AUSTIN, Texas, Sep 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Silicon
Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance,
analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, today introduced a universal serial
bus (USB) touch screen bridge IC that streamlines the connection between
touch controllers and host CPUs in computing systems with large
displays. Silicon Labs' new CP2501 USB touch screen bridge provides a
programmable, easy-to-use USB interface for laptops, tablets, eBooks,
mobile Internet devices (MIDs), kiosks, ATMs and other point-of-sale
(POS) equipment with touch screen displays.
The CP2501 device is the only semiconductor product of its kind with
pre-programmed touch screen USB interface software providing
out-of-the-box USB support for large touch screens. Today's touch screen
systems in computing applications frequently use a USB interface to
communicate between the touch screen controller and host CPU. Most touch
controllers on the market do not support USB directly, requiring a
separate IC to bridge the communications gap. The prevailing solution
for developers is to use a standard microcontroller (MCU) as a bridge
chip and develop touch screen USB interface software or acquire it from
resellers - a costly, time-consuming process that requires USB expertise.
The CP2501 touch screen bridge eases touch screen application
development by providing pre-programmed firmware that enables developers
to configure touch screen settings quickly and easily, streamlining
software development and speeding time to market. The USB interface is
Microsoft Windows(R) 7 touch interface compliant and supports the USB
human interface device (HID) digitizer class driver. The CP2501 also is
supported by a GUI-based configuration wizard from Silicon Labs that
allows developers to connect a touch controller to a USB system without
developing customized USB firmware. Using the configuration tool,
developers can create the firmware project, customize USB parameters and
generate USB touch screen descriptors. A pre-programmed USB bootloader
also supports easy in-system firmware updates.
"The CP2501 USB touch screen bridge uniquely addresses the growing
application need to integrate large touch screens within computing
systems - quickly, easily and with minimal USB software expertise," said
Mark Thompson, vice president of Silicon Labs' Embedded Mixed-Signal
products. "Leveraging Silicon Labs' leadership in high-performance,
analog-intensive mixed-signal technology, the CP2501 is designed to
accelerate the development of touch screen applications with Windows 7
compliant USB connectivity."
The CP2501 IC supports capacitive and resistive touch screen
technologies and offers interfaces to the inter-integrated circuit
(I2C), universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) and serial
peripheral interface (SPI) buses.
The CP2501 features a high-performance 8051-compatible MCU core running
at 48 MIPS with 53 kB of flash memory and 3.5 kB of RAM available for
application software. The high-performance MCU core and generous memory
provide ample headroom for developers to perform sophisticated
algorithms such as noise filtering, position calculation and gesture
interpretation. Sixteen GPIO pins enable developers to control LEDs
and/or haptics, saving precious pins from the touch controller and
reducing the processing burden on the host CPU.
The CP2501 IC can be paired with Silicon Labs' QuickSense(TM)
human interface products such as the F99x,
F8xx
and F7xx
capacitive touch-sense MCUs and the Si11xx
ambient light and infrared sensors to enable sophisticated proximity
sensing and intuitive "touchless" interface solutions. The CP2501 also
can be combined with Silicon Labs' Si24xx
modem in notebook and tablet applications.
Silicon Labs supports customers with evaluation and development kits to
speed time to market for touch screen designs. The CP2501EK evaluation
kit provides an easy-to-use demonstration of the touch screen USB
bridge, and the CP2501DK development kit offers a fully functional
development environment.
Pricing and Availability
Samples of the CP2501 USB touch screen bridge are available now in a 5
mm x 5 mm QFN32 package. Pricing begins at $4.37 (USD) in 10,000-unit
quantities.
For more information about the CP2501 USB touch screen bridge, visit www.silabs.com/pr/interface.
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