SMSC announces industry’s first high speed inter-chip USB 2.0 hub for portable consumer electronics apps

HAUPPAUGE, USA: SMSC announced its latest advance in High Speed Inter-Chip (HSIC) USB 2.0 connectivity, the USB3503. This industry-first Hi-Speed USB Portable Hub Controller designed around the low power and low cost HSIC interface uses SMSC’s patented Inter-Chip Connectivity (ICC) technology to offer a compelling USB connectivity solution for portable battery powered applications.

ICC enables the USB 2.0 protocol, which is now standard in billions of electronic devices, to be delivered over short distances consuming a fraction of the power of a traditional USB 2.0 analog interface while retaining the software compatibility with an analog USB 2.0 connection. The HSIC specification (an addendum to the USB 2.0 specification) includes the ICC technology. Where applicable, such as in portable applications, the ICC technology decreases power consumption and silicon area as compared to an analog USB 2.0 interface.

“The momentum around HSIC is truly expanding in the industry. The value proposition is simple - using HSIC to interface between functional components in electrical systems allows designers to use their existing USB software stacks for inter-chip communication,” said Jesse Lyles, director of Marketing for USB & Networking Solutions at SMSC.

As portable devices continue to add more features and the system architecture becomes more complex, it is necessary to have more than one USB port to manage communications with internal and external peripheral devices. SMSC’s low-power USB3503 offers three downstream ports and is specifically designed for portable embedded applications where more than one USB port is required.

The USB3503 attaches to an upstream port via HSIC and supports Low, Full and Hi-Speed downstream devices on all enabled downstream ports. The package size has been minimized to save valuable PCB space, making the device well-suited for portable, battery-powered embedded systems where power consumption, reduced BOM cost and Battery Charger (BC) detection capabilities are critical design requirements.

AMD and Samsung have recently joined NVIDIA, Qualcomm and others in licensing ICC from SMSC to enable HSIC communication from their portable System-on-a-Chip (SoCs) to peripheral USB 2.0 devices. The USB3503 is the industry's first HSIC-based USB 2.0 hub controller designed specifically for portable consumer electronics products such as smartphones, tablets and e-readers. Designed to deliver the low-power and ultra-small footprint that portable product designers demand, the USB3503 also delivers robust USB performance proven through multiple generations of SMSC USB 2.0 hub controller products.

The USB3503 integrates the latest USB-IF Battery Charging 1.1 specification with SMSC’s RapidCharge Anywhere functionality that dramatically reduces the time required for battery charging, while its flexible power regulators facilitate simple design into battery-powered devices.