Renesas introduces RA6T2 MCUs for next-generation motor control in inverter appliances
Dusseldorf, 8 December 2021 ― Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced the RA6T2 Group MCUs featuring a rich set of peripheral functions and hardware accelerator designed specifically for motor control. The new RA6T2 Group MCUs deliver an unmatched combination of performance, features, and cost-efficiency for motor control designs in home appliances, smart home, industrial and building automation, as well as inverter co ntrol.
Based on the 240-MHz Arm Cortex-M33 core, the new RA6T2 32-bit MCUs feature peripherals optimised for high performance and precision motor control in order to reduce bill of materials (BOM) cost while boosting performance. For example, two independent ADC units offer high-speed conversion with a maximum speed of 0.16 µsec and include a simultaneous sample and hold function for three channels to detect the three-phase current of a motor.
In addition, amplifiers that can set the gain according to the input voltage range are built in, and analog components that were previously external are incorporated, including comparators which detect abnormal voltage input and over current. In addition, the adjustable PWM timer makes it easy to port existing algorithms. It also provides, in cooperation with other analog functions, a PWM output cutoff safety function in the event of an abnormality. With these features, a single RA6T2 MCU can simultaneously control up to two brushless DC (BLDC) motors.
The embedded hardware accelerator includes both a Trigonometric Function Unit (TFU) and an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filter. The TFU performs high speed calculations without the need for lookup tables, enabling effective use of ROM. The IIR filter offers coefficient setting methods that ease porting from existing algorithms.
“Our motor control customers are looking to differentiate their products in very competitive markets,” says, Roger Wendelken, senior vice president in the IoT and infrastructure business unit at Renesas. “The RA6T2 Group delivers a unique combination of performance and features that enable cost-effective, powerful designs for a wide variety of applications.”
Key Features of the RA6T2 Group MCUs
- Â Â Â 240 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 Core; 512 KB Flash ROM; 64KB SRAM; 16KB Data Flash
-    Operating temperature range of Ta = -40ºC to 105 ºC
- Â Â Â Operating voltage of 2.7V to 3.6V
- Â Â Â Five package options: 100-pin LQFP, 64-pin LQFP, 48-pin LQFP, 64-pin QFN, 48-pin QFN
- Â Â Â Trustzone security features
- Â Â Â Supported by Renesas Flexible Software Package (FSP) for easy porting of designs from other Renesas MCUs
- Â Â Â Integrated hardware acceleration with both TFU and IIR filter offers increased performance and reduced CPU load enabling parallel tasks such as communication
- Â Â Â Integrated analog functions including two 12-bit ADCs, a 12-bit DAC, a comparator and a programmable gain amplifier (PGA)
- Â Â Â PWM timer supports seven types of complementary PWM modes for carrier generation and realises various control algorithms
- Â Â Â Integrated 10-channel general-purpose timer (GPT), 2-channel asynchronous timer and a watchdog timer
- Â Â Â Integrated communications interfaces: CAN FD; 2x I2C; 6x SCI; 2x SPI
- Â Â Â DMA control; clock generator; on-chip oscillator; interrupt controller
- Â Â Â Safety features include a PWM output monitor that shuts off the PWM output when an abnormality is detected; Memory Protection Unit; ECC in SRAM, ADC self-test
- Winning Combinations
Renesas has combined the RA6T2 with complementary components that work together seamlessly to create Winning Combinations for motor control. An example of one of these Winning Combinations is the BLDC Traction Motor Control design that also includes Renesas’ new RAA227063 Smart Gate Driver optimised for motor control. Renesas offers more than 250 Winning Combinations with compatible devices for a wide range of applications and end products. They can be found at renesas.com/win.
Availability
20 new RA6T2 MCUs are available today in five package options. Renesas is also offering a wide range of design tools, including the RTK0EMA270S00020BJ Motor Control Kit, a CPU board, an Inverter Board, and a Motor Work Bench GUI tool with real-time debugging and digital oscilloscope functionality. More information on the new MCUs and development tools, as well as the ability to order samples and kits, can be found at here.
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