Integrated Circuits: November 23, 1995

Laser-diode driver operates from a 5V supply. The 155-Mbps MAX3263 laser-diode driver has complementary enable inputs that interface with open-fiber-control architecture. An automatic-power-control circuit maintains constant laser power in transmitters using a photodiode to measure laser output. The device accepts differential pseudo-ECL inputs and provides complementary output currents. A temperature-stabilized reference voltage simplifies laser current programming and lets you program the modulation current from 5 to 25 mA and bias current from 5 to 60 mA with two external resistors. Other features include a TTL-compatible laser-failure indicator and a programmable slow-start circuit to prevent laser damage. The device comes in a 24-pin SSOP package operating from 0 to 700C. Prices start at $4 (1000). Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA. (408) 737-7600, ext 6087.

Analog-isolation amplifier for variable-speed ac motor-control applications. The HCPL-7840 is a high-common-mode-rejecting analog-isolation amplifier for providing an isolated representation of current or voltage to microcontroller-based control systems. Specifications include a 0.2% nonlinearity, 1.2-mV offset, a minimum 10-kV/µ common-mode rejection at 1000V, 9.9-msec propagation delay, and ±5% gain tolerance. The device is available in eight-pin DIP; gull-wing, surface-mount, eight-pin DIP; and tape-and-reel form. Prices start at $3.12 (1000). Hewlett-Packard Co., Santa Clara, CA. (800) 452-4844, ext 9897.

10-bit serial D/A converter. The UCC5950 voltage-output DAC has a 20-MHz data-load rate and settles to 1% in 2.5 µ and to 1 LSB in 10 µ. The converter operates from a single 5V supply. It is available in eight-pin DIP and SOIC packages. The device costs $1.43 (1000). Unitrode Integrated Circuits Corp., Merrimack, NH. (603) 424-2410.

Chip set delivers 8 Mbps over standard phone line. The AD6333 meets ANSI specification T1.413, Category 1 for asymmetrical-digital-subscriber-line (ADSL) technology. ADSL uses the discrete-multi-tone (DMT) modulation scheme, which divides the 1-MHz bandwidth of the phone line from a home to the central office into separate sub-bands and sends data simultaneously through all of them. You can configure the chip set for 8-Mbps downstream and 220-kbps duplex or 4-Mbps downstream and 640-kbps duplex data rates. Maximum line length is 12,000 ft. The chip set includes an ADSP-21061 SHARC DSP, a digital interface controller, a specialized digital-filter IC, an analog front-end module, and two devices in the hybrid interface to the telephone line. The chip set costs $170 (OEM). Analog Devices Inc., Norwood, MA. (617) 937-1428.

FC-AL hub ICs. The VSC7121 and VSC7120 implement fibre-channel arbitrated-loop (FC-AL) networking topology to provide clustering of high-data-availability servers, clients, and disk drives by eliminating the need for expensive switches. The VSC7121 is a 1.0625-Gbps quad-port bypass circuit. One device connects as many as four FC-AL disk drives in a single loop. You can cascade the device for connecting more drives. It comes in a 44-lead PQFP and costs $15 (1000). The VSC7120 is an FC repeater and hub chip. The device includes a clock-recovery unit to retime serial data, a signal-detection unit to detect the presence of valid FC-encoded serial data, and a port-bypass circuit to bypass faulty ports. The device comes in a thermally enhanced 52-lead PQFP and costs $32 (1000). Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., Camarillo, CA. (805) 388-3700.

PC chip set offers high-performance capabilities. The Apollo VP-1 chip set supports unified-memory-architecture, Universal Serial Bus, burst-extended data-out, and synchronous DRAM. The chip set provides cache-interface support for Intel's P54C Pentium, Cyrix's M1, and Advanced Micro Devices' K5 processors. It also provides independently powered CPU, DRAM, and PCI buses, so that each can run on 3.3 or 5V. The chip set includes four devices and costs $45 (samples). Via Technologies Inc., Fremont, CA. (510) 683-3300.

Switching voltage regulators have 0.5A current capability in SO-8 package. The LM2594 and the LM2597 support 150-kHz operation, allowing use of small surface-mount inductors and capacitors for space-sensitive applications. Both ICs have external shutdown and self-protection features, such as current limiting and overtemperature shutdown. Optional features available on the LM2597 include a power-on reset indicator with user-programmable delay, an out-of-regulation flag indicating out-of-tolerance voltages, and a soft-start feature to prevent excessive current in-rush. The devices are available in eight-pin DIP or SO packages. Price of the LM2594 starts at $1.99 (1000), and price of the LM2597 starts at $2.25 (1000). National Semiconductor Corp., Santa Clara, CA. (800) 272-9959.

