Renesas introduced its RA4W1, an MCU with an integrated CAN Bus, USB, and Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy (BLE). The single-chip MCU includes a 48 MHz, 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 core, and Bluetooth 5.0 core delivered in a 56-pin QFN package.

The MCU enables designers of embedded systems to develop IoT (Internet of Things) endpoint devices for Industry 4.0, building automation, metering, healthcare, consumer wearable, and home appliance applications. The MCU, which provides one CAN-Bus port (CAN 2.0 A/B), is also fitting for developing IoT edge devices for wireless sensor networks, IoT hubs, an add-on to gateways, and an aggregator to IoT cloud applications.

The MCU and so-called Flexible Software Package (FSP) allow engineers to start development with ARM ecosystem software and hardware building blocks that work out-of-the-box with RA MCUs. The FSP open architecture will enable customers the re-use of their legacy code and combine it with software examples from ecosystem partners. It features FreeRTOS and middleware, offering a premium device-to-cloud option for developers. These out-of-box options can be replaced and expanded with any other RTOS or middleware.

The single-chip 48-MHz MCU features field-upgradeable 512 KiB flash memory, 96 KiB Sram, and connectivity such as CAN Bus, USB, and the company’s HMI-capacitive (human-machine interface) touch technology. It also includes Renesas’ Secure Crypto Engine supporting customers with symmetric encryption and decryption, hash functions, true random number generation (TRNG), and advanced critical handling with key generation and MCU-unique key wrapping.

The product includes full Bluetooth 5.0 functions such as 2 Mbit/s data throughput, all advertising extension functions with maximum advertising length (1650 byte), periodic advertisements, and channel selection algorithm #2 for applications requiring large amounts data of traffic.

Key Features

• 48MHz Arm® Cortex®-M4
• 512kB Flash Memory and 96kB SRAM
• 8kB Data Flash to store data as in EEPROM
• 7x7 mm QFN 56-pin package
• Capacitive touch sensing unit
• Segment LCD controller
• USB 2.0 Full Speed module supporting host and device mode
• CAN 2.0B
• SCI (UART, Simple SPI, Simple I2C)
• SPI/ I2C multimaster interface
• 2.4 GHz radio with Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy
• LE 1M, 2M, Coded PHY, and LE advertising extension
• Secure Crypto Engine (AES128 / 256, GHASH, TRNG)

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Make: Bluetooth: Bluetooth LE Projects with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and Smartphones

This book is where your adventures with Bluetooth LE begin. You start your journey by getting familiar with your hardware options: Arduino, BLE modules, computers (including Raspberry Pi!), and mobile phones.

From there, you will write code and wire circuits to connect off-the-shelf sensors, and even go all the way to writing your own Bluetooth Services. 

Along the way, you will look at lightbulbs, locks, and Apple's iBeacon technology, as well as get an understanding of Bluetooth security--both how to beat other people's safety, and how to make your hardware secure.

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