VIA Technologies has the distinction of being the first Taiwan design house with a USB 2.0 host controller designed completely in-house, the VT6202. The chip was showcased by VIA at the IDF (Intel Developer Forum) in February.
The greatly enhanced bandwidth of USB 2.0 is likely to prove very attractive to the PC industry. At 480 Mbps, USB 2.0 promises I/O throughput some 40 times faster than first generation USB technology, now known as USB 1.1. At the same time, backwards compatibility with the earlier spec is maintained.
This USB 2.0 host controller incorporates two Universal Host Controller Interface (UHCI) cores and one Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) core, to provide the full range of signaling speeds. There is a root hub of four downstream facing ports, with an integrated physical layer transceiver and legacy support for all downstream facing ports.
A multi-functional device for the PCI bus interface, the VT6202 is available on a four-port PCI USB 2.0 add-in card or as a discrete USB 2.0 host controller for installation on the mainboard. The device supports the PCI-Bus Power Management Interface specification, with advanced power efficiency features that permit aggressive management of I/O power consumption, making this a suitable USB 2.0 host controller for even low power systems. There is a 2.5-V power supply, with 5-V tolerant inputs. The controller has been designed for 45W impedance matching integrated on chip, unlike USB 2.0 controller designs that use external resistance. A DLL for data recovery is another notable design feature of the device.
According to VIA Technologies engineer Chris Lai, there has been a stringent compliance testing program to ensure full electrical compatibility with other devices, in the PHY, and the VT6202 has passed all USB IF (Implementers’ Forum) tests for USB 2.0.
This controller is available in 128-pin PQFP or LQFP packaging. It is manufactured by Taiwan foundry TSMC in 0.22-micron CMOS and is currently in mass production.
VIA TechnologiesFax (886) 2-2218-5453
www.via.com.tw
