Renesas announced an “RZ/G” series of dual-core SoCs for Linux- and Android devices in 1GHz Cortex-A7 and 1.5GHz Cortex-A15 flavors, both with PowerVR GPUs.

The RZ/G updates the Renesas Electronics RZ line of system-on-chips, which includes the Linux-ready RZ/A1 line of single-core, 400MHz Cortex-A9 SoCs, as well as an RZ/T line that runs an RTOS on a Cortex-M4 microcontroller. The new devices are aimed at a wide range of Linux- and Android embedded products including hand-held medical devices, digital signage, and industrial, home appliance, and office equipment devices that use a human-machine interface (HMI), says the Japanese semiconductor firm.

The RZ/G is available in two models:

• RZ/G1-E — dual-core, 1GHz Cortex-A7 with a PowerVR SGX540 GPU
• RZ/G1-M – dual-core, 1.5GHz Cortex-A15 with PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU

RZ/G vs. RZ/A
(click image to enlarge)

The RZ/G series not only features faster CPUs than RZ/A, especially in the case of the RZ/G1-M, but also 3D graphics acceleration, with the SGX544MP2 on the RZ/G1-M providing the best 3D graphics performance. Both RZ/G models include a proprietary Renesas video codec that delivers 1080p @ 60fps performance. The RZ/A, by comparison, is limited to 2D graphics and WXGA resolution.

Both RZ/G models offer a DDR3 external memory interface, “which provides ample performance margin for applications including image processing of multiple video streams for monitoring systems and video sensing such as face recognition,” says Renesas. Other common features include Fast Ethernet and gigabit Ethernet controllers, as well as dual USB host interfaces.

Block diagrams for the RZ/G1-E (left) and RZ/G1-M
(click images to enlarge)

The RZ/G1-M adds a USB 3.0 interface, plus a PCIe interface and dual-channel SATA support. While the RZ/G1-E provides dual-channel D-RGB and dual video outputs, the RZ/G1-M bumps that up to dual D-RGB and LVDS, as well as three video outputs.

Renesas RZ/G

The same drivers and software can be shared among different products in the series, says Renesas. The RZ/G series supports Linux 3.10 LTSI now, with Android KitKat (4.4) support coming later in 2015. Linux 4.1 will be available in early 2016. Board support packages and development kit documentation will be available from www.elinux.org and the RZ/G GitHub site by the end of the month. Extensive documentation is already available on the RZ/G product pages.

These Specifications are listed for the RZ/G series SoCs:

	RZ/G1M	RZ/G1E
CPU	Cortex-A15 @1.5GHz Dual	Cortex-A7 @1.0GHz Dual
MIPS	Up to 10500MIPS	Up to 3800MIPS
3D Graphics	SGX544MP2 @520MHz	SGX540 @260MHz
Video playback	Up to Full-HD x 1 channel	Up to Full-HD x 1 channel
Display output	2 channels (D-RGB/LVDS)	2 channels (D-RGB)
Video output	3 channels	2 channels
DDR I/F	DDR3L@1333/1600 32bit x 2 channels	DDR3@1333 32bit x 1 channel
USB2.0	2.0(Host/Function) x 1 channel 2.0 (Host) x 1 channel	2.0(Host/Function) x 1 channel 2.0 (Host) x 1 channel
USB3.0	3.0 (Host) x 1 channel	–
PCI-e	1 channel (1Lane)	–
SATA	2 channels	–
Ethernet	10M and 100Mbps x 1 channel 100M and 1000Mbps x 1 channel	10M and 100Mbps x 1 channel 100M and 1000Mbps x 1 channel
Package	831pin 27mm x 27mm 0.8mm ball pitch	501pin 21mm x 21mm 0.8mm ball pitch

Starter kits are available for both RZ/G models, although no details were available. An ecosystem of partners will provide system integration services, GUI frameworks, middleware, OS support, and board design, as well as sales of evaluation and mass-production boards, says Renesas. The partners include Cogent Embedded, Timesys, Adeneo Embedded, among others.

 
Further information

Samples of the RZ/G series SoCs are available now. Mass production is scheduled to begin in July 2016 and is expected to reach a volume of 100,000 units per month in July 2017, says Reneas. More information may be found at the RZ/G product page.