The Renesas RA product family adds ultra-low power RA2L1 MCU product group

     Renesas Electronics, a global provider of semiconductor solutions, announced the launch of a new RA2L1 product group of 20 microcontrollers (MCUS) to expand its 32-bit RA2 family of MCUS, bringing the RA product family to 66 MCUS. The universal RA2L1 MCU uses the Arm® Cortex®-M23 core and operates at a maximum frequency of 48MHz. Support the development of RA2L1 MCUS with an easy-to-use Flexible Configuration package (FSP) and out-of-the-box hardware and software module solutions provided by the Renesas partner ecosystem. The RA2L1 MCU's ultra-low power consumption and innovative touch-sensitive interface make it ideal for appliance, industrial, building automation, healthcare, and consumer human-machine interface (HMI) iot applications.

     The RA2L1 MCU is designed for ultra-low power applications and integrates several peripheral features that reduce BOM costs, including capacitive touch sensing, embedded flash memory up to 256KB, SRAM up to 32KB, analog, communication and clock, and security and encryption. In many battery-powered applications, the MCU spends most of its time in low-power standby mode, waiting for internal or external events to wake up the CPU and process data, make decisions, and communicate with other system components. In the power test, the RA2L1 MCU achieved an EEMBC®ULPMarkTM score of 304 at 1.8V, confirming its best-in-class power consumption. Users can now reduce power consumption to near standby levels to extend battery life.

     Roger Wendelken, Senior Vice President, iot and Infrastructure Business Group, Renesas Electronics, said: "The RA product family continues to introduce new products, and I am pleased to announce the further expansion of the RA2 family of universal MCUS for iot HMI applications. From the bottom up, the RA2L1 MCU is optimized for the lowest standby power consumption, integrates advanced power and clock gating capabilities, and features Renesas' leading, highly differentiated second generation capacitive touch sensing unit."

     Advanced capacitive touch IP in the RA2L1 MCU enables greater operability of a wide range of contact and contactless systems. For example, keystroke sensing can be achieved through acrylic or glass panels more than 10 mm thick, which is sufficient for household equipment with thick door panels or partitions. It also enables proximity sensing (hovering) and 3D gesture control to effectively respond to health or safety constraints. The noise tolerance of the RA2L1 capacitive touch meets the requirements of IEC EN61000-4-3 Class 4 (radiation immunity) and EN61000-4-6 Class 3 (conduction immunity), ensuring the reliability of operation and minimizing the induction error.