Renesas Electronics Launches World's First 28nm Automotive Grade MCU

The product is a new generation of automotive-controlled RH850/E2x series MCUs that extend the entire Renesas autonomyTM end-to-end solution portfolio from the underlying hardware

Renesas Electronics Co., Ltd. (TSE:6723), the world's leading semiconductor solutions provider, today announced the industry’s first integrated flash microcontroller (MCU) using the 28nm process and will begin shipping samples on the same day. To build the next generation of more efficient and reliable eco-friendly and self-driving cars, this revolutionary RH850/E2x series of microcontrollers incorporates up to six 400Mhz processor cores, making it the industry's first (Note 1) Vehicle control flash MCU that can reach the 9600MIPS (Note 2) command processing capability. This family of MCUs also features up to 16MB of built-in flash memory and improved security and functional security.

Renesas autonomyTM is Renesas Electronics’ open, innovative and reliable development platform for intelligent driver assisted and automated driver development. Through this platform, Renesas Electronics provides an end-to-end solution for the evolution of the automotive industry to the next generation of eco-friendly cars, networked cars, and self-driving cars. The 28nm process automotive control MCU is a breakthrough product designed for cloud service interconnection and environmental awareness. It possesses the advanced technology required for the next-generation automotive control system and forms the main product pillar of the Renesas autonomy platform with the Renesas R-Car series SoC. First-tier suppliers such as automakers and Denso have begun adopting the 28nm MCU products and agreed that the MCU's superior processing performance can help develop the next generation of energy-efficient engines. At the same time, the MCU has unprecedented scalability, enabling it to serve as a platform for the evolution of future automotive electronics/electrical architectures, as well as the electronic control unit (ECU) integration needs resulting from this change.

Major Performance of the New RH850/E2x Series MCUs

Super handling performance for complex vehicle control required for environmentally friendly cars

In order to develop environmentally friendly vehicles and next-generation energy-efficient engines, superior processing performance is required to support new fuel system designs. In addition, the miniaturization of high-efficiency engines and converters for electric cars and hybrid cars, excellent processing performance and high integration are indispensable conditions. The newly released 28nm Flash MCU is the world's first microcontroller with up to six 400MHz processing cores and 9600MIPS instruction speed. Compared to earlier 40nm MCUs, the new RH850/E2x family of MCUs can achieve 3X processing performance at the same power level. The RH850/E2x family's built-in enhanced sensor interface provides better precision control of automotive control system integration. For new MCUs, Renesas Electronics partners will also provide multi-core virtual environments and model-based development environments.

Large-Capacity Flash Memory for Networking Cars Supports Advanced OTA Software Updates

The need to wirelessly download OTA functionality has prompted the ever-increasing built-in flash memory capacity. The OTA function can automatically update the vehicle's electronic control unit (ECU) firmware over a wireless network to improve and improve the system's security. The RH850/E2x series integrates 16MB of flash ROM and supports the option of updating only specific areas of the flash memory according to user needs. The RH850/E2x's enhanced serial communication interface configuration supports up to 10 channels of CAN FD interface and 1 channel of Ethernet interface. Hardware security features that support Evita Medium support microcontrollers for fast and reliable OTA software updates.

Enhanced functional safety for self-driving cars

In order to achieve the highest level ASIL-D standard in the ISO26262 automotive electronic/electrical system functional safety standard, the RH850/E2x series adopts a dual-core lock-step architecture to ensure that the two processing cores have the same operational results. The RH850/E2x can provide up to four interlocked dual cores and feature security improvements for many hardware. In life-critical applications, these functions detect problems immediately when a failure occurs, and maintain system security at all times. Renesas Electronics will provide safety analysis tools to help implement a variety of safety systems suitable for different application scenarios.

Following the announcement of the development of the 28nm embedded flash memory in February 2015, Renesas Electronics announced in September 2016 that it will cooperate with TSMC to produce 28nm MCUs. The introduction of the world's first 28nm embedded flash MCU to the market today will be another important milestone for Renesas Electronics. Renesas Electronics has verified the application of fin-shaped MONOS flash technology on 16/14nm and next-generation MCU products. As a global leader in automotive semiconductor solutions, Renesas Electronics is committed to using technology innovation to drive the industry's development and build a safe and reliable automotive society.

Author：Brittany Antonia （The author of article owns the copyright.）