Renesas development of EV charging solutions

Non-volatile memory (NVM) is a key component at the heart of every EV system design. It holds critical data, controls how the system boots, allows for robust Over the Air (OTA) updates and affects overall performance.  The Renesas AT25xx series of devices offer 256Kbit to 128Mbit drop in compatibility with industry standard products as well as the ability to enhance your application with additional features and class leading specifications.

The Renesas memory products including fixed voltage AT25SF/QF and wide VCC AT25FF and AT25XE FusionHD™ devices, feature industry standard features and pin outs that can work in any new or pre-existing design with enhanced performance from basic code shadow to high performance XiP. 

Many applications such as EV chargers may require an RS-232 or RS-485 / RS-422 serial ports for various configuration, monitoring, and diagnostic functionality. Renesas offers industry-leading devices to enable efficient and reliable communication for industrial control including dual interface multi-protocol transceiver products.  Supporting wide VCC, high noise immunity and high levels of ESD protection for reliable high-speed data transfer in many consumer and commercial EV charging applications.

Six ways Renesas enhances your serial port

1. Enhanced ESD protection
   • Full-featured transceivers with improved ESD protection upto ±8kV to ±15kV ESD protection when applications such as EV chargers and solar battery system ports connect to an exposed port.
      
2. Ruggedized fault protected: Overvoltage protected (OVP)
   • Overvoltage protected, or fault protected, transceivers are designed so that the bus pins can handle voltages much higher than those required by the application in noisy or risky environments.
      
3. High-Speed transceivers
   • Applications such as diagnostic ports, high power chargers, power control  applications require high data rates for minimal latency and increased throughput.
      
4. Low voltage & Low power
   • Most current-generation interface products have a “hot plug” function that disables the device when Vcc drops considerably below its nominal operating voltage. 
      
5. Low-Cost transceivers
   • Single node connections can often use low-cost transceivers. These devices still offer fault tolerance with always enabled drivers, that do not require bus biasing.
      
6. Multiprotocol
   • Many applications need both an RS-232 and RS-485 serial port. The dual protocol devices integrate both transceivers into a single package. The single-channel device can be programmed for either interface. The two-channel configuration is very flexible as each channel can be either port.

Document links

• Interface Products Overview
• RS-232 Documentation
• RS-422 / RS-485 Documentation
• Muli-Protocol Interface Documentation

Wi-Fi & Bluetooth

The DA16600 series is a highly integrated ultra-low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth^® Low Energy Combo Module solution. Together they deliver the industry's lowest power consumption for IoT applications in a convenient form factor. The DA16600 is 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth^® v5.1 compliance and integrates high level Wi-Fi security like WPA2/3 Personal and Enterprise. The DA16600 has an industry leading RF performance with TX output power of 18 dBm and RX sensitivity of 97.5 dBm. The DA16600 is a full standalone Wi-Fi/BLE Module with full Wi-Fi and Bluetooth^® stack and full integration of PA and RF frontend. DA16600 has a Ready2Go system integration approach supporting a fully featured AT Command set as well as full Linux driver support through serial interface (SPI and UART).

DA16600 Key features

• Low Power SoCs: DA16200 (Wi-Fi) and DA14531(BLE)
• Wi-Fi Specs: IEEE 802.11b/g/n, 1x1, 20 MHz channel bandwidth, 2.4 GHz
• BLE Specs: Compatible with Bluetooth^® v5.1
• Integrated Flash memory (4Mbyte)
• Build-in Wi-Fi BLE coexistence
• Worldwide Certifications: FCC, IC, CE, TELEC, SRRC, KC
• Part of Renesas Longevity program and guaranteed availability until 2030

Ultra-Low Power Wi-Fi + Bluetooth^® LE Combo Module (dialog-semiconductor.com)

LTE

The Renesas RYZ014A module is an all-in-one, single-mode LTE category M1 module with worldwide deployment and roaming capability.

The module comprises an LTE Cat-M1 platform and all other elements necessary for a complete LTE Cat-M1 modem system. These include an LTE-optimized transceiver, a single complete RF front-end to support LTE Cat-M1 bands worldwide, and key interfaces, all in a single compact LGA package. The RYZ014A module also includes a carrier-proven LTE Cat-M1 protocol stack and a comprehensive software package for over-the-air device management and packet routing.

Features:

• Integrated cellular IoT module for LTE Cat-M1
• 3GPP Release 13
• Field proven LTE Cat-M1 software stack
• AT command interface
• 20.25 x 21.35mm LGA package with 108 pads
• uSIM Interface
• Low Power Saving Mode: 1µA
• Voltage 3.1V to 4.5V
• RoHS-compliant, halogen-free
• High output power supporting both power class options 20 and 23dBm

Pre-certified to global RF regulations and multiple mobile network operators.

