Cypress Launches Multiflow USB Controller For Handsets

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In response to the increasing number of handsets featuring multimedia capabilities and cameras which require a USB connection capable of 480-Mbps data rates in a variety of multitasking situations, Cypress has developed the Antioch IC.

Antioch IC is both a USB and a mass-storage controller. It is the first member of Cypress’ West Bridge range of USB-centric chips.

Although Antioch targets handsets, the West Bridge range targets embedded-USB applications. Non-USB designers may also find the chip useful because it adopts a multiflow approach to USB operations, which resembles how multiport memory works.

Antioch differs from other handset chips which support USB because it sits between the handset application processor, the external USB interface, and a storage facility such as a hard disk or flash memory.

The architecture allows data to flow between any of the three connection points. The data flow doesn’t rely on the handset processor, which means that unlike in many other multimedia handsets, Antioch allows users to perform more than one operation at once.

For example a user could download music from the PC into the handset’s mass storage whilst simultaneously talking on the phone. The multiflow architecture is called SLIM (simultaneous link to independent multimedia).

Antioch supports all of the latest storage interfaces, including SDIO (Secure Digital I/O), MMC+(Multimedia Card Plus), and E-ATA (Embedded ATA). The IC also includes a NAND-flash controller, a USB transceiver, and 16 configurable USB endpoints. Cypress plans to begin distributing the produce in the first quarter of 2007 at a price of less than $4 (500,000).