Philips introduces industry's first I2C/SPI to UART bridge
New family of low-power bridge ICs simplifies design of connected devices
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today announced the industry's first I2C/SPI to UART bridge chip, part of a new family of low-power bridge ICs that will simplify the design of connected devices. With the growing convergence in communications, computing and consumer electronics, both portable and non-portable devices need to support an increasing number of protocols and interfaces. The new SC16IS7xx family of bridge ICs from Philips provides designers with a compact, seamless bridge across the most widely used protocols including UART, I2C and SPI. The bridge ICs reduce the time, resources and board space required to connect multiple devices for complex applications such as smart mobile phones, set-top boxes, gaming and navigation systems.
"By introducing its new family of bridge ICs, Philips is simplifying the design of devices that support today's connected consumer applications. We're enabling a more efficient system architecture that consumes less power and space, and reduces software overhead," said Dhwani Vyas, general manager, interface product line, Philips Semiconductors. "The new bridge ICs provide seamless protocol conversion, leveraging Philips' expertise in UART and I2C. Further, these low-voltage bridges are available in the smallest form factor possible, making them ideal for hand-held, battery-powered applications."
The initial product in the family, the SC16IS75x/76x, is the industry's first I2C/SPI to UART serial interface bridge. The product reduces the host interface connection from 15 wires down to two or four, and allows interfacing to an I2C or SPI bus through a selectable pin. By minimizing the interconnections between processors through a shared bus architecture, manufacturers can take advantage of more compact PCB designs and reduce the costs of connecting multiple devices. The new bridge ICs are available in both standard and ultra-small packages (TSSOP and HVQSN), enabling designers to accommodate the most demanding assembly and board-space constraints. The bridge also supports IrDA and RS485. IrDA mode enables wireless communication up to one meter, while RS485 mode supports automatic slave address detection and allows wired communication up to several thousand feet.
Availability
All four products from the SC16IS7xx family are available now.
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 30.3 billion in 2004. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 161,100 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at www.semiconductors.philips.com.