AUSTIN, Texas, Oct 28, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Silicon
Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance,
analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, today announced its entry into the
human interface market with the introduction of the QuickSense(TM)
portfolio, featuring the new C8051F800 microcontroller (MCU) family
offering the industry's fastest capacitive touch sense capability.
Leveraging Silicon Labs' patent-pending sensing technology, the F800
family enables developers to add sophisticated touch sense interfaces to
a wide range of consumer and industrial electronics products such as
set-top boxes, residential light controls, thermostat controls, home
security panels, commercial point-of-sale (POS) interfaces, portable
electronic devices and small appliances.
The F800 MCU family features a patent-pending capacitance-to-digital
converter (CDC) that enables best-in-class touch sensing in end
products. The high-resolution CDC, which features a 40 microsecond
acquisition time combined with a 25 MIPS CPU, provides sophisticated and
highly responsive touch sense functions to replace mechanical buttons,
sliders and wheels. Advanced 16-bit resolution enables the CDC and
firmware to compensate for changes in geometry and laminates that may
occur between prototyping and production, making the F800 MCUs accurate
but forgiving and improving end-product reliability. The CDC requires
very little CPU overhead, allowing the MCU to perform other tasks and
improving system efficiency.
Most electronic systems are being optimized to reduce power consumption,
which is often a challenge when adding features like touch sensing. The
F800 offers an innovative wake-on-touch capability, enabling the MCU to
be placed in power-saving modes, yet wake quickly upon a touch sense
event, ultimately saving overall system power.
The F800 touch sense MCU family is supported by the QuickSense Studio, a
common development environment for all of the QuickSense devices
including the F700 high-pin count touch sense MCUs and the Si1102/Si1120
proximity and ambient light sensors. The QuickSense Studio configuration
wizard allows designers, using an intuitive software GUI, to select
which functions they want implemented such as capacitive touch sense
buttons, sliders and wheels, and then easily auto-generate the software
to set up and calibrate these functions. Designers can also test their
implementation and review a graphical display of the system performance.
"Silicon Labs' touch sense MCU family delivers accurate and fast
performance along with a host of features that reduce system cost and
improve reliability in space-constrained applications," said Mark
Thompson, vice president and general manager of Silicon Laboratories.
"When paired with our infrared sensors, our touch sense MCUs also enable
smart motion sensing and deliver power savings, which translates into
longer battery life and improved system efficiency. Supported by a
common development environment, the QuickSense devices enable designers
to quickly and reliably add advanced human interface features to their
end products."
Pricing and Availability
The QuickSense F800 touch sense MCUs are supported by a low-cost
development kit, the C8051F800DK. Priced at $99.99 (USD), the kit
includes everything required to immediately begin system design
including the QuickSense Studio, IDE, target board, cables and power
supply. Reference designs and evaluation boards are also available at www.silabs.com/pr/QuickSense.
The F800 is available now in an SOIC16, QFN20 or QSOP24 package. Pricing
begins at $1.56 (USD) in 10k quantities depending on pin out. For more
information or to request samples, please visit www.silabs.com/pr/QuickSense.
Silicon Laboratories Inc.
Silicon Laboratories is an industry leader in the innovation of
high-performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs. Developed by a
world-class engineering team with unsurpassed expertise in mixed-signal
design, Silicon Labs' diverse portfolio of highly integrated,
easy-to-use products offers customers significant advantages in
performance, size and power consumption. These patented solutions serve
a broad set of markets and applications including consumer,
communications, computing, industrial and automotive.
Headquartered in Austin, TX, Silicon Labs is a global enterprise with
operations, sales and design activities worldwide. The company is
committed to contributing to our customers' success by recruiting the
highest quality talent to create industry-changing innovations. For more
information about Silicon Labs, please visit www.silabs.com.
Cautionary Language
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on
Silicon Laboratories' current expectations. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important
factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of factors that could
impact Silicon Laboratories' financial results and cause actual results
to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements,
please refer to Silicon Laboratories' filings with the SEC. Silicon
Laboratories disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Note to editors: QuickSense, Silicon Laboratories, Silicon Labs, the "S"
symbol, the Silicon Laboratories logo and the Silicon Labs logo are
trademarks of Silicon Laboratories Inc. All other product names noted
herein may be trademarks of their respective holders.
SOURCE: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
Silicon Laboratories Inc.
Dale Weisman, +1 512-532-5871
dale.weisman@silabs.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009