Renesas Electronics Corporation has introduced the RE01B microcontroller (MCU) with Bluetooth 5.0 support as an expansion to its family of 32-bit ultra-low-power consumption MCUs. Developed based on the company’s SOTB (Silicon on Thin Buried Oxide) process technology, the new RE01B MCU is suitable for energy harvesting systems and intelligent IoT devices that need to operate constantly at extremely low power levels without the need to replace or recharge batteries.
The RE01B MCU can be used in compact healthcare devices such as pulse oximeters and biomedical sensor patches; remote controls with voice recognition capabilities and smart meter modules. Apart from this, they can also be used in IoT devices that require a constant operation, period data collection, and updates, such as devices for monitoring the elderly, children, or assets in transit.
By using the RE01B MCU users can implement regular data management and firmware updates over Bluetooth while maintaining ultra-low power consumption and extended battery life. The Arm Cortex-M0+ core and the SOTB process technology the RE01B MCU operates at a maximum operating frequency of 64 MHz and achieves current consumption of 35µA/MHz during operation 600nA during standby.
When the RE01B is combined with Renesas’ ISL9123 ultra-low Iq DC/DC converter, the device acts as an external step-down regulator and reduced the current consumption during operation down to 15 µA/MHz for even better power efficiency.
Features of RE01B Microcontroller
- Arm Cortex-M0+ core with a maximum operating frequency of 64 MHz
- Support for Bluetooth 5.0 Long Range (up to 400 m) and high data throughput (2 Mbps)
- Ultra-low current consumption of 35 µA/MHz (using internal LDO) or 15 µA/MHz (using DC/DC converter) during operation and 600 nA (core: 500 nA, Bluetooth: 100 nA) during standby
- Superior peak current of 3.0 mA (1Mbps) during Bluetooth reception and 4.3 mA during transmission (0 dBm, 1Mbps)
- 1.5 MB flash memory and 256 KB SRAM with Bluetooth functionality, suitable for over-the-air (OTA) firmware updating
- Operating voltage range: 1.62 V to 3.6 V with the high-speed operation of up to 64 MHz across all operating frequency range
- 64-pin QFN package measuring 8 mm x 8 mm
- On-chip 14-bit A/D converter with an ultralow-power consumption of approximately 4 µA
- Ability to program flash memory with a current of approximately 0.6 mA
- Robust security functions using Trusted Secure IP
Note: More technical information can be found in the RE01B datasheet linked at the bottom of this page.
