Renesas Unveils Its First Microcontroller Built with MONOS Embedded Flash Technology for Controlling Electric Motors in Automobiles

DETROIT & SAN JOSE, Calif.--Renesas Technology America, Inc. today announced the SH7147F 32-bit RISC microcontroller (MCU) specialized for controlling the electric motors increasingly being used in automotive chassis, safety and hybrid electric systems. The 64MHz, 32-bit SuperH^®-family device is the first MCU for automotive motor control systems to use Renesas’ advanced MONOS (Metal Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) embedded flash technology that delivers speed, size, and reliability advantages.

The SH7147's MONOS-based 256Kbyte on-chip flash memory is implemented by a 0.15 micron process and has a full-time single-cycle random access capability. It requires almost 60-percent less chip area than the same amount of flash built with floating-gate NOR flash technology. Also, the MONOS embedded flash is more reliable because its cell design minimizes losses.

“Our new MONOS embedded memory technology gives automotive electronics developers a competitive advantage because high speeds and reliability are two of their primary design factors for in-vehicle systems,” said Shinichi Asano, marketing manager, automotive business unit at Renesas Technology America, Inc. “The SH7147 MCU leverages the years of experience we have accumulated in developing and manufacturing MONOS-like nonvolatile memory devices. Our customers can be confident that our MONOS process is a mature solution with important benefits, and that it's being applied to economical and dependable MCUs we can manufacture in volume."

Peripheral functions allow precise control of 3-phase motors

The set of peripherals built into the SH7147 MCU for automotive applications include eight channels of 16-bit PWM timers and a 16-channel analog-to-digital (A/D) converter with sample-and-hold (S/H) circuits. These and other on-chip functions, combined with the MCU's high computing performance, allow cost-effective precision inverter designs for electrical power-steering and various DC-to-DC voltage conversion applications in hybrid electric and gas powered cars and trucks.

The 64MHz SH7147F is a second-generation product that provides functional and performance improvements over the 50MHz SH7047F, while using the same small 100-pin package. Besides having a 28-percent faster CPU speed, the SH7147F has a more sophisticated data converter. The enhanced A/D offers higher resolution (12 bits, up from 10), additional channels capable of simultaneous sampling and conversion (six, up from two), and a quicker conversion time (about 30 percent faster). Also, it achieves approximately a two-fold improvement in absolute precision, for more accurate inverter control.

The A/D converter interacts with the on-chip 16-bit PWM timers to implement precise inverter control. Those timers comprise the MMT (Motor Management Timer) and MTU (Multifunction Timer pulse Unit). The latter consists of the MTU2 and MTU2S, which have higher operating speeds: 32 and 64MHz, respectively. The timers are easier to use, too, thanks to new features such as an A/D conversion start-request delayed function and an interrupt-request thinning-out function.

Interfaces allow communications with other vehicle systems

In modern automobiles, the trend is for more of the in-vehicle systems to be networked together. As a result, the new MCU incorporates comprehensive communication functions for easy connections to other electronic units, subsystems and ICs. A CAN (Controller Area Network) interface is compatible with the CAN in-vehicle LAN specification. A 4-wire SSU (Synchronous Serial communication Unit) channel allows the selection of master mode or slave mode and can perform synchronous serial communication even with a device that uses a different clock polarity and different clock phase. Three on-chip SCI (Serial Communication Interface) channels can handle both asynchronous and synchronous serial communication. Additionally, the MCU has an 8-bit data-bus-width external expansion function and a DTC (Data Transfer Controller) that allows data transfers to internal and external memory without CPU intervention.

The SH7147F operates over a wide ambient temperature range (–40°C to +125°C), so it can be used in difficult environments — the engine compartment of a vehicle, for example. It is packaged the same compact 100-pin LQFP (14 mm x 14 mm, 0.5 mm pin pitch) as the SH7047F device, allowing upgrades with existing circuit boards. Also, the SH7147F maintains software compatibility that the SH7047F, so the newer device can run application code written for its predecessor, saving development time. Available system development tools include an integrated development environment with C/C++ compiler package, simulator/debugger, project management tools, and a flash memory programming tool, as well as an emulator (the E200F).

