Touchstone Introduces First Bidirectional, Symmetrical 1µA

Posted on April 11, 2012 by lorlandi

MILPITAS, CALIF – March. 26, 2012 – Touchstone Semiconductor, Inc., a developer of high-performance analog integrated circuit solutions, today announced the TS1101, the first bidirectional, symmetrical, high-side current-sense amplifiers (CSA). The TS1101 consumes only 1µA, a 30 times reduction over the closest competing product.

The TS1101’s symmetrical architecture eliminates the “dead band” when switching from measuring battery discharge to measuring battery charge. This breakthrough significantly simplifies customer designs while, at the same time, reducing power, saving board space and improving system accuracy.

The TS1101 further improves system accuracy with input offset voltage guaranteed to be <100µV, a four times improvement over the closest competing part. The TS1101 is available in four gain options from 25V/V to 200V/V, enabling users to choose the best gain option for their application.

“The TS1101 defines a new state-of-the-art in current-sense amplifiers,” commented Adolfo Garcia, Vice President of Marketing at Touchstone. “It sets a new standard in ease-of-use, simplicity and performance.”

 

Key Specifications:

  • Ultra-Low Supply Current: 1µA
  • Wide Input Common Mode Range: +2V to +25V
  • Low Input Offset Voltage: 100µV (max)
  • Low Gain Error: <0.6%(max)
  • 6-Lead SOT23 Packaging
  • Voltage Output
  • Four Gain Options Available:
  1. TS1101-25: Gain = 25V/V
  2. TS1101-50: Gain = 50V/V
  3. TS1101-100: Gain = 100V/V
  4. TS1101-200: Gain = 200V/V

The TS1101 is fully specified over the extended temperature range of -40°C to +105°C. The TS1101 prices start at $0.94 each in 1,000-piece quantities. The product is in stock and available from Future Electronics (www.futureelectronics.com).

Free samples and free demo boards are available to qualified engineers at http://www.touchstonesemi.com/ts1100.html. The products are part of Touchstone Semiconductor’s NanoWatt Analog™ high-performance analog integrated circuits portfolio.

 

ABOUT TOUCHSTONE

Touchstone Semiconductor, Inc. (www.touchstonesemi.com) creates high-performance analog integrated circuit solutions that solve critical problems for electronics companies. Touchstone’s second-source products are pin-compatible, specification identical solutions, offering customers a long-awaited alternative source for hard to get sole-sourced products. Touchstone’s proprietary products provide unique combinations of features and performance that cannot be found from any other supplier. Founded in 2010, Touchstone is headquartered in Milpitas, Calif. Its investors include Opus Capital and Khosla Ventures. Find us at Twitter:@touchstonesemi or Facebook: Touchstone Semiconductor.

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Ericsson 3E digital voltage-regulators now support 93 PMBus commands to reduce energy consumption

Posted on January 2, 2012 by lorlandi
  •  More freedom for designers to dynamically optimize energy management
  • Increased efficiency with fewer components
  • Fully compliant with PMBus commands
  • Design simplified; time-to-market reduced

Based on digital-core controllers, the Ericsson 3E* second generation of voltage regulators, the 12A BMR462, the 20A BMR463 and the 40A BMR464, now support 93 PMBus commands, allowing designers to monitor and control energy distribution from system level to board level.

The PMBus digital interface enables the end-user to configure many aspects of device operation and to monitor input and output voltages, output current and device temperature. For compatibility, flexibility and versatility, the BMR462, BMR463 and BMR464 can be used with any standard two-wire I2C or SMBus host device. Furthermore, the module is compatible with PMBus version 1.1 and includes a SALERT line to help mitigate bandwidth limitations related to continuous fault monitoring.

It is possible to monitor a wide variety of parameters through the PMBus interface. Fault conditions can be monitored using the SALERT pin, which is asserted when any combination of pre-configured fault or warning conditions occur. It is also possible to continuously monitor one or more of the power conversion parameters including, but not limited to, input voltage, output voltage, output current, internal junction temperature, switching frequency and duty cycle.

Integrating a resident memory, the Ericsson 3E voltage regulators also enable systems’ architects to snapshot events at a single point-of-load (POL) level. The information and parameters captured during a snapshot are then stored in Flash memory readable via the PMBus. For example, specific limits or fault conditions can be set to trigger an action when a given threshold level is reached or exceeded. The automatic response could be to send warning or ‘adjust’ command to the board-power-manager (BPM), or creating a mandatory command to shut down the module.

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Wi2Wi announces New Ultra-Small SiP-Product Featuring 802.11b/g/n-WiFi & Bluetooth-3.0

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Focus

San Jose, CA. November 28, 2011 –Wi2Wi, Inc., a leader in Wireless System-in-Package (SIP), module, and subsystems for embedded applications, has introduced W2CBW0015 New Ultra-Small SiP-Product featuring 802.11b/g/n-WiFi & Bluetooth-3.0. Wi2Wi’s W2CBW0015 is based on Marvell’s 8787 state-of-the art WiFi solution, first to feature WiFi-Direct certification for low-power embedded wireless applications, delivering high-performance, robust, secure, and seamless connectivity for enterprise, industrial, smart-metering / smart-home, and government applications.

