Editor's Choice


Bridging the gap between MCUs and MPUs

30 April 2024 Editor's Choice AI & ML

Renesas has introduced a new series of microcontrollers called the RA8 series. This new series is part of the Renesas RA family of MCUs based on Cortex-M processors. These MCUs are the industry’s first to implement the Arm Cortex-M85 processor, producing excellent performance measured at 3000 CoreMark points, or 6,39 CoreMark points/MHz.

The deterministic, low-latency, real-time operation enabled by this high performance allows system designers to use an RA MCU in applications that would previously have required a microprocessor. Existing designs built for other RA devices can easily be ported to the new RA8 devices.

The new RA8 MCUs deploy Arm Helium technology, which provides up to a four times improvement in DSP and machine learning performance compared to MCUs based on the Cortex-M7 processor. This performance boost can enable designers to eliminate an additional DSP in some systems.

The combination of high CPU performance and Helium technology also provides a dramatic improvement in the MCU’s ability to perform AI and machine learning tasks. For instance, the RA8 series MCUs enable edge and endpoint devices to implement natural language processing in voice AI and predictive maintenance applications, using Helium to accelerate neural network processing.

The design of AI applications is assisted by Renesas’ embedded AI and TinyML solutions for automotive, industrial, and commercial products, based on its Reality AI tools.


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