AUSTIN, Texas, Jun 30, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Expanding its ultra-low-power F9xx MCU family, Silicon
Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance,
analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, today introduced the industry's
lowest power capacitive touch-sense microcontrollers (MCUs) delivering
wake-on-touch power consumption below one microamp. The latest additions
to Silicon Labs' C8051F9xx
family include F99x MCUs with integrated touch-sense technology for
human interface applications and F98x MCUs targeting power- and
cost-sensitive applications such as home automation, smart meters,
lighting control, security systems, games and toys.
Like other members of the F9xx MCU family, Silicon Labs' new
ultra-low-power F99x and F98x MCUs offer the industry's lowest power
consumption in active mode, sleep mode and deep sleep mode. In addition
to consuming the lowest current per MHz, a common industry
specification, the new MCUs contain an integrated low drop-out (LDO)
regulator that keeps the current constant at 150 microamps per MHz over
the entire operating range of 1.8 to 3.6 V. The on-chip LDO regulator
helps reduce the MCU's drain on the battery by 50 percent compared to
competing products, which extends battery life and makes the
ultra-low-power F99x and F98x MCUs ideal for battery-powered
applications.
"With the introduction of our latest ultra-low-power MCUs, we've
expanded our industry-leading F9xx family to provide additional feature
set and memory size options to meet our customers' application needs,"
said Mark Thompson, vice president of Embedded Mixed-Signal products at
Silicon Labs. "As the first IC supplier to achieve sub-microamp
wake-on-touch power consumption for touch-sense MCUs, we continue to
push the boundaries of extreme power efficiency through mixed-signal
innovation."
The new F99x touch-sense MCUs, a part of Silicon Labs' QuickSense(R)
family of human interface devices, combine ultra-low-power
capabilities with fast, accurate capacitive sensing technology to
address the rapidly growing touch-sensing market. The F99x devices
feature a patent-pending, high-resolution capacitance-to-digital
converter (CDC) with a 40 microsecond acquisition time, enabling the
industry's fastest capacitive touch-sense capability. The CDC offers
superior noise immunity for reliable performance in challenging
conditions and configurations such as thick laminate overlays,
electrical noise or variances in circuit board manufacturing.
Available with up to 14 capacitive sensing inputs, the F99x MCUs support
sophisticated and highly responsive touch-sense functions to replace
traditional mechanical buttons, sliders and wheels. By combining the
F99x ultra-low-power MCUs with Silicon Labs' Si11xx
QuickSense infrared and ambient light sensors, system designers can
develop innovative "touchless" proximity sensing interfaces. These
touchless interfaces enable users to control and interact with end
products through simple, intuitive gestures, in addition to using direct
capacitive touch-sense control.
The new F99x and F98x MCUs integrate a 25 MHz pipelined 8051-compatible
core, a precision oscillator, a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter
(ADC), a temperature sensor, a voltage reference and four timers. The
new low-power MCUs also add 2, 4 and 8 kB flash options to the F9xx
family, which offers a broad range of footprint- and software-compatible
ultra-low-power MCUs scaling up to 64 kB of flash. For added board
design flexibility, the F99x and F98x MCUs are available in standard
24-pin QFN and 24-pin QSOP packages as well as a new, space-saving
20-pin 3 mm x 3 mmQFN package option that's ideal for
space-constrained applications.
Pricing and Availability
Samples of the new F9xx MCUs are available now with production
quantities planned for Q3. Product pricing in 10,000-unit quantities
begins at $0.85 (USD).
The new F99x and F98x MCUs are supported by the C8051F996DK development
kit (available for $99 USD), the ToolStick990DC daughtercard (available
for $9.90 USD) and ToolStick programming adapters (priced at $69 USD
each) to support the three available package options. The F990SliderEK
capacitive touch slider evaluation kit (available for $29 USD)
demonstrates the low-power and robust touch-sense capabilities of the
F99x MCUs. QuickSense Studio, an easy-to-use software environment that
enables developers to design touch-sense interfaces without creating a
single line of code, can be downloaded at www.silabs.com/pr/QuickSense.
For additional F9xx ultra low power MCU product information, samples and
development tools, please visit www.silabs.com/pr/lowpower.
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: 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
Follow Silicon Labs on Twitter at http://twitter.com/silabs.
Copyright Business Wire 2010