- Proven Low Power QuickIDE Bridge Controller Serves as Companion Device to Intel® PXA2xx processors
QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), the industry’s lowest-power programmable logic solutions leader, today announced that its new QuickIDE bridge controller interoperates with Hitachi Global Storage Technologies’ one-inch Microdrive hard drive to deliver a complete mass storage solution for Intel-based portable consumer electronics.
The Microdrive 3K8 features a dramatically reduced footprint and power consumption for integration into mobile phones and other ultra-miniature consumer electronic devices. The drive has a maximum capacity of 8GB and is available exclusively for embedded applications.
As consumers desire higher quality video playback in these applications, the demands on the processor and hard drive increase. In some portable applications, designers are challenged to keep up with these stringent demands when the embedded processor cannot keep up with the data transfer rate of the hard drive due to a lack of a native IDE interface in the system.
As a solution to this challenge, QuickLogic has created a companion device to connect Hitachi Microdrive disk drives to Intel® PXA2xx processors. With support from Hitachi, QuickLogic has spent several hundred engineering hours performing various system-level benchmark tests to confirm the interoperability of the QuickIDE bridge controller and Microdrive solution. QuickLogic’s results validate the theoretical maximum effective transfer rate of the Microdrive, which is 5.1-10 MB/sec sustained data rate.
“In order to broaden our reach into the portable electronics segment, QuickLogic has developed an ecosystem of industry leaders in low power embedded processors, wireless and storage peripherals,” said Kevin Yee, Director of Business Development at QuickLogic. “As a result of this focused collaboration with Hitachi, QuickLogic has enabled Microdrive hard drives to connect to embedded processors in the most energy efficient manner - without sacrificing performance.”
“Low CPU utilization, low-power consumption and small footprints are all critical parameters for our customers integrating Microdrive technology into their portable electronics,” said Marcia Bencala, vice president, Corporate Strategy & Product Planning, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. “Hitachi’s work with QuickLogic will go a long way in helping product designers achieve these parameters and deliver compelling handheld consumer electronic devices into the marketplace.”
The QuickLogic Companion Device integrates a full-featured IDE Bridge Controller and local bus interface for embedded processors and is available now. In volume quantities, the companion device sells for less than $5. For more information, go to www.quicklogic.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among others, the potential benefits of our technology to applications such as Intel-based portable consumer electronics and general handheld consumer electronic devices, the actual performance and market acceptance of our products and the pricing of our products. Actual results may differ materially from any such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: (i) The actual performance and market acceptance of QuickLogic's products, including solutions, if any, produced as a result of our partnership with Hitachi; (ii) general conditions in the semiconductor industry; (iii) Consistency in the price of our product. Certain risk factors are detailed in QuickLogic's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. QuickLogic disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK) is the inventor and pioneer of innovative, customizable semiconductor solutions for mobile and portable electronics OEMs and ODMs. These silicon plus software solutions are called Customer Specific Standard Products (CSSPs). CSSPs enable our customers to bring their products to market more quickly and remain in the market longer, with the low power, cost and size demanded by the mobile and portable electronics market. For more information about QuickLogic and CSSPs, visit www.quicklogic.com.
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