Xicor Announces Programmable I/O Monitor; Novel New Product Enhances System I/O Reliability.MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 8, 1999--XICOR, Inc. (Nasdaq:XICO) today announced the X4C105, an innovative I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output. I/O - Input/Output monitor chip. This product's nonvolatile I/O monitoring allows designers to capture intermittent conditions during system operation, and facilitates reliable system fault recovery. The X4C105 also integrates power-on reset A power-on reset (PoR) generator is a microcontroller or microprocessor peripheral that generates a reset signal when power is applied to the device. It ensures that the device starts operating in a known state. and low-voltage-sense circuits to further enhance system integrity. The X4C105 utilizes nonvolatile static RAM A fast memory technology that requires power to hold its content. Static RAM (SRAM, S-RAM) is used for high-speed registers, caches and relatively small memory banks such as a frame buffer on a display adapter. to provide fast single cycle storage of I/O status. In the event of a power failure or system crash, information on the I/O lines or in-system volatile memory A memory that does not hold its contents without power. A computer's main memory, which is made up of dynamic RAM or static RAM chips, loses its content immediately upon loss of power. Newer types of memory are expected to obsolete volatile memory in the future (see MRAM and NRAM). can be automatically saved in the NOVRAM NOVRAM Nonvolatile Random Access Memory memory through the use of the AUTOSTORE function. In addition, 4K bits of embedded EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) A rewritable memory chip that holds its content without power. Although EEPROMs spawned flash memory, EEPROMs are byte addressable at the write level, whereas flash chips must erase a block of bytes before rewriting. can be used for storage of system initialization in·i·tial·ize tr.v. in·i·tial·ized, in·i·tial·iz·ing, in·i·tial·iz·es Computer Science 1. To set (a starting value of a variable). 2. To prepare (a computer or a printer) for use; boot. 3. parameters, which can be used to return the system to a known state or for storing system history data to monitor fault trends. "System integrity in the event of power failure is an important requirement in modern system design, and the X4C105 provides designers with an extra degree of freedom to improve overall system reliability," said Wayne Eng, director of digital products marketing. "By providing an integrated solution to capture I/O and process status automatically, in the event of system power failure, and having an EEPROM memory to return the system to a `known good state,' designers can now ensure reliable system recovery," he added. -0- Product Availability and Pricing Part Number Description Status 100 + ------------ ----------- ------ ------ X4C105V20 CPU SUP NOVRAM/PORTS 4K EE Memory Now $ 2.95 X4C105V20I CPU SUP NOVRAM/PORTS 4K EE Memory Now $ 3.25 -0- Reader Contact Wayne Eng, director, digital products marketing, Xicor, Inc., 1511 Buckeye buckeye: see horse chestnut. buckeye Any of about 13 trees and shrubs of the genus Aesculus (family Hippocastanaceae), native to North America, southeastern Europe, and eastern Asia. Drive, Milpitas, CA 95035. Telephone: 408/546-3593. E-mail: weng@xicor.com. Web site: www.xicor.com. Company Background Xicor, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures and sells nonvolatile in-the-system programmable products which retain information even when the system is turned off or power is inadvertently lost. Xicor's product line includes digitally controlled potentiometers (XDCPs), system management ICs, and standard and secure memory ICs. Xicor product, corporate and financial information is readily accessible on the World Wide Web at http://www.xicor.com. |
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