See the RZ/G Microprocessors at the Renesas DevCon October 12-15 in Anaheim, Calif.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — October 7, 2015 — Renesas Electronics, a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the availability of the RZ/G microprocessor (MPU) series, which enables rapid development of high-performance Linux and Android applications. Designed for industrial, home appliance, and office equipment devices employing a human machine interface (HMI), the RZ/G series extends the capabilities of the successful RZ/A series MPUs – which supports 2D graphics at up to WXGA resolution - to deliver high-end performance in applications such as image processing, video sensing, and 3-D graphics and multimedia at up to 1080p resolution.

“An increasing number of customers are employing Linux and Android in their embedded systems today, and the new RZ/G MPU series gives designers a high-end platform upon which embrace these respective ecosystems,” said Vin D’Agostino, Vice President, General Purpose Products Business Unit. “Through a world-class 3-D graphics engine and high definition video codec which supports 1080p video encoding/decoding at 60 frames per second, RZ/G MPUs are able to support the emerging requirements for 3-D graphics and video displays in high-end home, industrial and office automation applications.”

Key features of the new RZ/G series:

(1) High performance for enhanced UI expressiveness and video sensing

The new RZ/G series of MPUs utilizes Renesas’ proprietary Full HD video codec (processing up to 1080p at 60 frames per second) in addition to the PowerVR™ SGX540 (RZ/G1-E) or PowerVR™ SGX544MP2 (RZ/G1-M) 3-D graphics core from Imagination Technologies Limited. These intellectual property (IP) blocks make it possible to develop highly effective user interfaces (UI) on products ranging from hand-held medical devices to digital signage by incorporating elements such as simple still images, 3-D graphics, plus video content. This functionality improves UI expressiveness and adds value to new products.

The RZ/G series is comprised of two product versions: the RZ/G1-E with dual ARM® Cortex®-A7 CPU cores operating at up to 1.0 gigahertz (GHz) and the RZ/G1-M with dual Cortex-A15 CPU cores operating at up to 1.5 GHz. This range of high-end options lets customers tune their designs for either power or performance. Each RZ/G device includes an 800 megahertz (MHz) DDR3 external memory interface, which provides ample performance margin for applications including image processing of multiple video streams for monitoring systems and video sensing such as face recognition. High-speed interfaces including USB 3.0, PCI-Express, and serial ATA are integrated on-chip, allowing easy expansion of functionality without the need for external components. The functional IP modules and memory map are common over the entire RZ/G series lineup, so the same drivers and software can be shared among different products in the series, thereby enhancing design scalability.

(2) Hierarchy of support and services provided in collaboration with partners

The RZ/G series is backed by an ecosystem of Renesas partners that provides system integration services, graphical user interface (GUI) frameworks, middleware, OS support, board design, as well as sales of evaluation and mass-production boards. These products and services help limit the increasing workload and cost associated with hardware and software development of complex high-end systems. Buoyed by partners like Cogent Embedded, Timesys, Adeneo Embedded, and others - all leaders in embedded open source development with expertise spanning Linux and Android system integration, middleware, and graphical user interface (GUI) support - customers will be able to confidently tackle their next embedded projects and dramatically compress their typical development cycle.

RZ/G series MPUs support Linux 3.10 LTSI, which will let customers develop secure and flexible systems within a proven, industry-standard development flow. Android Kit Kat support will be available later in 2015, and Linux kernel 4.1 will be available in early 2016. The two available starter kits for the RZ/G1-E and RZ/G1-M devices will simplify the prototyping process. Each starter kit offers an abundance of connectivity options plus board support package and documentation. With the new high-end RZ/G series of MPUs, Renesas simplifies complex display and control devices with a world-class integrated software and hardware platform. Board support packages and development kit documentation will be available from www.elinux.org and the RZ/G GitHub site by the end of October 2015.

Availability

Samples of the RZ/G series of MPUs are available now. Mass production of the RZ/G series of MPUs is scheduled to begin in July 2016 and is expected to reach a volume of 100,000 units per month in July 2017. (Availability is subject to change without notice.)

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), the world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers, is a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions and a broad-range of analog and power devices. Business operations began as Renesas Electronics in April 2010 through the integration of NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723) and Renesas Technology Corp., with operations spanning research, development, design and manufacturing for a wide range of applications. Headquartered in Japan, Renesas Electronics has subsidiaries in 20 countries worldwide. More information can be found at www.renesas.com .