eeProductCenter Ultimate Products 3.4: Logic and Programmable Logic
(1) APPLIED MICRO CIRCUITS CORP. SATA controllers extend RAID 6 performance eeProductCenter says: “Designed to accelerate RAID 6 system performance, Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) has launched its high–performance 3ware 9650SE SATA RAID controller family that consists of models ranging from two– to– 24–ports.”
Readers say:
» “And it works with Linux.”
» “Looks interesting, shame it is only avaliable with a PCI express architecture.”
» “Improvement needed in logic redundacy...”
USABILITY RANK: 1
(2) XILINX Xilinx ships industry’s largest 65–nm FPGA eeProductCenter says: “Xilinx Inc. has started to ship the LX330, a 65–nm FPGA that is said to deliver 65% more logic than the largest 90–nm device. According to Xilinx, fab partners UMC and Toshiba have ramped 65–nm production quickly, producing yields high enough to allow Xilinx to ship all Virtex–5 LX devices on time and over one year ahead of its competition.”
Readers say:
» “330K gates is the important feature, do not care about 65nm size.”
USABILITY RANK: 2
(3) SILICON IMAGE 340–MHz HDMI transmitter chip connects PCs to HDTVs eeProductCenter says: “Widespread adoption of the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is taking hold in the worldwide PC market with many industry–leading PC makers and component manufacturers designing their products to include HDMI interfaces. As the PC continues to evolve into a media center, PC platforms such as motherboards with integrated graphics chipsets, notebook PCs and discrete graphics cards will require connectivity to HDTVs and must include HD and multimedia capabilities.”
Readers say:
» “Nice parts in a converging world.”
USABILITY RANK: 4
(4) AGERE Interface chip integrates PCIe, 1394B connectivity functions eeProductCenter says: “Designers of PC, notebooks and consumer electronic devices looking to differentiate their systems with richer features should check out a pair of ICs from Agere, one of which integrates 1394B and PCI Express (PCIe) connectivity interface functions on one chip. Designated FW643, the PCIe–to–1394B chip is part of Agere’s TrueFIRE product portfolio. According to Agere, FW643 is the first product to deliver the PCIe bus and 1394B functions in a single device. The FW643 is aimed at applications with larger sized files that require data to be transmitted at higher speeds.”
Readers had no comments.
USABILITY RANK: 3
(5) IDT PCIe switches solve I/O connectivity challenges eeProductCenter says: “Integrated Device Technology has developed the PRECISE family of PCI Express (PCIe) switches consisting of 10 devices aimed at solving system I/O connectivity issues typically found in high–end servers, storage, communications, industrial and consumer equipment.”
Readers had no comments.
USABILITY RANK: 5
(6) MATHSTAR MathStar’s second–generation field–programmable object arrays challenge FPGAs eeProductCenter says: “MathStar Inc.’s recent launch of its second generation of field programmable object arrays (FPOA) called Arrix must be making traditional FPGA vendors a little nervous. The fabless PLD supplier has developed a device that it claims can reach operational speeds of up to 1–gigahertz, which is nearly four times faster than the most advanced FPGA architectures available today.”
Readers had no comments.
USABILITY RANK: 7
(7) ADAPTEC Serial ATA controllers support PCIe interconnect eeProductCenter says: “Designed to deliver cost–effective RAID data protection for desktops, workstations and entry–level servers, Adaptec Inc. has launched a family of entry–level serial ATA (SATA) controllers consisting of the Adaptec Serial ATA 1220SA and 1430SA HostRAID devices that support Intel Corp.’s latest PCI Express (PCIe) interconnect.”
Readers had no comments.
USABILITY RANK: 6
(8) CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR Cypress unveils peripheral controller for multimedia handsets eeProductCenter says: “Designed specifically for consumer electronics such as handsets and portable media players, Cypress Semiconductor has taken the wraps off the first member of its West Bridge dedicated peripheral controller family. Marketed under the brand–name Antioch, the West Bridge dedicated peripheral controller delivers a direct path from High–Speed USB 2.0 to the latest handset storage devices, such as Secure Digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC), hard disk drive (HDD) and NAND flash. With Antioch, data can be transferred from USB to mass storage at a rate of 480–Mbits/s without interfering with the system’s processor.”
Readers say:
» “Seems like this part would have a short market window. Good luck!”
» “Price is too high at $4 try 1.5X for $10 total card price. No one actually cares at the consumer level how much CPU loading is going on, e.g. Soft modems.”
USABILITY RANK: 9
(9) AUSTRIAMICROSYSTEMS 10–Mbits/s bus transceiver debuts for FlexRay automotive networks eeProductCenter says: “Austriamicrosystems has developed the AS8221 high-speed automotive bus transceiver that supports baud rates of up to 10 Mbits/s, which the company claims is ten times the bandwidth available on a CAN-based network. It also supports the bus guardian interface, enabling fault tolerant and hard real-time applications.”
Readers had no comments.
USABILITY RANK: 8
(10) MAXIM INTEGRATED PRODUCTS Chipset yields high linearity transmitter for GSM/EDGE base stations eeProductCenter says: “Maxim Integrated Products has introduced the MAX2021/MAX2023 and MAX2058/MAX2059 chipsets designed specifically for GSM/EDGE base–station transmitter applications. The chipset consists of a SiGe I/Q modulator (MAX2021/MAX2023) and highly integrated, digital RF variable–gain amplifier (VGA) (MAX2058/MAX2059). The chipset is being touted as delivering the lowest noise and highest levels of linearity of any competing direct–conversion (zero–IF) transmitter product.”
