Exar Launches Highest Performance Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) Series with VLIO Bus Inte

Exar Launches Highest Performance Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) Series with VLIO Bus Interface

Single-Channel UARTs with Industry’s Smallest Packaging Options and Multiple Supply Voltages Enables New Design Options for System Architects

Fremont, California, February 9, 2009 – Exar Corporation (Nasdaq: EXAR), released another high performance low voltage single-channel UART series composed of three devices with enhanced features that exceed current industry offerings. The XR16M581/M681/M781 UARTs include support for the VLIO bus interface as well as multiple package, supply voltage, and FIFO sizes which provide system architects more flexibility and superior design options. The product series targets a cross-section of portable applications including smart phones, Bluetooth, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), GPS systems, gaming systems as well as a variety of industrial and telecommunications applications.

“Exar continues to be the market leader in offering enhanced UART and transceiver solutions,” said Levent Ozcolak, vice president, Interface Product Line. “In addition to our existing portfolio of 8-bit, PCI, I2C/SPI, and wireless UARTs the VLIO products offer seamless connections to a variety of popular processors. With the vast amount of different connectivity solutions available, designers can depend on Exar to address all of their serial communication requirements.”

Series Details

The XR16M581, XR16M681, and XR16M781 series has a VLIO bus interface, which multiplexes the address and data lines to reduce the number of signals on both the processor and the UART. All the devices share a common set of features including Auto RTS/CTS Hardware Flow Control, Auto XON/XOFF Software Flow Control, TX/RX FIFO Counters, selectable or programmable transmit and receive FIFO trigger levels, Fractional and Independent TX/RX Baud Rate Generators, Auto RS-485 Half-Duplex Direction Control, Multidrop mode with address detect, and Infrared mode. These devices also have Sleep and PowerSave modes to minimize power consumption. The XR16M581 is a 16-byte FIFO device; the XR16M681 is a 32-byte FIFO device, and the XR16M781 is a 64-byte FIFO device.

“As consumer portable devices become increasingly complex, there is a higher demand for smaller packages, lower power consumption and greater functionality,” said Eric Nguyen, strategic marketing director, Interface Products. “Exar has the ideal UART solutions for these requirements with the industry’s smallest packages, multiple supply voltages, and support for the industry’s highest data rates up to 20 Mbps.”

In addition to the VLIO bus interface, Exar announced in September of 2008, the single-channel XR16M570/670/770 series that supports the Intel bus interface, while the XR16M580/680/780 is compatible with both the Intel and Motorola bus interface.

Interface Products

Exar has one of the broadest portfolios of high-performance interface solutions including UARTs, serial transceivers — RS-232, RS-485, and multi-protocol — the industry-first wireless UART chipset solution, as well as, integrated UART/transceiver combinations. For chip-to-chip or system-to-system connections, Exar’s single and multi-channel interface ICs provides immediate competitive advantages to designers: low power, reduction in board space requirements, increased bandwidth capacity, and enhanced product features. Interface devices are found practically everywhere including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, digital televisions, industrial automation equipment, handheld devices, and networking environments.

Tools and Support

Evaluation boards, reference designs, and software drivers are available. With the availability of these tools and Exar’s application support line: uarttechsupport@exar.com, UART customers can accelerate implementation by eliminating driver development, testing and diagnostic procedures.

Prices, Packages, Availability and Additional Information

Samples of the XR16M581 are available now in a 24-pin QFN, 25-pin BGA, and a 32-pin QFN at 1.62V-3.63V operation over the industrial temperature range. In 1k quantities the XR16M581 is priced at $1.80. Additional information on this product can be found at http://www.exar.com/Common/Content/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=XR16M581. Samples of the XR16M681 are available now in a 24-pin QFN, 25-pin BGA, and a 32-pin QFN at 1.62V-3.63V operation over the industrial temperature range. In 1k quantities the XR16M681 is priced at $1.90. Additional information on this product can be found at http://www.exar.com/Common/Content/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=XR16M681. Samples of the XR16M781 are available now in a 24-pin QFN, 25-pin BGA, and a 32-pin QFN at 1.62V-3.63V operation over the industrial temperature range. In 1k quantities the XR16M781 is priced at $2.05. Additional information on this product can be found at http://www.exar.com/Common/Content/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=XR16M781.

About Exar

Exar Corporation is Powering Connectivity by delivering highly differentiated silicon solutions empowering products to connect. With distinctive knowledge in analog and digital technologies, Exar enables a wide array of applications such as portable devices, home media gateways, communications systems, and industrial automation equipment. Exar has locations worldwide providing real-time system-level support to drive rapid product innovation. For more information about Exar visit: http://www.exar.com. ■