Microchip Comes Out with New I/O Bus
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, May 6, 2008

Microchip Technology, a provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, has designed a new 10-member family of serial EEPROM devices with a single I/O bus interface. The devices are based upon Microchip's patent-pending UNI/O memory-device protocol. The 11XX010, 11XX020, 11XX040, 11XX080 and 11XX160 are claimed to be the first single I/O EEPROM devices that can support any data rate from 10 kHz to 100 kHz.

With a combination of features and small-footprint packages, the devices and bus are designed to help designers reduce system size and cost.

The UNI/O bus and EEPROM devices were developed in response to market trends toward smaller consumer-electronic products with more features and functionality. With this new bus, only one I/O port is needed for communication between the EEPROM device and the microcontroller (MCU). As a result, a smaller MCU can be used, which reduces overall design size. Additionally, a smaller MCU means that smaller connectors can be used - a single I/O reduces the number of signals needed for communication with the EEPROM - which enables the use of a lower pin count connector.

Key applications for the UNI/O memory devices include portable/handheld and battery-powered devices in the automotive (air bags, sensors, and anti-lock brake systems); medical (glucose test-strip calibration and various patient-monitoring devices); consumer electronic (printer cartridges, rechargeable batteries, and PC cards); and industrial markets (portable instrumentation and data loggers), etc.


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