With the popularity of USB, many chip manufacturers are including USB host processing power in the silicon itself to reduce time-to-market and production expense.
Sharing USB hub increases interoperability
SMSC has a multiswitch USB hub which shares devices between different platforms. The SMSC 4-port USB MultiSwitch acts as two independently controllable USB2.0 hubs in a single package with the ability to electronically reassign and reconfigure any of its four downstream ports to either
Oxford Semiconductor with new Single Chip USB controller
Press Release
Oxford Semiconductor Announces Industry’s First Single-Chip Combination USB and Memory Host Controller
Oxford Semiconductor Inc., a leading provider of high-performance connectivity solutions for consumer, storage and multimedia applications, today announced the industry’s first controller with full-speed host and high-speed peripheral USB connectivity combined with support for multiple storage interfaces. The OXU140CM, Oxford Semiconductor’s new all-in-one connectivity solution is ideal for consumer electronics devices that require high-performance connectivity for data transfer and access to expanded memory for additional storage.
New 1-MHz USB DAQ for OEM and Embedded Applications
Press Release
CLEVELAND, OH, February 1, 2006 – IOtech has just introduced the new 1-MHz/16-bit
DaqBoard/3000USB(TM) Series of data acquisition boards which are ideal for OEM and embedded applications. These are the first USB-based versions of the popular, industry leading DaqBoard data acquisition boards. The new DaqBoard/3000USB Series is also the industry’s first 1-MHz/16-bit USB-based DAQ to break the $800 price barrier. Each board in the series provides true multifunction performance with analog inputs, waveform capable analog outputs, 24 high-speed digital I/O, four counter inputs (quadrature encoder capable), and two timer outputs.
Atmel adds USB and OTG to it’s MCU family
Atmel, a global leader in semiconductors, announced USB and OTG (On-The-Go) in the AT90USB family. Several products in the AT90USB line have USB interface for applications needing to communicate with USB host. The AT90USB1287 and AT90USB647 comply with the USB OTG standards for use as both host or device. The USB host capability is key to embedded devices needing to communicate without PCs, a good example of this would be transfer of data between two devices without a computer, i.e. from camera to printer for On-The-Go productivity. Engineers; click on image for more details.
Intel-based Macs have Keyspan support
Keyspan announced support for Intel-based Macs with its line of USB serial adapters and remote controls. The software is available for download from Keyspan’s Web site. The updates include new versions of the software for Keyspan’s serial adapters, USB Server, infrared remote controls, and the Easy Presenter and USB PS/2 Adapter.
Agere triples processor speed
USB 2.0 system-on-chip will process data more then three times faster than other processors based off 8051 design. This device controller from Agere has an ARM Core processor and will handle up to 40 million instructions per second. Agere reports this will greatly increase performance when used with CE products such as MP3 players, cameras and scanners.
