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Toward Green Society
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Environmental initiatives are being pursued worldwide, and a variety of plans for eco-products have emerged. Examples include the concept of smart grids, particularly in the United States, and more recently the rapid adoption of products such as eco-friendly vehicles and LED lighting fixtures. This page focuses on smart grids and eco-friendly vehicles as two examples of efforts by Renesas to support the realization of electronic products that contribute to a more eco-friendly society.
Efforts by Renesas Toward the Building of Smart Grids
With concerns about global warming serving as a starting point, achieving a low-carbon society has become an urgent goal throughout the world. In addition to reducing the power consumption of various devices, the effective utilization of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, will play a key role.
However, renewable energy sources tend to produce unstable output because they are affected by a variety of natural conditions, and they can be difficult to control. These problems mean that as the scale of use of renewable energy sources expands, the stability of the electrical grid could be jeopardized. In addition, demand for power is expected to increase rapidly, due in part to the future adoption of plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. This raises the possibility that the power system as a whole may be unable to cope with future demand.
A "smart grid" is a new type of power distribution system that aims to solve the above-mentioned problems by making full use of information technology (IT) to maintain an efficient balance between power supply and demand in order to enable stable and reliable supply of electric power to consumers.
Renesas supplies devices for ZigBee ? * and PLC applications essential to the communication infrastructure that forms the foundation for a smart grid. We also supply a variety of devices for use in products with smart grid support, including devices for smart meters and devices for home gateways. In this way we are contributing to the building of flexible smart grids.
Note*: ZigBee is a registerd trademark of ZigBee Alliance, Inc..
Renesas Immediately Offers Solutions for Smart Grids
Renesas turned its attention to smart grids early on and now offers a variety of solutions to facilitate their implementation. We already supply devices supporting the ZigBee ? specification for Near Field Communication (NFC) as well as power line communication (PLC), both of which are part of the communication infrastructure forming the foundation of a smart grid.
1) Near Field Communication Technology
In Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, Renesas was an early supporter of ZigBee ? and now offers a proprietary protocol stack and a variety of microcontroller products supporting the ZigBee?/IEEE802.15.4 MAC specification . Among them is the M16C/6B Group incorporating on-chip wireless communication functionality using the 2.4 GHz band (IEEE802.15.4). The flexible and extensive on-chip peripheral functions of M16C microcontrollers, combined with up to 256 KB of on-chip flash memory and 20 KB of on-chip RAM ideal for ZigBee ? /IEEE802.15.4 applications, enable the realization of a mesh network with advanced functions and the installation of comparatively large user programs. In addition, IEEE802.15.4 MAC functions and AES encryption functions are implemented in hardware, reducing the load on the CPU and contributing to high-speed communication processing.
2) Power Line Communication (PLC) Applications
The M16C/6S Group of single-chip microcontrollers is suitable for power line communication (PLC) applications. Built around a 16-bit M16C CPU core, the M16C/6S Group incorporates a variety of peripheral I/O functions as well as an on-chip PLC modem circuit (the YITRAN IT800) that enables excellent communication performance even in environments with high noise levels. The base technology of the IT800 PLC modem circuit is the HomePlug Command & Control (HPCC) standard established by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance (HPA), an industry group working to establish standards for home networking utilizing power lines.
3) Smart Meters (Single-Phase Power Meters) for Homes
The low-power R8C/Lx Series of microcontrollers is suitable for use in household smart meters ( Single-phase power meters ), with an established track record and growing adoption rate overseas. A power meter must operate on its internal battery from when it leaves the factory to when it is installed in the consumer's home, so low power consumption while only the real-time clock (RTC) is operating is essential. The R8C/Lx Series delivers a substantial reduction in power consumption while also providing a variety of flexible communication functions needed by smart meters, such as a three-channel on-chip UART for electronic meter reading, support for prepaid smartcards, etc. Additional on-chip functions, including an on-chip oscillator (OCO), watchdog timer (WDT), and LCD control circuit, reduce the number of external components required and help to lower the overall cost.
Renesas plans to continue to provide timely support for new products with smart grid support as part of our ongoing commitment to helping bring about a low-carbon society.
For examples of Renesas applications for smart grids, visit our Green Applications page.
Efforts Related to Development of Eco-Friendly Vehicles
It is impossible to speak of current environmental measures without mentioning automobiles. At first most attention was focused on improving fuel economy, and now it is forecast that in a few years hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which are powered by a combination of an electric motor and a gasoline engine, will become the dominant type of vehicle. Renesas has an extensive lineup of microcontroller products to support designers of hybrid electric vehicles, and we consider this to be a significant contribution to the realization of a more eco- friendly society.