LONDON, UK – 14th July 2008 – Renesas Technology Europe today
announced the addition of a total of 36 new models (72 type names) in 12 groups
featuring enhanced functions and higher package pin counts. These include the
80-pin R8C/38E group, 64-pin R8C/36E group, and the 48-pin R8C/34E group.
Together they strengthen the R8C/Tiny Series line-up for in-vehicle automotive
equipment applications. Available during October 2008, the new MCUs feature
on-chip flash memory, a built-in precision clock oscillator, and enhanced
functionality, as well as packages with extra I/O pins. Moreover, within each
of these three groups, there are MCUs with or without a CAN1 (controller area
network) interface, with various amounts of flash ROM and RAM (32KB/2.5KB,
48KB/4KB, and 64KB/6KB), and with or without on-chip 4KB of data flash2 (data
storage flash memory). Versions of the chips are available in two operating
temperature ranges: standard (-40 to +85 degrees C) and extended (-40 to +125
degrees C).
The greatly expanded R8C/Tiny product line — now encompassing functionally
compatible models with 20-, 32-, 48-, 64-, and 80-pin packages — makes it
easier for automotive engineers to find the best, most economical MCU solution
for any particular set of application requirements. Also, the broader span of
choices allows them to readily accommodate the specification modifications that
often arise during the development and fine-tuning of MCU-based body-control
systems. They can add functions or increase memory capacity, for example, just
by switching to another R8C/Tiny device. This flexibility saves cost and time
by eliminating the need for major design changes.
The MCUs in the R8C/38E/36E/34E groups provide improvements in various
on-chip peripheral functions. For example, the high-speed on-chip oscillator
has improved oscillation precision: ±1%, the industry’s highest ranking. This
feature eliminates the external resonator that would otherwise be needed to
implement the clock circuit, enabling system cost reductions while also helping
to boost reliability.
The data flash built into some of the new R8C/Tiny models eliminates the
need for external EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable read only
memory) for data storage. It now has a background-operation (BGO) function that
allows the CPU to execute instructions during data flash reading or writing.
This boosts the MCU’s processing efficiency and also allows system engineers to
write programs without concern for data flash read/write times, simplifying
program development. The size of the data flash capacity has been doubled to a
total of 4KB (1KB × 4 blocks) compared with previous products, so more data can
be stored.
The devices that expand the R8C/Tiny line-up include a data transfer
controller (DTC) that enables data transfers to be performed between memory and
a register without CPU intervention. This capability shortens
transfer-processing time and reduces the load on the CPU, making more computing
time available for executing application code. The DTC is based on the highly
rated design used in the high-performance MCUs in the 16-bit H8S series and the
32-bit H8SX series.
As before, the new R8C/Tiny chips incorporate a power-on reset (POR)
function that places all on-chip circuits in the reset state when the MCU is
turned on. However, the revised POR circuit in them has been upgraded for extra
flexibility and can now handle a slower ramp-up of the power supply
voltage.
Also, like the other R8C/Tiny MCUs, the new devices have a single-pin
debugging interface that lets system engineers use the Renesas E8a
emulator/on-chip debugger as a development environment — even while all I/O
pins are in use — for more efficient program development. The new MCUs, though,
have an additional debugging function that allows developers to make RAM
references and changes during user program execution, a capability that can
improve debugging efficiency. Of course, the E8a emulator retains its
capability as a code writer for the MCU’s on-chip flash memory.
Besides the E8a emulator/debugger, Renesas offers a comprehensive set of
hardware and software development products for systems that use R8C/Tiny MCUs.
Additional support is available from a large international community of
third-party suppliers. In the future, Renesas plans to offer support for the
E100 full-spec emulator for situations requiring a more powerful debugging
tool. The company also will continue to extend the R8C/Tiny line-up for
automotive applications with microcontrollers offering improved performance and
functions.
Notes:
- CAN (Controller Area Network): A network specification for use in vehicles,
advocated by Robert Bosch Gmbh of Germany
- Data flash: Renesas Technology’s proprietary technology for on-chip flash
memory used mainly for data storage, which differs from the technology used for
on-chip flash memory normally used for software storage
* Product names, company names, or brands mentioned are the property of
their respective owners.
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