Renesas RZ/N2L Arm Cortex-R52 MPU targets industrial Ethernet and TSN

Renesas RZ/N2L is an Arm Cortex-R52 microprocessor (MPU) family for industrial Ethernet communication equipped with an integrated TSN-compliant 3-port Gigabit Ethernet switch and an EtherCAT slave controller.

The new processors also support other major industrial network communication protocols such as EtherCAT, PROFINET RT, EtherNet/IP, and OPC UA, as well as the new PROFINET IRT (Isochronous real-time) that allows deterministic communication with cycle times down to 31.25 µs and one µs of jitter.

Renesas RZ/N2L key features and specifications:

• CPU – Arm Cortex-R52 @ up to 400MHz with 16KB I-cache with ECC, 16KB D-cache with ECC
• Memory
  • Tightly coupled memory – 256KB with ECC
  • Internal RAM – 1.5MB with ECC
  • Octa/Quad SPI for HyperRAM, HyperFLASH, SRAM, SDRAM
• Networking
  • Ethernet L2 switch: 3x external ports with Gigabit support
  • TSN support (IEEE 802.1AS-2020, IEEE 802.1Qbv/802.3br, IEEE 802.1Qbu, etc.)
  • Network redundancy support (DLR, PRP)
  • EtherCAT slave controller
  • Industrial Ethernet – EtherCAT, PROFINET RT/IRT, EtherNet/IP, OPC UA, etc.
• Host I/F  – Parallel or serial
• Peripherals
  • Up to 60-ch PWM timer (3-phase complementary output supported)
  • Trigonometric function accelerator
  • 2x 12-bit ADC
  • 6-channel ΔΣ I/F
  • 6x UART, 3x I2C
  • 2x CAN
• Supply voltage – Core 1.1V, I/O 3.3V, 1.8V
• Package – 225-pin FBGA, 121-pin FBGA

The company mostly designed the Renesas RZ/N2L as a coprocessor to allow customers to quickly deploy industrial networks with minimal modifications to their existing systems. But it can also be the brain of applications such as remote I/O, sensor hubs, and inverters, while the UART and CAN functions make it suitable to serve as a gateway for converting from a Fieldbus-based on RS485 or CAN to Industrial Ethernet.

Software development can be done with the Renesas IDE e² studio and Flexible Software Package (FSP) for RZ/N2L, and Renesas also offers the RZ/N2L-RSK Renesas Starter Kit+ for RZ/N2L to get started quickly. The board provides three Ethernet connectors, some USB ports, as well as Pmod, Grove, Qwiicm and mikroBUS expansion interface, and a built-in emulator circuit.

Renesas has also released two proof of concept boards using the RZ/N2L. The “Gigabit Industrial Ethernet SOM” integrates two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, and Pmod & Arduino interfaces to deliver a configurable industrial Ethernet in SOM + Carrier board architecture.

The “220V AC Servo” integrates motor control and EtherCAT to provide high-speed and high-precision motor control through TSN industrial Ethernet communications. Renesas also says the RZ/N2L supports functional safety with self-diagnostic software and a functional safety solution for the RZ/N2L is expected in 2023.

The RZ/N2L MPUs are available now, and the RZ/N2L-RSK Renesas Starter Kit+ for RZ/N2L is offered for $500 on distributors such as Newark and Chip1Stop. Additional information may be found on the product page and press release.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

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