Low-Power MCUs Target Environmental Sensors, Mobile Healthcare

Forty new RL78/L1C microcontrollers (MCUs) developed by Renesas Electronics can interface to sensors for pressure, temperature, and proximity, and can be used in portable monitors and mobile healthcare apps such as blood-pressure monitoring equipment. Each on-chip LCD-driver MCU, which control segment-display-type LCD panels, integrates LCD display functions, a USB function module (compliant with the USB BC 1.2 specification), and 12-bit analog-to-digital converters on one chip. Taking advantage of the RL78 family’s True Low Power technology, the devices reduce current drain during LCD drive operation by approximately 30%, and 40% to 60% current-drain reduction during USB operation, over earlier generation company products. In addition, they achieve 0.62-µA current drain during 32-kHz clock halt operation, reducing standby-mode current drain when the LCD is not being used. The new RL78/LIC MCUs come in 80- and 100-pin packages with on-chip flash memory ranging from 64 to 256 kbytes.

RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORP.