Renesas simplifies the use of its IP with new application packages and kits

Renesas Electronics Corp. has announced its IP Utilities solutions, aimed at simplifying the development of devices using Renesas’ intellectual property (IP). The solutions series includes application packages and evaluation kits, as well as expands the company’s portfolio of IP licenses.

One of the key reasons for the development of the IP Utilities solutions is the growing number of steps and time required to develop original devices due to the need to verify many IP component combinations, including for peripheral functions and application-specific functions, said Renesas. In addition, “the use of licensed IP for device development is becoming more attractive from the cost, time and design risk perspectives.”

With more than 80 offerings in its IP portfolio since Renesas entered the IP licensing market in 2018, the new solutions are expected to help shorten development time for original semiconductor devices based on Renesas IP as well as reduce time to market.

Renesas’ initial offerings include:

Application packages allow development of original microcontroller (MCU) with a short turnaround time.
Application packages enable developers to implement application-specific functions as part of MCU development. One example cited is the “12-Axis Motor Control Package” that allows MCU developers to implement multi-axis motor control, which can be difficult to support in general-purpose MCU products, said Renesas. The base package includes a CPU, peripheral IPs, and motor control IPs. Customization is possible, such as changing the number of axes, switching to brushless DC motor control or switching to a different CPU.

Early adopter kit enables early evaluation of AI accelerator cores
The early adopter kit allows developers to promote early phase evaluation of the Processing-in-Memory (PIM) AI accelerator IP, which delivers power efficiency of 8.8 TOPS/W. Software development also is available. Developers can use the Raspberry Pi control board to combine PIM functions in a stacked configuration of up to three boards – expanding the scale of inference processing. (The PIM IP will be available in 2021.)

IP core configuration simplification tools
Developers can use the new configuration tools to study the specifications of complex IP cores and optimize their performance in user applications, said Renesas. The first configuration tool is for the PCI Express controller core, enabling users to perform simulations for variables, such as transfer speed, number of lanes, and bus bit width, as well as select the optimal configuration for achieving target performance from over 500,000 variations.

TCAM front-end library to study product specifications
The front-end library for the Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) IP combines advanced functionality and power efficiency, said Renesas. Developers can research new solutions with utilized trial TCAM front-end libraries in user-defined configurations including advanced technologies, such as the 7 nm process.

Equivalent EMC design consulting for devices
EMC design consulting is available as part of the new solutions. By dealing with EMC design issues early in the system development process, developers can reduce challenges of fixing noise issues after manufacture.

Future offerings include an evaluation environment for evaluation of Ethernet TSN performance and an evaluation board mounted with an FPGA incorporating CPU cores.