Jun 24, 2011 12:55 GMT  ·  By

Renesas has long been a maker of controller chips for all sorts of electronic devices, and it looks like its most recent such chip, the RL78 microcontroller (MCU), is ready to land inside everything from household applications to mobile devices.

Semiconductors come in a whole sort of shapes, sizes and capabilities, but what they all have in common is that there can be no electronic product without them.

Renesas is one of the companies that create and supply such chips, with this occasion marking the rise of one chip usable in household appliances, office equipment, healthcare devices, motor control, security systems, mobile devices and industrial automation systems.

Dubbed RL78 microcontroller, is is a 16-bit MCU with better power efficiency and performance than that of the 78K and R8C MCU families.

It merges the former's power efficiency technology and the latter's on-chip peripheral functions while still maintaining compatibility with existing software.

“In addition to the low-power process technology, the new RL78/G14 devices incorporate a number of versatile peripherals to enable innovative low-cost embedded designs,” said Ritesh Tyagi, Director of Microcontroller Product Marketing, Consumer & Industrial Business Unit, Renesas Electronics America.

“A clear example of such features is the advanced 64MHz-capable 16-bit timer units designed for precise control of low-end motor systems. These timer peripherals combined with 5-V support, advanced hardware-based safety features such as RAM Parity check and CRC, make the RL78/G14 devices ideal for higher-efficiency household appliances.”

“Furthermore, to minimize development time, Renesas designed these devices to maintain compatibility with its existing R8C and 78K MCUs, thereby maximizing re-use of legacy code.”

The RL78 MCU features advanced timer modules, a data transfer controller and event link controller, 8-bit DAC and comparator and Additional CPU instructions and enhanced on-chip debugging functions.

Samples are already available, but mass production will only start at the end of the ongoing year (December, 2011).