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| [November 26, 2012] |
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Renesas Electronics Introduces Low-power Industrial Ethernet Communication Chips with Integrated Real-Time OS Offload Engine
TOKYO --(Business Wire)--
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of
advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the R-IN32M3 series of
industrial Ethernet communication chips with support for multiple
communication protocols in response to the rapid adoption of industrial
Ethernet communication technology.
One of the most distinctive features of the R-IN32M3 is the high-speed
operation with the basic function of the real-time OS in hardware to
implement high-speed real-time response and high-precision communication
control for industrial Ethernet communication. Because the hardware in
the new R-IN32M3 series covers heavy load operations for the CPU, the
combination of the CPU and integrated real-time OS off load engine
(HW-RTOS [Note 1]) result in ultra-high-speed real-time responsiveness
five to ten times that of a conventional software real-time OS. In
addition, the fluctuation caused by inconsistencies in the operation
time with conventional CPU processing is reduced substantially from
one-fifth to one-tenth of the previous level. The new R-IN32M3 series
include an integrated ARM (News - Alert) Cortex-M3 CPU (100 MHz). The new Ethernet
controllers accept protocols for industrial Ethernet communication such
as CC-Link IE [Note 2] and EtherCAT [Note 3] and will accept the control
area network (CAN) [Note 4] which is heavily used in industries and
generic interface such as universal asynchronous receiver transmitter
(UART). There are also plans to provide support for the SSCNET III/H
[Note 5] optical network standard, which uses fully synchronous
communication to deliver improved performance.
The industrial Ethernet communication market, which demands faster
communication between devices and their efficient central control, is
growing rapidly because there is increasing need to boost factory
production efficiency and improve the precision of machine control.
Increasing high-speed real-time responsiveness and reducing processing
time deviation in communication and machine control are particularly
important issues. Also, cutting costs, reducing power consumption, and
improving safety are much more important than in other markets. The
newly developed R-IN32M3-CL and R-IN32M3-EC are designed to meet the
industrial network market requirements.
Key Features of the R-IN32M3 Series
(1) Integrated eal-time OS offload engine
(HW-RTOS) and Ethernet accelerator
Industrial Ethernet communication applications require support for a
large number of tasks, high-speed time synchronization, and low power
consumption. By implementing real-time OS processing in hardware, which
previously imposed a substantial load on the CPU, and standard Ethernet
communication protocol processing such as checksum calculation and
header sorting, processing speed is increased five to ten times. The
HW-RTOS driver is �ITRON compliant. Plans call for support for
additional OSs to be added in future.
(2) Multi-protocol support (CC-Link IE, EtherCAT,
EtherNet/IP, etc.)
The R-IN32M3-CL with CC-Link IE support integrates a slave controller
supporting CC-Link IE Field as a circuit. CC-Link is a 1 Gbps industrial
Ethernet communication standard that is the industry's fastest and is
promoted by the CC-Link Partner Association, a Japanese organization
promoting open networks. The R-IN32M3-EC with EtherCAT support, on the
other hand, integrates a slave controller supporting the EtherCAT
industrial Ethernet communication standard. Both feature an ARM
Cortex-M3 (100 MHz) 32-bit RISC CPU, a media access control (MAC) with
low-latency 2-port switch function required by industrial Ethernet
protocols, and large on-chip memory. Support by protocol software for
EtherNet/IP, FL-net and some others are under final preparation. In
addition to communication interfaces with industrial Ethernet support,
communication interfaces such as CC-Link, CAN, serial peripheral
interface (SPI), and UART can be implemented as well, allowing R-IN32M3
series products to be used as gateway modules to an industrial Ethernet
network.
(3) R-IN32M3-CL with 1 Gbps MAC and R-IN32M3-EC
with 10/100Mbps EtherPHY
The R-IN32M3-CL, which implements the CC-Link IE protocol in hardware,
incorporates a 1 Gbps Ethernet MAC, so 1 Gbps Ethernet communication can
be achieved by adding an external 1 Gbps EtherPHY. The R-IN32M3-EC, in
contrast, integrates a 2 port 10/100Mbps EtherPHY, so no external PHY
and smaller module board is required, which contributes to making a
smaller module board. Note that the hardware purchase cost is roughly
identical whether an external or an internal PHY is used.
[Note 1] The HW-RTOS utilizes dedicated technology based on the ARTESSO
architecture of Kernelon Silicon.
[Note 2] CC-Link IE is a high-speed field network that can deal with
control and communication simultaneously based on Ethernet.
[Note 3] Renesas Electronics uses EtherCAT technology under license.
EtherCAT is an industrial Ethernet communication standard developed by
Beckhoff, an industrial equipment manufacturer based in Germany.
[Note 4] CAN is a vehicle network standard promoted by Robert Bosch GmbH
of Germany.
[Note 5] SSCNET III/H is one of the high-speed motion network standards
of communication developed by Mitsubishi (News - Alert) Electric Corporation.
Pricing and Availability
Samples of the first products in R-IN32M3 series, the R-IN32M3-CL and
R-IN32M3-EC, will be available in January 2013, priced at US$25 per
unit. Mass production of the R-IN32M3 series is scheduled to begin in
June 2013 and is expected to reach a scale of 300,000 units per month in
April 2015. (Pricing and availability are subject to change without
notice.)
(Remarks)
ARM is a registered trademark and ARM Cortex is trademarks of ARM
Limited in the EU and other countries. Other names of products or
services mentioned in this press release are trademarks or registered
trademarks 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 (News - Alert)
Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723) and Renesas Technology 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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