New to Microchip’s USB 2.0 controller hub (UCH2) portfolio is the automotive-grade, four-port USB84604. Featuring FlexConnect technology and an upstream port that supports both USB 2.0 and High Speed Interchip (HSIC) connectivity, the IC is ideal for automotive infotainment system designs, where USB port expansion and connectivity is needed.
Meeting the desire of consumers for a connected vehicle, Microchip’s FlexConnect technology allows for easy port reversals or role swapping. The USB84604’s downstream port 1 is able to swap with the upstream host port, thus transferring the host capability to the product connected to the UCH2, such as smartphones and tablets. This allows for the smartphone ecosystem of software and applications to be connected to the automobile infotainment system.
The chip’s HSIC connectivity, which incorporates Microchip's Inter-Chip Connectivity technology, enables the USB84604 UCH2 connected on a circuit board to utilise the ubiquitous USB 2.0 protocol, dramatically decreasing power consumption. This power reduction is most obvious when actively transferring data, and has been measured to be one seventh of the power consumed by a pair of traditional USB 2.0 physical-layer transceivers.
The IC can attach to an upstream port as a full-speed hub or as a full/high-speed hub. When connected to a high-speed host, the four downstream-facing ports can operate at low speed (1,5 Mbps), full speed (12 Mbps) or high speed (480 Mbps). Additionally, integrated battery charger detection circuitry supports downstream battery detection and charging, providing the ability to replace external battery chargers with advanced battery-charging modes such as USB-IF Battery Charging (BC1.2) and Apple.
To ensure optimised signal strengths and robust operation in the harsh EMI environments typical of automotive applications, Microchip’s VariSense and PHYBoost technologies have also been integrated into the UCH2.
The USB84604’s functionality and configurations can be loaded from external Flash. Its on-chip, one-time-programmable memory can be used to load permanent configurations and its SMBus slave interface can be used to customise its functionality. This interface enables control of the digital and USB lines for internal testing, configuration of the hub to function with the desired options when enumerating, and the loading of custom firmware.
The USB84604 UCH2 also enables applications to communicate via multiple protocols and methods, such as I²C, SPI, UART and general-purpose I/O. This allows system designers to use the hub controller as a virtual fifth port. For example, if an authentication chip needed updating in the infotainment system design, that function could be easily moved from the HMI to the breakout box, minimising requalification.
The USB84604 UCH2 is the latest to be supported by Microchip’s free ProTouch hub configuration software tool, which is available for download from www.microchip.com/ProTouch-111014a. The USB4604 Evaluation Board (EVB-USB4604) is available to enable FlexConnect applications and allow access to the UCH2’s digital pins used in I²C, GPIO and UART bridging. This EVB also contains onboard SPI Flash that enables different revisions of the silicon to be evaluated on the same PCB.
For more information contact Shane Padayachee, Avnet Kopp, +27 (0)11 319 8600, shane.padayachee@avnet.eu, www.avnet.co.za
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