Renesas Electronics expanded its RX200 Series of low-power mid-range MCUs, introducing the RX220 group of 11 entry-level devices to provide greater scalability for embedded designers moving from 8- and 16-bit to 32-bit applications. Based on the RX CPU core, the new RX220 general-purpose MCUs offer a combination of high performance and low power consumption for cost-conscious consumer and industrial applications, including electric household appliances, smartphones and digital cameras, industrial equipment, and measuring devices. The new RX220 Group of MCUs achieves processing performance of approximately 50 DMIPS at 32 MHz while maintaining low power consumption. The power consumption is reduced to less than half that of the earlier RX200 Series when operating in the low-frequency range down to 8 MHz. The RX CPU core delivers 1.56 DMIPS/MHz. It is also possible to substantially reduce the processing time through intermittent operation in which processing and standby stages alternate, which helps significantly reduce overall system power consumption.
The new RX220 MCUs maintains a high level of compatibility not only with the high-end RX210 Group, which features a maximum operating frequency of 50 MHz, but also with the RX Family’s high-functionality RX630 Group, featuring a maximum operating frequency of 100 MHz, both of which are currently in mass production. This simplifies the process of upgrading existing systems and strengthens the overall product lineup. The new RX220 MCUs support a wide operating voltage range extending from an ultralow 1.62 V to 5.5 V, providing support for a broad range of applications, from portable devices operating on low voltage to electric household appliances and industrial equipment operating on 5 V. The maximum operating frequencies are: 4 MHz at 1.62 V to 1.8 V, 8 MHz at 1.8 V to 2.7 V, and 32 MHz at 2.7 V to 5.5 V. In addition, the on-chip flash memory can be overwritten throughout the entire operating voltage range, eliminating the need for a separate power supply to rewrite the flash memory even for low-voltage operation at 1.8 V or less, simplifying system design.
Enhanced safety functions include a clock frequency accuracy measurement circuit ; an oscillator oscillation stop detection circuit; a data operation circuit that assists in RAM error testing; a cyclic redundancy check function for detecting communication errors; an independent watchdog timer ; self-diagnostic functions for detecting disconnection of the analog input to the A/D converter and detecting A/D converter malfunctions. This integration eliminates the need for the external circuits or software processing previously needed to implement fail-safe capabilities in a system, and simplifies compliance with the IEC 60730 international safety standard for electric household appliance. Renesas has also received the VDE certification for its IEC60335-compliant self-test software for the RX200 Series of MCUs. Renesas intends to continue to extend the RX MCU lineup to meet the diverse requirements of a broad range of customers, for example with new RX200 Series products for meter applications.
