Uniwide Technology has laun-ched a USB flash memory controller, the UNI-8021 and UNI-8022. The device is packaged in a tiny (7 x 7 mm), 48-pin ELP (exposed lead frame package), and supports data transfers of up to 4 Gbytes, the company claims. An on-chip oscillator operates at 3.3V, for a maximum frequency of 12 MHz. Applications include MP3 players, voice recorders, digital cameras, and portable flash storage devices.
The UNI-802x series is compatible with USB 1.1 and mass storage specifications, especially supporting the 1- and 2-Gbyte NAND flash memories of Samsung Electronics and the SD (secure digital) cards of Toshiba and Sandisk. The device writes data at 710 Kbytes/s for NAND flash memories, at 140 Kbytes/s for Sandisk’s MMC cards and 300 Kbytes/s for Hitachi’s, and at 480 Kbytes/s for SD cards.
For efficient NAND flash memory access, the chipset supports vendor-specified command sets such as write_only528, read_spare_bl, copy_modify, and improves NAND flash data transfer speeds using the 512 x 8-bit SRAM for data buffering. The ECC function can be in on/off mode with H/W logic when needed. Also, vendor/product ID can be revised using the external EEPROM I/F, and communication with external chips is possible through the 4-pin bi-directional GPIO port. Since the chipset meets the USB mass storage class spec 1.0, SD/MMC cards can be operated without an additional drive in Windows 2000, Windows Me, and Windows XP.
When the UNI802x is used in a portable device, users can set the power_down pin to power saving mode. When the USB port is suspended, the chip shows this status through a suspend_out pin.
“Currently, Cypress is taking almost 90% of the world USB IC market,” says Kab-seok Jang, president of Uniwide Technology. “But we believe our products are very attractive, at a price 20% lower than our competitors, compared to the performance.”
The company is now developing a USB driver for a portable storage device with 160-Gbyte storage capacity.
Uniwide TechnologyFax (82) 2-2103-3180
www.uniwide.com
