New R-IN32M4-CL2 IC Supports CC-Link IE Field Protocol for High-Speed/High-Capacity Industrial Networks

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — June 25, 2015 — Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the launch of the R-IN32M4-CL2 industrial Ethernet communication application specific standard product (ASSP) with integrated Gigabit PHY to support the increasing network and factory productivity needs of “Industry 4.0”.

In the era of Industrial IoT (Internet of Things), the industry trend is toward increased connectivity, autonomous and interactive machines, and flexible manufacturing to improve operation and reduce costs. With Industry 4.0, the number of sensor nodes in the factory will increase exponentially, driving the need for more bandwidth in the network in order to move more data and improve analytics. Gigabit-level industrial networks will become the norm, as the current standard industrial network of 100 Mbps will be inadequate for next-generation networks, and transition to a 1 Gigabit standard is under consideration.

“Designers in today’s industrial environment are moving to Ethernet-based networking protocols to improve operational efficiencies on the factory floor and bring down costs,” said Nelson Quintana, Director of Marketing, Renesas Electronics America. “The R-IN32M4-CL2 solution integrates several key elements, including integrated Gigabit PHY, multiprotocol support including CC-Link IE Field controller in hardware, and Renesas’ deep industrial design expertise, to provide a reliable and cost-effective platform that meets Industrial IoT requirements for real-time, deterministic connectivity.”

The new R-IN32M4-CL2 extends the family of the industry-proven R-IN32M3 platform that incorporates hardware accelerators supporting real-time operating system (RTOS) performance as well as Ethernet packet handling and it improves network performance by up to five times faster than conventional implementations. The new R-IN32M4-CL2 is enhanced with a new ARM® Cortex®-M4 processor with FPU core running at 100 MHz (megahertz), and a single precision Floating Point Unit (FPU) ideal for computationally demanding and complex requirements to support process controllers, gateways, and IO controllers.

Highlights of the R-IN32M4-CL2 features:

(1) Dual channel Gigabit Ethernet with built-in PHY:

The R-IN32M4-CL2 supports Gigabit Ethernet connectivity with built-in dual Gigabit Ethernet PHYs to reduce the complexity in designing the analog circuits typically required for gigabit communication. Simplifying the PHY peripheral high-frequency analog circuit design (Note 1) contributes to reduced development time, risk and lower overall BOM footprint and costs.

(2) Multi-protocol support including CC-Link IE Field:

CC-Link IE is a leading industrial Ethernet protocol for high-speed/high-capacity field network that supports Gigabit communication as well as mixed transmission of both equipment control data and management data. This technology will be able to provide the performance required to support the large numbers of sensors and actuators expected with the Industry 4.0 network. The R-IN32M4-CL2 includes the CCLink IE Field slave controller in hardware.

(3) Wide range of peripherals including analog:

The explosion of sensor nodes will be expected to read many different types of signals – from process data such as temperature, pressure, and flow, to digital signals from many IO points. To respond to these needs, the R-IN32M4-CL2 includes an FPU in the CPU core, an 8-channel 10-bit A/D converter, a 16-channel 16-bit timer and other functions.

Renesas intends to provide new solutions, using this IC as a platform in conjunction with partner companies in the R-IN Consortium.

Renesas will exhibit an evaluation board that includes the R-IN32M4-CL2 at the Industrial Open Networks Fair 2015, to be held on July 7 (Osaka) and July 9 (Tokyo) this year.

Availability

Samples of the R-IN32M4-CL2 will be available in October 2015. Mass production of the R-IN32M4-CL2 is scheduled to begin in March 2016 and is expected to reach a scale of 20,000 units per month in March 2020. (Availability is subject to change without notice.)

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(Note 1) The issues that are problematic in high-frequency analog circuits are the output impedance on the transmission side so that the electrical signal can be transmitted efficiently, the impedance matching that makes the impedance equivalent on the reception side, and the small electrical capacitances that occur between lines or components on the printed circuit board, that is, the static stray capacitances. These issues are especially likely to cause problems in circuits operating at high frequencies.

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), the world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers, is a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions and a broad-range of analog and power devices. Business operations began as Renesas Electronics in April 2010 through the integration of NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723) and Renesas Technology Corp., with operations spanning research, development, design and manufacturing for a wide range of applications. Headquartered in Japan, Renesas Electronics has subsidiaries in 20 countries worldwide. More information can be found at www.renesas.com .