Evatronix introduces a Hi-Speed USB Embedded Hub Controller

Gliwice & Bielsko-Biala, Poland -- October 29th, 2008 – The Silicon Intellectual Property (IP) provider, Evatronix SA, announced today the USBHS-HUB – a Hi-Speed USB Embedded Hub Controller to support the full range of USB host applications. Thanks to a variety of functional features that have been implemented in the IP core, the controller increases the number of USB Hi-Speed host ports that can be used to connect any USB device.

USBHS-HUB, due to its USB Specification Rev. 2.0 compliance, supports all USB transfer speeds - High, Full and Low. For seamless communication between the USB host and devices operating at different data transmission rates the hub implements an integrated Transaction Translator which takes care of proper interpretation of high speed signaling for components operating at full and low speeds.

In contrast to the common practice of supporting standard and hub-specific requests in software, the USBHS-HUB implements them directly in hardware for significant improvements in throughput and increased reliability. The USBHS_HUB operates as a standalone component with no CPU support required.

When connected to an EHCI host controller, the USBHS-HUB broadens its functionality by allowing connection of Full- and Low-Speed devices without separate OHCI or UHCI host controllers. Integration with a single-port USB host (like Evatronix USBHS-OTG-MPD) increases the number of available ports from 1 to 127.

For communication with USB hosts, the USBHS-HUB implements native support for 8/16-bit UTMI+ with 8-bit ULPI interface available as an option. For embedded applications a direct connection to the host with no physical layer (PHY) is also possible.
“The possibility to connect the USBHS-HUB to the USB host in a variety of ways creates new opportunities for both SoC designers and chip manufacturers,” said Michal Jedrak, Presales Manager at Evatronix. “With the IP market evolving in so many directions, we must make sure our products can be implemented in the widest possible range of applications. Support for all popular interfaces as well as the fact we can now offer a OHCI- or UHCI-less component should bring relief to every USB application developer.”

Availability and options

The USBHS-HUB IP core is available for licensing now. Standard deliverables include various sets of scripts for successful synthesis and simulation as well as an extensive SystemC testbench, and a proprietary prototyping environment is available for purchase as an option.