Transceiver Chips Eliminate USB Peripheral Wires

USB connectivity without the cords—that's the WirelessUSB LS chips' bailiwick. Targeting traditional PC peripherals like the mouse and keyboard, these Cypress Semiconductor chips will be useful in video-game controllers and other point-to-point or multipoint-to-point applications where 802.11b, Bluetooth, and even ZigBee are overkill.

The CYWUSB6934 is a transceiver that operates in the 2.4-GHz industrial-scientific-medical (ISM) band. This device uses direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DSSS) to achieve a data rate of 62.5 kbits/s. It has a range of up to 10 meters and an average latency of less than 4 ms (see the figure). The CYWUSB6932A, a transmit-only device, is well suited for remote controls and set-top-box peripherals. Both devices have a typical standby current of only 1 µA, providing long battery life.

The CYWUSB6934 and CYWUSB6934 cost $2.20 and $1.95, respectively, in 100,000-unit quantities.