FTDI Chip USB 3.0 Interface Solution in Low Pin Count Package

FTDI Chip (Future Technology Devices International Ltd.) launches USB 3.0 interface solution in low pin count package.

The FT600Q and FT601Q are its first generation USB 3.0 products that function as USB 3.0 to FIFO bridges, providing data bursting rates of up to 3.2Gb/s.

The FT600Q comes in 56-pin QFN package and has a 16-bit wide FIFO bus interface, while FT601Q comes in 76-pin QFN package and has a 32-bit wide FIFO bus interface. Both these chips support up to 8 endpoints, other than the management endpoints. The endpoints are linked to a configurable endpoint buffers of 16KB length for IN and 16KB for OUT.

Both FT600Q and FT601Q support two interfacing modes; the 245 FIFO mode and the multi-channel FIFO mode, and thus provide more flexibility for system designers. The 245 FIFO mode has a simpler protocol, but for more customers, the multi-channel FIFO mode supports up to 4 logical FIFO channels and data structures optimised for higher throughputs. The FIFO is provided with a 16KB configurable buffer.

The remote wake up function on these chips can be used to rapidly bring the USB host controller out of suspend mode. The USB battery charger detection function enables USB peripheral devices to detect the presence of a higher current power source in order to boost charging capabilities. It means that the FT600 can detect connection to a USB-compliant dedicated charging port (DCP) and transmit a signal allowing external logic to switch to charging mode. The IC can also benefit from the higher power delivery capabilities that the USB 3.0 standard supports while still being able to transfer data.

Engineers are furnished with flexibility to configure FT600/1Q to their desired application. Among these are multi-function printers, scanners, high resolution video cameras, still image cameras, high definition displays, data acquisition systems, surveillance equipment and medical/industrial imaging systems.

The FT600Q and FT601Q ICs have an operating temperature range that covers -40 to 85°C. Catering for a design which incorporates multiple data endpoints, a new driver architecture has been developed and optimised to extract full performance from the system whilst maintaining FTDI Chip’s standard D2xx API. Driver support provided allows the device to be used with Windows, Linux and Mac Oss.