Exar Releases Advanced Development Tools for Industry's Fastest USB 2.0 Compliant UART Series

FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Exar Corporation (Nasdaq: EXAR), announced the availability of advanced development tools supporting the industry's fastest USB 2.0 compliant UART series.

"Created with system architects in mind, and building on the market success of the USB UART series, these development tools will accelerate design implementation and time-to-market," said Rakesh Bhatia, director, strategic marketing, Interface Products Line.  "Leveraging these tools, system architects can significantly reduce, or eliminate costly driver development efforts."

Development Tools Details

Supporting the USB UART series -- XR21V1410, XR21B1411, XR21V1412, and the XR21V1414 – the tools include evaluation boards and schematics for each device.  In addition, layout and Gerber files are also available for these board designs.  All board designs have passed USB 2.0 compliance and are listed on the USB-IF website.

Software drivers are available for Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and CE.  These drivers are Microsoft WHQL® certified.  Drivers are also available for Mac and Linux operating systems.  Software source code can be obtained from [email protected].

Exar's I/O Lab is an innovative web-based configuration tool that enables system designers to configure the XR21B1411 in a novel way.  This Graphical User Interface (GUI) aids the designer to visualize how the General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pins are configured at power-up so that they can be tailored to fit the needs of their design.  In addition to setting the GPIOs, the system architects can also configure various USB UART parameters such as Vendor ID, Product ID, Maximum Power Consumption, Remote Wake-up support, Manufacturer Strings, Product Strings, and default UART settings.  The configuration file can be downloaded to program the XR21B1411 using the software driver and OTP programming GUI provided by Exar.  The I/O Lab can be accessed at http://www.exar.com/IOLab/.

Product Series Details

The XR21V1410, XR21B1411, XR21V1412, and XR21V1414 have a USB device interface, which is compliant with Full-Speed USB 2.0 specification.  All devices in the series support USB suspend, resume and remote wakeup operations.  All the devices share a common set 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.  In addition, none of the devices require an external crystal/oscillator which saves on board real estate.  The XR21B1411 offers +/- 15kV HBM ESD.

Availability and Additional Information

Complementing standard data sheets, user manuals are available for the evaluation boards.  All product documentation can be found on the individual product pages below.  An application note is available that outlines board design considerations for USB compliance.  Development tools are available now.  Information can be found on product pages for each device:

XR21B1411: http://www.exar.com/Common/Content/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=XR21B1411,

XR21V1414: http://www.exar.com/Common/Content/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=9550&ParentID=4,

XR21V1412: http://www.exar.com/Common/Content/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=9549&ParentID=4,

XR21V1410: http://www.exar.com/Common/Content/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=9546&ParentID=4.

Additional information can be accessed by contacting Exar's application support line: [email protected].  

IBIS models for the USB UART product family are available on Exar's website at http://www.exar.com/IBIS/Terms.aspx?ProductID=0&Name=&CategoryID=0 .

About Exar

Exar Corporation delivers highly differentiated silicon, software and subsystem solutions for industrial, datacom and storage applications.  For nearly 40 years, Exar's comprehensive knowledge of end-user markets along with the underlying analog, mixed signal and digital technology has enabled innovative solutions that meet the needs of the evolving connected world.  Exar's product portfolio includes power management and interface components, communications products, storage optimization solutions, network security and applied service processors.  Exar has locations worldwide providing real-time customer support to drive rapid product development.  For more information about Exar, visit: http://www.exar.com

SOURCE Exar Corporation