Avnet Silica, an Avnet company, today launched the HoriZone RA development kit, which is designed to enable ‘proof-of-concept’ for edge-to-cloud Internet of Things (IoT) applications requiring secure communications. Powered by Renesas Advanced (RA) microcontrollers for secure IoT endpoints and edge devices, the easy-to-use kit delivers superior security features for Resource Constrained Embedded Systems (RCES) connected to Avnet´s IoTConnect® Cloud Platform based on Microsoft® Azure cloud.
The Avnet Silica turnkey multi-sensor solution is highly scalable, providing a seamless path from proof-of-concept to project through to deployment, including all the required building blocks. The kit includes sensors for humidity, temperatures, ambient light, air quality and air pressure, plus microphone, digital accelerometer, digital gyroscope, and inductive proximity sensor for positioning information.
The board integrates several components from Renesas, including the RA RA6M3 microcontroller, which is suitable for IoT applications that require TFT, Ethernet, security, large embedded RAM, and USB High Speed (HS). Also included are the ISL88014 voltage supervisor and ISL80102 synchronous boost converter for power management. Out of the box, engineers will quickly start developing IoT endpoint and edge devices for a broad range of applications, including industrial and building automation, metering, healthcare, and home appliances.
“Our RA Family of microcontrollers delivers on performance with all the advanced security capabilities and features needed for IoT applications,” said Roger Wendelken, Senior Vice President of Renesas’ IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit. “These include our Secure Crypto Engine IP with NIST’s Cryptographic Algorithm Validation Program certifications, Arm TrustZone® for Armv8-M, and tamper detection.”
“IoT growth has increased embedded design complexity exponentially,” said Juerg Siegenthaler, Manager 3rd Party Management Avnet Silica. “IoT devices are complex, and with shortening project timelines, the HoriZone cloud-ready platform has all the necessary building blocks that offers designers a ready-made and highly scalable solution for developing new IoT use cases quickly.”
The HoriZone RA development kit is shipping now from Avnet Silica in all EMEA markets.
Avnet Silica will host 2 webinars introducing the HoriZone RA kit and focusing on the question of how to integrate high-end security efficiently and cost-effectively into an MCU-based IoT device. https://www.avnet.com/wps/portal/silica/resources/training-and-events/event/horizone-of-iot/