Key features of Wi2Wi’s W2CBW0015 includes WiFi-802.11n support up to 150Mbps bit rate over the air with 40 MHz channels, Bluetooth-3.0 support up to 24Mbps bit rate over the air, WiFi-Direct, and Mobile Embedded Hotspot (MEH)

Wi-Fi Direct eliminates the need for a traditional hot spot in many situations, establishing instead a high-performance, direct peer-to-peer network, capable of supporting enterprise and industrial end-users in all the ways they use handheld devices, including real-time content sharing, directly printing from handhelds, distributing video from a handheld to a large screen or monitor. Data transmissions are protected by WPA2™-certified security protocols, featuring encryption algorithms considered fully secure.

Wi2Wi’s W2CBW0015 is Ultra-Small measuring 9.5 x 9.5 x 1.3 mm and includes the power-amplifier, switch, voltage-regulator, EEPROM and crystal, all integrated into a single-chip form SiP. This state-of-the –Art product supports all major processor families in the enterprise and industrial OEM markets including Freescale, TI, & Marvell. W2CBW0015 will also come with the pre-certification for FCC, CE, and IC. These three value-adds substantially minimize the RF-know-how requirements, significantly simplify integration of WiFi and Bluetooth into the OEM customers’ products, reduce time-to-market, and development cost.

“W2CBW0015 is a major product for our new portfolio addressing broad applications for the major enterprise & vertical market segments.” Wi2Wi’s CEO Dr. Reza Ahy noted, “Our current products are adopted by major industry leaders and have been shipping in volume in our target markets. Wi2Wi’s new product family supports the latest WiFi-802.11 and Bluetooth-3.0 standards with core capabilities of WiFi-Direct and Mobile Embedded Hotspot for our Fortune-500 customers”

Wi2Wi just completed another record performance quarter ending in September 2011, with a large number of design wins in the Americas, EMEA , and Asia markets.

About Wi2Wi Inc.
Wi2Wi Inc. is the leading supplier to the premium markets of Wireless System-in-Package (SIP), module, and subsystems for embedded applications including WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Wi2Wi is a leader in wireless solutions for Enterprise, Industrial, Smart-Metering, Smart Home, Government, business-class handhelds (including MIDs), Premium Consumer, and Education applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Wi2Wi provides leading-edge wireless solutions for embedded applications with substantial savings on time-to-market, cost, and system-integration. Wi2Wi solutions also leverage its patent-pending wireless integration technology along with tier-1 global partnerships with industry leading silicon and supply chain companies, serving a large number of Fortune-500 customers.

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Central Semiconductor Corp. – 30V, 100mA Low VF Schottky diodes in ultra miniature TLM2D3D6 package

Posted on January 2, 2012 by lorlandi

Hauppauge, NY USA – August 30, 2011: Central Semiconductor Corp. announces the CTLSH01-30 and CTLSH01-30L Low VF Schottky diodes in the space saving, low profile TLM2D3D6 surface mount package.

 These new devices have a peak reverse voltage rating of 30V and a maximum forward current rating of 100mA. The CTLSH01-30 has a low forward voltage drop (VF) of 410mV at 10mA and an outstanding low reverse leakage current (IR) of 30nA, while the CTLSH01-30L provides an even lower VF of 300mV. Both of these devices are ideal for space constrained designs requiring superior energy efficiency.

The CTLSH01-30 and CTLSH01-30L serve a wide variety of battery powered portable products including mobile communications, digital cameras, laptops and other battery powered hand held products. Both diodes are used in power management applications including DC-DC conversion, voltage clamping, and circuit protection. The TLM2D3D6 package has a low profile of 0.32mm and utilizes 67% less board space compared to the SOD-882L.

Pricing for the CTLSH01-30 and the CTLSH01-30L starts at US$0.12 each for 8,000 pieces on tape and reel. Sample devices are available upon request.

Central Semiconductor manufactures innovative discrete semiconductors to meet design engineers’ ever changing challenges. Specifications for these devices can be found in the New Products / Latest Updates section of Central’s website at: www.centralsemi.com/product/whatsnew/newprod/

 

 

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Tabula selects D&R IP Management Platform

Posted on January 2, 2012 by lorlandi
IP SoC 11, Grenoble, December 7, 2011 –Design & Reuse (D&R), the leading Intellectual Property (IP) exchange company, announces that Tabula, a privately held fabless semiconductor company that has developed the breakthrough Spacetime 3D architecture selects D&R’s IP Management Platform for managing external and internal IP in support of its   ABAX™ family of 3D Programmable Logic Devices.
 

