Japanese electronics giant Renesas has introduced a microcontroller (MCU) that matches the requirements for system control applications used in utility meters worldwide.

The RA4C1 MCU group is based on an 80MHz Arm Cortex M33 processor. The devices offer low power consumption, security features, communication interfaces and segment LCD support. This set of features and performance metrics suits battery powered applications that need strict security, including gas, water and industrial flow meters, as well as smart locks, thermostats, building controls and industrial user interfaces.

The MCUs employ proprietary low-power technology that delivers 168µA/MHz active mode at 80MHz and standby current of less than 1.79µA with all the SRAM retained; it has a real-time clock (RTC) with its own dedicated power domain, supporting battery backup. This performance, coupled with support for input voltages as low as 1.6V, helps users design battery-powered applications that use smaller batteries or provide higher performance for the existing battery size.

Strong security is an essential requirement for metering systems. The MCUs offer an RSIP-300 security engine that provides an isolated subsystem managed and protected by dedicated control logic. The devices also include support for a 256bit hardware unique key and true random number generator (TRNG), management functionality with the ability to generate wrapped keys, SHA algorithms, hardware acceleration of AES, and ECC supporting NIST and Brainpool curves with a key length up to 384bit.

The RA4C1 has achieved PSA Certified Level 1 certification with European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) compliance extension.

The MCUs provide a feature set that meets all the needs of metering system designers. A 512kbyte dual bank on-chip flash enables easy and secure software updates with 96kbyte of SRAM and 8kbyte of data flash for on chip data storage. Peripherals include a low-power ADC, on-chip temperature sensor accurate to one per cent, and on-chip LCD controller to drive low power segment displays.

The MCUs are supported by Renesas’ FSP flexible software package. This enables faster application development by providing all the infrastructure software needed, including multiple RTOSs, BSP, peripheral drivers, middleware, connectivity, networking and TrustZone support as well as reference software to build complex AI, motor control and cloud offerings. It lets users integrate their own legacy code and choice of RTOS with FSP, thus providing flexibility in application development. The FSP eases migration of existing IP to and from either RA6 or RA2 devices.

“Renesas’ RA4C1 group MCUs offer an unmatched option for metering applications, a very larger market that is growing rapidly,” said Daryl Khoo, vice president at Renesas. “It’s an example of our sales, marketing and engineering teams working together with our customers to develop the right product for the right market at the right time.”

Renesas has combined the MCUs with compatible devices from its portfolio to offer the Smart 1-Ph E-Meter (www.renesas.com/en/applications/industrial/metering/smart-1-ph-e-meter).

The RA4C1 MCUs (www.renesas.com/en/products/ra4c1) are available now, along with the FSP software. Renesas (www.renesas.com) is also shipping an RA4C1 evaluation board.