• Single-chip USB 2.0 to 10/100M Controller
• Integrate USB 2.0 transceiver, Fast Ethernet MAC/PHY transceiver, 24Kbytes SRAM, voltage regulator, 12&25MHz crystal oscillators, PLL, and Power-On-Reset
• USB 2.0/1.1/1.0 compliant
• WHQL and USB-IF certified
• IEEE 802.3 and 802.3u (10Base-T and 100Base-TX) compatible
• Support HP Auto-MDIX function
• High performance packet transfer rate over USB bus using proprietary burst transfer mechanism (submitted for US patent application)
• AX88172A provides optional MII in MAC mode; Reverse-MII and Reverse-RMII in PHY Mode
• Provide optional serial interface I2C, SPI, and UART64-pin LQFP (AX88772A, 7x7x1.4mm) or 80-pin TQFP (AX88172A, 10x10x1.2mm) with CMOS process, RoHS package
• Support Windows, Linux, WinCE, and MacOS drivers

ASIX Electronics Corp., a leading fabless semiconductor supplier providing innovative USB-to-LAN solutions, recently announced two new additions to the AX88x72 family for embedded Ethernet applications : the AX88772A and AX88172A, for USB-to-Ethernet and USB-to-MII chips, respectively. The AX88x72A is the latest series in ASIX's High-speed USB-to-LAN product portfolio. By combining the AX88x72A with a USB Host microcontroller, designers can provide Ethernet connectivity for embedded systems to distribute data and control remotely over a network.

Recent innovations in multimedia SoC's (System-on-chip) have been based on decreasing the physical form factor to reduce costs. The most efficient method of miniaturization is to decrease the pin count and utilize a serial interface, including SPI flash and USB-LAN solutions, in favor of a parallel local/memory bus. Furthermore, USB's 4-pin serial interface provides transfer speeds up to 480 Mbps, making it an ideal solution for miniature and mobile devices to quickly connect to networking peripherals. ASIX Electronics has released the AX88x72 series USB-LAN chips to satisfy the market demands for networking applications using multimedia SoC's.

The AX88x72A features a USB interface to communicate with a USB Host Controller and is compliant with USB specification V1.1 and V2.0. The AX88x72A implements 10/100Mbps Ethernet LAN function based on IEEE802.3 and IEEE802.3u standards with 24KB of embedded SRAM for packet buffering. In addition, it integrates an on-chip 10/100Mbps Ethernet PHY, simplifying system design. The AX88x72A has a wide array of features including support for HP Auto-MDIX, Wake-on-LAN power management, and IEEE 802.3x/backpressure flow control. Optional serial interfaces such as I2C, SPI, and UART are provided as a control channel from the USB Host Controller to communicate with the external MCU chip.

The AX88772A, low-pin-count (64-pin LQFP) USB 2.0 to 10/100M Fast Ethernet controller, is a high performance and highly integrated ASIC which enables a low cost, small form factor, and simple plug-and-play Fast Ethernet network connection capability for desktops, notebook PC's, UMPC's, cradles/port replicators/docking stations, game consoles, digital-home appliances, and any embedded system using a standard USB port.

The AX88172A, USB 2.0 to MII controller, provides an optional External Media Interface (EMI) for an external PHY or an external MAC depending on different application purposes. The EMI can be a media-independent interface (MII) for implementing 100BASE-FX Ethernet or HomePNA functions. The EMI can also be a Reverse-MII or Reverse Reduced-MII (Reverse-RMII) for glueless MAC-to-MAC connections to any MCU with Ethernet MAC MII or RMII interface.

To help customers evaluate and develop applications with the AX88x72A product family, ASIX provides comprehensive technical support including hardware and software application notes, user guides, schematics, PCB layout guides, and drivers for Windows/Linux/WinCE/MacOS operating systems. In addition, ASIX has already received complete USB-IF, WHQL, and RoHS compliant certifications.

Limited samples of the AX88x72A are available now, and volume production is scheduled in October 2007.