As described in the first blog of this series, there is a growing demand for network function in a 100MHz class MCU. However, it is not realistic to develop the networking capability for every IoT device. In general, it is common practice that the basic functions including the networking function are provided in the form of an operating system (OS) by the OS vendors. Though the source code of the major OS for a 100MHz MCU class is provided by AWS (Amazon FreeRTOS) and Microsoft (Azure RTOS), the IoT device development requires implementation of the network function and the encrypted communication function as well. There is a wide range of source codes for these functions to be implemented. Therefore, there is a challenge that it is very difficult to import the OS source code into the user’s system.
To address this challenge, Renesas has developed the function in IDE (e2 studio), making it possible to download the verified OS source code automatically from GitHub and build it. This allows users to focus solely on the application development. Here I will introduce "Setting up communication between RX65N Cloud Kit and Microsoft Azure" based on the Azure RTOS.
Renesas provides the followings:
- RX65N Cloud Kit (and other Renesas evaluation boards)
- e2 studio
There are only 3 steps to installing the OS. After that, the user can focus just on the application development.
- Set up the development environment.
- Set up the program.
- Operate Azure Cloud.
Here is the tutorial for these 3 steps based on the RX65N/Wi-Fi.
Renesas provides other assistance functions using the Smart Configurator so that users can flexibly make changes such as changing the RX MCU, its communication (Wi-Fi or Cellular), and with or without the Over-the-Air (OTA) function. In addition, there is also scalability with the user’s boards for easy development. For example, when user A wants to implement motor control with PWM, and user B wants to implement collecting information from a sensor with IIC bus, this scalability enables these add-on functions required by user A and user B respectively.
The following table shows the supported boards/RX MCUs and applications. Please refer to the latest status as well.
More than 10 years have passed since the RX family launched. In my first year, it took one month for me to connect the RX MCU to the network for communication. Now I can make it in less than 15 minutes. It was during my junior high school days when I first encountered Windows 95 and found how wonderful the internet was. At the same time, I came to have great respect for Microsoft which had developed Windows, and this has guided me to an engineer. Now that I’ve had technical regular meetings with the Microsoft engineers to collaborate with them on developing the OS for the RX MCUs, which is an important milestone for my carrier. I will continue the basic software development so that customers can focus solely on the application development.