 connectivityZONE Products for the week of January 1, 2007
Fairchild Semiconductor Says…
UMLP-Packaged USB 2.0 Switch Allows USB Ports To Do Double-Duty In Cell Phones and Other Compact Applications
FSUSB30 features the highest available bandwidth and ESD protection
Fairchild Semiconductor introduced a USB 2.0 switch that maximizes board real estate and downloading performance in today's increasingly compact and sophisticated electronics. The FSUSB30 combines industry-leading bandwidth (>720MHz), low on-capacitance (6pF) and the highest available ESD protection (8kV) in a very small (1.4mm x 1.8mm x 0.55mm) UMLP device. These attributes result in rapid data transfer, diminished ESD effects and excellent signal integrity. In addition to saving space in even the smallest end applications, the FSUSB30's fast switching performance makes it ideal for a myriad of products that switch between USB/high-frequency signals, from slider cell phones and MP3 players to notebooks and in-car entertainment centers.
"Fairchild's ultra-compact, high-bandwidth switch allows designers to save critically limited board space while enabling applications to quickly multiplex between two high-speed (480Mbps) data sources," said Patty Miske, switch marketing manager for Fairchild's Analog Products Group. "The latest cell phones, for instance, are smaller and thinner and yet offer increased functionality such as built-in cameras and MP3 players. A cell phone using the FSUSB30 can download photos, video clips or MP3 tracks from another source faster than a cell phone using a non-optimized USB switch. Additionally, by offering high ESD protection and low on-capacitance, the FSUSB30 is able to limit noise and other interference in the application while maintaining signal strength."
The FSUSB30 is well-suited to a wide range of new and emerging technologies in which rapid data transfer between applications is an increasingly popular feature. Baron's Online recently predicted that "integrated USB ports that will allow transfers of downloaded music onto car audio systems featuring hard drives are coming." Another popular automotive application is an in-cabin DVD player. Using an FSUSB30 switch, the player can instantly switch from showing movies to displaying GPS navigational information. The introduction of the FSUSB30 illustrates how Fairchild tailors its products to current design specifications while anticipating new ones.
analogZONE Says . . .
Fairchild's FSUSB30 dual-port USB switch helps solve one of the real challenges designers face with today's tiny handheld devices -- where the heck to put the connectors? By allowing a single USB connector to handle two different interface tasks, the switch saves space, BOM costs, and helps simplify things for easily-confused consumers like me.
I'm seeing multi-purpose USB-type connectors popping up on many smartphones cameras, and HPCs these days (see Fig. 1), so it's not surprising that there are several companies who have also introduced products to capture this rapidly-growing market niche. Fairchild is able to distinguish itself from the crowd by using its deep analog expertise and proprietary processes to deliver low power consumption (10 µA maximum) and high-frequency response.
 I don't have to explain why shaving even a few µA off an MP3 player or cell phone power budget is important, but the device's 720 MHz bandwidth and low parasitic capacitance are also big pluses. They provide design margins that keep minor PCB issues and component variations from becoming critical bottlenecks in high-performance interconnects. The FSUSB30 integrated 8-kV ESD protection is also a significant feature because it keeps your product rugged under real-world static conditions without adding any external components to your BOM.
Fairchild is to be congratulated on a well-designed well-targeted product that has just enough features and healthy performance margins to recommend them for nearly any application where a USB interface is doing double-duty. About the only thing I'd question in the Fairchild announcement is the pricing. I'd expect that the penny-pinching realities of high-volume consumer electronics will translate to production quantity prices at 50% or less of the $1.10 sample pricing.
The FSUSB30 is available in Pb-free UMLP, MicroPak, DQFN and MSOP priced at $1.10 in 1000-piece lots. A demonstration board is available.
Data Sheet
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