Renesas expands its line of Arm CPU, core–based microprocessor units

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has introduced the RZ/Five general-purpose microprocessor units (MPUs) built around a 64-bit RISC-V CPU core. The RZ/Five employs the Andes AX45MP, based on the RISC-V CPU instruction set architecture (ISA).

The new MPUs augment Renesas’ previously available Arm CPU core–based MPUs, expanding customer options and providing more flexibility in the product development process.

“I am delighted that Renesas is among the first to announce a general-purpose MPU built around a 64-bit RISC-V CPU core from Andes,” said Hiroto Nitta, Senior VP and head of SoC Business in the IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit at Renesas. “With the introduction of the RZ/Five MPUs along with ecosystem support, Renesas is taking the lead in providing RISC-V solutions ahead of the market.”

IoT endpoint devices
Demand is increasing for IoT endpoint devices, such as gateways for solar inverters or home security systems, to collect sensor data and connect to servers or to the cloud.

In response to this need, RZ/Five is optimized to provide the performance and peripheral functions required of IoT endpoint devices. Its maximum operating frequency is 1 GHz. Peripheral functions include support for multiple interfaces, such as two Gigabit Ethernet channels, two USB 2.0 channels, and two CAN channels, as well as dual A/D converter modules.

Support is also provided for connecting external DDR memory with error checking and correction (ECC) and security functions.

Long-term Linux support
As with the RZ/G Series, a Verified Linux Package (VLP) featuring Civil Infrastructure Platform (CIP) Linux, an industrial-grade Linux offering long-term maintenance support for more than 10 years, is available for RZ/Five. This makes the RZ/Five series an ideal product in corporate infrastructure and industrial applications that require a high level of reliability and extended service life. It also allows users to dramatically reduce future Linux maintenance costs.

Peripheral functions
The peripheral functions and package of RZ/Five are compatible with those of the Arm core–based RZ/G2UL, allowing for easy reuse of proven designs. The RZ/Five also comes in a smaller, compact package to address less complex designs more efficiently.

As an evaluation environment, an RZ SMARC Evaluation Board Kit will be offered with a module board conforming to the SMARC 2.1 standard, equivalent to the currently available environment for the RZ/G Series. This kit allows switching and evaluating between an RZ/Five CPU module and an RZ/G2UL CPU module, enabling easy evaluation and shortening product development cycles.

“RZ/Five is the first general-purpose MPU on the market to be built around a 64-bit RISC-V core from Andes,” said Frankwell Lin, chairman and CEO at Andes Technology. “Andes has collaborated with Renesas first on the 32-bit RISC-V core and now on the 64-bit AX45MP, and I anticipate that this development will lead to the early adoption of customers’ devices in the global market built with Andes’ advanced RISC-V processor families.”

Samples of the RZ/Five MPUs are now available, with mass production is scheduled to begin in July 2022.