Renesas Electronics announced the availability of the company's 6 new 32-bit microcontrollers, the SH726A and SH726B. The new MCUs are designed to lower the system cost of products, such as car and home audio systems and industrial equipment, while reducing the mounting area. The SH726A and SH726B devices are new members of the SH7260 family of MCUs with large-capacity on-chip SRAM.

The SH726A and SH726B offer all the benefits of previous generations, such as large internal SRAM, support for serial Flash memory and code fetching from quad serial memories. They also provide a proven Media SDK that dramatically improves time to market when implementing audio codecs (MP3, AAC, and WMA) and includes a production ready media player, FAT file system and Bluetooth profiles.

Renesas Electronics is committed to helping customers and partners deliver high quality functionality with reduced system cost and the fastest development cycle in the industry and the SH2A and its Media SDK is a true example of how Renesas delivers on this promise.

Key features of the SH726A and SH726B MCUs:

(1) Smaller package with lower pin count for reduced system cost

The SH726A and SH726B MCUs are equipped with a new bus controller that enables the connection of quad-SPI Flash ROM (serial type), which uses fewer connection pins, as external Flash memory supporting direct data access. This substantially reduces the number of pins required for connection, while maintaining access speeds equivalent to conventional parallel NOR flash (see Note 1). In addition, on-chip functions optimized for system control and data processing enable the lowest pin count (SH726A: 120-pins) in the entire SH7260 Series. The SH726A is also available in a version with a package size of 14 × 14 millimetre (mm) and 0.4 mm pin pitch, helping to reduce the board mounting area and overall cost of the system.

(2) Improved system expandability through high-speed operation

The maximum CPU operating frequency of the SH726A and SH726B MCUs is 216 megahertz (MHz), which is 1.5 times that of the existing SH7266 MCUs and the industry's highest level for audio products. It enables the implementation of operations such as digital audio signal processing at high speed. This makes the MCUs suitable for use in products subject to a heavy processing load for sound stage processing, noise cancellation (echo cancelling/noise suppression) for hands-free calls over Bluetooth, in addition to audio playback (decoding of compressed audio). The SH726B MCUs also implement two USB (Full-Speed) channels on-chip, providing support for the connection of multiple USB devices of various types, including portable audio players and USB storage.

(3) Reduction in development man-hours

The SH7260 Series supports the following middleware for digital audio, which has a proven track record in mass production applications. This helps to reduce the development time required to develop new products.

Data decoder middleware for MP3, WMA, AAC, etc.
Device middleware for USB, SD, etc.
ISO 9660 file system middleware for CD-ROM applications, FAT file system middleware for USB/SD memory, etc.
Software development kits (SDKs) incorporating these drivers and middleware for
digital audio applications are also available to further reduce the time and resources required for system development.

Renesas Electronics plans to continue adding new products to the SH7260 Series of MCUs with large-capacity on-chip RAM in a timely manner in response to the evolving market.
Please refer to the separate sheet for the main specifications of the SH726A and SH726B MCUs.

(Note 1)
A new bus controller has been added that allows programs stored in external quad-SPI Flash ROM (with six connection signal lines) to be executed directly, without the need to first transfer them to on-chip SRAM. Access speeds equivalent to conventional parallel NOR Flash ROM (with 32 MB, 16-bit bus and 43 connection lines) are achieved through the use of a read cache, enabling the number of pins used to be reduced substantially.

Availability:

The SH726A and SH726B MCUs will be available in a total of six product versions, depending on the presence or absence of an on-chip CAN interface. There will be four versions for the SH726A and two for the SH726B. Each of these is additionally available either for industrial or automobile accessory applications, for a total of 12 product numbers. Customers can choose the version with the specifications that best meet their needs. The operating temperature range of all versions is –40 to +85°C. The SH726A is available in a 120-pin QFP (0.5 mm or 0.4 mm pin pitch) and the SH726B in a 144-pin QFP (0.5 mm pin pitch) lead-free package.
Samples of Renesas Electronics' new SH726A and SH726B MCUs are scheduled for availability in September 2011. Mass production is scheduled to begin in May 2012 and is expected to reach a combined volume of 1,000,000 units per month. Availability is subject to change without notice.