Renesas RA0E2 low-cost, low-power Arm Cortex-M23 MCU operates in extended temperature range (-40°C to +125°C)

Renesas RA0E2 is a low-power, low-cost Arm Cortex-M23 microcontroller (MCU) Group part of the RA0 family introduced in 2024 that can operate in an extended temperature range (-40°C to +125°C) and offers a wide variety of peripheral functions and safety features.

It follows the RA0E1 devices – the first member of the RA0 family – designed for consumer electronics, household appliances, power tools, industrial monitoring, and other applications, including battery-powered devices. The new RA0E2 MCUs offer both software and pin-to-pin compatibility (for 32-pin SKUs) with RA0E1 devices, but the new family adds more memory and storage with up to 16KB SRAM, 128KB code flash, and 2KB data flash. The RA0E2 also features more I/Os with 32-pin to 64-bit packages, instead of 16-pin to 32-pin packages.

Renesas RA0E2 specifications:

• MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M23 Armv8-M Core up to 32MHz
• Memory and Storage
  • 16KB SRAM
  • Code Flash – Up to 128KB
  • Data Flash – 2KB (100,000 program/erase cycles)
  • Flash read protection (FRP)
  • 128-bit unique ID
• Peripherals
  • Serial Array Unit (SAU) – Up to 6x SPI, 6x I2C, 2x UART, 1x UART with LIN-bus support
  • 2x UART, 2x I2C
  • Up to 57x GPIO (4x 5V tolerant, 42x open drain)
  • Analog
    • Up to 15-channel 12-bit A/D converter
    • Temperature sensor
  • Timers
    • 8x 16-bit Timer Array Unit (TAU) with 7x PWM outputs
    • TML32 timer (1x 32-bit counter mode. 2x 16-bit counter mode, 4x 8-bit counter mode)
  • Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)
• Clock Sources
  • Main clock oscillator (MOSC) 1 to 20 MHz
  • Sub-clock oscillator (SOSC) (32.768 kHz)
  • High-speed on-chip oscillator (HOCO) (24/32 MHz)
  • Middle-speed on-chip oscillator (MOCO) (4 MHz)
  • Low-speed on-chip oscillator (LOCO) (32.768 kHz)
  • Clock trim function for HOCO/MOCO/LOCO
• Security – True Random Number Generator (TRNG), Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
• Safety
  • SRAM parity error check
  • Flash area protection
  • ADC self-diagnosis function
  • Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)
  • Independent Watchdog Timer (IWDT)
  • GPIO readback level detection
  • Register write protection
  • Illegal memory access detection
• System and Power Management
  • Low power modes
  • Realtime Clock (RTC)
  • Event Link Controller (ELC)
  • Data Transfer Controller (DTC)
  • Power-on reset
  • Low Voltage Detection (LVD) with voltage settings
• Operating Voltage – 1.6V to 5.5V (VCC)
• Operating Temperature – -40°C to +105°C or -40°C to +125°C depending on SKU
• Packages
  • 64-pin LFQFP (10 mm × 10 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)
  • 48-pin LFQFP (7 mm × 7 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)
  • 48-pin HWQFN (7 mm × 7 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)
  • 32-pin LQFP (7 mm × 7 mm, 0.8 mm pitch)
  • 32-pin HWQFN (5 mm × 5 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)

The RA0E2 family consumes only 2.8mA in active mode, 0.89mA in sleep mode, and goes as low as 0.25 µA in software standby mode. Renesas also highlights the integrated High-speed On-Chip Oscillator (HOCO) for what the company claims is the “fastest wake-up time for this class of microcontroller”, as low as 0.9us according to the datasheet.

The new RA0E2 Group MCUs are supported by Renesas’ Flexible Software Package (FSP) with multiple RTOS, BSP, peripheral drivers, middleware, connectivity, networking, and security stacks as well as reference software to build Edge AI, motor control, and cloud solutions.

The company also designed the FPB-RA0E2 fast prototyping board for evaluation and early firmware development. It features an RA0E2 64-pin MCU with 128KB flash, 16KB SRAM, a built-in SEGGER J-Link emulator circuit, through holes with access to all of the pins of the MCU, and Arduino Uno and Pmod interfaces for easy prototyping.

Renesa says both the RA0E1 and RA0E2 ultra-low power MCUs are suitable for battery-operated consumer electronics devices, small appliances, industrial system control, and building automation applications. The RA0E2 MCUs are available now (but I could not find any pricing information), and the RA0E2 Fast Prototyping Board goes for about $12 on DigiKey or Mouser. Additional information may be found on the product page and press release.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

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