Dual UARTs/RS232s run up to 1Mbit/s

Dual-channel 8bit integrated universal asynchronous receiver transmitter and RS232 transceiver combination device family is first to support datarates up to 1Mbit/s.

Exar Corp has announced the industry's first dual-channel 8bit integrated universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) and RS232 transceiver combination device family that supports datarates up to 1Mbit/s.

Like the industry-first single-channel series announced in April 2006, the dual-channel XR19L2x2 series targets the growing market demand of consumer and battery powered applications including laptops, portable devices, desktop PCs, and industrial peripheral interfaces such as handheld terminals and point-of-sale (POS) systems, among others.

"These new integrated solutions are capable of supporting up to four times the datarate of traditional RS232 transceivers, thus meeting the high performance requirements of next generation designs", said Levent Ozcolak, Vice President of Marketing, Interface Products Division.

"Targeting a new integration opportunity based on customer needs, Exar is extending the reach of its serial communications expertise to integrate adjacent device functionality to current and future UART products".

"The XR19L2x2 series are the first of several products to adopt this approach".

The dual-channel series marks Exar's tenth industry-first product offering in less than two years.

In December 2006, the company launched the XR20M1170 (1.8V) and XR20V2170 I2C/SPI UART with 64byte FIFO; in August 2006, Exar introduced the XR17V254 a quad-channel 66MHz PCI 3.0 compliant UART.

In June 2006, Exar released the XR16V2x5x series of 16Mbit/s dual UARTs; in April 2006, Exar launched the single-channel UART and RS232 combination, the XR19L2xx series; in February 2006, Exar released the XR17V252 a dual-channel 66MHz PCI 3.0 compliant UART; in December 2005, the company introduced the industry's first 1.8V single-channel UART (XR16L570) in 24- and 32-pin QFN packages; in June 2005, Exar added the industry's smallest UART (XR16L580); lastly, in March 2005, Exar introduced the industry's first multichannel 66MHz PCI 3.0 compliant UART family, the first in this series was an eight-channel (XR17V258) solution.

"Exar continues to deliver more value to our customers by providing highly integrated low power devices that reduce design complexity, board space requirements and cost of implementation", said Eric Nguyen, Senior Strategic Marketing Manager, Interface Products Division.

The dual-channel series, composed of the XR19L202/212/222, offers different packaging and modem interface options.

The XR19L222 is ideal for full modem interfaces, which can be used as a standard PC serial port.

The XR19L212 supports a half modem interface, and can be used in any application where the legacy modem I/Os are not needed or used.

In addition to the Tx and Rx signals, the RTS and CTS signals are provided to support automatic hardware or software flow control to prevent Rx FIFO overrun errors.

The XR19L202 targets quarter modem requirements, and is used in any application only needing the Tx and Rx signals.

This saves the designer time from having to terminate all of the other unused inputs.

In addition, the second channel can alternatively be used for infrared encoder/decoder or RS422.

The XR19L202/212/222 products are fully compliant with EIA/TIA-232-F standards from +3 to +5.5V power supply.

Both RS232 driver outputs and receiver inputs can operate in harsh electrical environments of +/-15V without damage and can survive +/-15kV ESD on the RS232 lines while maintaining RS232 output levels.

The XR19L202/212/222 series operates in four different modes: active, partial sleep, full sleep and PowerSave.

Each mode can be invoked via hardware or software.

In the active mode, all functions are active.

In the partial sleep mode, the internal crystal oscillator or the charge pump is turned off.

In full sleep mode, both the internal crystal oscillator and the charge pump are turned off.

In the PowerSave mode, the core logic is isolated from the control signals.

The RS232 receivers remain active in all four modes.

The XR19L202/212/222 series supports standard serial port drivers as well as Windows CE drivers.

With the availability of software drivers and Exar's application support line, customers can accelerate their time to market by minimising driver development, testing and diagnostic procedures.

The XR19L202 is offered in a 48-pin QFN, and is priced at the mid-US $5 range in 1000-piece quantities.

The XR19L212 is offered in a 48-pin QFN, and is priced at mid-US $5 range in 1000-piece quantities.

The XR19L222 is offered in a 64-pin QFN, and is priced at mid-US $5 range in 1000 piece quantities.

All the devices are available for sampling now.

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