Programmable radio chip gets planes up quicker

Horizon Hobby has selected Cypress's Programmable Radio-on-a-Chip (PRoC) device for the Spektrum DX6 system, which is used in radio-controlled planes and helicopters.

Horizon Hobby has selected Cypress's Programmable Radio-on-a-Chip (PRoC) device for the Spektrum DX6 system, which is used in radio-controlled planes and helicopters.

PRoC's industry-leading interference immunity protects the radio-control (RC) signals for the Spektrum DX6 from being disrupted by other 2.4GHz signals and from the signals of other RC aircraft.

The PRoC device combines Cypress's WirelessUSB 2.4-GHz radio-on-a-chip with the company's PSoC (Programmable System-on-Chip) mixed-signal array, all in a single, integrated product.

WirelessUSB enables designers to significantly improve operating range, power-consumption and latency.

Using direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technology, PRoC provides robust interference immunity and features a range of up to 50m and beyond.

Systems with WirelessUSB also require a mixed-signal array or microcontroller for control functions and protocol implementations.

A single PSoC device can integrate as many as 100 peripheral functions with a microcontroller, saving customers design time, board space, and power consumption.

The combined PRoC solution offers a high-performance, low cost, integrated solution compared with designing in multiple discrete components.

"Cypress's Programmable Radio-on-a-Chip has empowered Spektrum DX6 RC aircraft with the industry's most robust interference immunity and reduced our design cycle from 10 weeks to 8 weeks", said Chris Huhn, Category Manager of Spektrum for Horizon Hobby.

"Horizon Hobby's RC customers demand precise control of their vehicles; they don't want to be affected by interference, and they want to maximize range of operation".

"Our PRoC-powered Spektrum DX6 line offers this truly revolutionary level of control to users".

"PRoC's ease of use, interference immunity and robustness enable the driver to feel confident and connected with their aircraft's performance".

"These features along with PRoC's low cost makes it a natural fit for Horizon Hobby's innovative Spektrum DX6 line", said Deepak Sharma, Senior Marketing Manager for Cypress's Human Interface Device (HID) products".

""These same benefits translate to a variety of applications, including consumer electronics, home and industrial automation, and human interface devices".

The PRoC includes two of the Cypress's most noteworthy technologies - WirelessUSB and PSoC - in one integrated device.

It offers access to a general-purpose mixed signal array with four programmable analog and four programmable digital blocks, 8Kbyte of Flash program memory storage, 512byte of SRAM data storage, 8bit microcontroller, and a powerful direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) 2.4GHz radio system - all integrated in a compact, 48-pin QFN package.

It is designed to implement highly-integrated, space-saving, low-cost, wireless systems operating in the worldwide 2.4GHz ISM band.

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