Crank Storyboard Suite Provides a Collaborative UI Development Environment, Enabling Rapid Time-to-Prototype with Renesas RZ/A Microprocessors

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — October 1, 2014 — Renesas Electronics America, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, is collaborating with Crank Software, an innovator in embedded user interface (UI) solutions, to improve UI development and streamline workflow for feature-rich human-machine interface (HMI) applications with Linux Crank Storyboard™ Suite support for the Renesas RZ/A microprocessor. Deploying the Crank Storyboard™ Suite on innovative RZ/A microprocessors enables developers to bring differentiated devices with advanced UIs to market more quickly and cost effectively by simplifying the UI prototyping process.

“As an industry leader, we believe in the power of collaboration to help customers look ahead to what’s next. HMI-based applications provide a gateway to our increasingly connected society, and we are excited to expand our partnership with Crank Software and create innovative solutions for intuitive, interactive applications,” said Ritesh Tyagi, Vice President of Marketing, Renesas Electronics America. “Delivering crisp graphics with rapid application response time and impressive processing power, the combination of Crank Storyboard™ Suite deployed with our high-performance RZ/A1 microprocessor offers Linux-based developers a unique and cost-effective solution for developing feature-rich HMI-based applications.”

“To meet the demands of a highly connected society, the HMI market requires that applications be brought to market quickly under high-pressure timelines and on technologically advanced hardware,” said Jason Clarke, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Crank Software. “Crank is excited to support the Renesas RZ/A high-speed, high-performance series of microprocessors. We’ve worked together to provide Renesas customers with a faster time-to-market UI development experience with Storyboard™ Suite, allowing them to deliver remarkable user interfaces to high-end microprocessors without sacrificing design or quality.”

Crank Storyboard™ Suite is an embedded graphical user interface (GUI) tool that enables UI designers to easily prototype the look and feel of a UI, and then deploy a production-ready interface directly to the embedded target. To make the development process more efficient, Storyboard™ Suite lets designers and engineers work in parallel, and brings the workflows together to accelerate the development process, letting teams go from concept to prototype in minutes.

The Renesas RZ/A1 microprocessor delivers an optimal cost/performance balance for feature-rich HMI applications. The unique microprocessor architecture allows users to significantly reduce design complexity and system cost by incorporating up to 10MB of embedded SRAM for code execution and/or graphics buffering and the ability to execute code highly efficiently from QSPI flash if required. This eliminates the need for external SDRAM and delivers a significant performance boost compared with devices that must run code and buffer graphics data over an external memory interface bus. Crank Software tools for embedded Linux helps development teams get their RZ/A1 microprocessor-based HMI products to market faster.

To learn more about Crank Storyboard™ Suite technology running on the Renesas RZ/A, visit the Renesas booth (1114) at ARM TechCon 2014, October 1-3 in Santa Clara, Calif.

For more information, follow Renesas Electronics America at @RenesasAmerica on Twitter or http://www.facebook.com/RenesasAmerica. For more information on Crank, follow @cranksoftware.

(Remarks) All names of other products or services mentioned in this press release are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), the world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers, is a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions and a broad-range of analog and power devices. Business operations began as Renesas Electronics in April 2010 through the integration of NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723) and Renesas Technology Corp., with operations spanning research, development, design and manufacturing for a wide range of applications. Headquartered in Japan, Renesas Electronics has subsidiaries in 20 countries worldwide.

About Crank Software

Crank Software is an innovator in embedded user interface (UI) solutions, reducing the time, costs, and headaches that notoriously come hand-in-hand with UI development by letting designers and engineers work side-by-side. Crank products manage the UI lifecycle from design to deployment. Teams can use the software to develop, prototype, and refine the UI until it’s perfect – both in function and in design – and then deploy the UI for the final product. With a shorter development time and a more collaborative process, products get to market first with a higher ROI and a remarkable UI that builds brand loyalty.

More information can be found at www.renesas.com.

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Jessica Kerr, 415-975-2213
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