PCIe to USB 3.0 Single-Chip Host Controller by Fresco Logic

Fresco Logic, a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and sells USB 3.0 connectivity solutions, is sampling its USB 3.0 host controller chip, the FL1000.

The FL1000 is a single-chip PCI Express to USB 3.0 host controller that enables USB 3.0, also known as SuperSpeed USB, connectivity for PCs, digital TV, storage, mobile and multimedia devices. The FL1000 is available immediately for customer samples either as a discrete component or as a FL1000 enabled PCI Express add-in card or Express Card. The PCI Express add-in card is also being shipped as a part of the USB-IF’s USB 3.0 xHCI-based Peripheral Development Kit (PDK). With its innovative architecture and high level of integration, the FL1000 delivers exceptional performance, while minimizing total system cost and design cycle time.

“The total worldwide market for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is expected to reach over 1 billion units in 2013, and Fresco Logic’s contribution, including their inclusion in the USB 3.0 xHCI-based Peripheral Development Kit (PDK), makes them well positioned to help satisfy that demand,” said Brian O’Rourke, Principal Analyst at In-Stat.

The FL1000 single-chip solution supports the USB 3.0 Rev 1.0 specification and is backward compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1. On the host-side interface, the FL1000 is compatible with all systems that implement PCI Express, both the 1.0 and 2.0 revisions are supported. The FL1000 integrates the 5 Gbps USB 3.0 transceiver, a USB 3.0 xHCI controller based on the most recent version of the xHCI specification, and a PCI Express controller and transceiver.

The FL1000 showcases the ability of USB 3.0 to deliver significant performance benefits while preserving the familiar USB usage model. This capability provides immediate and easy access to USB 3.0 bandwidth for next-generation external hard disk drives, solid-state drives, and high-definition video-streaming applications which demand higher bandwidth than USB 2.0 can provide. It provides a preview of the true user experience of USB 3.0, moving HD content and multi-gigabyte sized files between a PC and external storage devices in a fraction of the time required with previous USB technology. Even existing USB 2.0 devices can see significant performance improvements, benefitting from the new xHCI interface to the host. Along with its performance enhancements, the FL1000 shortens time-to-market and lowers TCO (total cost of ownership) by eliminating firmware and extra flash components.

Availability
Engineering Samples of FL1000 in 100-pin LQFP measuring 12mm x 12mm are available now, followed by an 84-pin TFBGA measuring 8mm x 8mm available in October 2009, with volume production beginning in Q4 2009.