Alcor Micro Corp., the world's leading USB integrated chip provider, today unveiled its new version USB CF card reader controller chip- Au9321, and new version USB SD card reader controller chip- Au9331. In addition to USB Mass Storage Class compliant, the Au9321/9331 integrated most of the silicon components typically found in the other reader chips.

The Au9321/9331 chip, alone with the flash memory card, can be used as a removable storage device and deployed in enormous data exchange applications, such as moving data from PC to another C, transferring image from digital camera to PC or download sound track to MP3 players. Thanks to the well-received USB storage Bulk Interface Specification, the Au9321/9331 is natively supported by latest operating systems without vendor-supplied drivers, such as Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X.

"With the built-in 3.3Vvoltage regulator and a power on reset circuit, Au9321 and Au9331 save BOM cost as well as PCB space for our customers." Said William Lee, the VP of Sales of Alcor Micro., Corp. "In addition to meeting USB specification, the power consumption, EMI, and assembly cost are all dramatically improved as given" Added by William, "A flash memory card reader with this chip offers a faster and convenient way of data exchange between PC and various handheld consumer electrical devices such as digital camera, PDA, MP3 music player, mobile phone...etc. Consumers will not only enjoy the fast and reliable transfer of image and music files to PC, but will also avoid the hassle of running out of battery during data transfer from handheld devices."

The Au9321/9331 is fully compliant with USB specification 1.1. They both support Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Mac OS 9.1 and Mac OS X. Additional features including an activity LED that will blink during data transfer and prevent user from removing flash memory card to avoid damage to the card. Working at 12MHz external clock frequency with a built-in 48MHz PLL and 3.3V regulator, Au9321/9331 is not only able to support USB VID, PID and string customerization by an optional external EEPROM, but also capable of handling 8 sets of built-in PID, VID and string to minimize inventory control and improve lead production lead-time. By integrating these circuits into one chip, the Au9321/9331 is the most cost effective single slot flash memory card reader controller chip available in the market today. Au9321 is available in 48 pin LQFP; Au9331 is available in 28 pin SSOP package.

Watch our website for further flash memory card reader product announcements in the near future.

Source:Alcor Micro Corp.,