Date: 07/10/2010

New USB UARTs from Exar

Exar has released the XR21B1411, a new addition to the Full-Speed USB UART series. These USB UARTs feature +/- 15kV HBM ESD protection, up to 12Mbps serial data rate, optimized software drivers including Microsoft WHQL certification, and supports FIFO sizes of 128-byte TX and 384-byte RX. Exar has also released a design tool named the Exar I/O Lab for XR21B1411.

"With on-chip +/-15kV HBM ESD protection on the USB data pins, the XR21B1411 differentiates itself from competitive devices by providing a robust and cost effective solution," said Levent Ozcolak, vice president, Interface Product Line. "With the most extensive UART portfolio available including 8-bit, USB, PCI, PCIe, I2C/SPI, VLIO devices, Exar again solidifies its position as an Interface solution innovator with the addition of the XR21B1411 to our market-proven XR21V14x series."

The XR21B1411 targets embedded and consumer applications. Examples of embedded applications are gaming systems, ATM machines, and industrial automation systems amongst others. For consumer applications, the series is ideal for smart phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), notebooks, GPS systems, DVD players/recorders and other portable applications.

"For USB bus powered and/or battery operated applications, the XR21B1411 is an ideal fit," said Rakesh Bhatia, senior manager, strategic marketing, Interface Products Line. "It operates from a single 5V power supply and the on-chip +/-15kV HBM ESD feature minimizes the number of external components needed, thereby reducing the Bill-of-Materials (BOM)."

The XR21B1411 has a USB device controller that is compliant with Full-Speed (12Mbps) USB 2.0 specification. The device has an on-chip one-time programmable (OTP) memory. These devices also feature Vendor ID, Product ID, bus-powered mode, self powered mode, remote wakeup support or maximum power consumption values, and default baud rate settings. The device has an array of features including large FIFO sizes of 128-byte TX and 384-byte RX that optimize overall data throughput, automatic hardware (RTS/CTS or DTR/DSR) flow control, automatic software (Xon/Xoff) flow control, and multi-drop mode with auto half-duplex transceiver control.

The XR21B1411 operates from an internal clock that is programmable to 6, 12, 24 or 48 MHz, hence eliminating the need for any external crystal / oscillator. With the fractional baud rate generator, any baud rate up to 12 Mbps can be accurately generated using the internal clock. Software drivers for Windows 7, 2000, XP, Vista, CE, Linux, and Mac are supported for the XR21B1411.

Package: 16-pin 3mm x 3mm QFN

Price: US$1.89 for 1K pieces

Availability: Now