CAST Partners Evatronix and JMicron Achieve USB-IF Certification for USB OTG Controller

Woodcliff Lake, NJ, September 21, 2006 - Semiconductor intellectual property (IP) provider CAST, Inc. today announced that an implementation of its USB On-The-Go (OTG) controller core has passed the certification testing of the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). The certification was achieved through a joint effort of partners Evatronix SA in Poland — who developed the IP core — and JMicron Technology Corp. in Taiwan — who developed the analog-to-digital physical layer or PHY.

The CAST USBHS-OTG-SD-S core implements a hi-speed “dual-role” USB controller that satisfies the OTG Supplement to the USB 2.0 specification. This means a device using the core can act as either a USB host or as a USB device. A digital camera, for example, might act as a host when connected to a printer or as a device when connected to a computer for photo uploading. Certification by the USB-IF shows that the core and PHY combination work as specified, satisfying the objective criteria of this trade association and warranting display of the USB logo.

The core provides point-to-point communication with a single USB function, and is user-configurable for up to 15 In and 15 OUT endpoints. It supports an external DMA controller, provides industry-standard system and transceiver interfaces, and requires just 23,000 gates in a typical ASIC process. CAST partner Evatronix SA (www.evatronix.pl) developed the core; see more technical details at http://www.cast-inc.com/cores/usbhs-otg-sd .

JMicron worked closely with Evatronix to produce the Physical Layer (PHY) IP that works with the controller core in an electronic system. The PHY is dependent on which fabrication technology is used, and core/PHY combinations were tested and certified for 90 nm, 130 nm, and 180 nm UMC ASIC process technologies. The PHY should also work with other controller cores, and is available directly from JMicron, http://www.jmicron.com and through semiconductor foundry partner UMC, http://www.umc.com as products JMI198, JMI133, and JMI127.