16/32Kbyte Flash versions added to Renesas microcontroller range

The aforementioned family already includes pin-compatible 64Kbyte and 128Kbyte derivatives and all the versions have 8KByte RAM. The SH/Tiny tools line-up also gets a boost with the new emulation board featuring high-end and non-intrusive emulation with trace at low cost.
Previously the family was available in a wide range of packages: 10x10mm 64LQFP, 14x14mm 64QFP and 10x10mm 48LQFP . Now the line-up has been extended to include the two new 8x8mm 64VQFN and 7x7mm 52VQFN packages. These minute packages which are even “Tinier” add an extra dimension to the SH/Tiny family without compromising the power of the SuperH SH2 core inside.
The devices boast ultra-fast MONOS (Metal Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) embedded Flash enabling fully deterministic zero-wait operation rated at 65MIPS. The SH2 32-bit RISC CPU core has 16 general-purpose 32-bit registers and a 32x32=64 hardware multiplier.
The SH/Tiny devices also have a highly sophisticated MTU2 timer unit with six channels of 16-bit timers, support for up to 16 input capture/output functions capacity, as well as a three-phase PWM capability for electrical motors. Further excellent motor control features are enabled by a quadrature encoder feedback capability and a special channel that can measure actual dead times, thus enabling both the shortest possible dead times for highest efficiency and safe non-destructive operation of the power stage.
To increase the suitability of these “Tiny” powerhouses to motor control applications the PWM outputs can be quickly turned off in hardware in case of an emergency shutdown and can drive 15mA for direct connection to opto couplers.
The devices have two ADCs with four channels each, 10-bit resolution and 2us conversion time. Each ADC can be triggered by the MTU2 with an additional defined delay time to support algorithms such as single-shunt motor drive. Single shunt motor drive is a technology that has replaced expensive shunt resistors in motors using CPU calculation power. For a very small additional increase in microcontroller cost (cents), designers can replace several Euros worth of shunts and so achieve significantly lower system cost in applications such as pumps, fans and vacuum cleaners.
The peripheral set is complimented by three serial ports, a watchdog timer, two channels of compare-match timers and up to 37 GPIO. The devices operate at 5V and function at 50MHz
The SH/Tiny line-up has been developed for white goods applications such as induction cooking, washing machines, vacuum cleaner motor control and inverters such as in pumps, fans and air-conditioning (HVAC). It also has won ‘design-ins’ for industrial motor control applications. The line-up features a special wide temperature range version with up to 100 degrees C operation to support induction cooking hobs.
The tool chain starts with a low-cost, yet complete Renesas Starter Kit (RSK7124) available at around 150€ RRP via all of Renesas Europe’s distributors. The kit includes an E8 debugger, board with LCD and software. The free demo version of the Renesas C Compiler is also included and has a 256K code size limit, thus supporting the SH/Tiny devices without limitation free of charge. Improved functionality is offered by the E10A-lite debugger that uses the SH/Tiny on-chip-debug resource via JTAG, and is sold separately.
Additionally, Renesas has now launched low-cost emulation boards that offer sophisticated functionality including trace. These boards make use of the SH7086F high-end microcontroller. All SH/Tiny devices are a subset of the SH7086F, so the concept of the boards is to use the SH7086F to emulate SH/Tiny adding improved debugging features and without losing pins for the debug functionality.
Renesas Technology Europe has developed motor control reference platforms (MCRP) that include a user interface board, an SH/Tiny board, a power stage and a motor to speed up evaluation of motor control applications.