Renesas Electronics Introduces SuperH Microcontrollers With Built-In Large-Capacity 2.5MB SRAM

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the availability of two new 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), the SH7268 and SH7269, that achieve increased functionality and enable a smaller-size solution for digital car audio, consumer and industrial applications, which drive a color TFT-LCD. These new MCUs share the following features: (1) large-capacity 2.5 megabyte (MB) on-chip SRAM that is almost double the size of the predecessor SH7266 MCU, allowing display of WVGA resolution (800 × 480) images without any external RAM; (2) maximum CPU operating frequency is increased by 1.8 times (now at 266 megahertz (MHz)) elevating performance to handle additional system tasks plus digital audio signal processing; (3) enhanced functions such as a 2D graphics accelerator conforming to OpenVG™ 1.1, the industry’s standard graphics processing programming interface (API) for embedded equipment.

Renesas Electronics’ new SH7268 and SH7269 MCUs in the SuperH™ family are based on the SH2A-FPU (floating point unit) superscalar CPU core, which provides superlative real-time performance with 2.0 Dhrystone MIPS per 1MHz of CPU operation and a double-precision floating point math unit, while integrating many peripheral functions for audio and graphic applications.

Because the price of color TFT-LCD panels continues to fall, a wide variety of products using an embedded processor are now gaining a color 2D graphics display for the user interface, enhancing the overall perceived value of the end product, and making their use naturally intuitive. The trend is to use higher and higher resolutions on the displays (up to WVGA), which requires a proportionally larger RAM frame buffer memory outside the MCU.

Since Renesas Electronics’ SH7268 and SH7269 MCUs uniquely have an extremely large internal SRAM, there is no need for this external memory, which saves power and space, increases performance, and lowers emissions of electromagnetic interference. Many applications that can benefit from these attributes include automotive infotainment and vehicle status displays, office automation equipment, home appliances, games, medical patient monitoring equipment, home and building automation equipment, and fire/security control panels.

Key features of the SH7268 and SH7269 MCUs

(1) Large-capacity 2.5 MB on-chip SRAM supports one-chip solution

By including 2.5 MB of on-chip SRAM, the new MCUs can store the required image information for two screens of WVGA resolution when the SRAM is used as a frame buffer. For users of the previous generation SH7266 MCUs with VGA resolution (640 x 480), this is a natural upgrade path to WVGA without requiring any external frame buffer memory.

This built-in 2.5MB SRAM can also be used for program storage or as working memory. Since the memory space is divided into six pages, multiple pages can be accessed at the same time from different bus masters making these MCUs optimal for real-time processing.

(2) Achieves 266 MHz high-speed operation

To take full advantage of the high-speed SRAM, and to produce faster signal processing for digital audio, the maximum CPU operating frequency has been increased by 1.8 times from the existing SH7266 MCU, now achieving 266 MHz. The maximum CPU performance is reached when the 1-cycle access SRAM is used for program storage. The higher speed increases system capability for example, by making it possible to respond to voice commands during audio playback or to implement noise reduction processing for hands-free telephone applications.

(3) Improved display functions, including an OpenVG 1.1 conforming 2D graphics accelerator

The new MCUs include a 2D graphics accelerator supporting the OpenVG 1.1 industry standard, providing high-precision 2D graphics display capability, with reduced loading on the CPU core itself, and reduced memory footprint, for a cost-effective enhanced human-machine interface (HMI).

Additionally, these MCUs include a hardware JPEG codec, and thereby can perform image data compression and JPEG data decoding at high speeds. Also, there are digital RGB output pins that support a full-color display with almost 17 million colors at WVGA resolution.

With a selection of 12 total products among the SH7268 and SH7269 devices, Renesas Electronics offers options with and without a CAN interface, and two temperature ranges (-40 to +85°C and -20 to +85°C). The SH7268 MCU is available in a 208-pin QFP package, and the SH7269 is available in both 256-pin QFP and 272-pin BGA packages. All packages are lead-free.

Renesas Electronics will continue to respond to market needs by offering new products in the SH7260 series that provide higher speeds, higher performance and higher functionality for high-end applications by increasing CPU performance and on-chip memory capacities, and richer sets of peripheral functions. The company also will develop products that achieve lower costs for low-end applications.

More information can be found at http://www.renesas.com/products/mpumcu/superh/sh7260/sh7260_landing.jsp

Pricing and Availability

Samples of Renesas Electronics’ new SH7268 and SH7269 MCUs are available now, with a suggested sample price of US$27 and US$29 in 1-piece quantity, respectively. Mass production is scheduled to begin with a combined volume of 500,000 units per month by October 2011. (Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.)

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 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.

(Remarks) OpenVG is a trademark of the Khronos Group. SuperH™ and IEBus™ (InterEquipment Bus) are trademarks of Renesas Electronics Corporation. Other product and service names that appear in this press release are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.