Renesas Electronics America Inc., a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced development of innovative new intellectual property (IP) that implements capacitive-touch sensing technology ideal for home appliances and healthcare equipment. The IP achieves high-touch sensitivity five times superior compared to that of Renesas’ R8C/3xT microcontrollers (MCUs), as well as high-noise immunity allowing the technology to pass strict noise tests. Furthermore, for the first time, Renesas IP supports the mutual-capacitance method which is more reliable and versatile than the conventional self-capacitance method.

In the human machine interface (HMI) field for electric and electronic equipment, touch-key manipulation interfaces are the subject of increasing attention. Capacitive-touch panels are being rapidly adopted because touch-key operation can easily improve reliability in product design and enhance the end-user experience. In fact, system manufacturers are now developing new touch panels with a curved surface, instead of the traditional planar surfaces that have been mainstream until now. Looking ahead, touch-panel technologies with even better sensitivity and noise resistance will become highly demanded for a wide range of applications.

Renesas helped to drive adoption of touch-key manipulation systems in October 2009 when it launched its R8C/3xT series of MCUs supporting capacitive-touch interfaces. Renesas expects strong growth in the market for touch-key systems and, by leveraging innovative technologies like its newest IP, the company intends to be a key player with technology and products supporting HMI applications.