Product category:
Programmable Logic Devices
News Release from: QuickLogic | Subject: HDD solution pack
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 03 May 2005
Programmable HDD controller works with
Xscale
QuickLogic Corp has released a uWatt programmable controller optimised for the Intel PXA2XX processor line based on XScale technology.
QuickLogic Corp has released a uWatt programmable controller optimised for the Intel PXA2XX processor line based on XScale technology The QuickLogic programmable hard disk drive (HDD) controller solution enables designers to expand the Intel PXA2XX processor's native interface set to communicate with IDE-based HDDs
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The QuickLogic programmable controller has been architected specifically to ensure the highest system bandwidth at the lowest power consumption.
In consumer electronics (CE) products, particularly multimedia players, processor bandwidth is a precious commodity.
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By embedding dedicated sector buffers, and by offloading the PXA processor from managing the overhead of IDE timing and polling operations, the QuickLogic controller enables the PXA processor to operate on other processor-intensive tasks concurrently.
In addition to the device itself, QuickLogic has developed a complete HDD solution pack that includes a daughtercard for the Intel PXA270-based processor developer's kit (Mainstone DVK) and a complete board support package (BSP) for the Windows CE and Windows Mobile operating systems.
A BSP for the Linux operating system will be released in the near future.
The daughtercard supports all IDE-compatible HDDs, including the 1.8 and 1.0in form factor miniature disk drives optimised for space-constrained and power-starved consumer products.
The solution pack enables designers to make system architecture tradeoffs including power consumption, performance and cost, improving developers' time to market and eliminating risk.
"The combination of Intel's PXA processor and QuickLogic's programmable IDE controller is the ideal solution for system developers looking for a low power, high performance answer to the challenge of adding hard disk storage to their portable embedded systems", said Kevin Yee, QuickLogic's Director of Business Development.
"Small form factor storage (HDD) is a key element for today's latest embedded handheld applications where a very large amount of storage of data and rich media is required, such as portable media players and navigation systems", said Scott Dunagan, Intel's Director of Marketing for embedded PXA2XX products.
"QuickLogic's uWatt programmable controller provides our embedded customers with a hard disk drive solution with minimal impact to system cost, power and board space".
The release of this uWatt programmable controller solution underscores QuickLogic's commitment to providing low power connectivity between the Intel PXA2XX family of processors and a host of emerging networking, storage and media processing technologies that target portable and handheld markets.
QuickLogic recently announced its first uWatt programmable bridge enabling the seamless integration of PCI-based peripherals such as Wi-Fi chipsets, ultrawideband (UWB) devices and Ethernet controllers into embedded systems based on the Intel PXA2XX processor line.
The QuickLogic HDD solution pack is sampling today and expected to be in production by the end of May.
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