On June 10, 2025, Renesas Electronics Corporation announced the RA2L2 microcontroller (MCU) group, featuring ultra-low power consumption and support for the USB Type-C Cable and Connector Specification Release 2.4. Based on a 48-MHz Arm Cortex-M23 processor, the RA2L2 MCUs are designed for portable devices and PC peripherals, including USB data loggers, charge cases, barcode readers, gaming mice, and keyboards.
The RA2L2 MCUs are the first to support the USB-C Revision 2.4 standard’s reduced voltage detection thresholds of 0.613V for 1.5A source and 1.165V for 3.0A source. They consume 87.5 µA/MHz in active mode and 250nA in software standby, with an independent operating clock for low-power UART to wake the system when receiving data from Wi-Fi or Bluetooth LE modules. The MCUs include USB-C with CC detection up to 15W (5V/3A), USB full-speed (FS) support, LP UART, I3C, and CAN interfaces, reducing component count, cost, board space, and power consumption.
The RA2L2 MCUs feature a 128-64 KB Flash, 16 KB SRAM, 4 KB Dataflash, peripherals like SCI, SPI, I3C, I2S, 12-bit ADC (17-channel), low-power timer, real-time clock, high-speed on-chip oscillator, temperature sensor, unique ID, and true random number generator (TRNG). They operate at 1.6V to 5.5V (3.0V to 3.6V for USB) and support a temperature range of -40°C to 125°C. Packages include 32-, 48-, and 64-pin LQFP, and 32- and 48-pin QFN.
The MCUs are supported by Renesas’ Flexible Software Package (FSP), which includes RTOS, BSP, peripheral drivers, middleware, connectivity, networking, and reference software for AI, motor control, and cloud solutions, allowing integration of legacy code and RTOS. The FSP facilitates migration to and from other RA devices.
Renesas has integrated the RA2L2 MCUs into Winning Combinations, including USB Data Logger, Electronic Toll with GNSS, Gaming Keyboard, and Gaming Mouse, combining compatible devices for optimized system designs. The RA2L2 MCUs and FSP software are available now, along with an RA2L2 Evaluation Kit, through the Renesas website or distributors.
