QuickLogic's FPGAs (Click image for further information)

QuickLogic offers a variety of I/O companion chips for mobile applications processors, like Marvell's PXA270. The companion chips are based on the company's tiny, ultra-low-power FPGAs (pictured at right). QuickLogic sells the chips off-the-shelf, and also offers customization services. It claims the chips can be customized to meet specific requirements in a matter of days -- much shorter than the design, test, and manufacture phases required to create an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit).

QuickLogic says its new UDMA controller can handle transfers up to 66Mbyte/sec -- short of the 133Mbyte rates common on desktop systems, but still pretty fast for a mobile device. The controller is said to support ATA/ATAPI-5 modes, and to fail back to slower multi-word DMA or PIO (programmed I/O) modes if need be (for example with flash storage, which typically does not support DMA).

Availability

The UDMA controller is available now, initially with Linux drivers. Windows CE based drivers should be available soon, said the company.

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