For further information, please visit http://www.renesas.com.

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