Renesas Adds Two New MCU Groups to Blazing Fast RA8 Series with 1GHz Performance and Embedded MRAM

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Renesas Adds Two New MCU Groups to Blazing Fast RA8 Series with 1GHz Performance and Embedded MRAM

2025-10-22 20:06 Last Updated At：20:20

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 22, 2025--

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced the RA8M2 and RA8D2 microcontroller (MCU) groups. Based on a 1 GHz Arm ® Cortex ® -M85 processor with an optional 250 MHz Arm ® Cortex ® -M33 processor, the new MCUs are the latest Renesas offerings to deliver an unmatched 7300 Coremarks of raw compute performance, the industry benchmark for MCUs. The optional Cortex-M33 processor enables efficient system partitioning and task segregation.

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Both RA8D2 and RA8M2 devices are ultra-high performance MCUs as part of the second generation of the RA8 Series – the RA8M2 are general-purpose devices, and the RA8D2 MCUs are packed with a variety of high-end graphics peripherals. They are built on the same high-speed, low-power 22-nm ULL process used for the RA8P1 and RA8T2 devices introduced earlier this year. The devices include single and dual core options, and a specialized feature set to address the needs of a broad base of compute intensive applications. They take advantage of the high performance of the Arm Cortex-M85 processor and Arm’s Helium™ technology to offer a significant performance boost for digital signal processor (DSP) and machine learning (ML) implementations.

The RA8M2 and RA8D2 devices offer embedded MRAM that has several advantages over Flash technology - high endurance & data retention, faster writes, no erase needed, and byte addressable with lower leakage and manufacturing costs. SIP options with 4 or 8 MB of external flash in a single package are also available for more demanding applications. Both the RA8M2 and RA8D2 MCUs include Gigabit Ethernet interfaces and a 2-port TSN switch to address industrial networking use cases.

Both of the MCU Groups provide a combination of the high performance of the Cortex-M85 core, together with large memory and a rich peripheral set, making them particularly suitable for a wide range of IoT and industrial use cases. The lower power CM33 core can act as a housekeeping MCU, executing system tasks while the high performance CM85 core stays in sleep mode, to be woken up only as needed for high compute tasks, thus lowering the system power consumption.

“The RA8M2 and RA8D2 complete Renesas’ new generation of RA8 MCUs, purpose-built for the high-performance microcontroller market,” said Daryl Khoo, Vice President of the Embedded Processing Marketing Division at Renesas. “This portfolio empowers Renesas to deliver scalable, secure and AI-enabled embedded processing solutions that accelerate customer innovation and time-to-market across a broad spectrum of industrial, IoT and select automotive applications. Renesas’ commitment to innovation is reflected in the RA8 Series’ ability to address complex processing requirements while maintaining lower power consumption and minimizing total cost of ownership to future-proof customers’ designs.”

RA8D2 Feature Set Optimized for Graphics and HMI Applications

The RA8D2 MCUs provide a plethora of features and functions for graphics and HMI applications:

Key Features of the RA8M2 and RA8D2 Group MCUs

The new RA8M2 and RA8D2 Group MCUs are supported by Renesas’ Flexible Software Package (FSP). The FSP enables faster application development by providing all the infrastructure software needed, including multiple RTOS, BSP, peripheral drivers, middleware, connectivity, networking, and security stacks as well as reference software to build complex AI, motor control and cloud solutions. It allows customers to integrate their own legacy code and choice of RTOS (FreeRTOS and Azure RTOS) with FSP, thus providing full flexibility in application development. In addition, Zephyr support is now included. Using the FSP will ease migration of existing designs to the new RA8 Series devices.

Winning Combinations

Renesas has combined the new RA8 Group MCUs with numerous compatible devices from its portfolio to offer a wide array of Winning Combinations, including the Smart Glasses and Pet Camera Robot for the RA8M2, and both Ki Wireless Power Transceiver System (Tx) and Ki Wireless Power Receiver System (Rx) for the RA8D2. Winning Combinations are technically vetted system architectures from mutually compatible devices that work together seamlessly to bring an optimized, low-risk design for faster time to market. Renesas offers more than 400 Winning Combinations with a wide range of products from the Renesas portfolio to enable customers to speed up the design process and bring their products to market more quickly. They can be found at renesas.com/win.

Availability

The RA8M2 and RA8D2 Group MCUs are available now, along with the FSP software. The RA8M2 devices are available in 176-pin LQFP, 224-pin and 289-pin BGA packages. The RTK7EKA8M2S00001BE Evaluation Kit is also available. The RA8D2 MCUs are offered in 224-pin and 289-pin BGA packages. The RTK7EKA8D2S01001BE Evaluation Kit supports the RA8D2 devices. Information on all these offerings is available at www.renesas.com/RA8M2 and www.renesas.com/RA8D2.

