Date: 10/02/2009

Compact SoC for DVD drives to eliminate external components

NEC Electronics has developed a System-on-Chip (SoC) product integrating all the functionalities needed for DVD writing and reading on a single chip. The new product named SCOMBO 8 is a SoC for supporting DVD drives equipped in PCs and home write/read appliances.

Optical disc drives can be divided into two types, according to the height of the drive case: half-height drives or slim drives. In half-height drives, users expect higher writing speeds, while in slim drives they expect lower power consumption. In addition, users of both types seek to cut costs by reducing the number of components on system boards. The new product meets all of these requirements by delivering integrated functionality, higher writing speeds, and lower power consumption.

The notable features of the SCOMBO 8 are:

1. Built-in functions include servo control circuit that controls the optical pickup, data modulation/demodulation circuit, digital read channel function, and write strategy circuit.
2. It also provides analog circuits to process the output signals of the optical pickup, CPUs, and a serial ATA interface all on a single chip.
3. Packs in a memory of 16 Mbit SDRAM and 16 Mbit flash memory.
4. By adopting BiCMOS process the speed is enhanced to make it possible to achieve 24x DVD writing.
5. The product has lowered the internal voltage from 1.5V to 1.0V achieved through 90nm process, and optimized functional blocks including the CPU. These improvements help to reduce power consumption during 8x DVD writing by 50 percent (0.8W) compared to the previous SCOMBO products.

Package: compact 14mm square package
Price: The sample price of the new product is US$10 per unit
Availability: Mass production is scheduled to begin in March 2009

For more details visit: www.necel.com