Renesas Technology Develops SuperH Family SH72546RFCC Achieving Industry's Top-Level Operating Speed of 200 MHz and Featuring Industry-First Use of 90 nm Process for a Microcontroller with On-Chip Flash Memory

Incorporating high-performance SH-2A CPU core and offering approximately fourfold increase in performance over previous Renesas Technology product, enabling implementation of high-precision, real-time engine and transmission control

Tokyo -- August 3, 2007 −−  Renesas Technology Corp. today announced the development of the 32-bit SuperH¢â*1 Family SH72546RFCC as the industry's first microcontroller with on-chip flash memory to use a 90 nm (nanometer) process, for the development of control programs for automobile engines, transmissions, and so forth. Sample shipments will begin in October 2007 in Japan.

The SH72546RFCC achieves an industry top-level operating speed of 200 MHz in a high-temperature environment with an operating ambient temperature of 125¢ªC required for automotive applications. In addition, on-chip flash memory capacity ranking among the largest in the industry is provided, enabling cutting-edge high-precision control to be implemented.

The SH72546RFCC is designed for control program development, and starting in 2008 Renesas Technology will be developing a mass production specification product lineup based on the SH72546RFCC offering performance, package, and pin assignment compatibility. As the SH72546RFCC features full function and package compatibility with mass production specification products, the user can carry out control unit design and program development using the SH72546RFCC in the same way as a mass production specification product, enabling speedy and seamless application to mass production devices.

Features of the SH72546RFCC are as follows.

(1)	High-performance SH-2A CPU core and 200 MHz high-speed operation enabling fast real-time control
	The SH72546RFCC incorporates a high-performance SH-2A CPU core employing superscalar design and a Harvard architecture. Performance has been improved by a factor of 1.5 or more at the same frequency compared with the SH-2E CPU core (FPU-equipped SH-2) used in Renesas Technology's previous engine control microcontroller. In addition, the operating frequency has been increased by a factor of 2.5 compared with the maximum 80 MHz of Renesas Technology' s previous SH7050 Series, to the industry's top level of 200 MHz, while CPU processing performance has been improved approximately fourfold, enabling faster and more precise real-time engine and transmission control to be implemented.The SH-2A is compatible with the SH-2E, enabling existing programs to be used, and thereby helping to achieve shorter program development times.
(2)	3.75 Mbyte large-capacity on-chip flash memory
	The use of a 90 nm process has made it possible to provide on-chip flash memory with a 3.75 Mbyte capacity that ranks among the industry's largest, enabling large programs to be stored. In addition, 128 Kbytes of on-chip flash memory with virtually equivalent to EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory) functions are provided for data storage, eliminating the need for external EEPROM and so helping to reduce system costs. Generally, a flash memory has a slower maximum operating speed than a logic circuit due to its operating principle. In the SH72546RFCC, higher flash memory access speed has been achieved through the use of proprietary Renesas technology, and performance virtually equivalent to 1-cycle access at 200 MHz has been attained through the implementation of a cache circuit.
(3)	Comprehensive on-chip peripheral functions for engine and transmission control
	The SH72546RFCC incorporates a comprehensive set of functions suitable for engine and transmission control. Among the peripheral functions and interfaces provided on-chip are a multifunction timer unit (ATU-III: Advanced Timer Unit III) useful for engine and transmission control, a high-speed 12-bit A/D converter, a CAN*2 interface, and an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface), enabling both high-precision real-time control and small-area mounting to be achieved.
(4)	On-chip functions that help to improve program development efficiency
	Large-capacity on-chip emulation RAM*3 is provided separately from the user RAM as a function specifically for program development use. This RAM overlaps the flash memory area, and allows real-time adjustment of application program control parameters while data is rewritten as desired during microcontroller operation. Debugging functions such as an AUD (Advanced User Debugger) are also included that help to improve the efficiency of user program development.

