Engineers say | How low-cost entry-level MCUs can meet your system requirements

As the RA MCU series further expands into the entry MCU market, the new RA0 series brings the innovation, security, and reliability of the Renesas Electronics portfolio to a wider range of general-purpose applications. The RA0E1 is the first product in the series, featuring excellent cost-effectiveness and ultra-low power consumption, and uses the Arm ^® Cortex ^® -M23 core to provide up to 32MHz CPU performance.

But how does this new MCU stand out? Here are the key features and benefits of the latest member of the RA family:

• Industry-leading ultra-low power consumption

• The operating current is only 84.3μA/MHz and the standby current is as low as 200nA

• Flexible power architecture enables fast wake-up from standby mode

• Comparable price to 8/16-bit MCUs

• Provides lower BOM cost and smaller memory footprint

• Supported by Flexible Software Package (FSP) and HAL drivers

RA0E1 provides optimized functions and features for cost-sensitive entry-level MCU applications. Existing MCUs have rich timer, analog, touch and security features to meet your various design needs. RA0E1 has a feature set optimized specifically for cost-sensitive applications. We also provide an excellent hardware and software scalability upgrade path between the RA2 series and the 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 can be directly ported between RA series devices. Of course, the same development tools can also be used.

RA0E1 offers lower power consumption in both run and software standby modes. The power consumption of normal operating mode is as low as 84.3μA/MHZ when running NOP instructions, which means that the CPU can idle in active mode waiting for interrupts with very low power consumption. Even the fully activated run mode provides a variety of low-power options by lowering the CPU clock speed. The software standby mode can deactivate the on-chip functions of the MCU to reduce power consumption to the lowest possible level. The typical software standby current of RA0E1 is 200nA. In addition, the wake-up time of RA0E1 from standby mode is 1.6μs, which is more than 7 times faster than competing products. This minimizes the power waste during intermittent operation of battery-powered applications, thereby maximizing the normal operation time of the application.

The RA0E1 features three power modes, and these flexible system settings allow designers to maximize battery life for all functions of the end application.

The RA0E1 development environment is designed to provide an easy-to-use and as flexible a development environment as possible for both new and existing RA users. As you know, Renesas provides comprehensive support for seamless development, ensuring a strong ecosystem for success. Key features include a Flexible Software Package (FSP) with HAL drivers, development tools (IDE, debugger, compiler), and cost-effective rapid prototyping evaluation boards. The RA series is supported by three different integrated development environments: Renesas' Eclipse-based e² studio, the popular Keil MDK, and IAR's Embedded Workbench. To quickly start development, we built the FPB-RA0E1 rapid prototyping board, which is widely available from Renesas and our distribution partners. This evaluation board enables designers to quickly start development and bring new products to market faster, helping to ensure business success.

The ultra-low power RA0E1 implements optimized peripherals for BOM cost reduction and ease of design for the entry MCU market. With this new MCU, you can simplify your design and get to market faster than ever before.

For more details on the features and benefits of the RA0E1, please visit the product page at the end of this article Read the original article

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