Philips Semiconductors Announces Fastest Family of Magneto-Resistive Pre-Amps with Built-In Serial Interface for Dual Stripe MR Heads; Pre-Amps Target a Wide Range of Disk Drives With Speeds up to 200 Mbps.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 1996--A new family of high performance pre-amplifiers for dual stripe magneto-resistive (DSMR) heads is now available from Philips Semiconductors. The new devices feature enhanced programmability, easy adaptation to a wide range of heads, and a substantial reduction in the number of external components. The series, the TDA5151, TDA5153, and TDA5155, covers the complete range of 12, 6, and 10 channels respectively -- from very high end disk drives that incorporate 2 pre-amps and delivering 12 disks on the drive, down to 6 channels delivering 3 disks. By incorporating a serial interface, the pre-amp is easier to adapt and monitor; and the number of pins and lines previously necessary is reduced, thereby increasing the device's functions and flexibility. The pre-amplifiers are perfectly suited for data rates ranging from 100 Mbps to 200 Mbps and offer, together with DSMR heads, incomparable signal-to-noise-performance.

According to Pierre Yves Couteau, international product marketing manager for data storage ICs, "Improvements in magneto-resistive (MR) head technology and headway in dual stripe advances allow us to innovate a family of devices. The areal density increase offered by MR heads yields two to three times the amount of data on the same surface, giving hard disk drive manufacturers a strong incentive to switch to MR. DSMR heads are easy to integrate and are highly manufacturable, and we expect this to be a key solution in the near term. The symmetry of the dual stripe head amplifier combination automatically distinguishes between differential signals as signal, and common-mode effects as interference which is rejected by the amplifier."

The ICs, complete with read amplifiers, write amplifiers, serial interface, on-chip digital-to-analog converters, reference and control circuit operates on a single supply voltage of 5V. The output drivers have a separate supply voltage pin which can be connected to a higher supply voltage up to 8V. The complementary output stages of the write amplifier allows writing with near rail-to-rail peak voltages across the inductive write head. The on-chip digital-to-analog converters for MR bias current and write currents are programmed via a 3-wire Serial Interface. Head selection, mode control, testing, and servo writing can also be programmed using the serial interface.

Other features of the series include:

-- Programmable Servo writing -- signals multiple heads simultaneously eliminating the need for test equipment to accomplish the same result and accounting for further cost reduction.

-- Programmable high frequency gain boost -- because heads vary in frequency ranges it is often beneficial to modify frequency for each head.

-- Programmable head select -- saves pin count by assigning control to 3 lines vs. 3-4 wires.

-- IC Configuration features active flip-flop, write current, head unsafe -- further eliminating head damage and unreliability.

-- Measurement of MR head resistance in test mode.

The devices are priced at $6.00 to $8.00 in volume quantities. They are available for immediate delivery in LQFP plastic packages or naked die delivery.

Philips Semiconductors, Inc., a subsidiary of Philips Electronics North America Corporation and an affiliate of Philips Electronics NV, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eleventh largest semiconductor supplier in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia, and digital communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by regional customer application labs.

Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing the Philips Internet Home Page located at: http://www.semiconductors.philips.com

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