Renesas Targets the Edge of the Internet of Things with Its New RZ/G3S Triple-Core System-on-Chip

Renesas has announced a new entry in its RZ/G microprocessor family, the RZ/G3S — boasting, the company says, advanced peripherals designed with the edge of the Internet of Things (IoT) firmly in mind and a 10µW standby power.

“Renesas’ RZ/G has seen a steady increase in adoption in the global industrial human machine interface market," claims Renesas' Daryl Khoo. "The RZ/G3S represents the next generation products that will extend our reach to the rapidly growing 5G IoT and gigabit Wi-Fi 7 gateway markets. Renesas has been aggressively expanding our connectivity portfolio in these markets through strategic acquisitions to offer advanced connectivity solutions that are power efficient at the system level and enhance data utilization."

The RZ/G3S is built around an Arm Cortex-A55 primary core running at up to 1.1GHz and a pair of Cortex-M33 coprocessors running at up to 250MHz. These, Renesas says, are available for tasks including system control, power control, and sensor communication and data processing, reducing the workload on the primary CPU. There's 1MB of on-chip RAM, plus a 16-bit DDR4 interface for external dynamic RAM (DRAM).

That primary CPU, meanwhile, comes with support for a Verified Linux Package (VLP) based on Civil Infrastructure Platform Linux and, the company says, offers a fast boot-up time when paired with DDR memory self-refresh. In standby, the sub-CPUs can remain operational with a power draw as low as 40mW — while full standby draws just 10µW, the company says. Error Correction Code (ECC) is implemented in the part's internal memory and on its external DDR interface.

To demonstrate the part's potential, Rensas has put together one of its "Winning Combination" reference designs, a single-board computer suitable for use as an Internet of Things gateway. This, the company says, makes full use of the RZ/G3S' various peripherals including gigabit Ethernet, USB, PCI Express (PCIe), and CAN, RS485, UART, and I2C buses.

The RZ/G3S is now available to order in-channel and through the Renesas website, with pricing starting at $19.75 before volume discounts; more information on the single-board computer reference design is available on its dedicated landing page.