News & Events
Intersil Introduces New USB Hot Swap IC for Next Generation PCs
Power management ICs provide hot swap protection for USB peripherals.
Irvine, CA, September 7, 2000 — Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), a leading provider of power management solutions for PCs, file servers and portable information appliances, today announced the introduction of a new fault protection integrated circuit (IC) to protect Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices. USB is a standardized communications port used to easily connect PCs, Internet appliances, and portable information devices with such computer electronics products as real-time videoconferencing cameras, next-generation scanners and printers, and fast broadband Internet appliances.
Irvine, CA, September 7, 2000 Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), a leading provider of power management solutions for PCs, file servers and portable information appliances, today announced the introduction of a new fault protection integrated circuit (IC) to protect Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices. USB is a standardized communications port used to easily connect PCs, Internet appliances, and portable information devices with such computer electronics products as real-time videoconferencing cameras, next-generation scanners and printers, and fast broadband Internet appliances.
Because power is always applied to a USB porteven when a peripheral is not connecteda USB device can be damaged simply by plugging it into an unprotected port. Intersils new ISL6119 USB hot swap IC fully protects Universal Serial Bus-enabled products from damaging overcurrent events during connection toand disconnection froma host system, such as an Internet appliance or desktop computer. The ISL6119s dual channel fault protection system with built-in power monitoring protects USB devices more effectively than traditional solutions.
"Most PCs on the market todayincluding notebooksare fully USB-ready," said Rick Furtney, vice president and general manager of Intersils Power Management business. "Because data and power are supplied over a single cable to USB peripherals, voltage and current protection become extremely important. As a leading provider of hot-swap ICs for servers and other high-availability information systems, Intersil is committed to providing ease of connectivity in the enterprise and home, and providing USB protection is a natural extension of this technology."
USB 2.0, which was announced in April at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in New Orleans, is the next generation of the USB standard that addresses increasing bandwidth demands for Internet appliances, wired local area networks (LANs), and wireless LANs in the enterprise and home zones. According to the USB Implementers Forum, Inc., a non-profit corporation founded by the group of companies that developed the USB specification, the first USB 2.0-enabled computer systems and peripherals are expected in the marketplace in the fourth quarter of this year. Broad USB 2.0 deployment is anticipated in 2001. Intersils ISL6119 is compatible with both existing USB 1.1 products and upcoming USB 2.0 devices.
The Intersil ISL6119 is currently sampling to qualified customers. The product release is scheduled for the last quarter of this year. For more information, send an email message to USBHotPlug@intersil.com, or visit www.intersil.com/hotplug.
About USB
The USB specification calls for distributing device power through the same cable that carries data to that peripheral.
The high-bandwidth USB port automatically senses peripheral power requirements when the device is first plugged into the host system. The control system then automatically configures the device and distributes electrical power, all without restarting the system.
USB has a maximum bandwidth of 12 Mbits/sec (equivalent to 1.5 Mbytes/sec), and up to 127 devices can be attached to a single host system. Fast devices can use the full bandwidth, while lower-speed ones can transfer data using a 1.5 Mbits/sec subchannel. USB supports MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 digital video.
About Intersil Corporation
Irvine, California-based Intersil uses its semiconductor expertise to enable highly integrated voice, data and video communications. Intersil's integrated communications portfolio includes PRISM® Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) chip sets that enable mobile connectivity products for the home and office; analog, mixed-signal and digital integrated circuits for broadband access to wireless and wired Wide Area Networks (WANs); and power management products that enable 24x7 reliability in network servers, next generation PCs and information appliances. For more information about Intersil, visit the company's Internet homepage at www.intersil.com.
PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Corporation.
This press release contains information relating to certain projections and business trends, that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to global and market conditions as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Intersil's filings with the Securities Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Specific risk factors can be found in Intersils filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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