It wasn’t too long ago that a 32-bit microcontroller was an exotic device. Today, these micros are generally commonplace and affordable. The latest generation of 32-bit devices have been substantially improved, and they’re supplied by multiple competitive vendors. Some semiconductor manufacturers have even customized these devices for selected application areas. That’s what Renesas did with its new line of MCUs.
Renesas RA MCUs
The Renesas RA embedded microcontrollers are based on the Arm Cortex-M CPU cores, including the Arm Cortex-M4 and -M23. Multiple versions exist with a wide range of flash (256 kB to 2 MB) and SRAM choices. Package options extend from a small 32-pin device to a large 176-pin version. Interfaces include USB, CAN, and Ethernet, plus most of the other popular serial I/O ports.