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HomeElectronicsEmbedded/IoTModular IoT Development Platform

Modular IoT Development Platform

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Renesas Electronics has unveiled an innovative platform that significantly simplifies the prototyping of IoT systems.

Renesas' Quick-Connect IoT system platform is based on standardised boards and interfaces, allowing designers to quickly and easily connect a wide range of sensors to microcontroller development boards.

This new ecosystem also offers the necessary software blocks, which are compatible with all boards, so that the effort of writing code is greatly reduced.

As part of the Quick-Connect IoT System project, Renesas has worked with Digilent, to create a new 'Type 6A' extended I2C Pmod interface that allows for greater compatibility and increased flexibility.

Renesas has fitted this Digilent Pmod 6A connector to its new Pmod sensor boards and MCU development kits.

This standardisation allows designers unique flexibility in adopting the best combination of devices for any IoT prototype.

The MCU boards will have two Pmod connectors, one to connect a sensor Pmod board and another to add a communication module.

For additional flexibility, Pmods can also be cascaded.

Renesas has also created common API (Application Program Interface) and HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) drivers for a wide range of sensors.

They are integrated within the Renesas e2 studio development environment.

Now instead of writing and testing hundreds of lines of code, designers can simply graphically select the sensors of interest and add very few lines of code.

The integration and configuration work has already been done, so the time to get a working solution is shortened.

Initially, the Quick-Connect IoT ecosystem will include more than a dozen new Renesas sensor-related Pmods and other modular boards.

Pmods include air quality sensors, flow sensors, biometric sensors, time of flight, temperature sensors and other devices.

Further Renesas Pmods are currently under development and will include a variety of sensors and peripherals.

More than 25 development boards and kits for MCUs of the RA, RX and RL78 families are compatible with the new Pmod Type 6A standard, either directly or by means of a small adapter developed by Renesas.

Development kits for the RE and RZ MCUs will be supported shortly.

Comments

"Our goal is to provide solutions that enable customers to go to market faster and with higher quality products," says DK Singh, Senior Director of the Systems and Solutions Group at Renesas. "For example, we have developed hundreds of Winning Combinations that provide our customers with reference solutions to lower the risks associated with designing new systems and reduce development time. The Quick-Connect IoT platform is the latest example of our commitment in this area, and in the near future we will expand the offering with support for additional boards and devices.Inaddition, by having a standardised hardware connectivity platform, the user can also take advantage of compatible Pmods developed by third parties or other suppliers.

"The new Pmod Type 6A interface demonstrates our intent to make system prototyping simpler and more accessible," says Talesa Bleything, Director of Marketing at Digilent, Inc. "It conforms to the I2C protocol specification, with the addition of an optional interrupt pin and reset pin, plus other optional control signals, giving the user greater flexibility for different types of development systems."

"Our customers in the IoT field need much more than great MCUs, sensors and software," says Chris Allexandre, Senior Vice President of Sales and Digital Marketing, IoT and Infrastructure at Renesas. "The Quick-Connect IoT solution represents a turning point for Renesas to strengthen our position as a leader in the IoT market."

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