Renesas Technology expands M16C family product line.

Renesas Technology America, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of the joint-venture semiconductor company established by Hitachi, Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric  Corporation with the top microcontroller (MCU) market share, worldwide, has announced additions to the high-performance M32C/80 Series flash microcontrollers (MCUs) in the popular M16C Family. The ten new models--three in the M32C/84 Group, six in the M32C/85 Group, and one in the M32C/86 Group--operate at up to 32MHz for 32MIPS performance and are designed to excel in applications such as automotive systems and communication equipment. They offer up to 512KB + 4KB of reliable single-voltage-programmable flash memory and a comprehensive range of on-chip peripheral functions that includes controller area network (CAN) controllers compliant to the Bosch v2.0B specification, plus high-level data link control (HDLC) and intelligent I/O functions.

These new MCUs are built upon time tested M16C Family features such as an M32C/80 CPU core with highly efficient C-language compatibility, high noise tolerance, low noise emission, and low power consumption, to which they add capabilities that increase system performance and decrease system chip count.

"The new flash MCUs in the M32C/84, /85 and /86 Groups provide high performance, functionality and excellent reliability at competitive prices, making the family a great fit for high-end automotive applications," said Saida Benhajla, automotive marketing manager, Renesas Technology America, Inc. "In particular, the MCUs' larger on-chip flash--up to 512KB with an additional 4KB smaller flash block which is especially useful for data storage--meets the needs of systems with increasingly sophisticated control programs.

"For automotive applications, perhaps the three most noteworthy enhancements are the CAN controller with up to two channels, an intelligent I/O block, which provides sophisticated waveform generation and timing measurement capability, and--for the M32C/86 Group--a stepping-motor control function that can control up to four motors simultaneously. Our serial I/O functions are also capable of supporting serial peripheral interfaces, a critical requirement for today's applications in connecting peripherals. For communication, industrial, and office automation (OA) applications, the added HDLC communication function is particularly important because it can implement fast, highly reliable data transfers between system elements."

Compared to the existing MCUs in the M32C/80 group, the new microcontrollers are characterized by faster 10-bit A/D converters that impose less software load, 3V/5V operation interfaces that incorporate a page mode for high-speed access to external flash ROM, and timing-functions that allow the insertion of up to 6 wait cycles. Other improvements include added functions that enhance system reliability.

The M32C/84, M32C/85, and M32C/86 Groups use the current M16C Family instructions and peripheral functions to provide pin-arrangement compatibility with the devices in the M32C/83 Group, M16C/80 Group, and M16C/60 Series. These factors combine to simplify system upgrades and shorten system development time. Available development tools include a variety of emulator systems, from a mini-emulator for the initial evaluation phase to the PC7501 emulator for use in full speed in circuit development.

Renesas maintains an evolving technology roadmap for this product line. Renesas' future product roadmap will encompass wide-temperature-range (-40 to +125 degrees C) models, MCUs with increased flash memory rewrite capability (up to 10K cycles), devices with larger- capacity on-chip memory, and faster (up to 64MHz) that deliver higher throughput.