London, England: Fairchild launched its second-generation FIN324C SerDes-uLP (Ultra Low Power) series with claims that it offers the industry’s lowest current consumption (~4mA at 5.44MHz). The company says it also eliminates the need for external timing reference devices and supports dual displays. Consequently, designers can save on battery power, increase design flexibility, and reduce part count in the latest cell phones, MP3 players, and other small form-factor display applications.
The μSerDes products are based on a proprietary CTL I/O technology that reduces the 24 or 12 LVCMOS signals typically required in ultra-portable designs to high-speed differential serial signals. This lowers wire count up to 6:1. Such an approach decreases the size of costly flex cables usually used to transfer data, therefore reducing part count and simplifying designs. The FIN324C offers high ESD protection (15kV) and low levels of EMI ( 110dBm).
“Fairchild co-designed the new Ultra Low Power μSerDes with key cell-phone manufacturers to meet their specific application requirements, including optimising energy consumption and minimising noise for increasingly slim, compact applications,” says Michael Fowler, a technical member of the SerDes design team.