ICs & Semiconductors

The RA6M5 group of microcontrollers completes Renesas Electronics’ RA6 series Arm Cortex M33-based devices. The company has added 20 microcontrollers to complete the RA6 series. The RA6M5 group of microcontrollers offer communications options, generous on-chip memory, and what Renesas claims to be best-in-class security features.

Communications interface options include CAN FD, Ethernet MAC with DMA, USB full speed and high speed, and multiple serial interfaces. Renesas claims that designers of IoT systems will have “unmatched flexibility” in sharing critical data using the RA6M5 Group.

The new microcontrollers integrate up to 2Mbyte of on-chip flash and 512kbyte on-chip RAM. They also provide an OctaSPI which enables designers to extend the on-chip flash and RAM. The microcontrollers also support error correction code (ECC) in the RAM.

The memory block swap feature and intrinsic security in the RA devices are claimed to make the RA6M5 group particularly suitable for in-field firmware update applications. After new firmware is written to the flash using background operation, a selectable amount of 32kbyte flash blocks can be swapped to the new firmware.

The RA6M5 microcontrollers have an Arm Cortex-M33 core based on Armv8-M architecture. They feature Arm TrustZone technology and Renesas’ secure crypto engine. The engine incorporates multiple symmetric and asymmetric cryptography accelerators, advanced key management, security lifecycle management, power analysis resistance, and tamper detection.

They are also characterised by very Low power consumption of 107 microA/MHz in active mode (running the CoreMark algorithm from flash at 200MHz) and 30 microseconds wake up time.

The microcontrollers are scalable from 100- to 176-pin LQFP packages and also available in 176-ball BGAs.

The RA6M5 group is supported by the Flexible Software Package (FSP), which includes a best-in-class HAL driver, says Renesas. The FSP uses a graphical user interface (GUI) to simplify and accelerate the development process, while also making it easy for customers to transition from an original 8/16-bit microcontroller design. Designers using the RA6M5 microcontrollers also have access to the extensive Arm partner ecosystem, offering a wide range of tools that help speed time-to-market.

The RA6M5 microcontrollers and the EK-RA6M5 evaluation kit (RTK7EKA6M5S00001BE) are available now from Renesas and its worldwide distributors.

http://www.renesas.com

Multi-band, timing modules which concurrently support the L1 and L5 GNSS (global navigation satellite system) signals have been released by u-blox. The ZED-F9T-10B and LEA-F9T-10B timing modules, and the RCB-F9T-1 timing card deliver the nanosecond-level timing accuracy required to synchronise cellular network base stations and smart power grids.

Furthermore, the ANN MB1 L1/L5 multi-band antenna can be used to evaluate the performance of the timing modules and develop high precision for heavy machinery, ground robotics, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The timing modules’ multi-band capability allows them to compensate the ionosphere error from all GNSS satellite constellations and reduce the timing error under clear skies to less than five nanoseconds without the need for an external GNSS correction service. To achieve maximum performance, the modules track signals from as many satellites as possible.

The L1/L5 signal combination complements u-blox’s existing portfolio based on L1 and L2 signals, and are timely as satellite constellations transmitting signals on the L5 band near completion. Modernised L5 signals are expected to deliver improved performance, especially in difficult urban conditions. The L5 signals fall within the protected aeronautical radio navigation service (ARNS) frequency band and are also less subject to RF interference.

The LEA-F9T-10B module has an extended -40 to +105 degree C temperature range. U-blox says it will enable robust products that leverage these new signals in the L5 frequency band to be developed.

In addition to offering a differential timing mode for highly accurate local timing, the modules include improved anti-jamming and anti-spoofing technologies to detect and flag malicious RF interference. There is also a secure boot function and secure interfaces which prevent intruders from tampering with the messages between the receiver and the host system.  There is also time-receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (T-RAIM) which provides highest-level timing integrity, says u-blox.

The u-blox ANN-MB1 L1/L5 multi-band antenna supports the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou GNSS constellations. It simplifies the testing and deployment of L1/L5 multi-band GNSS solutions, says u-blox. It is available in magnetic and fixed mounting options.

In addition to tracking GNSS signals in the L1 and L5 bands, ANN-MB1 targets developers in industrial navigation and robotics developing precision technology to locate UAVs, ground robots, and agricultural equipment accurately and in real time.

Engineering samples of the u-blox ZED-F9T-10B, RCB-F9T-1, and ANN-MB1 will be available in May 2021, followed by the LEA-F9T-10B.

http://www.u-blox.com