Renesas adds pin-compatible RZ/G3L and RZ/G3SE MPUs

Renesas has expanded its RZ/G Series with the RZ/G3L and RZ/G3SE, two pin-compatible 64-bit microprocessors aimed at HMI and IoT edge systems.

Both devices use a CPU cluster of up to four Arm Cortex-A55 cores running at up to 1.2 GHz alongside a Cortex-M33 coprocessor at 200 MHz. The RZ/G3L adds a GPU for 3D graphics rendering plus an H.264 video codec, which Renesas says suits smart retail terminals and medical HMI devices needing richer graphics. The RZ/G3SE targets devices with basic display needs, such as EV chargers and industrial gateways showing status and configuration screens.

Because the two parts share the same pinout, Renesas says developers can reuse a single PCB design across different product variants, reducing design effort when scaling a product line.

Renesas states that a proprietary power management architecture brings standby power down to the 1 mW level in deep standby mode, while retaining the Linux system in memory for fast wakeup, which it positions for always-connected industrial and IoT applications.

Connectivity includes PCIe, TSN-capable Gigabit Ethernet and USB. Renesas notes PCIe can link to 5G modules, Wi-Fi 6 modules or external AI accelerators, while TSN-capable Ethernet is intended for low-latency industrial networking.

Further specifications include quad-core or dual-core CPU configurations, 14 mm square 400-pin LFBGA and 17 mm square 368-pin LFBGA packages, ECC on both on-chip memory and the external DDR interface, an operating range of -40°C to 125°C, and security features including Renesas Secure IP, Secure Boot, Arm TrustZone and tamper detection. The software is Verified Linux Package compliant with the Civil Infrastructure Platform for long-term support.

Renesas says the RZ/G3L and RZ/G3SE are available today, alongside an evaluation board kit comprising a SMARC v2.1 module board and carrier board.