Renesas Electronics announces new MCUs that provide ultimate LED lighting function

TOKYO, JAPAN: Renesas Electronics Corp., a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced the availability of five 16-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), the RL78/I1A family, that implement in a single chip the LED control, power supply control, and communication functions required in LED lighting fixtures.

The new MCUs adopt the Renesas Electronics RL78 CPU, which achieves both high computational performance and ultra low power consumption, and include from 32 to 64 kilobytes (KB) of flash memory in 20 to 38-pin package versions. These devices achieve 20 percent reduced power consumption during normal operation over the Renesas Electronics’ existing 78K0/Ix2 products.

LED lighting, which features low power consumption and long lifetimes, is the focus of attention as an effort to reduce CO2 emissions on a global scale. LED illumination is becoming increasingly widely used in industrial and commercial facilities, in streetlights, and in home lighting.

The global market for LED lighting equipment is expected to grow rapidly from the roughly 20 million units sold in 2009 to over 400 million units in 2014.

Given this background, Renesas Electronics has added the high-performance, ultra-low power 16-bit RL78/I1A family of MCUs to its existing 8-bit MCU lineups for use in lighting ballasts. The RL78/I1A family addresses the need of a variety of lifestyles for lower cost, high-color dimming and color temperature control. The RL78I1A supports lighting communication standards for centralized control in buildings and offices.