Renesas Unveils USB 2.0 Hub Controller Chip

Renesas Electronics Corporation, supplier of semiconductor solutions, announced the development of the µPD720115 USB 2.0 hub controller chip, which supports simultaneous USB communication and charging of portable devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs via a single USB connector.

The most important feature of the µPD720115 is its implementation of USB ports with battery charging functionality which supports the USB Battery Charging Specification, Revision 1.2 (USB BC 1.2).

The µPD720115 will make it easier to develop products that support simultaneous data communication complying with the USB 2.0 standard and charging portable devices via a single USB connector, such as PCs, digital TVs, and charging adapters. It can help shorten system architecture development cycles and reduce development costs.

In recent years, the USB communication market has become divided into two segments as a result of faster data transfer speeds. The first segment centers around storage devices, such as HDD drives, which require high-speed data transfer. It utilizes the USB 3.0 standard, which supports data transfer speeds up to 5Gbps. The second segment includes applications such as digital TVs, printers, audio components, and industrial equipment. This segment employs the earlier USB 2.0 standard, which supports data transfer speeds up to 480Mbps. USB 2.0 remains a widely used interface for connecting devices of all sorts.

The European Commission (the executive of the EU) has adopted Micro USB as the standard charger interface for mobile phones, smartphones, and tablet PCs sold in Europe. As a result, applications in which the communication USB ports of PCs and docking stations are used for charging such portable devices are increasing. The market for products complying with the USB 2.0 standard in these application fields is growing, and it is expected to continue to expand moving forward.

In response to this demand, Renesas decided to develop the µPD720115, utilizing tchnology accumulated over years of developing products with USB support. It has long devoted attention to the USB interface, offering a broad lineup of microcontroller (MCU) products equipped with USB functions. The µPD720115 is a USB hub controller suitable for systems requiring USB functionality, and is also for extending the number of ports of a USB MCU.

Features of µPD720115:

Supporting the USB BC 1.2 standard,
for easy development of USB charging system architectures
The µPD720115 implements a total of four USB ports with battery charging functionality. It supports the USB BC 1.2 standard [1], which supports charging currents of up to 1.5 amperes (A). Since the µPD720115 supports both USB communication and rapid battery charging in this way, developing a USB charging system architecture is easy.

Built-in dual voltage regulators and clock output function,
making it possible to build more compact systems
at a lower cost
Comparable earlier products required external voltage regulators, but the µPD720115 integrates a 5 volt (V) and a 3.3 volt (V) regulator on-chip. This allows the user to employ the 5 V from the USB cable as a power supply without modification. There is no need to include an external regulator in the system design. The µPD720115 also has a clock output function (24 MHz) to enable cascade connection [2] of the USB ports to other µPD720115 chips or connection to other chips used by USB peripheral devices. This eliminates the need to add an external crystal oscillator for the lower-level chip, as was previously the case. The µPD720115 makes it possible to create a USB charging system architecture that is both lower in cost and more compact.

Operating temperature range extending down to -40°,
enabling use in range of application fields
Comparable earlier products had an operating temperature range with a lower limit of 0° or above, but the µPD720115 extends this down to -40°. This provides support for the operating temperature range requirements of typical industrial equipment.

Samples of the µPD720115 USB 2.0 hub controller chip will start in June 2013. Mass production of the µPD720115 is scheduled to begin in September 2013 and is expected to reach a scale of 1,000,000 units per month in 2014.

[1]Battery charging via the USB port utilizes the VBUS pin the USB connector. To control the current used to charge the connected portable device, USB BC 1.2 defines a mechanism for detecting whether or not the port of the connected device supports charging. A charging current of up to 1.5 A can be used.
[2] To extend the number of ports, a port is connected to the port of a USB hub.