[September 25, 2014]

Renesas Electronics Delivers Enhanced Safety and Efficiency at an Affordable Cost for Brushless DC Motor Control

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, is expanding its safety and efficiency support for home appliances and tools with the innovative new RL78/G1G Group of microcontrollers (MCUs). In complement to its current brushless DC motor control (BLDC) MCU offerings, Renesas delivers power-efficient performance with shorter development time and up to 40 percent lower system costs, in a small but powerful single-chip solution for appliances like advanced electric fans, electric tools, and food processors, and many other applications that require fine motor control.

"As energy efficiency takes on broader consumer awareness, particularly in the home, designing for small appliances and power tools becomes more sophisticated," said Ritesh Tyagi, Vice President of Marketing, Renesas Electronics America. "We have designed the RL78/G1G devices in such a way that customers can run a high-efficient motor control algorithm by taking advantage of precision analog capability on board without using external components. We are leveraging our strong design expertise and global experience in motor control to continue delivering innovative solutions that support evolving application demands here in the Americas."

Development based on a common platform supporting all product levels, from multifunction high-end to entry-level models, has become the mainstream for small electric appliances incorporating BLDC motors. By using Renesas' existing RL78/G14 Group in their high-end products, customers can utilize the same software resources in products at all price points, from high-end to entry-level models. In addition, integrating the external components onto one chip and extending the built-in, low-capacity flash memory lineup enables designers to reduce system cost by 40 percent compared with previous devices for BLDC motor cntrol in these small appliances and consumer products - a significant cost savings for these competitive markets.

Key features of the RL78/G1G MCUs:

(1) On-chip PGA with software gain setting for amplifying very small signals

The RL78/G1G Group integrates an amplifier that supports setting the amplification factor for very small signals by using software. This eliminates the need to add an external amplifier for inverter circuit fault detection during BLDC motor control.

(2) On-chip high-speed comparator with response time 1/8 that of earlier products for more accurate fault detection

The RL78/G1G Group's integrated high-speed two-channel comparator has a response time of 0.15 µs (max.), 1/8 that of comparable earlier Renesas products. This eliminates the need for an external comparator and makes it possible to reduce the size of the wiring board. The PGA output signal can be selected by the comparator, making it possible to use it as an overvoltage protection device for the inverter circuit during brushless motor control. For example, in a food processor, malfunctions in the BLDC motor control can be detected immediately so that the motor can stop safely.

(3) Backward compatibility with earlier products, allowing reuse of existing software and shorter turnaround time (TAT (News - Alert))

The RL78/G1G Group preserves compatibility with the motor control-related peripheral functions integrated into the earlier RL78/G14 Group and includes an on-chip timer RD optimized for brushless motor control. This allows for wide-ranging scalability in combination with the RL78/G14 Group. A single platform can be used to develop products ranging from the high-end to the popularly priced, and the ability to reuse existing software helps shorten the time required for development.

Pricing and Availability

The new RL78/G1G Group comprises six product versions with package pin counts of 30, 32, or 44 pins, and on-chip flash memory capacity of 8 or 16 kilobytes (KB). Samples of Renesas Electronics' new RL78/G1G MCUs are available now. Pricing varies depending on memory capacity, package and number of pins. For example, the R5F11EFAAFP MCU with 16 KB of flash memory and 1.5 KB of RAM (News - Alert) equipped on QFP package with 44 pins is priced at US$0.95 per unit in sample quantities of 10,000. Mass production is scheduled to begin in December 2014 and is expected to reach a combined volume of 500,000 units per month in 2015. (Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.)

(Remarks) All registered trademarks or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), the world's number one supplier of microcontrollers, is a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions and a broad-range of analog and power devices. Business operations began as Renesas Electronics in April 2010 through the integration of NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723) and Renesas Technology (News - Alert) Corp., with operations spanning research, development, design and manufacturing for a wide range of applications. Headquartered in Japan, Renesas Electronics has subsidiaries in 20 countries worldwide. More information can be found at www.renesas.com.

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