Renesas Electronics Corporation introduced the RA8P1 microcontroller (MCU) group, designed for artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and real-time analytics applications. The MCUs combine a 1GHz Arm Cortex-M85 core, a 250MHz Cortex-M33 core, and an Arm Ethos-U55 Neural Processing Unit (NPU), delivering over 7300 CoreMarks and 256 GOPS at 500 MHz.
The devices target edge and endpoint AI applications, supporting convolutional and recurrent neural networks with up to 256 MACs per cycle. Manufactured on TSMC’s 22nm ultra-low leakage process, the RA8P1 MCUs use embedded Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) with faster write speeds, higher endurance, and better retention than Flash. The devices include 2MB SRAM, 1MB on-chip MRAM, and external flash options of 4MB or 8MB for neural network processing. A 16-bit camera interface supports up to 5-megapixel sensors, and a MIPI CSI-2 interface offers two lanes at 720Mbps.
Audio interfaces include I2S and PDM for voice AI applications. The RA8P1 introduces the Renesas Unified Heterogeneous Model Integration (RUHMI) framework, supporting TensorFlow Lite, PyTorch, and ONNX for AI model optimization, quantization, and code generation. Integrated with Renesas’ e2Studio IDE, RUHMI facilitates development across MCUs and MPUs. Security features include the RSIP-E50D cryptographic engine with CHACHA20, Ed25519, NIST ECC up to 521 bits, RSA up to 4K, SHA2, and SHA3, alongside Arm TrustZone, secure boot, immutable storage, and decryption-on-the-fly for external flash. The MCUs support FreeRTOS, Azure RTOS, and Zephyr, with peripherals like a graphics LCD controller for WXGA resolutions, MIPI-DSI, a 2D drawing engine, Gigabit Ethernet, TSN Switch, XSPI, SPI, I2C/I3C, SDHI, USB, CAN-FD, ADC, DAC, and timers. Available in 224BGA and 289BGA packages, the RA8P1 is supported by an evaluation kit, software examples, and partner solutions from Nota.AI and Irida Labs. Renesas also offers Winning Combinations, including AI-enabled video conferencing cameras, drawing robot arms, and surveillance cameras. The RA8P1 MCUs and evaluation kit are available now through Renesas’ website or distributors. More details can be found at renesas.com/RA8P1.