Price and Availability

Product Name (type #)		Flash Memory / RAM Capacity		Package		Sample Price / Availability
SH7147F (R5F71474)		256KBytes / 12KBytes		100-pin LQFP		$25.75 / Now

Reader contact

Readers can find additional product and contact information on the Renesas Technology Web site at www.renesas.com.

About Renesas Technology Corp.

Renesas Technology Corp. is one of the world’s leading semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (Audio Visual) markets and the world’s No.1 supplier of microcontrollers. It is also a leading provider of LCD Driver ICs, Smart Card microcontrollers, RF-ICs, High Power Amplifiers, Mixed Signal ICs, System-on-Chip (SoC), System-in-Package (SiP) and more. Established in 2003 as a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. (TOKYO:6501) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO:6503), Renesas Technology achieved consolidated revenue of 906 billion JPY in FY2005 (end of March 2006). Renesas Technology is based in Tokyo, Japan and has a global network of manufacturing, design and sales operations in around 20 countries with about 26,200 employees worldwide. For further information, please visit http://www.renesas.com.

Note to Editors: A specification summary is included in this release, and a photo and block diagram of the SH7147 microcontroller are available.

Notes:	1.	MTU (Multifunction Timer pulse Unit): A 16-bit timer that can be used for inverter control and as an input-capture or output-compare timer.
	2.	CAN (Controller Area Network): An in-vehicle network specification proposed by Robert Bosch GmbH of Germany
	3.	SSU (Synchronous Serial communication Unit): A synchronous serial communication module allowing 4-wire master-mode or slave-mode selection and synchronous serial communication with a device that has a different clock polarity and clock phase.
	4.	SCI (Serial Communication Interface): A module capable of both asynchronous and synchronous serial communication. In asynchronous mode, serial communication is possible with a standard asynchronous communication LSI such as a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) or ACIA (Asynchronous Communication Interface Adapter).
	5.	DTC (Data Transfer Controller): A module capable of data transfer to memory without CPU intervention.

-- SuperH is a registered trademark of Renesas Technology Corp. in the United States. Other product names, company names, or brands mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Specifications: Renesas Technology SH7147 32-bit SuperH Microcontroller with MONOS Flash Memory Technology

Item			SH7147F Specifications
Product type name			R5F71474
Memory	Flash memory		256Kbytes (built with MONOS technology)
	RAM		12Kbytes
Maximum operating frequency/ power supply voltage			64MHz / 3.0V to 3.6V (core section), 4.5V to 5.5V (I/O section)
Operating ambient temperature			-40°C to +125°C
CPU core			SH-2 (32-bit RISC with general registers: 32 bits x 16)
Timers			-- 16-bit PWM timer (MTU2) x 5 channels (16 inputs/outputs) -- 16-bit PWM timer (MTU2S) x 3 channels (6 inputs/outputs, 3 inputs) -- 16-bit compare-match timer (CMT) x 2 channels -- 8-bit watchdog timer (WDT) x 1 channel
A/D converter			-- 12-bit resolution x 16 channels (Module 0: 8 channels; Module 1: 8 channels) -- 6 built-in sample-and-hold circuits with simultaneous sampling capability (3 in each A/D module)
CAN-compatible interface			-- RCAN-ET x 1 channel (Bosch CAN Ver. 2.0B active compliant, Full CAN support / 16 message buffers)
Synchronous serial communication unit (SSU)			-- SSU x 1 channel
Serial communication interface (SCI)			-- 8-bit asynchronous/synchronous x 3 channels
External expansion function			-- 8-bit data-bus-width external expansion function
Data transfer controller (DTC)			-- DTC x 1 channel
Power-down modes			-- 5: Sleep, Software Standby, Deep Software Standby, Module Standby, Hardware Standby
Package			100-pin LQFP (14mm x 14mm, 0.5mm pin pitch)