Development Background 

In recent years, the automotive field has seen the introduction of stricter emission regulations as an environmental protection measure, as well as demands for better fuel consumption. As a result, higher precision has come to be required of engine and transmission control system, bringing a growing need for control microcontrollers to provide significantly higher processing performance together with the ability to handle large programs for implementing more precise control − in other words, larger on-chip memory capacity for program storage.

Renesas Technology currently mass-produces the SH7050 Series incorporating an SH-2E CPU core for this market, and these microcontrollers are widely used and hold a major market share. Now, to meet the need for still higher performance, the company plans to create a lineup of products incorporating an SH-2A CPU core offering compatibility with the SH-2E together with greatly improved performance, as well as large-capacity flash memory and a high 200 MHz operating speed through the use of a 90 nm process. As an initial step, Renesas Technology has developed the SH72546RFCC as a product for use in program development.

Additional Product Details

The SH72546RFCC incorporates a high-performance SH-2A CPU core offering excellent real-time control capability, and achieves high processing performance of approximately 400 MIPS (million instructions per second) at 200 MHz operation.

On-chip flash memory with a large 3.75 Mbyte capacity is provided for program storage, enabling larger programs for implementing more precise control to be handled. In addition, a 128-Kbyte EEPROM function area is provided that allows data to be rewritten during operation, eliminating the need for external EEPROM, and so helping to reduce system costs.

The SH72546RFCC also includes a comprehensive set of peripheral functions suitable for engine control. The ATU-III is a timer with maximum 106-output capability that is useful for engine and transmission control, comprising a 32-bit input capture/output compare function, one-shot pulse output, PWM (pulse width modulation) output, and so forth, while the 12-bit A/D converter has 37 input channels, enabling high-speed conversion of analog data from a number of sensors. A variety of communication interfaces are also provided, including an in-vehicle network CAN interface and an SPI allowing the connection of external devices. This wide range of peripheral functions and interfaces enables the number of system parts to be reduced.

The package used is a 272-pin P-BGA (21 mm x 21 mm).

Available development tools include the USB bus-powered E10A-USB on-chip debugging emulator requiring no external power supply, and the E200F full-spec emulator.

Plans for mass production specification products, without SH72546RFCC debugging functions such as emulation RAM, include products with lineup of on-chip flash memory and RAM capacities, and low-pin-count products, to meet evolving market needs.

Typical Applications

• Program development for in-vehicle systems such as engine and transmission control devices

Prices in Japan *For Reference

Product Name	Package	Sample Price [Tax Included] (Yen)
SH72546RFCC	272-pin P-BGA (21 mm x 21 mm)	98,000

Specifications

Item	SH72546RFCC Specifications
Product name	R5E72546R
Power supply voltage	3.3 V/5 V (dual power supplies)
Maximum operating frequency	200 MHz
Maximum processing performance	400 MIPS (at 200 MHz operation)
CPU core	SH-2A (double−precision FPU support)
Operating ambient temperature	-40 to +125 ¢ªC
On-chip flash	3.75 Mbytes + 128-Kbyte EEPROM function
On-chip RAM	256 Kbytes + 512-Kbyte emulation RAM
On-chip peripheral functions	Advanced Timer Unit-III (ATU-III)
	A/D converter (12-bit resolution) x 37 channels
	Serial communication interface (SCI) x 5 channels
	Serial peripheral interface (RSPI) x 3 channels
	Controller area network (RCAN) x 3 channels
	Compare match timer (CMT) x 2 channels
	User break controller (UBC)
	On-chip debugging functions Advanced User Debugger-II (AUD-II) JTAG interface
	Direct memory access controller (DMAC) x 8 channels Automotive direct memory access controller (A-DMAC) x 66 channels
	Interrupt controller (INTC)
	Watchdog timer (WDT)
	Bus state controller (BSC)
	Multi-input signature generator (MISG)
	Clock pulse generator (CPG): Built-in multiplication PLL
Power-down modes	Sleep mode
	Hardware standby mode
	Module standby function
Package	272-pin P-BGA (21 mm x 21 mm)