MP3 under control

While a slew of proprietary compression formats, including Windows Media Audio (WMA), are now vying for the music-by-Internet market, MP3 has retained its dominance. However, end-users have to choose between different player formats, including MP3 on CD and MP3 in flash memory. CDs are relatively inexpensive. Flash disks are not. Nevertheless, flash disks offer many advantages. They can easily be re-written; they are not prone to the "shake" problems that plague portable CD players; and they can be swapped in and out of a myriad other devices, including digital cameras. Above all, they are compact.

The IC1110 can be used in an MP3 player device or a flash memory drive.

All this is happening on the audio side as, simultaneously, compact portable USB-based flash memory drives (plus a host of low-cost PC-card sleeves and USB-based readers) clearly spell the end of the 1.44-Mbyte floppy disk drive.

Sensing the wave of the future, Taiwan?s ICSI is now offering the IC1110/IC1115 controller, which can be implemented as either a flash memory storage controller for a USB-based flash memory drive or as a controller of a flash memory MP3 player. In other words, this chip offers all the market advantages of a "two-for-one" solution.

This controller has 32 Kbytes of flash ROM on chip, housing firmware and control code and supporting ICP (in-circuit programming), as well as ISP (in-system programming) over a USB connection. This allows manufacturers some flexibility at the testing stage and in end-product decision-making. In addition, end-users are able to download final code from Web sites, obtain and store passwords and keys and so on.

The flash ROM is buffered by 4.5 Kbytes of SRAM, enabling reading of the ROM on a block basis.

A key feature of this chip is a NAND-type flash interface. This allows designers of standalone MP3 players to opt for NAND flash storage rather than one of the five standard compact flash card formats or the IBM micro drive. The NAND flash option enables the design of ultra-compact MP3 players.

Otherwise, the IC1110 supports all five main flash card formats (Compact Flash, Smart Media, MultimediaCard, Secure Digital and Memory Stick) as well as the IBM micro drive. The IC1115 supports the latter four formats, but not CF. An IC1113 part supports SD/MMC/MS; an IC1114 part supports SM. The IC1110 part is available packaged either in 128-pin LQFP or 64-pin LQFP. The IC1115 is in 64-pin LQFP. Both the IC1113 and IC114 are available in 48-pin LQFP.

Connectivity is scheduled to be upgraded to USB 2.0 by the end of this year. Drivers need to be installed under Windows 98, but not under Windows 2000.


Integrated Circuit Solution Inc (ICSI)
Fax (886) 3-578-3000
www.icsi.com.tw