Renesas Electronics has launched the RX74M and RX74N, 32-bit MCUs for industrial equipment, with up to 600 MHz performance and embedded MRAM. They are the first RX Family devices built on a 22nm process and deliver more than twice the performance of their 240 MHz predecessors, the RX72M and RX72N. The RX74M targets industrial automation and factory equipment such as AC drives, industrial robots and programmable logic controllers (PLCs); the RX74N is designed for equipment including smart meters, power conditioners and HVAC systems.
Renesas says increasingly sophisticated industrial systems need stable, high-speed execution while synchronously connecting numerous nodes across a network. The devices combine a 600 MHz RXv3e core with 1 MB of MRAM, 256 KB of zero-wait-state TCM and 1.5 MB of SRAM for fast, low-jitter real-time processing, including workloads with frequent interrupts and branches. Unlike conventional embedded flash, MRAM can write data without an erase operation, enabling faster code and data updates, shorter programming times and reduced system downtime.
The RX74M integrates an EtherCAT slave controller, a TSN-capable Gigabit Ethernet switch and CAN FD on a single chip. It supports major industrial networks including EtherCAT, PROFINET and EtherNet/IP, as well as deterministic communication via TSN and redundant network configurations such as EtherNet/IP DLR, which were not supported in previous generations.
The RX74M and RX74N incorporate ProtectZone into the RX CPU to separate secure and non-secure regions within a single chip. Their next-generation Renesas Secure IP (RSIP) extends public-key cryptography beyond the conventional TSIP and supports authenticated encryption and a broader range of hash algorithms, enabling security implementations that include post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
Yoshi Ishikawa, senior director of the EP Advanced MCU Business Division at Renesas, said: "Industrial equipment development requires three key elements: advanced real-time performance, diverse industrial networking and robust security. By integrating these requirements into a single chip, the new products simplify the design of increasingly complex industrial equipment and support the evolution of industrial automation."
Other features include 300 MHz products with more than 20% lower power consumption; 176/224/320-pin LFBGA and 100/144/176-pin LFQFP packages; a supply voltage range of 1.62 V to 3.6 V and an operating temperature range of −40°C to +125°C (Tj); support for XiP from external Octa Flash and on-the-fly decryption; and a scalable development environment through the FSP common to the RX, RA and RZ families. Renesas lists Codewerk and RT-Labs for software, IAR for development tools, and eForce and Zephyr RTOS for real-time operating systems.
The RX74M and RX74N are available today. Renesas provides product and evaluation-board details at https://www.renesas.com/products/rx74m and https://www.renesas.com/products/rx74n.