Click to enlarge image
 

Wi-SUN

Wi-SUN is a wireless sub-GHz communication standard specified by the Wi-SUN alliance using the frequency spectrum from 863 to 928 MHz. It supports various profiles covering home- and field area network applications.

Renesas offers sub-GHz wireless communication solutions with a high-performance IEEE802.15.4g-compliant system on chip, convenient starter kits, and software stacks certified by the Wi-SUN Alliance to simplify development and allow quick time to market.

The Renesas portfolio is based on two sub-GHz wireless communication devices; a wireless communications IC and microcontrollers (MCUs) with on-chip wireless function. The RAA604S00 wireless communications IC has built-in RF peripheral components and hardware supporting IEEE 802.15.4g/e, and realizes the lowest level of current consumption in the industry. The RAA604S00 wireless communications IC can be combined with the Renesas RX651 device with RXv2 core, large-capacity RAM, and enhanced security to enable larger Wi-SUN networks or Border Routers. The RL78/G1H MCU is a dual core device consisting of the ultra-low-power RL78 (16bit-MCU) core and an integrated RF transceiver (RAA604S00), this highly integrated system solution is mainly designed to support small Wi-SUN networks of 10 to 20 nodes. Choose from these two devices according to the needs of your system.

Sub-GHz Wireless Communication Solutions

Wired and hybrid communications solutions

Power Line Communication (PLC) is a communication method that uses power lines as the medium. This is predestined for applications such as EVC (electrical vehicle charging) or HEMS (home energy management systems) in general. By using the existing power line infrastructure as the communication network, it is possible to build a system quickly and at low cost.

Renesas offers power line communication solutions consisting of high-performance and flexible PLC devices, optimized evaluation boards, and software stacks that makes it easy to realize robust communication over the powerlines depending on the overall system architecture. The portfolio comprises of two devices. The R9A06G037 and the R9A06G061.

The R9A06G037 is a high-performance NB-PLC (Narrow Band Power Line Communication) modem IC. It integrates a high-performance DSP core and a MCU core (Arm^® Cortex^®-M3). The DSP core mainly handles PLC PHY layer protocol, and the ARM core handles the upper layer protocol. R9A06G037 can support a variety of PLC protocols such as G3-PLC (CENELEC, ARIB and FCC), PRIME, Meters and More and others.
 

The second PLC modem in the portfolio, the R9A06G061, is based on similar building blocks to the R9A06G037, consisting of analog front-end (AFE), DSP, and MCU. The high-performance DSP performs OFDM modulation and demodulation signal processing (PHY layer), and the MCU handles protocol conversion to/from the host interface. The R9A06G061 is optimized for high-speed and stable long-distance communication in Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks.
 

The next evolutionary step for narrowband powerline communication (PLC) technologies has taken place with the introduction of the “Hybrid” extension. Two of the major PLC Alliances, the G3-PLC alliance and the PRIME alliance have added an optional PHY media which comprises of the FSK communication compliant with IEEE802.15.4g/e. This allows each node in the network to use either PLC or RF communication depending on the best available channel and to keep maximum coverage. This combination of PLC and RF reassures designers who are concerned about coverage and reachability of communications when specifying only one media, the two technologies chosen for their robustness and communication distances, over 1km in both PLC and RF. To address these advancements Renesas is using the well-known connectivity products CPX3 (R9A06G37) and RF Transceiver (RAA604S00). Looking at the overall system architecture of Renesas’ G3-PLC hybrid solution, shown in Figure x, any end product platform can retain its flexibility and modularity and is able to extend a pure PLC product, into a hybrid one, by simply adding an RF transceiver module.

Power Line Communication (PLC) Solutions

Renesas Analog and Power solutions for electric vehicle charging

Renesas Electronics’ Analog and Power solutions for electric vehicle charging and smart grid infrastructure includes solutions starting from the AC mains input to the DC voltage and current needed for the application.

• AC/DC PrimAccurate™, primary-side regulation AC/DC flyback converters offer high-performance and low total BOM cost solutions for single phase and three phase connected systems. 
• High-voltage, non-isolated buck converters provide auxiliary power supply solutions in systems where safety isolation is not required. 
• DC/DC step-down buck converters for powering low voltage MCUs and communication ICs

PrimAccurate™ Isolated AC/DC converters and secondary-side Flyback for EV charging

Non-isolated AC/DC converters

Step-Down converters (Buck regulators)