Product category:
Standard Logic Devices
News Release from: STMicroelectronics | Subject: Xpander Logic
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 19 March 2007
Logic devices ease MCU I/O expansion
Logic family helps designers overcome the limited number of I/O ports in microcontroller and microprocessor-based embedded systems.
STMicroelectronics has introduced the Xpander Logic family to help customers overcome the limited number of input/output (I/O) ports in microcontroller and microprocessor-based embedded systems Any existing or additional I/O-intensive tasks on the central processing unit (CPU) can be now reassigned to the Xpander Logic IC that operates off ultralow power and comes in a very small package, making it ideal for portable multimedia devices such as mobile phones, smartphones and personal digital assistants
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Xpander Logic family allows the existing system processor to use a wide range of intelligent functions through a standard and high-speed Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) serial peripheral interface.
These intelligent features include a keypad controller, supporting 96 keys maximum, and a pulsewidth modulation (PWM) controller, able to adjust the brightness of the LEDs in addition to performing sophisticated brightness patterns.
The Xpander Logic family also offers a three-wire rotating-wheel controller that supports the increasingly popular rotating wheel interface in portable electronics by detecting the motion of the wheel and providing monitoring/buffering features.
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The family also integrates an analogue-to-digital convertor (ADC) and a digital-to-analogue convertor (DAC), allowing the host system to implement a wide range of mixed-signal features while providing an automatic dimming unit that lets the ambient light sensor control a backlight unit without CPU intervention.
All these features are achieved through a minimum change on the existing microprocessor or microcontroller firmware.
As a result, the family is a very flexible and cost-competitive solution to expand system resources if compared with the complex implementation of larger and more expensive CPU or programmable logic devices in the embedded system.
A further benefit of the Xpander Logic family for users is the high optimisation for micropower operation and the advanced power-management support that helps modern portable systems preserve and extend battery life.
In production now, the devices are housed in very small packages (QFN16, microTFBGA25 and microTFBGA36).
The Xpander Logic STMPE2401 provides all the above-mentioned intelligent functions in a microTFBGA36 package, whereas the STMPE801 performs the basic I/O expander function in a QFN16 package.
The STMPE2401 and STMPE801 cost US $1.5 and $0.80, respectively, in 100,000 unit quantities.
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