Renesas RA8E1 and RA8E2 entry-level Arm Cortex-M85 MCUs target cost-sensitive applications

Renesas has expanded its Arm Cortex-M85-based RA8 series to include two new entry-level MCUs, RA8E1 and RA8E2. The new microcontrollers perform similarly to other Arm Cortex-M85-based microcontrollers and are offered at a lower price point thanks to a streamlined feature set to reduce costs. The RA8E1 and RA8E2 groups of microcontrollers will be useful for high-volume applications in industrial and home automation, healthcare, office equipment, and consumer products.

We have previously covered other models in Renesas’ RA8 series, including the Renesas RA8T1, RA8D1, and the very first Cortex-M85 microcontroller, the Renesas RA8M1. The RA8 series consists of microcontrollers based on the Arm Cortex-M85 core with a performance of 6.39 CoreMark/MHz and Arm’s M-Profile Vector Extension which provides a 4x performance boost for DSP and ML workloads while maintaining low power consumption.

The RA8E1 and RA8E2 Cortex-M85 microcontroller groups differ mostly in clock speed, available internal and external memory, communication interfaces, and package sizes. For example, the RA8E1 comes with an Ethernet MAC and a camera interface which are lacking in the RA8E2, but the latter is more suitable for HMI applications through an RGB LED interface, a 2D graphics engine, and support for external memories.

RA8E1 specifications:

MCU core – Arm Cortex-M85 clocked at 360MHz with Helium MVE (M-Profile Vector Extension) and Trustzone with 12KB data flash
Memory & Storage
- 544KB SRAM (including 32KB TCM w/ ECC, 512KB user SRAM with parity protection), 1KB standby SRAM, 32KB I/D caches
- 1MB code flash
Camera – 8-bit Capture Engine Unit (CEU) interface
Communication interfaces
- Ethernet controller with DMA
- USB 2.0 High-Speed and Full Speed interfaces
- 2x CAN-FD, xSPI compliant Octal SPI with XIP
- Up to 6x SCI (UART, Simple SPI, Simple I2C), 1x SPI/ I2C multi-master interface, 2x SSI
Analog – 2x 12-bit ADC and 1x 12-bit DAC, 2-ch High-Speed Analog Comparator, Temperature sensor
System – Low power modes, Battery backup function (VBATT), Event Link Controller (ELC), Data Transfer Controller (DTC), 8-channel DMA Controller (DMAC), Power-on reset, Programmable Voltage Detection (PVD) with voltage settings
Timers – 32-bit & 16-bit Timers, 32-bit Ultra-Low-Power Timer, Watchdog, RTC
Security
- ARMv8-M TrustZone Security
- Renesas Secure IP (RSIP-E51A)
- On-chip immutable ROM for First Stage Bootloader with hardware Root-of-Trus
- Octal SPI
- Secure authenticated debug, Secure factory programming, Tamper protection
Packages – LQFP100 and LQFP144

RA8E2 specifications:

MCU core – Arm Cortex-M85 clocked at 480MHz with Helium MVE (M-Profile Vector Extension) and Trustzone with 12KB data flash
Memory & Storage
- 672KB SRAM (including 32KB TCM), 1KB standby SRAM, 32KB I/D caches
- 1MB code flash
- 16/8-bit external memory interfaces (CS/SDRAM)
Display interfaces and features
- Graphics LCD Controller (GLCDC) up to WXGA (1280×800)
- 2D Drawing Engine (DRW)
Communication interfaces
- USB 2.0 High-Speed and Full Speed interfaces
- 2x CAN-FD, xSPI compliant Octal SPI with XIP
- Up to 6x SCI (UART, Simple SPI, Simple I2C), SPI/ I2C multi-master interface, 2x SSI
Package – 224-pin BGA package

Both MCUs will be supported by Renesas’ Flexible Software Package (FSP), which includes BSP software, drivers, RTOS, middleware, and reference software for building AI, motor control, and cloud solutions. As usual, Renesas has also developed two Winning Combinations for the new MCUs, including an entry level voice & vision AI system and a Human Machine Interface (HMI) for appliances.

Fast Prototyping Board for Renesas RA8E1

The Renesas RA8E1 and RA8E2 entry-level Cortex-M85 MCUs are currently available for an estimated price of $7.57 and $9.28 per 1000 units, with the supporting FSP software also available for download. Renesas is also now offering a Fast Prototyping Board for the RA8E1 at £24.82 (ex VAT) from Farnell, with an RA8E2 Evaluation Kit planned for release in early 2025. More details may be found on the product page and in the press release.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

Tomisin Olujinmi

Tomisin is a writer specializing in hardware product reviews, comparisons, and explainers. He is very passionate about small form factor and single-board computers.