Additional New Hardware and Software Features Speed Development of Embedded System Designs by Months

June 16, 2014

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 16, 2014 — Renesas Electronics America, a leading supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, and Micrium, the premier real time operating system (RTOS) provider for embedded systems, today announced the addition of the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) to the companies’ successful “The Power of Two” hardware and software support program. The Micrium TCP/IP IPv6, and Renesas flagship RL78 microcontrollers (MCUs) now can support the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The companies also announced additional software and hardware features to “The Power of Two” program that dramatically reduce development time and accelerate time to market by at least three months.

“IPv6 is the backbone of IoT design,” says Ritesh Tyagi, vice president of marketing for Renesas America. “You cannot build an IoT application without this capability, so we are extremely pleased to offer it to “The Power of Two” members to maximize their RX and RL78 MCU performance for machine-to-machine and cloud communication.”

The IPv6 functionality enables embedded systems to have a global IP address, making it possible for them to be globally reachable without having to work around Network Address Translation (NAT) routers. Micrium’s TCP/IP with IPv6 was designed and developed using the company’s quality coding standards, naming convention and on-line documentation. All the existing Micrium application layer modules are compatible with IPv4 and IPv6 (HTTP server, DNS Client, DHCP Client, FTP Client and Server, Telnet, SMTP Client).

Additional enhancements to “The Power of Two” include software updates, product releases, the latest system development tools, as well as, free of charge, Renesas Demonstration Kits (RDKs) which now include Renesas RX63N MCUs. For example, a significant addition is the new Renesas Firmware Integration Technology (FIT). Because Micrium software includes kernel and middleware stacks, but no low-level drivers, standalone drivers may be difficult to integrate into complicated embedded applications. Renesas created FIT coding standards to solve this issue. The FIT modules are written to enable them to work with each other and in an RTOS environment.

Also, “The Power of Two” now taps into Micrium’s new Evergreen™ program, designed to simplify projects and reduce development time by continually re-integrating and validating example projects for the Renesas MCUs. Over thirty Renesas RL78 and RX MCU-based example projects, including projects such as the Micrium “Demo of Everything” using the Renesas RX63N MCU, are supported by the Evergreen program; they are integrated, certified and tested to the latest standards for the MCU, tool chain and Micrium components. System engineers applying Micrium Evergreen example projects on Renesas development boards are assured the projects will function to specifications. This avoids costly debugging delays caused by using outdated example projects. Finally, Micrium adds its µC/USB-Device stack with audio class for systems that manipulate music, voice and other sound types used in consumer audio products such as headsets, speakers and microphones.

““The Power of Two” program continues to demonstrate how the close and ongoing relationship between Micrium and Renesas allows us to capitalize on the strengths of each company to provide best-in-class hardware and software solutions,” says Jean Labrosse president and CEO of Micrium. “The addition of IPv6, FIT and Evergreen are great examples of the successful collaboration shared by both companies that improves productivity and helps engineers leverage proven software building blocks to quickly realize their design visions today and tomorrow.”

About "The Power of Two" Program

“The Power of Two” program bundles Renesas’ high-quality MCUs with a real-time operating system (RTOS) and middleware components from Micrium, as well as best-in-class development tools from IAR Systems. The program provides more portable, scalable and affordable MCU designs for connected and emerging applications within the Smart Society. Customers who need flexibility, reliability and ease of use to accommodate constantly changing design needs are benefiting greatly from “The Power of Two.”

“The Power of Two” offers embedded developers working with any Renesas RX or RL78 devices free production licenses of Micrium’s RTOS µC/OS-II or µC/OS-III® and middleware (connectivity stacks, storage software and graphics), along with one year of maintenance and support. Developers who qualify for the program also get a free license of IAR Embedded Workbench for RX or RL78, including one year of technical support and software upgrades as well as up to two hours of web-based training provided by IAR Academy.

The “Power of Two” program is valid in the Americas only (North America, South America and Central America). The customer project must use a Renesas RX or RL78 MCU product and it must be used in a commercial application. Qualified customers can request any number of single-product licenses by registering each project individually with Renesas.

For more information or to apply for the promotion, visit http://am.renesas.com/thepoweroftwo.

For more information on Renesas Electronics’ MCU and ecosystem lineup, visit https://www.renesas.com/products/microcontrollers-microprocessors.html. For more information on Renesas news, follow Renesas Electronics America on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RenesasAmerica.

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications that help shape a limitless future. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.


The content in the press release, including, but not limited to, product prices and specifications, is based on the information as of the date indicated on the document, but may be subject to change without prior notice.

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