ST adds flexibility to ESD-protection IC for UHS-I micro-SD card slots

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: STMicroelectronics has introduced a new IC combining EMI filtering and Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) protection, offering unique features for equipment such as mobile phones, tablets and 3G dongles using SD 3.0 Ultra High Speed (UHS-I) micro-SD cards.

By 2013 some 500 million mobile handsets could ship with a UHS-I compliant SD Card slot, based on figures from Strategy Analytics for slotted phones. UHS Class cards will provide up to 2 Terabytes of storage as well as offering high-speed performance to improve the user experience for tasks such as direct recording of high-definition video, playing back or sharing content, or backing up data.

The exposed connections in the card slot must have protection against an electro-static discharge, which can be caused simply by picking up the device and can damage the system's circuitry. However, EMI filters and ESD-protection ICs must be optimized for the specified interface speed to ensure full-speed communication between the system and the card. ST's new EMIF06-MSD03F3 protects micro-SD interfaces up to the specified UHS-I speed of 104 Megabytes per second.

The EMIF06-MSD03F3 features the most advanced, miniaturized package technology used for this type of device but, unlike competing products, allows either electrical or mechanical card-insertion detection. This frees designers to use the card detection method that best suits their application and host system. The device also has integrated pull-up resistors to guarantee system behavior when no card is inserted, and an EMI filter to block GSM interference.

Major features of EMIF06-MSD03F3
* +/-15kV ESD protection meeting IEC 61000-4-2.
* Protection for all SD Card data and power lines.
* 7pF maximum load capacitance.
* 16-bump, 0.4mm pitch chip-scale package (WLCSP).
* Tiny 1.54 x 1.54mm outline.
* ST IPAD Integrated Passive and Active Device technology.

The EMIF06-MSD03F3 is available in the 0.4mm-pitch WLCSP package, priced from $0.23 for orders over 1000 pieces. Alternative pricing options may be available for higher quantities.