If you’re building smart sensors, compact gateways, or small HMIs, the Portenta C33 System-on-Module hits a practical sweet spot: industrial features, familiar tooling, and a footprint that drops neatly onto custom carriers. At its core is Renesas’s RA6M5 (Arm® Cortex®-M33 up to 200 MHz) with 2 MB flash and 512 KB SRAM, giving you headroom for real-time control loops, secure connectivity, and over-the-air updates. Arm TrustZone® and Renesas’s Secure Crypto Engine back secure boot and key storage, which is table stakes for fielded IoT gear.
Wireless and wired options are built in. The module exposes 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth® Low Energy for cable-free nodes, plus a 100 Mb Ethernet PHY for installations that prefer deterministic links or PoE-powered cabinets. A USB-C® interface supports high-speed data and power delivery during development or as a deployed service port.
For storage and firmware management, you get external 16 MB QSPI flash alongside the MCU’s dual-bank flash—useful for resilient OTA schemes. The SOM’s castellated pins and 66.04 mm × 25.40 mm outline simplify automated assembly and tight enclosures, and it stays compatible with Portenta family shields/carriers for rapid prototyping before you spin a custom baseboard.
Why it fits industrial use:
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Real-time control on an M33 at 200 MHz, with CAN/SPI/I²C/SAI and other common peripherals available through the edge connectors.
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Security chain: TrustZone, hardware crypto, and an on-board secure element option referenced in Arduino docs—useful for provisioning and TLS at the edge.
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Fast path from prototype to production: Arduino ecosystem libraries and carrier compatibility shorten bring-up; castellated pins ease manufacturing.
Specs at a glance
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MCU: Renesas RA6M5, Arm Cortex-M33 up to 200 MHz, 2 MB flash, 512 KB SRAM; TrustZone + Secure Crypto Engine.
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Memory: +16 MB external QSPI flash.
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Connectivity: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth LE, 100 Mb Ethernet PHY.
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I/O & ports: USB-C (HS + PD), common serial and audio interfaces via module connectors.
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Form factor: 66.04 mm × 25.40 mm, castellated pins; compatible with Portenta H7-class carriers.
The Portenta C33 SOM gives design engineers a production-ready path for connected nodes that need credible security, mixed wired/wireless networking, and real-time control—without blowing up BOM or board space.
