Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has designed and tested a new 32-bit CPU core based on the open-standard RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA). Most importantly, Renesas is among the first in the industry to independently develop a CPU core for the 32-bit general-purpose RISC-V market. Thus, providing an open and flexible platform for IoT, consumer electronics, healthcare, and industrial systems. The new RISC-V CPU core will complement Renesas’ existing IP portfolio of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), including the proprietary RX Family and the RA Family based on the Arm® Cortex®-M architecture.

Leader in Emerging RISC-V Market

RISC-V is an open ISA which is quickly gaining popularity in the semiconductor industry. Particularly, due to its flexibility, scalability, power efficiency, and open ecosystem.

Meanwhile, many MCU providers have recently created joint investment alliances to accelerate their development of RISC-V products. Thus, Renesas has already developed a new RISC-V core on its own. This versatile CPU can serve as a main application controller, a complementary secondary core in SoCs, in on-chip subsystems, or even in deeply embedded ASSPs.

This positions Renesas as a leader in the emerging RISC-V market, following previous introductions of its 32-bit voice-control and motor-control ASSP devices. Moreover, as well as the RZ/Five 64-bit general purpose microprocessors (MPUs), built on CPU cores developed by Andes Technology Corp.

“Renesas takes pride in offering embedded processing solutions for the broadest range of customers and applications,” said Daryl Khoo, Vice President of the IoT Platform Division at Renesas. “This new core extends our leadership in the RISC-V market and uniquely positions us to deliver more solutions that accommodate a diverse range of requirements.”

Meanwhile, Calista Redmond, CEO at RISC-V International, said, “This achievement exemplifies how RISC-V ecosystem partners, such as Renesas, are rapidly advancing RISC-V innovation.”

Renesas MCU Leadership

The Renesas RISC-V CPU achieves an impressive 3.27 CoreMark/MHz performance, outperforming similar architectures on the market. It includes extensions to improve performance while reducing code size.

Renesas is sampling devices based on the new core to select customers, with plans to launch its first RISC-V-based MCU and associated development tools in Q1 2024. Details of the new MCU will be published at that time. More information about RISC-V solutions is available at: renesas.com/risc-v. A blog article about the new RISC-V CPU is available here.

The world leader in MCUs, Renesas ships more than 3.5 billion units per year, with approximately 50% of shipments serving the automotive industry. In addition, the remainder supports industrial and Internet of Things applications as well as data center and communications infrastructure.

Most importantly, Renesas has the broadest portfolio of 8-, 16- and 32-bit devices, delivering unmatched quality and efficiency with exceptional performance. As a trusted supplier, Renesas has decades of experience designing smart, secure MCUs, backed by a dual-source production model, the industry’s most advanced MCU process technology and a vast network of more than 200 ecosystem partners.