Courtesy: Renesas
With the expansion of the RA MCU family into the low-end MCU market, the new RA0 series brings the innovation, security, and reliability of the Renesas portfolio to an even wider range of general-purpose applications. RA0E1, the first group in the series, offers excellent cost effectiveness and ultra-low power consumption and delivers up to 32MHz of CPU performance using the Arm Cortex-M23 core.
But how does this new MCU stand out? Here’s a look at the key features and advantages of the newest addition to the RA family:
RA0 Series Key Features
Eco-friendly for energy-efficient operation
- Industry-leading ultra-low power consumption
- Active current of just 84.3μA/MHz and standby current as low as 200nA
- Flexible power architecture enables quick wake-up from standby mode
Effective and economical to empower your achievement without breaking your budget
- Seamless fits within the 8/16-bit MCU price range
- Offering lower BOM costs and a small memory footprint
- Supported by the Flexible Software Package (FSP) and HAL drivers
Efficient integration and streamlined development processes
- Lowest barrier to entry for 8/16-bit MCU systems
- Simplified and optimized functionalities, extensive memory size options, and compact package selections
- Arm ecosystem support plus Renesas original development tools
- Reference design solutions for a wide range of applications are available at renesas.com/applications
Solution Advantages for Your Design
Optimized Feature Set
RA0E1 brings optimized functions and features for cost-sensitive, low-end MCU applications. Existing MCUs have rich timer, analog, touch, and security functions, whether you need them for your design or not. The RA0E1 has a feature set specifically optimized for cost-sensitive applications. We also offer an excellent upgrade path with hardware and software scalability between the RA2 series and RA0 series, so designs built on RA0E1 can be easily upgraded later to provide higher performance systems. Both integrate the Arm M23 CPU core and are pin-to-pin compatible. Peripheral functions and registers are compatible, and HAL drivers are directly portable among RA family devices. And of course, the same development tools can be used.
Low-power Operation
The RA0E1 delivers lower power consumption during operation and software standby modes. Normal operating mode can consume as little as 84.3µA/MHZ when running NOP instructions, which means the CPU can be idle waiting for an interrupt at very low power consumption while in Active mode. Even the fully active Run mode has several low-power options by dialing down the CPU clock speed. Software Standby mode disables the MCU’s on-chip functions, reducing power consumption to the lowest level possible. RA0E1’s typical software standby current is 200nA. In addition, the RA0E1 achieves 1.6µs wake-up from standby mode, which is more than 7 times faster than competing products. This enables maximum reduction of power waste during intermittent operation in battery-powered applications, contributing to maximizing the uptime of your application.
The RA0E1 has three power modes, and these flexible system settings enable designers to maximize battery life for all of an end application’s functions.
Ease of Use
The RA0E1 development environment was designed to be easy to use and as flexible as possible for both new and existing RA users. As you may know, Renesas offers comprehensive support for seamless development, ensuring a robust ecosystem for success. Key features include the Flexible Software Package (FSP) with HAL drivers, development tools (IDE, debugger, compiler), and cost-effective, quick prototyping evaluation boards. The RA Family is supported by three different integrated development environments: Renesas’ e² studio based on Eclipse, the popular Keil MDK, and IAR’s Embedded Workbench. To jump-start development, we’ve built the FPB-RA0E1 fast prototyping board that is widely available from Renesas and our distribution partners. This evaluation board allows designers to quickly start development and get to market faster with their new products to help ensure business success.
Summary
The ultra-low power RA0E1 implements peripherals optimized for BOM cost reduction and ease of design for the low-end MCU market. With these new MCUs, you have the features you need to simplify your design cycle and get to market faster than ever.
