Renesas Launches Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi/BLE Combo MCUs for IoT Devices
Dual-band, ultra-low-power connectivity enables scalable smart-home and industrial applications requiring continuous wireless performance.
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Bringing High-Efficiency Wireless Connectivity to Always-On IoT Systems
Renesas has introduced its first Wi-Fi 6 wireless microcontrollers — the RA6W1 and the RA6W2, the latter integrating both Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth Low Energy. Designed for IoT, connected-home and industrial devices, the new MCUs address the growing need for continuous connectivity at extremely low power levels. Renesas also released fully integrated wireless modules that incorporate certified RF components, protocol stacks and antennas to accelerate product development and reduce certification complexity.
The devices enable manufacturers to build responsive, cloud-connected systems that maintain long battery life while supporting features such as real-time control, remote diagnostics and over-the-air updates.
Ultra-Low-Power Operation for Always-Connected Devices
To support IoT applications requiring constant network presence, the MCUs implement Wi-Fi 6 features such as Target Wake Time, enabling extended sleep periods without losing cloud or local connectivity. Their optimized power architecture allows operation from as little as a few microamps in sleep mode to under 50 µA when maintaining Wi-Fi links under DTIM10 conditions. This balance of responsiveness and efficiency suits devices such as smart locks, sensors, thermostats, medical monitors and consumer appliances that must remain accessible around the clock.
Scalable RA Architecture for Standalone or Hosted Designs
Both MCUs are based on an Arm Cortex-M33 running at 160 MHz with ample SRAM and integrated analog and digital peripherals. Developers can deploy them as standalone wireless controllers or pair them with any Renesas RA family MCU for flexible system partitioning. Full support for the Renesas Flexible Software Package and e² studio enables software reuse, faster development and easier integration into existing RA platforms.
Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 for Dense or Interference-Prone Networks
Support for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands allows the MCUs to optimize throughput and latency under varying network conditions. Wi-Fi 6 features such as OFDMA and advanced power-saving mechanisms deliver performance suitable for connected environments with numerous competing devices. The RA6W1 and RA6W2 provide secure, high-speed communication for mission-critical or latency-sensitive workloads across smart-home hubs, security systems and industrial IoT deployments.
Security and Smart-Home Interoperability Built Into the Platform
The devices integrate hardware-level security including AES-256 encryption, secure boot, key storage, true random number generation and execute-in-place decryption. The RA6W1 is certified under the Radio Equipment Directive and supports Matter 1.4, enabling interoperability across major smart-home ecosystems. Renesas’ long-term product support — 15 years for MCUs and 10 years for modules — offers reliability for high-volume and long-lifecycle IoT products.
Renesas also introduced two modules, a standalone Wi-Fi 6 version and a Wi-Fi/BLE combo, both pre-certified for major global RF standards. These modules help customers shorten development cycles and reduce the burden of multi-region compliance.
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