Budget SoC cuts the cords on peripherals

Cypress Semiconductor is sampling WirelessUSB LS, claimed to be the industry's lowest-cost 2.4GHz radio SoC.

Cypress Semiconductor is sampling WirelessUSB LS, claimed to be the industry's lowest-cost 2.4GHz radio SoC.

Priced under $2 today and moving below $1 over the next two years, the device offers manufacturers and end-users of wireless PC and video game console peripherals the best combination of performance and cost versus competing wireless technologies.

"WirelessUSB delivers all the features and functionality of wired peripherals without the cords", said Norm Taffe, Managing Director of Wireless Products at Cypress.

"Bluetooth and Zigbee are overkill for many of these types of applications.

We've eliminated the complexity and have reached a compelling price point that positions WirelessUSB to become the de-facto standard for point-to-point and multipoint-to-point wireless systems".

WirelessUSB LS devices communicate at distances of up to 10m, with an average latency of less than 4ms.

Featuring a highly integrated radio transceiver plus digital baseband, the technology enables manufacturers of cordless human interface devices (HIDs) such as keyboards, mice, and video game controllers to significantly decrease development time, component count and system cost while improving operating range, power-consumption and latency.

Operating in the 2.4GHz global ISM band, WirelessUSB LS also allows customers to deploy their solutions worldwide, regardless of regional frequency requirements.

With WirelessUSB LS, Cypress uses a unique DSSS (direct sequence spread spectrum) coding scheme, ensuring robust operation in the presence of 802.11 and Bluetooth networks.

This approach also enables WirelessUSB LS to support thousands of devices in close proximity, making it ideal for residential, office and classroom deployments.

When coupled with a USB controller, such as Cypress's enCoReT, WirelessUSB LS becomes an end-to-end transparent USB solution for PC peripherals such as mice, keyboards and joysticks, and requires no new device driver development.

For remote controls or set-top box peripherals, the technology eliminates the need for line-of-sight operation.

In video game environments, WirelessUSB LS exceeds the latency requirements for game pads, making it ideal for major video game console peripherals.

WirelessUSB LS is available as a transceiver or a transmit-only device, providing bidirectional or unidirectional RF transmission at 62.5Kbit/s.

This flexibility enables the developer to balance cost, power and binding options.

Both devices have a typical standby current of 1uA, providing superior battery life.

Early adopters of Cypress's WirelessUSB technology include NMB, one of the world's leading keyboard makers, and Saitek, a leading manufacturer of video game peripherals.

WirelessUSB has been recently honoured with EDN Magazine's 2002 "Innovation of the Year" award and the "Electron d'Or" award from Electronique Magazine.

The Cypress WirelessUSB LS transmit-only device (CYWUSB6932) is priced starting at $1.95 in 100,000-unit quantities; the transceiver device (CYWUSB6934) begins at $2.20.

The CY3632 WirelessUSB LS development kit is priced at $495.

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