CIE Components in Electronics
Renesas Electronics Corporation, the supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has introduced the RX671 group of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), adding a new high-performance, high-functionality single-chip solution with touch sensing and voice recognition capabilities for contactless operation to the RX Family.
Part of Renesas’ mainstream RX600 Series, the RX671 MCUs are built around an RXv3 CPU core operating at 120 MHz and integrates flash memory supporting fast read access at a clock speed of 60 MHz, for impressive real-time performance with a CoreMark score of 707, and power efficiency among the best in the class at 48.8 CoreMark/mA.
Available in a wide variety of packages with pin counts ranging from 48 to 145 pins with up to 2 megabytes (MB) of flash memory and 384 kilobytes (KB) of SRAM, the RX671 MCUs are suited for a wide range of applications that require advanced functionality, power efficiency, and compact size, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), smart meters, and smart home appliances. For size-constrained devices that require advanced functionality, the RX671 is available with 2 MB of flash memory in a 64-pin TFBGA package measuring only 4.5 mm × 4.5 mm – among the smallest anywhere among MCUs with 2MB flash memory.
The COVID-19 pandemic created new health and safety requirements that are transforming how people interact with their devices and environments, increasing the demand for hygienic contactless user interfaces in particular. The new RX671 MCU is optimized for contactless applications, integrating a capacitive touch sensing unit that combines high sensitivity with excellent noise tolerance and can be used to implement contactless proximity switches. In addition, the serial sound interface can be used to connect digital microphones that support voice recognition over long distances. Used in combination with voice recognition middleware from Renesas’ RX ecosystem partners, these features enable developers to create contactless operation functions utilizing voice recognition in a short amount of time.
