In March 2024, Renesas Electronics released the “RA2A2” as part of its “RA Family” of 32-bit microcontrollers. These microcontrollers are equipped with peripheral functions necessary for smart meters, industrial sensors, measurement equipment, and other applications.
The RA2A2 features a maximum operating frequency of 48MHz, an Arm Cortex-M23 core, a 24-bit ΔΣ A-D converter with up to 7 channels of digital filters, a 12-bit SAR A-D converter, a temperature sensor, 512KB of dual-bank flash memory, 48KB of SRAM, an LCD controller, and more integrated functionalities. The built-in flash memory includes dual-bank and bank swap functions, allowing for easy firmware updates even after device shipment.
Power consumption is also kept low, with an active mode current of 100μA/MHz and a software standby mode current of 0.40μA, enabling extremely low power consumption. The real-time clock (RTC) operates on an independent power source, allowing it to continue counting clock cycles with minimal power consumption even when the VCC power is turned off, enabling long battery life.
Additionally, it is equipped with features such as an AES cryptographic hardware accelerator and a high-speed on-chip oscillator with ±1.0% accuracy. The operating voltage range is from 1.6V to 5.5V. The device is available in 100-pin, 80-pin, and 64-pin LFQFP packages.
The RA2A2 targets various sensing devices, with a particularly anticipated application being next-generation smart meters equipped with non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) technology. It features an 8kHz/4kHz hybrid sampling function, making it easier to measure total load current and voltage, as well as harmonics.
Renesas offers the Flexible Software Package (FSP) to support the development of RA2A2 application systems. The FSP includes various basic software such as RTOS, BSP (Board Support Package), peripheral drivers, middleware, connectivity, network, security stacks, as well as reference software for building complex AI, motor control, and cloud solutions. Users can also integrate their own software code into the FSP. Additionally, Renesas provides winning combinations such as “3-Phase Smart Power Meter” to facilitate development.
Source: EE Times Japan
https://eetimes.itmedia.co.jp/ee/articles/2403/22/news072.html
