Microcontrollers gives control and communication functions on a single chip

Renesas Electronics has introduced the RX72M Group of RX MCUs featuring an EtherCAT slave controller for industrial Ethernet communication. The new flagship product group for the family provides a high-performance, single-chip MCU solution with large memory capacities for industrial equipment needing control and communication functions such as programmable logic controllers, remote I/O, compact industrial robots, and industrial gateways.

The use of EtherCAT in industrial Ethernet is rising fast, and is currently employed on dedicated MCUs, ICs, and high-end SoC devices specialised for EtherCAT communication. The new group delivers the superior performance of a 1396 CoreMark score at 240MHz as measured by EEMBC Benchmarks, and it is proficient enough for both application processing and EtherCAT communication. Combining a motor-control MCU with on-chip EtherCAT slave functions enables industrial application developers to lessen their BOM and maintain the miniaturisation levels demanded for industrial equipment design.

"The RX72M Group offers revolutionary solutions for circuit board miniaturization, a key issue facing industrial robot designers as space constraints for boards continue to tighten," said Akira Denda, vice president, Industrial Automation Business Division, Renesas Electronics Corporation. “Leveraging our extensive embedded design expertise as a leading global MCU supplier and solution provider for industrial networks, Renesas is pleased to introduce the RX72M devices, which allow approximately 50 percent reduction in circuit board area compared with earlier devices while maintaining high performance and EtherCAT support, offering customers an easy and flexible path to industrial equipment design."