Renesas Electronics Europe, a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced that it has certified the well-established KNX stack from Tapko Technologies to operate with its entire line-up of RL78 microcontrollers. KNX is a communications protocol for home and building automation, mainly used at the field level, in various segments like lighting, heating and ventilation, security and domotic applications. The strength of KNX is the ability to ensure full interoperability between different manufacturers by certifying the product prior to its introduction into the market. Companies interested in testing the KNX stack with Renesas RL78 MCUs can order the KAI Demo RL78 Evaluation Kit from Tapko Technologies.
All manufacturers are required to ensure compliance with the IEC standards defining the KNX communication protocols. KNX communication can be wired (for example, with a twisted pair bus) or wireless using transmission in the sub-GHz band.
Tapko’s expertise in KNX spans more than 20 years. The company provides the full stack to designers, significantly reducing the required resource and time to market, while ensuring that the end product passes certification without issue. As well as providing the stack, Tapko can also provide support on integrating the stack within the developer’s application. Tapko was also recently accredited as a KNX certification laboratory.
The use of microcontrollers in building and home automation applications is increasing, in order to meet requirements for more intelligence, more communication, and higher energy efficiency. The RL78 line-up of microcontrollers is the perfect fit for applications like detectors, small actuators, thermostats and temperature sensors. It consists of a wide family of 16-bit microcontrollers with many package, memory and peripheral options available, all featuring true low power performance. The new version 2.0 of KAIstack, Tapko’s KNX stack, utilises low power modes to support ultra-low power KNX-based systems, such as battery-driven devices, and enable truely “green” KNX-based systems. This means that RL78 is not only the ideal platform for applications requiring compact packages and ultra-low power operation, such as battery-powered detectors or sensors, but also responds to other requirements. These include thermostats and keypads needing larger packages and the performance to drive dot matrix or segment displays. Applications like lighting and motor control also benefit from the unique dedicated peripherals and features of the RL78 family. With the certification of the RL78, all these products can run the KNX stack using the many KNX transceiver options available on the market, combining communication and the application.
The KAI Demo RL78 evaluation kit is available now from Tapko Technologies. The hardware can be connected to any KNX bus via the standard connectors.
