Renesas Electronics, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions has now joined the LoRa Alliance, an open non-profit association that supports the standardization and drives the widespread adoption of LoRaWAN. LoRaWAN is a wireless specification that achieves low-power wide-area (LPWA) wireless networks for the Internet of Things (IoT) as an open global standard. This membership will help Renesas accelerate its microcontroller (MCU) solution deployments using LoRaWAN technology for a wide array of IoT systems.
The development of LPWA wireless networks continues to progress with the proliferation of IoT. Various standardization and promotion organizations are making vigorous efforts to create specifications and promote widespread adoption of their specifications to create a global IoT market. The LoRa Alliance is advancing LoRaWAN standardization and its promotion, and is engaged in efforts to develop low-power wide-area wireless networks that use frequency bands that do not require licensing.
Renesas has joined the LoRa Alliance as a sponsor member, the highest level of membership, and will continue to contribute to both the standardization and promotion activities of LoRaWAN, which is expected to further expand in the future. They plan to develop and produce MCUs that support LoRaWAN within a year. Their compact MCU package will simplify the integration into the systems and reduce the mounting area on the board compared to the conventional packaging methods. Based on these technologies, Renesas intends to deliver a total wireless network solution combining wireless MCU and software.
Renesas will first expand this deployment for its low-power RL78 MCUs to contribute to the realization of IoT sensor end-devices that can be driven by batteries over the long term.