Multimedia chip set for Compaq's TrueQ Sound and Motion Technology. The chip set includes the Trio64+ multimedia accelerator ($32); the Scenic/MX1 and Scenic/MX2 audio and video decoders, which are compatible with Open MPEG ($35); and the Sonic/AD programmable sigma-delta audio DAC ($35), which provides stereo, 16-bit, CD-quality audio. Prices are for 10,000-unit volumes. S3 Inc., Santa Clara, CA. (408) 980-5400.

Voice-command processor chip. The DVC306 advanced voice-command processor performs speaker-independent and -dependent voice recognition and voice synthesis. The voice synthesis provides vocal feedback for user guidance, prompting, and verification. According to the company, the device achieves 97% recognition on speaker-independent voice recognition. The processor comes in a 100-pin TQFP and costs $10 (100,000). A Windows-based development and evaluation kit to support integration and prototyping is also available. DSP Communications Inc., Cupertino, CA. (408) 777-2700.

Quad-LIU IC for T1/E1 applications. The VNS-14Q575 quad-line-interface-unit (LIU) operates in T1/E1 analog wireline-system applications, such as multiplexers, edge-node switches, PBXs, automatic protection-switch front-end designs, cross-connect interfacing, and high-density portable test equipment. The device conforms to AT&T's 62411 Jitter Attenuation standard. It comes in a 144-pin PQFP package and costs $30 (10,000). VLSI Technology Inc., San Jose, CA. (408) 434-3000.

Serial-communication products for copper and fiber-optic systems. The serial-communication products include transimpedance amplifiers, post amplifiers, laser drivers, serializers, deserializers, and clock- and data-recovery ICs for 155-Mbps, 622-Mbps, and 1.062-Gbps applications. OEM prices range from $10 to $80, depending on the product. Sony Electronics Inc., San Jose, CA. (408) 955-6572.

Nine-channel transceiver accommodates Fast-20 SCSI speeds. The SN- 75976A differential transceiver operates at up to 20 million data transfers/sec. The device is suitable for hard-disk drives and host-adapter add-in boards that interface a computer system to a differential SCSI I/O subsystem. The chip is available in 56-pin SSOP and 56-pin TSSOP packages. Price for a 10-million-data-transfer/sec version starts at $10.60 (1000), and price for the 20-million-data-transfer/sec version starts at $14.44 (1000). Texas Instruments Inc., Denver, CO. (800) 477-8924, ext 4500.

Quad-precision current-to-voltage converter for optical-disk drives. The LT1311 provides photodiode amplification in optical-disk drives, CD-ROM drives, and color applications. The device contains four 12-MHz current-feedback amplifiers, each with a 20-kV feedback resistor. Typical settling time is 145 nsec to 0.1% for a 2V step. Gain is 20 mV/µ ±4%. Maximum offset error is 250 nA, and maximum offset drift is 2.5 nA/0C. Noise is 5pA/[square root]Hz. The device operates on supplies ranging from ±2 to ±18V and requires a total of 11 mA for all four amplifiers. The device comes in a 14-lead SOIC package and costs $5.70 (1000). Linear Technology Corp., Milpitas, CA. (408) 432-1900.

UltraSCSI disk controller. The AIC-8325 hard-disk controller IC accommodates data transfer at rates of 15 Mbytes/sec to and from the disk drive's recording media and 40 Mbytes/sec to and from the UltraSCSI bus. The device has its own XOR capability to generate a parity bit without intervention from the host CPU. Error-correction capability includes a programmable 108- through 297-bit error-correction code that can correct as many as two error bursts on the fly and detect as many as five bursts on the fly. Optional five-burst error-correction software is available. The device comes in a 144-pin TQFP. Samples cost $25. Adaptec, Milpitas, CA. (408) 945-8600.

Submicron-CMOS process accommodates mixed 3/5V designs. The CMOS TC203 series ASICs is based on a thin-oxide, 0.4-mm technology that provides low-power operation. The technology uses a dual-oxide extra-technology step for the 5V I/O that does not compromise the full deep-submicron core performance. Typical loaded-gate delay is 190 psec for the gate array and 170 psec for the standard-cell implementation. The process uses double- and triple-layer metal on 14 gate-array masters from 11,000 to 700,000 usable gates. The process accommodates as many as 512 I/O pads. A gate array with 78,000 usable gates in a 225-pin package costs $53 (10,000). NRE charges range from $30,000 to $110,000. Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc., Irvine, CA. (800) 879-4963.

8-Mbit flash memory. The Am29F080 is organized as 1Mx8 bits and is divided into 16 sectors of 64 kbytes each. The in-system-programmable, 5V device features the company's embedded-program and erase algorithms to simplify flash operations and free the host CPU from dedicated control of the device. It is guaranteed for a minimum of 100,000 program/erase cycles. The fastest version has an 85-nsec access time. Available in 40-pin TSOP or 44-pin PSOP packages, the device costs $25 (1000). Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Sunnyvale, Ca. (408) 749-5703.