Renesas RZ/V2H Cortex-A55/R8/M33 MPU comes with 80 TOPS AI accelerator for robotics and autonomous applications

Renesas RZ/V2H block chart

The RZ/V2H is the latest addition to the Reneasas family of 32-bit and 64-bit microprocessors. Renesas RZ/V2H microprocessor features four Arm Cortex-A55 application processing cores, dual Arm Cortex-R8 real-time processing cores, and one Cortex-M33 core for system management, as well as an AI accelerator with up to 80 TOPS (sparse) of performance. The RZ/V2H MPU includes the third generation of Renesas’ dynamically reconfigurable processor for AI (DRP-AI3) accelerator, a staple of the RZ/V series. The DRP-AI accelerator can run complex image AI models at a power efficiency of 10 TOPS per watt (TOPS/W), as much as 10 times higher than conventional microprocessors. Additionally, the RZ/V2H has another DRP that can be used in image processing and robotics applications. The board also comes with PCIe Gen3, USB 3.2, and Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed applications such as autonomous robotics and factory automation machine vision. It offers a performance boost over previous products […]

Waveshare R7FA4 PLUS A and B boards are clones of the Arduino UNO R4 Minima and WiFi

Arduino UNO R4 WiFi clone

Arduino board clones have been around for many years, but I don’t think I have ever seen clones of the new Renesas-based Arduino boards so far. Waveshare changes that with the R7FA4 PLUS A that clones with Arduino UNO R4 Minima, and the R7FA4 PLUS B board duplicating the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi. The Waveshare boards are not 100% clones with some small differences in the PCB layout, support for 5V and 3.3V shields, an additional 6-pin “power output header” with 5V, 3.3V, and GND signals, and a USB communication jumper to select between the Espressif ESP32-S3 and Renesas RA4M1 microcontrollers. Waveshare R7FA4 PLUS A and B specifications: Microcontroller – Renesas RA4M1 Arm Cortex-M4F MCU @ 48 MHz with 32KB SRAM, 256KB flash Wireless (B model only) – ESP32-S3-MINI-1 module based on ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with 512KB SRAM, 384KB ROM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, PCB antenna […]

Arduino IDE 2.3 released with the Debug feature now considered stable

Arduino IDE 2.3 Debug Feature

Arduino IDE 2.3 has just been released with a range of bug fixes and improvements, but the main change is that the debug feature is not experimental anymore and is now considered stable. Bug fixes include addressing CVE-2023-4863 security flaw (See GitHub for related commits) and based on the wording used in the announcement it looks to be the only one… So the main news is that the Debug feature is now fully incorporated into the IDE. But what is it exactly? The new documentation website explains that Arduino CLI 0.9.0 and Arduino IDE 2.x support “sketch debugging” with openocd server. Arduino also explains it’s currently supported by Arduino boards based on the Mbed core including GIGA R1 WiFi, Portenta H7, Opta, Nano BLE, and Nano RP2040 Connect, and Renesas-based boards such as UNO R4 and Portenta C33 will get support very soon. The company also says they are working […]

Renesas RA8T1 Cortex-M85 MCU targets motor control applications

Renesas RA8T1 block diagram

It took a while before Renesas released its first Arm Cortex-M85 microcontroller (RA8M1) in October 2023, but the company has now launched the RA8T1 Cortex-M85 MCU for motor control just a few weeks after announcing the RA8D1 for HMI applications. The RA8T1 group is the third Cortex-M85 microcontroller family from Renesas with a feature set optimized for motor control and leveraging machine learning through Arm Helium technology and a DSP for predictive maintenance requirements for motors. Renesas RA8T1 key features and specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M85 clocked at 480 MHz with Helium MVE (M-Profile Vector Extension) with 32KB I/D caches, 12KB data flash Memory & Storage 1MB SRAM including 128KB TCM 1MB to 2MB Flash memory 2x SD/MMC host interfaces (SDHI) Communication interfaces Ethernet MAC with DMA USB – 1x USB 2.0 Full Speed interface 2x CAN-FD Up to 6x SCI (UART, Simple SPI, Simple I2C) 2x SPI up […]

Renesas releases the DA14592, a new dual-core Cortex-M33/M0+ BLE chip with integrated flash

