New Renesas Ultra-Low Power MCU with Advanced Security and Targeted Peripheral Set
Renesas has introduced the RA4C1 microcontroller (MCU) group based on an 80-MHz Arm Cortex M33 processor. The new devices offer ultra-low power consumption, advanced security features, abundant communication interfaces, and segment LCD support. This unique set of features and performance metrics is ideal for battery powered applications that need strict security, including gas, water, and industrial flow meters, as well as smart locks, thermostats, building controls and industrial user interfaces.
The RA4C1 MCUs employ proprietary low-power technology that delivers 168 µA/MHz active mode @ 80 MHz and standby current of less than 1.79 µA with all the SRAM retained; the RA4C1 also support a real-time clock (RTC) with its own dedicated power domain, supporting easy battery backup for the time.
The RA4C1 MCUs offer an RSIP-300 security engine that provides an isolated subsystem managed and protected by dedicated control logic. The new devices also include support for a 256-bit hardware unique key and True Randon Number Generator (TRNG), key management functionality with the ability to generate wrapped keys, SHA algorithms, hardware acceleration of AES, and ECC supporting NIST and Brainpool curves with a key length of up to 384 bits. The RA4C1 has also achieved PSA Certified Level 1 certification with European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
A 512 Kbyte dual bank on-chip flash enables easy and secure software updates with 96 kbytes of SRAM and 8 kbytes of dataflash for on chip data storage. Peripherals include a low-power ADC, an on-chip temperature sensor accurate to 1 percent, and an on-chip LCD controller to drive low power segment displays.
The RA4C1 MCUs are supported by Renesas’ Flexible Software Package (FSP). The FSP enables faster application development by providing all the infrastructure software needed, including multiple RTOS, BSP, peripheral drivers, middleware, connectivity, networking, and TrustZone support as well as reference software to build complex AI, motor control and cloud solutions. It allows customers to integrate their own legacy code and choice of RTOS with FSP, thus providing full flexibility in application development. The FSP eases migration of existing IP to and from either RA6 or RA2 Series devices.
