Control, Connectivity, and Security in a Single Chip
Industrial machinery development has become a huge complexity challenge. Demands for higher processing performance, advanced network connectivity, and robust security keep growing, and meeting these demands often means building a system out of multiple devices. Every added device adds more to design and integration, resulting in a complex system configuration.
As factories become smarter, industrial equipment such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), servo drives and inverters, robots, and remote I/O must deliver fast, precise real-time control, support a range of industrial networks for synchronized communication and reliable operation, and provide resiliency against cyberattacks.
However, using separate devices to meet all these many requirements increases component count and board area. It also complicates coordination between devices, software integration, testing, and validation. The result can be longer development cycles, higher system costs, and less flexibility to make design changes or add features later.
The RX74M and RX74N flagship MCUs in the RX family bring control, communication, and security together to simplify industrial system design. This integration can help reduce component count and board area while streamlining development.
Real-Time Performance for Advanced Control
Servo inverters and industrial robots require high-speed, stable real-time processing. High-performance cores and robust memory configuration make that possible. The result is safe, high-speed automated manufacturing lines.
The RX74M and RX74N are powered by an RXv3e core operating at up to 600MHz with a high-speed memory architecture to deliver high processing performance and real-time responsiveness. They feature 256KB of local RAM (TCM) for no-wait CPU access at 600MHz, along with 32KB of instruction cache and 32KB of data cache for rapid data and critical control code processing.
Up to 1.5MB of ECC-protected SRAM and a matrix bus architecture support large software applications and concurrent control and communication tasks. For nonvolatile code storage, the devices use 1MB of MRAM, which does not require an erase operation before writing and helps speed up firmware updates.
Simplifying Industrial Networking with RX74M
Creating a smart factory requires a network environment in which devices are connected in real time. The RX74M integrates an EtherCAT® slave controller, dual gigabit Ethernet, and a TSN-capable Ethernet switch. This combination brings control and industrial networking into a single chip, simplifying and streamlining the development of next-generation smart factory equipment without requiring an additional dedicated network device.
Support for major industrial networks also helps equipment adapt to different factory network environments. These networks include:
- EtherCAT®
- EtherNet/IP™ with device level ring (DLR)
- PROFINET® (RT)
- Ethernet TSN
Security Built In
As more devices become connected, cybersecurity is an essential design requirement. The RX74M and RX74N integrate Protect Zone and Renesas Secure IP (RSIP) to protect critical software and data at the hardware level. By separating secure and non-secure worlds, Protect Zone meets the reliability and security requirements of industrial and infrastructure equipment. RSIP provides hardware-based cryptographic key management and support for advanced cryptographic algorithms, helping strengthen embedded security without compromising performance.
Critical control functions and applications are isolated and protected within a single chip, with no need for additional external security devices. This simplifies system design and reduces the number of components. It also makes it easier to develop industrial equipment that can meet future security requirements.
Accelerate Software Development
Even a high-performance MCU cannot improve overall product development efficiency if software development still demands extensive effort. The RX74M and RX74N are the first RX family MCUs to support the Flexible Software Package (FSP), designed to make software development significantly easier alongside the hardware advances.
In addition to flexible development environments using e² studio and Visual Studio Code (VS Code), FSP provides a wide range of sample projects and drivers to help developers start evaluating and developing quickly. It also includes middleware for communication, security, and storage, as well as RTOS support. Software distribution and continuous updates through GitHub also make it easier to access the latest software assets.
Together, this helps reduce the time developers spend implementing low-level software and lets them focus more resources on application development that adds value. A common software environment across other MCUs and MPUs also makes it easier to reuse and extend existing design assets across product families.
Ready to start your evaluation right away? Choose the EtherCAT-capable RX74M evaluation kit (EK-RX74M) or the RX74N evaluation kit (EK-RX74N) for a broad range of products, depending on your design needs. For motor-focused product development, the motor control evaluation kits MCK-RX74M and MCK-RX74N include motors to help you evaluate your design.