The single-chip solution combines large memory capacity in an ultracompact package for a wide range of HMI needs
Providing a high-performance single-chip solution with touch sensing and voice recognition capabilities for contactless operation is the new RX671 group of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs). It is suitable for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), smart meters, smart home appliances and other applications requiring advanced functionality and power efficiency.
As a part of Renesas Electronics’ RX600 Series, the RX671 MCUs are built around an RXv3 CPU core that operates at 120 MHz and integrates flash memory supporting fast read access at a clock speed of 60 MHz. It has a CoreMark score of 707 for excellent performance and power efficiency of 48.8 CoreMark/mA that makes it the best.
Other features include 2 megabytes (MB) of flash memory and 384 kilobytes (KB) of SRAM. For size-constrained devices requiring advanced functionality, the RX671 comes with 2 MB of flash memory in a 64-pin TFBGA package measuring only 4.5 mm × 4.5 mm.
To facilitate the increased demand for safe and hygienic contactless user interfaces brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the new RX671 MCU incorporates a capacitive touch sensing unit that combines high sensitivity with excellent noise tolerance and can be used to implement contactless proximity switches. Additionally, by combining voice recognition middleware from Renesas’ RX ecosystem, a serial sound interface can be used for connecting digital microphones for voice recognition over long distances.
“RX671 will meet the needs of a wide range of customers with its combination of real-time performance, power efficiency, HMI functions, security functions and many package options,” said Sakae Ito, Vice President of IoT Platform Business Division at Renesas.
The RX671 integrates Renesas’ Trusted Secure IP in its built-in hardware security engine, which is an encryption engine with AES, RSA, ECC and SHA support, a true random number generator (TRNG) and an encrypted key management mechanism. This protection function of the on-chip flash memory allows users to implement secure firmware updates and secure boot.
Available in a wide variety of packages with pin counts ranging from 48 to 145 pins, the RX671 can be obtained now from Renesas Electronics Corporation.
The company has also introduced two new evaluation boards with the RX671 group of MCUs: the Target Board can evaluate the RX671 without needing a separate debugger while the Renesas Starter Kit+ supports detailed evaluation of the MCU’s main functions. Both boards are equipped with connectors to the Wi-Fi Pmod Expansion Board (RTK00WFMX0B00000BE) for easy evaluation using wireless network connectivity. The combination is FreeRTOS-certified, allowing users to obtain certified sample programs from GitHub and try out using the RX671 in coordination with AWS without delay.