 With D&R’s IP Management Platform, a designer can not only use Tabula’s proprietary IP cores,  but he can also invoke a 3rd party IP core, go through the license request step with the vendor, go through an IP customization phase especially for parameterized generators, and finally instantiate the IP core in his design – all on-line – enabling the first true IP-based design flow.

“We are excited to offer to Tabula our knowledge, skills and our IP management technology. It is a pleasure to contribute to make IP based design happen in a user friendly environment.” said Gabriele Saucier, CEO of D&R

 “We’ve selected D&R IP Management Platform because it enables the seamless management and instantiation of internal and 3rd party IP in a user design.” said, Tunc Eroglu, Tabula Senior IP department manager. “This is a natural extension for our groundbreaking cloud-based Stylus design environment.”

About Tabula
Tabula is a privately held fabless semiconductor company developing 3D Programmable Logic Devices. Its ABAX family of 3PLDs, based on Tabula’s patented Spacetime architecture, and supported by its Stylus development software, sets new density, performance, and affordability benchmarks for programmable logic, memory, and signal processing. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Tabula has assembled a leadership team consisting of industry veterans and successful entrepreneurs. The company is backed by top-tier investors with a long-term view toward enduring market leadership

About D&R
Founded in 97, D&R became the worldwide leader as a web and a B2B portal (www.design-reuse.com) in the IP/SoC field. With its 70,000 Absolute Unique Visitors / Month (source: Google Analytics), 15,000 daily updated IP/SOC products descriptions, its News broadcast to 35,000 subscribers and the ongoing client/provider matching activity D&R web stays unique worldwide. Recently D&R opened a portal extension http://www.dr-embedded.com/ dedicated to Global Solutions including advanced search on resources such as Embedded Software, O.S, Platform and moreover offering the first on line Embedded Software sales opportunity.
Based on its 14 years experience, D&R licenses a Java/XML multi-application, configurable enterprise platform offering the most innovative and straightforward solution for Web IP cataloguing, Customer relation Management for IP providers, internal Design Reuse Platform and External IP suppliers management.

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Ramtron Samples High-Speed Serial F-RAM Devices

Posted on January 2, 2012 by lorlandi
New F-RAM Memory Family Offers Serial Peripheral Interface for Demanding Industrial ControlsCOLORADO SPRINGS, CO – October 4, 2011 –Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR), a leading developer and supplier of ferroelectric-based low-power memory and integrated semiconductor products, today announced pre-qualification sampling of a new family of 4- to 64-Kilobit (Kb) serial nonvolatile ferroelectric RAM (F-RAM) products. Produced on Ramtron’s ferroelectric memory process at its new U.S. wafer source, the new products feature 1-trillion (1e12) read/write cycles, low power consumption, and NoDelay™ writes.The FM25040C, FM25C160C, and FM25640C are 4-, 16-, and 64-Kilobit (Kb) memory devices that perform write operations at bus speeds of up to 20MHz with an industry standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI). Data is written to the F-RAM memory array immediately after it is received by the device. Unlike EEPROM and other nonvolatile memories that require data polling, F-RAM allows the next bus cycle to commence immediately. These characteristics make Ramtron’s latest serial F-RAM devices an ideal nonvolatile memory for applications that require frequent and rapid writes, such as industrial controls and high-speed data logging.

About the FM25xxxC Family
The devices in Ramtron’s FM25xxxC family feature a serial SPI interface and operate at 5-volts over the complete industrial temperature range of -40°C to +85°C.  In addition, the products offer low power consumption with 250 µA active current (typical at 1 MHz clock speed) as well as a sophisticated write protection scheme that prevents inadvertent data writes to the memory. All of the devices are offered in an industry standard 8-pin “Green,” RoHS-compliant SOIC package.In addition to the FM25xxxC family, Ramtron is also sampling a family of FM24xxxC products, which includes 4-Kb, 16-Kb, and 64-Kb serial devices with an I2C interface.

About Ramtron and F-RAM Technology
Ramtron International Corporation, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets specialized semiconductor memory and integrated semiconductor solutions used in a wide range of product applications and markets worldwide.Ramtron pioneered the integration of ferroelectric materials into semiconductor products that enabled a new class of nonvolatile memory, called ferroelectric random access memory, or F-RAM.  Ramtron’s ferroelectric memories combine high-speed performance of Random Access Memory (RAM) with true nonvolatile storage that delivers the ability to save data without power. Since commercializing the technology, Ramtron has sold hundreds of millions of F-RAM devices into demanding applications such as automotive safety and entertainment systems, portable medical devices, industrial process control systems, smart electricity meters, and consumer printer cartridges. As the most power-efficient of any nonvolatile memory technology on the market, F-RAM products promise to pave the way for the development of ultra-efficient battery powered products and energy harvesting applications, among others.

Safe Harbor Statement
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements herein that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements.”  These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Please refer to Ramtron’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings for a discussion of such risks. The forward-looking statements in this report are being made as of the date of this report, and Ramtron expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein.
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