Renesas SmartBond DA1470x Bluetooth 5.2 LE SoC features a 2D GPU

I would not usually ask myself “is there a GPU?” in a Bluetooth LE SoC, but that’s exactly what Renesas SmartBond DA1470x Bluetooth 5.2 LE microcontroller offers with a 2D GPU used to accelerate the rendering of user interfaces in wearables, healthcare devices, home appliances with displays, industrial automation and security systems, as well as consoles in e-bikes and gaming equipment.

The DA1470x also comes with a Cortex-M33 application core, a Cortex-M0+ sensor node controller, 1.5MB SRAM, and an ultra-low-power hardware VAD for always-on audio processing, as well as various peripherals.

Specifications:

• CPU cores
  • Arm Cortex-M33 core @ up to 160 MHz for the application
  • Arm Cortex-M0+ core acting as a sensor node controller (SNC)
• GPU – 2D GPU for advanced graphics processing
• Memory – 1.5MB SRAM
• Storage
  • 4 kB OTG, 32KB ROM on-chip
  • Decrypt-on-the-fly Octa/Quad SPI flash interface
  • Dedicated QSPI PSRAM and QSPI flash interfaces
  • eMMC interface supporting up to 48 MHz SDR mode
• Wireless
  • Standards – Bluetooth 5.2 LE and 2.4GHz proprietary
  • Configurable transmit output power: -18 to to +6 dBm
  • -97 dBm receiver sensitivity
  • Single wire antenna: no RF matching or RX/TX switching required
  • Supply current at VBAT – TX: 3 mA, RX: 1.85 mA (with ideal DC-DC)
• Display I/F – Parallel-DPI/DBIB/JDI, SPI/DualSPI/QSPI Display Controller with own DMA and two layers support
  SPI/DualSPI/QSPI Display Controller
• Peripherals
  • Audio
    • Ultra-Low Power Voice Activity Detection (VAD) enabling audio processing with system-on current < 26 uA
    • 11 ENOB (Effective number of bits), 16 Ksps Audio ADC with Programmable Gain Amplifier
    • PDM interface with dual HW sample rate converter (SRC)
    • I2S/PCM master/slave interface up to eight channels
  • USB – 1x USB 1.1 full-speed device interface
  • 3x UARTs up to 6 Mbps, one UART extended to support ISO7816
  • 3 x SPI+ controllers
  • 1x MIPI I3C at 12.5 MHz
  • 3x I2C at 100 kHz, 400 kHz, or 3.4 MHz
  • 4-channel 10-bit SAR ADC, 3.4 Mbps
  • Up to 79x General Purpose I/Os
  • 6x 24-bit timers for PWM
  • 3x white LED drivers
  • Real-Time Clock
• Security – Cryptographic engine with AES-128/192/256, SHA-224/256/384/512, and a True Random Number Generator (TRNG)
• Built-in power management with
  • 720mA JEITA-compliant USB charger with support for rechargeable Li-ion/Li-Po batteries.
  • Low quiescent current SIMO DC/DC converter to supply internal system and external components
• Packages – VFBGA142, 6.2×6, 0.45 mm pitch

The microcontroller is programmable through the SmartSnippets Studio IDE, and Renesas also provides code samples on Github together with an accompanying Android app called Renesas SmartBond. As you’ll notice from the documentation, the chips were initially developed by Dialog Semiconductor before Renesas acquired the company last year.

The SmartBond DA1470x family is comprised of four SKUs: the DA14701, DA14705, DA14706, and DA14708 each offering various features as shown in the table above. For reference, the DA14706 is used in the Xiaomi Mi Band 7 with a 1.62-inch, 192×490 AMOLED display, and 15-day battery life for typical use.

The company also offers two reference designs, which they call “Winning Combinations” namely a Wearable Activity Tracker…

… and an “Instrument Panel for Light Electric Vehicles“.

Renesas SmartBond DA1470x Bluetooth 5.2 LE microcontrollers are in mass production now, and even found in commercial products. More information can be found on the product page.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

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