Out in Front: August 1, 1996

The ISD33000 family of single-chip audio storage/playback devices from Information Storage Devices (ISD) now operates from 3V supplies and provides recording times of 1 to 4 minutes. The ICs use an eight-level flash-memory technology to provide nonvolatile storage at 4k to 8k samples/sec. ISD is targeting this family at analog and digital cellular phones functioning as integral voice memo pads and telephone-answering machines.

The ICs, complete silicon implementations of a conventional magnetic-tape recorder, provide A/D- and D/A-converter functions, clock oscillators, memory, filters, input and output amplifiers, and serial-peripheral and Microwire serial interfaces. The series also features an automatic mute function, which silences the output, thus eliminating background noise during playback of recorded pauses. The 2.7 to 3.3V ICs require 25 mA in operating mode and 1 µA in standby mode. (They require no power to retain the stored audio signal.) They are available in 28-pin packages and cost $9.95 to $16.60 (50,000).

—by Bill Schweber

Information Storage Devices, San Jose, CA. (408) 369-2400, http://www.isd.com.