Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has announced that it has joined the LoRa Alliance, an open non-profit association that supports the standardisation 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 standardisation organisations are aiming to create specifications and promote widespread adoption of their specifications to create a global IoT market.

The LoRa Alliance is advancing LoRaWAN standardisation 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 from that leadership position will continue to contribute to both the standardisation and promotion activities of LoRaWAN, which is expected to further expand in the future.

Renesas says it plans to develop and produce, within a year, MCUs that support LoRaWAN. Renesas’ 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 realisation of IoT sensor end-devices that can be driven by batteries over the long term.