“The RL78 product family is known for its excellent power efficiency and optimized peripheral functions. So far, in the 11 years since its launch, shipments have exceeded 7.1 billion. Currently monthly shipments are 100 million. Renesas will continue to expand cost-effective and easy-to-use 8-bit and 16-bit MCUs to meet user needs.”

Lotta Frimanson, director of product management at IAR Systems, said: “We welcome the expansion of Renesas’ RL78 family into the broad low-end MCU market. As the exclusive partner supporting the entire RL78 family of MCUs, IAR is committed to creating best-in-class development solutions that will help Engineers worldwide take full advantage of the capabilities of the RL78 MCU and generate fast, compact code for efficient development.”

Key Features of the RL78/G15

• RL78 16-bit CPU core, operating frequency is 16MHz

• Covers a wide operating temperature range from -40°C to 125°C

• Available in 8- to 20-pin packages, with a minimum 3mm x 3mm WDFN package achievable

• All pins can be used for general purpose I/O except VDD and VSS supply pins

• Up to 8KB of code Flash, 1KB of data Flash, and 1KB of SRAM

• Support 2.4V to 5.5V operating voltage

• Supports multiple serial interfaces: CSI, UART, simple I2C and multi-master I2C

• High precision oscillator (±1.0%)

• Built-in comparator

Development environment

Similar to other RL78 devices, engineers designing with the new RL78/G15 can use the smart GUI-based configurator to easily generate driver code for peripheral functions. Renesas also offers a Fast Prototyping Board (FPB) for evaluation with an Arduino Uno and a Pmod™ Type6A interface that provides access to all pins. Only one USB cable is required for debugging and programming. Developers can obtain rich RL78 development resources through the Arduino library running on FPB, and can quickly transform ideas into operational solutions with the help of a large number of resources provided by the Arduino ecosystem.

Successful product mix

Renesas has developed a 100W USB multi-output power adapter that can power a variety of systems. In addition to the RL78/G15 MCU, this high-efficiency power supply also includes a high-performance PFC (power factor correction) controller, an AC/DC controller, and a high-performance DC-DC step-down device. This solution provides users with an all-in-one mobile charger that can easily charge laptops, tablets, or mobile phones without worrying about compatibility issues, and is an ideal combination of fast chargers, mobile devices, or adapters. 

The solution is part of Renesas’ “Winning Portfolio,” which optimizes and combines mutually compatible Renesas devices to work together seamlessly to reduce user design risk and shorten time-to-market. Renesas has now launched more than 300 “successful product combinations” based on various products in its product lineup.

Availability information

The RL78/G15 is now in mass production.