DA14592 chip block diagram

The DA14592 System-on-Chip (Soc) is Renesas’ “lowest power consumption and smallest, multi-core Bluetooth LE device.” According to the company, this chip’s design was achieved by making careful tradeoffs between on-chip memory and die size. The chip offers an ultra-low power mode that uses only 2.3mA when transmitting radio signals at 0dBm and consumes 1.2mA to receive radio signals. It also supports a hibernation mode that uses about 90nA and can extend the operating life of battery-powered products. The active mode is best for processing-intensive products and uses 34µA for every MHz of CPU clock. Projected key applications for the DA14592 chip include crowd-sourced location (CSL) tracking as used in Apple’s Airtags, remote control units, human interface devices, asset tracking, IoT end nodes, data logging, connected health, and activity tracking. Renesas DA14592 specifications: CPU cores: Cortex-M33F running at up to 64MHz as application core Cortex-M0+ at 64MHz as configurable MAC Memory: […]

Renesas RZ/G3S is a 64-bit Arm Cortex-A55/M33 microprocessor with low power consumption and enhanced peripherals

rzg3s lineup en

Renesas RZ/G3S 64-bit Arm Cortex-A55 microprocessor (MPU) designed for IoT edge and gateway devices consumes as little as 10µW in standby mode thanks to its Cortex-M33 core(s) and features a PCIe interface for high-speed data transfers with 5G wireless modules. A single-core ARM Cortex-A55 CPU powers the RZ/G3s and can distribute workloads to two sub-CPUs, boosting efficiency in task handling and resulting in fewer components and a smaller system size. The Cortex-A55 core operates at 1.1GHz and is designed to improve power efficiency and performance over its predecessor, the Cortex-A53. The RZ/G3S isn’t Renasas’ first Cortex-A55 product as they have previously released the RZ/A3UL and the RZ/G2L, both powered by the same Cortex-A55 CPU. Additionally, Renesas launched the 64-bit RISC-V RZ/Five processor late last year. The RZ/G3S boasts high-speed interfaces such as PCIe and GbE, a better standby mode, and improved security features which make it suitable for IoT applications […]

Renesas’ RX23E-B MCU offers a low-drift 24-bit A/D converter with a 125 kSPS sampling rate

Renesas' new RX23E-B MUC offers a low-drift 24-bit delta-sigma A/D converter with up to 125 kS/S Sampling Rate - That is eight times faster than its predecessor.

Renesas’ new RX23E-B MCU offers a low-drift 24-bit delta-sigma A/D converter with up to 125 kS/S Sampling Rate – That is eight times faster than its predecessor. This controller is clocked at 32-MHz and offers up to 256 KB Flash memory rail-to-rail programmable gain instrumentation amplifiers, ±10 V input pins, a low-drift voltage reference, and on-chip excitation current sources. This year Renesas introduced a range of new products including, the RZ/T2L Arm Cortex-R52 with an EtherCAT controller, and the RA4E2 and RA6E2 Arm Cortex-M33 MCUs for wearables and appliances. Renecus also released its first 32-bit RISC-V CPU  this year, you can check those out if interested. Features of Renesas’ RX23E-B MCU: CPU: 32 MHz 32-bit RXv2 core Includes FPU/DSP instructions Memory: 256 KB code Flash 8 KB data Flash 32 KB SRAM 24-bit Delta-Sigma ADC with PGA: High data rate: max 125 kSPS Ultra-low noise: 190 nVRMS at 977 SPS/gain=64 […]

Renesas RA8D1 Arm Cortex-M85 SoC features LCD display interfaces, 2D graphics accelerator

Renesas RA8D1

Renesas RA8D1 is a new Arm Cortex-M85 microcontroller with graphics capabilities such as a 2D graphics accelerator and MIPI DSI and parallel RGB interfaces to connect an LCD that will make the chip suitable for HMI applications. Renesas introduced the world’s first Arm Cortex-M85 microcontroller with the RA8M1 just a few weeks ago, but the MCU has limited multimedia capabilities with just a 16-bit Capture Engine Unit (CEU) interface to connect a camera. The second member of the Renesas RA8 family fills this void with the RA8D1 microcontroller adding an LCD controller and a 2D graphics drawing engine on top of the CEU camera interface. Renesas RA8D1 specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M85 clocked at 480 MHz with Helium MVE (M-Profile Vector Extension) with 32KB I/D caches, 12KB data flash Memory & Storage 1MB SRAM with TCM (128KB) 1MB to 2MB Flash memory 32-bit external SDRAM interface Display interfaces and […]