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Alpha Micro expands FTDI portfolio with launch of the programmable USB 2.0 Vinculum VNC2

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Alpha Micro Components, the independent franchised distributor of electronic components, announced today that it has added the Vinculum VNC2 from Future Technology Devices International Limited (FTDI) to its portfolio of products.  The VNC2 is the latest addition to the Vinculum family of USB Host Controller ICs and suits a broad range of USB consumer and industrial related applications including camera, mobile accessories, data loggers, toys, keyboards, game controller interfacing, Point of Sale applications, medical devices and USB to USB bridges.

The VNC2 is a programmable dual USB 2.0 full speed Host/ Slave system on chip (SOC) controller which builds on, and enhances, the capacities and functionality of the VNC1L, the initial member of FTDI's Vinculum family.  This has been achieved while reducing the device cost as well as introducing the capability for designers to develop their own application firmware and programme the host controller themselves.

VNC2 comes with a fully supported software development tool suite which is wrapped up in a GUI Integrated Design Environment (IDE). This is a free of charge and royalty free software development environment – which includes a compiler, driver, libraries, RTOS kernel, linker and debugger, allowing designers to fully utilise the increased memory and multitude of communication protocols handled by VNC2. The software development toolkit is based on the ‘C' language and provides a comprehensive suite of object files to provide support for USB host functionality including USB Flash Drive (B.O.M.S.) storage, HID, USB COMMs class and FAT File functionality.

Christos Papakyriacou, Managing Director of Alpha Micro Components, commented: "Alpha Micro has worked successfully with FTDI for the past 14 years and we are confident that the newest addition to the Vinculum product range will strengthen our product portfolio offering to design engineers.  FTDI and its products have a very solid reputation within the engineering community due to the reliability and robustness of its drivers'. The VNC2 provides easy USB connectivity for a broad range of devices making it an ideal solution for designers across a vast array of industrial, automotive and medical applications."

Additional features of the VNC2 include:

  a.. Embedded 16-bit Harvard architecture MCU core, with 256KBytes of Flash memory and 16Kbytes RAM
  b.. 2 x Full-Speed / Low-speed USB 2.0 ports supporting independently configurable Host or Slave operation
  c.. 2 x slave Serial Peripheral Interfaces (SPI) and 1 x master SPI
  d.. PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) interface
  e.. Support for reduced power modes
  f.. Multiple packages size options (32-/48-/64-pin QFN and LQFP packages)
  g.. Backwards compatible with VNC1L with 48-pin LQFP package
  h.. RoHS compliant, and extended temperature support (-40°C to +85°C)

Alpha Micro Components
Tel: 01256 851 770
Fax: 01256 851 771
Email: [email protected]
http://www.alphamicro.net/

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