Dusseldorf, December 04, 2012 — Renesas Electronics Europe, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, and Tapko Technologies GmbH today announced the availability of a new KNX [Note 1] software stack designed for the RL78 microcontroller (MCU) family. Reliable and flexible communications within residential and administrative buildings allow a high level of energy savings. This is why the KNX protocol is widely used to control lights, heating systems, and ventilation equipment and to manage sensors and surveillance systems. The KNX bus is defined by the European EN 50090 and international ISO/IEC 14543 standards. To ensure full interoperability between different vendors’ equipment, all products require a KNX certification.
Renesas selected Tapko to deliver its fully-certified KAIstack KNX communication stack, which will run on any RL78 MCU and reduce the effort and cost of KNX device development. The RL78 MCU portfolio offers a true low power platform operating down to 66µA/MHz, a scalable platform from 20 up to 128 pins (2KB up to 512KB Flash) and advanced peripherals to achieve smart efficiency. It is easy to select any RL78 MCU according the application requirements, from small sensor equipment up to complex control panels and energy management systems.
The partnership between Renesas and Tapko, a KNX expert with over 20 years’ experience, guarantees the highest reliability of the KAIstack KNX communication stack running on the RL78 MCU. KAIstack supports almost any twisted pair transceiver solution available on the market in combination with various device models and configuration modes. As a result, it covers the full KNX specification. Tapko licenses the stack and provides the necessary hardware to test and evaluate customers’ future projects.
The KNX solution is part of Renesas Electronics’ Smart Society strategy. Renesas not only provides MCUs but is also creating more and more complete embedded solutions consisting of hardware and software. According to Elodie Saint-Affre, Senior Engineer at Renesas Electronics Europe GmbH, “The KNX stack for the RL78 MCU family is the perfect example of Renesas’ commitment to Smart Home applications. Thanks to the partnership with Tapko Technologies, Renesas helps designers and programmers to speed up their development time and reduce system costs.”
KAIstack contains all the elements required by the KNX standard. It is implemented in close dependence on the ISO/OSI reference model. Advanced implementation methods allow highly efficient coding that leads to optimized resource usage. Application development with KAIstack facilitates early decisions in the design process by simple configurability of the stack. “The combination of Renesas RL78 MCU and our KAIstack increases system reliability and improves device stability,” comments Petar Tomic, CEO of Tapko Technologies GmbH.
[Note 1] KNX is a network communication protocol for intelligent buildings based on OSI.
About Tapko
Tapko Technologies GmbH was established in October 1999 by Klaus Adler and Petar Tomic who were part of the original development group of EIB over 2 decades ago. The principal office is located in Regensburg, South Germany. The main business area is building automation. Tapko is full KNX Member and ISO 9001/2008 certified.
With its partner APRICUM d.o.o., Tapko has been building a constantly growing manufacturing place for innovative KNX products since 2001. APRICUM d.o.o. is located in Split, Croatia, and is under the leadership of Olivera Tomic.
In May 2011 Christian Gossé and Tapko established TAPKO GOSSÉ & TECH. This fast developing company with location in Mutzig, near Strasbourg in France, is managed by Christian Gossé. He has done a significant contribution to the KNX specification and is one of the fathers of KNX-RF. TAPKO GOSSÉ & TECH is specialised in KNX-RF products with a long lasting experience in industrial product development.
About Renesas Electronics Europe
Renesas delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live – securely and safely. As the number one global supplier of microcontrollers, and a leader in A&P and SoC products, Renesas provides the expertise, quality, and comprehensive solutions for a broad range of Automotive, Industrial, Home Electronics (HE), Office Automation (OA) and Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications to help shape a limitless future.
Renesas Electronics Corporation was established in 2010 and is headquartered in Japan.With over 800 hardware and software alliance partners worldwide, it has the industry’s largest local support network. Renesas Electronics’ European structure is comprised of three business units – the Automotive, the Broad-based and the Industrial Solution Business Unit.
Further information about Renesas Electronics Europe is available at www.renesas.com
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