Renesas MCU Leadership

The world leader in MCUs, Renesas ships more than 3.5 billion units per year, with approximately 50% of shipments serving the automotive industry, and the remainder supporting industrial and Internet of Things applications as well as data center and communications infrastructure. Renesas has the broadest portfolio of 8-, 16- and 32-bit devices, delivering unmatched quality and efficiency with exceptional performance. As a trusted supplier, Renesas has decades of experience designing smart, secure MCUs, backed by a dual-source production model, the industry’s most advanced MCU process technology and a vast network of more than 250 ecosystem partners. For more information about Renesas MCUs, visit renesas.com/MCUs.

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation ( TSE: 6723 ) empowers a safer, smarter and more sustainable future where technology helps make our lives easier. The leading global provider of microcontrollers, Renesas combines our expertise in embedded processing, analog, power and connectivity to deliver complete semiconductor solutions. These Winning Combinations accelerate time to market for automotive, industrial, infrastructure and IoT applications, enabling billions of connected, intelligent devices that enhance the way people work and live. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram.

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NBA tipoff: Round 2 continues Friday with Knicks-76ers, Spurs-Timberwolves

What a difference a year makes.

Home teams are 7-1 entering Friday in the conference semifinals. Detroit is up 2-0 on Cleveland, Oklahoma City is up 2-0 on the Los Angeles Lakers, New York is up 2-0 on Philadelphia and San Antonio got a 1-1 split with Minnesota.

In other words, games went largely as seedings suggested they would.

That wasn't the case last season, when home teams went 2-6 in Games 1 and 2 of the conference semifinals. This is only the third time in the last 16 postseasons when home teams went 7-1 to start Round 2.

On Friday, it's a pair of Game 3s: New York at Philadelphia and San Antonio at Minnesota.

— Game 3, New York at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. EDT (Prime)

Series: New York leads 2-0.

Odds: 76ers by 1.5.

An overlooked part of New York's Game 2 win: After three consecutive blowout victories by the Knicks going back to Round 1, they dug deep in the fourth quarter — holding Philadelphia to 4 for 19 shooting in the final 12 minutes on Wednesday night.

— Game 3, San Antonio at Minnesota, 9:30 p.m. EDT (Prime)

Series: Tied 1-1.

Odds: Spurs by 4.5.

Expect a bounceback game from Anthony Edwards, if his knee allows. He was never in rhythm in Game 2 (at least, not the way he was at times in the Game 1 win) and the Timberwolves were minus-33 in his 24 minutes.

— Game 3, Detroit at Cleveland, 3 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Series: Detroit, 2-0.

Odds: Cleveland by 4.5.

The Pistons have won five consecutive postseason games for the first time since 2008 — and three of them were while facing elimination in Round 1. Cleveland is now 2-10 in conference semifinal games over the past three seasons.

— Game 3, Oklahoma City at LA Lakers, 8:30 p.m. EDT (ABC)

Series: Oklahoma City, 2-0.

Odds: Oklahoma City by 8.5.

The Lakers are furious with elements of the officiating right now, and that might go one of two ways in Game 3. They'll either come out inspired on Saturday and make this a series, or the anger could work against them.

— Pistons 107, Cavaliers 97 for 2-0 series lead.

— Thunder 125, Lakers 107 for 2-0 series lead. The Lakers are angry.

A breakdown of this season's NBA awards:

— Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year: DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans.

— Hustle Award: Moussa Diabaté, Charlotte.

— Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio.

— Clutch Player of the Year: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City.

— Sixth Man of the Year: Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.

— Sportsmanship Award: Derrick White, Boston.

— Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta.

— Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Dallas.

— Executive of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston.

Among the announcements still to come:

— Most Valuable Player: Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.

— Coach of the Year: Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.

Defending champion Oklahoma City (-165) is favored to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+325), New York (+800), Detroit (+1500), Minnesota (+5000), Cleveland (+6000), Los Angeles Lakers (+10000) and Philadelphia (+10000).

Favorites are 34-22 through Thursday in the 2026 NBA playoffs, a .607 winning percentage that might look pretty good on paper.

That is, until one looks at other recent playoff seasons.

Underdogs are on pace to have their best winning percentage in a playoff season in more than a decade. The last time underdogs won outright this often was the 2014 playoffs, when they won 44.9% of the time.

— Sunday: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft

“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I've ever seen.” — Lakers coach JJ Redick, on how LeBron James is officiated.

— LeBron James has attempted five free throws in the first two games of the series against Oklahoma City. It's the second fewest he's ever taken in the first two games of any of his 57 career playoff series. He took four in Games 1 and 2 vs. Golden State in 2023.

— The Pistons are 25-4 this season when Duncan Robinson makes at least four 3-pointers.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba