ST's Smart Reset chips cure frustration from frozen gadgets

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: STMicroelectronics introduced a new generation of its Smart Reset chips. Pioneered by ST who has already supplied tens of millions to major consumer-electronics brands, smart-reset Integrated Circuits provide a safe, convenient and intuitive means of resetting ‘frozen’ gadgets, such as mobile phones, media players, and other portable consumer devices.

Traditionally, when electronic devices freeze or lock up, users would either try to remove the battery, which is not always convenient, or find an appropriate tool to press the dedicated reset button placed in a hole that is often difficult to access.

Smart resets extend the functional capability of the existing buttons so that users can simply re-set their frozen device with a long push of one or two buttons simultaneously, depending on the device configuration. With the increasing popularity of touch-screen devices, smart resets remove the need for extra buttons, saving space and cost for the equipment manufacturers, and significantly increasing convenience for the user.

“The proliferation and complexity of mobile apps, operating system versions, and hardware platforms have inevitably brought about interoperability issues, with consumers increasingly experiencing frozen operation, or the ‘White Screen of Death,’ on their portable devices,” said Alberto De Marco, director of Standard & HiRel Products Business Unit at STMicroelectronics. ”ST’s stand-alone smart resets deliver a reliable and risk-free reset mechanism - an important factor in maintaining user satisfaction and brand adherence in today’s fragmented and highly competitive mobile market.”

Effective prevention of accidental resets is secured with the STM6524, ST’s newest dual-assert Smart Reset IC. Its two inputs connect to a selected pair of buttons on an electronic gadget. When these buttons are held down simultaneously for a manufacturer-specified time, the IC sends a reset signal to the main processor.

The combination of two inputs and programmable delay time effectively prevents accidental resets. ST is also introducing a new single-assert Smart Reset IC, the STM6519, which targets single-button electronic devices like tablets and e-readers, with a similar programmable delay reset.

The new generation of ST’s Smart Reset IC offers several improvements over existing solutions: in addition to a smaller package size, the new devices implement a customizable extended input delay time, from 0.5 to 10 seconds, which increases flexibility and enables manufacturers to distinguish their products through specific user-interface settings. The new smart resets also integrate a dedicated test mode, which improves device testability and slashes test costs.

The STM6519 and STM6524 smart reset ICs are available in volumes, with unit pricing at $0.242 and $0.338 respectively, in quantities of 1,000 pieces.