Infineon Technologies Announces 16-Bit USB Microcontroller With Industry-high 18 Mips Performance; Competitively Priced 16-Bit USB Processor To Break Internal Data Movement Bottleneck.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 23, 1999--

Infineon Technologies Corporation (formerly Siemens Microelectronics) today announced the first member of a new family of 16-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) optimized for medium- and high-performance USB (Universal Serial Bus) applications. Intended for use in a wide range of USB devices, the C161U moves data within peripherals at up to 10 times the rate of most competitive chips, thanks to its combination of superior speed, bandwidth, instruction cycle time and DMA (direct memory access). This eliminates the common problem of data not being available for transmission over the USB link when it is requested.

Conforming to the USB Version 1.1 specification, the C161U provides an industry-leading 18 MIPS (million instructions per second) performance, which is from three to six times faster than most competitors' chips. It is this performance level that allows the C161U to move data between peripheral and host at the full 12 Mbps (megabit-per-second) USB rate while simultaneously processing high-speed application and protocol data.

Target applications for the C161U include communications devices, such as xDSL and cable modems, data acquisition and security systems, high-performance gaming, USB-enabled high-performance adapters, removable storage, speakers, printers, digital cameras and scanners.

With low-volume pricing set in the $6 range, the C161U approaches the price point for 8-bit USB microcontrollers. But with as much as 10 times greater data-moving capability, it's the ideal MCU for next-generation peripheral devices, which will be required to manage USB protocols, traffic and other application data beyond what 8-bit devices can support. For a slight additional cost, designers can now move up to the fastest 16-bit performance available, with room to spare for consolidating other devices and functions.

"In developing the C161U, we wanted to create a USB controller that would satisfy customer requirements for high performance and next-generation capabilities with minimum system development time and costs," said Thomas Hwang, product marketing manager of Infineon's 16-bit embedded communications control segment. "The C161U achieves those goals. Based on the highly successful C166 core processor technology, it has the performance level, rich mix of peripheral functions, large number of input/output pins, development tools, low power consumption and aggressive price structure that will allow our customers to significantly improve their time to market and competitiveness."

In addition to 18 MIPS performance, the C161U offers eight endpoints that are software-configurable to support a maximum packet size of 1024 bytes. This allows the new MCU to support efficient isochronous, bulk and interrupt USB transfer modes at 12 Mbps (megabits per second). Also leading the way in interfacing with the system, the C161U has eight internal DMA channels, a fast 36 MHz double-byte bus, 3K bytes of on-chip fast dual-port memory, and 56 programmable I/Os, providing extremely efficient data transfer between the C161U, the USB host and external memory.

Tools Support

Low-cost product development and debugging are provided by a comprehensive set of development tools and solutions. Included are on-chip debugging capabilities through Infineon's On-Chip Debug Support (OCDS) and JTAG Boundary Scan Test (IEEE 1149.1) support. In addition, easy-to-use, cost-effective high-function debuggers, compilers and emulators are available from such third-party tools developers as Tasking, Inc., Nohau Corp., Hitex Development Tools and Lauterbach, Inc.

Other high-performance functionality designed into the C161U includes an 18 Mbaud-capable SSC (Serial Synchronous Channel) and a 4.5 Mbaud-capable USART (Universal Synchronous/ Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) with autobaud detection and 1 Mbps-capable IrDA infrared standard support. In addition, the C161U provides five 16-bit multi-mode timers, a 16-bit watchdog timer, 16 programmable priority-level interrupts, and up to 2M bytes of linear address space for data and code. The high degree of integration significantly reduces the need for external components and greatly simplifies system design, decreasing both cost and time to market.

Packaging, Price and Availability

Operating from a 3.3 V power supply, with 5 V tolerance, over a -40(Degree) C to 85(Degree) C temperature range, the C161U is offered in 100-pin TQFP and MQFP packages. Sample quantities are available now at a price of $6.25 in 1,000-piece quantities.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies (formerly Siemens Semiconductor Group), based in Munich, Germany, was ranked by Dataquest as the 10th largest semiconductor manufacturer worldwide in 1998. Infineon provides semiconductor solutions for the telecommunications, automotive, data networking, consumer electronics, and industrial automation markets. The company's comprehensive product portfolio includes integrated system ICs, memory and high frequency components, smart card ICs, discrete semiconductors and power ICs, sensors and fiber optic components. In fiscal 1997/98, the company achieved sales of $3.8 billion (DM 6.7 billion) and employed 25,000 people worldwide. Further information at http://www.infineon.com

Infineon Technologies Corporation is the company's North American subsidiary, with headquarters at 1730 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95112. For more information, contact 800/777-4363; 408/501-6000.

Infineon is a trademark of Infineon Technologies AG. Other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Any statements in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties; actual results may differ from the forward-looking statements. Infineon Technologies AG undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.