‘Zero-carbon’ LoRa Edge technology – introduced following collaboration from Semtech, Ryoden, and Renesas

Semtech and Ryoden’s technology features a Renesas RE Family microcontroller (MCU) to connect directly to the LoRa Cloud, enabling the utilisation of Semtech’s LoRa Edge platform, and provides enhanced security features.

The addition of the LoRa Edge platform allows for geolocation that are best applied for the tracking of personal valuables, transportation and logistics, animals, and healthcare.

“The demand for green energy solutions [is] increasing as the world becomes more conscious of the environmental impacts we make,” said Dr Shiro Kamohara, senior principal specialist from Renesas’s Low Power Product Department.

“The energy harvesting RE Family represents the evolution of MCU products that have the advantages of being maintenance-free while keeping top-class efficiency. Through our collaboration with Semtech, we are able to offer a cost-efficient green energy solution for our customers.”

Deemed the ‘world’s most energy efficient MCU’ by Renesas, the new RE Family MCU is based on the Arm Cortex M0+, and it consists of a built-in controller that can make a batteryless, maintenance-free product – a practical feature for energy harvesting applications. The new solution also features security capabilities that are critical to the IoT and can help protect IoT embedded devices from viruses and eavesdropping.

In addition, when integrated with Semtech’s LoRa Edge (LR1110) platform, the power consumption of the product is extremely reduced, providing cost-effective savings to end users.

“The collaboration between Ryoden, Renesas, and Semtech is in line with our overall strategy of extending low-power geolocation to newer IoT platforms and applications,” said Sree Durbha, director of product management in Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group.

“With the low power nature and end-to-end security of the LoRa Edge platform, the embedded LoRa Basics Modem-E native modem software operating on the LoRaWAN standard, and the LoRa Cloud geolocation and device and application services, the Renesas RE Family is one of the most power-efficient MCUs available on the market.”

Target applications for the LoRa Edge platform with Renesas RE Family include asset management, tracking of goods through the supply chain and several other use cases requiring continuous indoor or outdoor tracking.

To learn more about Renesas RE Family, visit renesas.com/re. And to learn more about Semtech’s IoT solutions, please visit semtech.com/products/wireless-rf.