FEATURE MCUS & MPUS
THE USER EXPERIENCE: Defined by a full set of features
Microchip explores the advanced capabilities of its latest feature-rich and flexible family of next- generation I/O controllers, customised for industrial and embedded computing designs
family, customised to address the challenge of providing advanced functionality while meeting the space and cost constraints specific to your design. Each product in the family contains a different feature set, combining serial ports, parallel port, and PS/2 with flexible GPIO capability and temperature and voltage monitoring for industrial applications. Designed to operate with the x86 architecture,
this family includes six devices tailored for different applications: the SCH3221, SCH3222, SCH3223, SCH3224, SCH3226 and SCH3227. Some of the choices they offer include a varying number of serial ports, combined with hardware monitoring, and with and without keyboard controller functionality. The SCH3227 is the most full-featured device in
D
id you know that the machines you use on a regular basis have the full
processing power of today’s most advanced computers? These machines are actually industrial and embedded computing applications packaged in non- standard computing form factors. Rather than being constrained to a laptop or tablet, one example of an application is the point-of-sale terminal at your local supermarket. Or it is the information kiosk you use at the airport to check-in for an upcoming flight, change your seats or print your boarding pass. It is even the multi-function printer in your office that prints, scans, handles faxes and more. Other embedded and industrial computing applications include gaming consoles, thin clients, set-top boxes, factory automation, ruggedised PCs and single-board computers. Embedded and industrial computing applications
are becoming smaller while offering more features with each new introduction. However, they still need to support legacy Input/Output (I/O) such as parallel ports and even, in some cases, Floppy Disk Controllers (FDCs). These needs are addressed by Super I/O controllers on the motherboard. A Super I/O controller is a type of semiconductor chip, first used in personal computer motherboards, that combines interfaces for a variety of legacy I/O functions. These functions include a parallel port
14 NOVEMBER 2016 | ELECTRONICS Figure 1:
Industrial application: Airport check-in information point
Figure 2: SCH3227 block diagram
(commonly used for printers), serial port UARTs, keyboard controller and PS/2 ports for keyboard or mouse interfaces. In addition to these functions, Super I/O controllers may also include some low- speed devices such as temperature, voltage and fan speed sensors, automatic fan speed control, infrared port controllers, watchdog timer and General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pins. Today’s Super I/O devices use the Low Pin Count (LPC) bus for communication with the central processing unit. Combining many functions in a single chip reduces the number of parts needed on a motherboard, thus reducing the cost of production. Microchip has introduced a family of feature-rich and flexible Super I/O controllers, the SCH322X
the family. It is a 3.3V Super I/O controller with an LPC interface that operates from 19MHz to 33MHz to support legacy and the current x86-based architecture. It includes a keyboard controller, hardware monitoring capabilities, power control logic and motherboard glue logic. The device also provides a parallel port, four full serial ports and the option for two additional 4-pin serial ports. The serial ports are fully functional NS16550-compatible UARTs that support data rates up to 1.5 Mbps. This device also offers hardware monitoring
capability to track temperature, voltage and fan speed. This feature also provides programmable, automatic fan control. Three fan tachometer inputs and three pulse-width modulator (PWM) fan control outputs are available. It has the ability to alert the system to out-of limit conditions and automatically control the speed of multiple fans in response. The fans are used to monitor and control the temperature of the host processor, power supply and memory of the system. Additional system related functionality is available
via the 40 GPIO control functions. These GPIOs can serve as additional I/O ports, interrupt steering inputs, power LED outputs and even infrared pins. This next-generation family features smaller
packages than previous Super I/O devices. The SCH3227 is available in a 144-WFBGA (9 x 9mm) package and in commercial and industrial operating temperature versions. Devices in this family are also offered in area-efficient BGA packages to further enable the most compact board designs. Combining both legacy and advanced I/O functions in a single chip, these I/O controllers reduce the overall number of devices required to implement your design cost effectively.
Microchip
www.microchip.com T: +1 (480) 792-7200
/ ELECTRONICS
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