Cypress brings USB 3.0 to mobile handhelds with new West Bridge peripheral controllers

SAN JOSE, USA: Cypress Semiconductor Corp. introduced the industry’s first USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed USB) solution specifically built to improve the performance of mobile handhelds.

The new West Bridge Benicia (CYWB0263) peripheral controller is a highly optimized Data transfer Offload Engine (DtOE) that enables mobile devices to double the IOPS (Input/output Operations Per Second) throughput, stream high-definition video, “sideload” multimedia content at up to 200 MB per second, and reduce battery charging time by 50 percent with increased charging currents up to 900mA. The additional performance afforded by Benicia results in a state-of-the-art user experience.

The technology significantly improves the performance of a device during boot, page loading, switching between apps and other tasks that require frequent memory access. It employs the second generation of Cypress’s Simultaneous Link to Independent Multimedia (SLIM II) architecture, which manages multiple, non-blocking paths between peripherals, memory and the processor to allow maximum data throughput.

This new generation West Bridge controller supports the latest mass storage standards such as SD 3.0 (SDXC with UHS-I) and e-MMC4.4x, enabling faster data access and greater storage capacity. It also provides Cypress’s new EZ-Dtect feature, which provides charger and accessory detection without the need for any external power management device.

Cypress also introduced a new USB OTG and USB 2.0 solution for mobile devices – the West Bridge Bay controller. West Bridge Bay offers the same benefits as Benicia — SD 3.0 and e-MMC4.4x support, EZ-Dtect functionality, and the SLIM II architecture — for devices without USB 3.0 capability.

The new West Bridge peripheral controllers act as data transfer co-processors to an embedded application processor in a handheld, freeing the processor from data-intensive operations. They employ a configurable ARM9 processor core that enables the devices to act as low power audio co-processors.

Cypress is the market leader in USB controllers, having shipped over 1 billion devices since 1996. Cypress USB products, including the new EZ-USB FX3 USB 3.0 controllers, deliver design flexibility, USB compliance and whole product support that includes software tools, development kits and reference designs.

USB is the most successful peripheral connectivity standard with an installed base of billions of devices and has been heavily adopted in consumer electronics, PC peripherals and portable devices. USB 3.0 is the next step in the wired USB market, offering the same ease of use and flexibility that users expect, but at the much higher data rate of 5 Gbps. USB 3.0 also offers better power management (20 percent of USB 2.0) and faster battery charging (charge in half the time) compared to USB 2.0.

“As the world leader in USB, we are pleased to be the first to bring USB 3.0 performance to the mobile landscape” said Dinesh Ramanathan, executive VP, Cypress’s Data Communications Division. “Our unique West Bridge architecture that doubles IOPS performance combined with the 5-Gbps speed of USB 3.0 will enable mobile devices to deliver a richer user experience with streaming HD video, super-fast sideloading and more. We’re already working with multiple top-tier phone and tablet manufacturers who have shown keen interest in this solution.”

West Bridge Benicia and Bay peripheral controllers are sampling to lead customers today. The devices are expected to reach full production by September of 2011.