Controller, Logic & Memory Reside On Single USB Chip

By integrating USB logic and memory onto a programmable USB controller chip, the design time required for Human Interface Devices (HIDs) reportedly can be slashed from weeks to hours. The USB100 controller allows designers to program a small number of parameters into the chip's 512 bytes of on-board EEPROM, eliminating the need to develop software to meet the USB specs. The USB controller uses its programmable state machine to interpret the USB commands and to provide responses from the EEPROM. USB100 also includes the transceiver specified by the USB spec and supports 2-D and 3-D mice with two, three, or more buttons, three potentiometer mechanisms for joysticks, and up to 16 digital game-pad buttons. The chip requires a 4.4V to 5.5V power supply and resides in an 18- or 24-pin DIP. An evaluation kit also is available.