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Cypress MicroSystems Adds Integrated Modem Capabilities to Programmable System on Chip (PSoC) Mixed Signal Array

Development Software Enables Design Engineers to Add On-Chip Connectivity to Embedded Systems, Including Vending Machines, ATMs and Control Instrumentation

The manufacturer says . . . ChipCenter's Paul O'Shea says . . .

Cypress MicroSystems, Inc., a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, today announced new software capabilities that enable embedded designers to easily add modem connectivity to systems based on the Programmable System on Chip (PSoC) device family. PSoC products are based on a configurable mixed-signal array with an on-board controller, providing a low-cost, single-chip solution for a variety of consumer, industrial and control applications.
Embedded designers can now leverage the flexibility of the PSoC architecture to add connectivity to their systems without increasing costs and component inventory. Using free development software, designers can create multiple configurations on a single device and switch between them on the fly. This dynamic reconfiguration enables designers to reuse the chip's analog and digital resources to create a modem that extends the capabilities of a device without impacting its ability to perform the primary application. For example, a PSoC device can be configured to take measurements in a system, dynamically reconfigure itself into a modem to transmit data, and then reconfigure itself back into a measurement system.
Cypress MicroSystems further simplifies modem implementations with PSoC Designer, the integrated development environment used to configure the resources inside of a PSoC device with a few clicks of a mouse. The software offers a broad library of pre-built "user modules," which automatically configure the chip's internal hardware resources and create the Application Programming Interface (API) software for commonly-used peripheral functions. Designers can take advantage of the intelligence built into the user modules to easily configure a PSoC device to perform the functions necessary for a modem.
"Built-in modem capabilities can turn common devices into intelligent appliances that communicate over standard phone networks," said John McDonald, vice president of marketing for Cypress MicroSystems. "With the ability to report data into a central repository, machines such as vending machines, pay telephones, ATMs and control instrumentation can be remotely monitored and maintained. The reprogrammable PSoC hardware and powerful software simplify modem implementations and bring cost-effective connectivity to virtually any embedded design."
Modem connectivity has traditionally required multichip microcontroller-based solutions with many additional components, due to the resource-intensive and mixed-signal nature of a modem. In contrast, designers can use the new PSoC modem configuration, combined with a minimal amount of external passive circuitry, to create a Bell 103 and V.21-compatible modem. The Bell 103 and V.21 standards are used in embedded applications where the number of bytes transferred is low and the speed to establish the connection is the most important performance factor.
About the PSoC Family
The PSoC device family integrates programmable blocks of analog and digital logic, a fast 8-bit CPU, 8 to 16 Kbytes of Flash memory and 256 bytes of SRAM. PSoC provides designers with a flexible architecture that can be configured for a broad range of embedded applications and dynamically reconfigured to extend the capabilities and value of their product. The PSoC platform typically reduces customer development time by 33% and lowers bill of material costs by an average of $5, by significantly reducing the number of chips required for solutions utilizing a traditional microcontroller and discrete digital and analog components.
Headquartered in Bothell, Wash., Cypress MicroSystems develops and markets Programmable System on Chip (PSoC) devices - high-performance, field-programmable ICs for high-volume embedded control functions in consumer, industrial, office automation, telecom and automotive applications. Established as a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: CY) in the fourth quarter of 1999, Cypress MicroSystems' stockholders are its employees and Cypress Semiconductor. The close association with Cypress Semiconductor allows access to their process and design technology, and field sales and applications forces.
Cypress MicroSystems Web Site

Cypress MicroSystems uses the SONOS Flash process from Cypress Semiconductor to create their Programmable System on Chip (PSoC) designs. The process is a dense, single-poly technology that can be manufactured with three additional masks to the Cypress standard process. This enables its use in the PSoC devices, along with other Cypress products, such as frequency timing generators, USB controllers, Neuron Chips, and now a 300 baud modem. (Neuron Chips are microcontrollers that enable electronics products to be networked in home, industrial, building and transportation applications worldwide.)
The company uses the components in the Media Access control level, and an array of 12-op amps and digital components to make a chip. The chip also includes a PLL, watchdog timer, and a power-on-reset design. So when you finish you have what could be called a PCB on a chip. It has everything you would normally consider in a system - on the chip. However, if you look at the chip you won�t see analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, or even mixed signal components. The company uses software called PSoC Designer that allows you to choose your components without having to deal with the complexity of the circuit design. So, if you access the company�s software from the Internet, you can go through a list of components that you will recognize, like the converters. You may decide you need a variable resolution converter up to 13-bits, and you may even look at the data sheet and it shows all the same parameters for circuits that other data sheets show. Next, you use the Cypress graphical editor to place the circuit on the PCB. That�s pretty much how you build your design - pick and place.
The newly introduced modem can act as a full duplex modem, so it dials the phone and instantly reconfigures itself so it can do full duplex communications. The operation takes about 100 micro seconds to completely reconfigure every register. The 300 baud modem is a standard Bell 103, V.21 type modem. All it requires to operate is the PSoC chip and about 5 or 6 resistors and a capacitor.
Initially, you may think that a 300 baud modem is ancient and slow but consider where it is used and how much data is transmitted in those applications. The niche for 300 baud modems is in low-power applications that don�t send much data. The 300 baud modem would be used for embedded solutions, for applications such as power utility meter data transfer. They may not be fast but they don�t need to transfer great quantities of data. However, these 300 baud modems can send about 1 KB of information in the amount of time that it takes a high-speed modem to set up and condition the line, which can take from 30 seconds to 1 minute. So, it can dial up, send out the data, and hang up the line before the faster modem can get connected. Additionally, it�s much less costly than a high-speed modem.
Internally, the modem does band pass filtering, and in addition to the M8 core there is a multiply/accumulate MAC that is used for doing digital filtering. Cypress says that this technology, when compared with other security solutions, can reduce the application�s cost by about 75%. The company also points out that it hasn�t married itself to any particular technology, so where it makes sense to do something in the digital domain then the company does it, and where it makes sense to use an analog op amp or instrumentation amp - then that�s what they do.
The advantage of this product is that you need only to get a new software upgrade to add a new capability. The software allows you to pick your peripherals and map them onto a device. If you have an existing embedded application and you want to add say, communications capability, then you use your browser and import a modem into your existing design. You download a new version of PSoC Designer (it�s free) and then open your existing project and you will see the modem in the new version. To add the modem to a current project most customers can just download the modem and then add it into their current design. The modem has four different configurations much like a set of masks. The actual code for the modem takes up about 8 KB of memory with about a dozen assembler and C language files.
The PSoC CY8C26xxx family is currently available for 1,000-unit pricing of $2.80 to $4.55. All PSoC devices include the free PSoC Designer Software Tool Set, an integrated development environment. Customers may also purchase the Basic Development Kit, including the PSoC ICE-4000, for $248.
Data Sheet

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