ChipX Simplifies DDR2 Design With Industry Standard DDR PHY Interface v2.0

Update: GigOptix, Inc. Announces Acquisition of ChipX (November 10, 2009)

Silicon-Proven PHY and Controller Accelerate DDR2 Designs

March 12, 2008 -- ChipX, Inc., a leading developer of mixed-signal ASICs offering the industry's broadest array of value-added solutions, today announced that it has adopted the industry standard DDR PHY Interface v2.0 (DFI v2.0) to its extensive product portfolio. Targeted initially at the company's highly successful 130-nm mixed-signal offering, the new DDR/DDR2 controllers and PHY promise to dramatically simplify the development of high performance, mixed-signal ASICs.

"ASIC consumers today are caught between ever increasing development costs, and ever decreasing design resources," said Director of Marketing Wouter Suverkropp. "Simplifying building block designs and increasing the chance of success are two small ways in which we can help."

Widely Accepted Standard

A consortium of leading memory companies and IP developers, including the world's largest PC processor manufacturer and the industry's largest processor IP company, worked together to publish the first DDR PHY Interface (DFI) specification in 2007. Recently the consortium released version 2.0 of the widely-accepted standard.

ASIC developers use either DDR/DDR2 controllers provided by third party IP companies or develop their own in-house. The third party controllers are typically configurable and offer the highest level of flexibility. Controllers developed in-house tend to be optimized for a specific application. In order to interface to DDR2 memories, developers also need a mixed-signal physical layer (PHY) function, which includes the inputs/outputs (I/Os)and re-timing circuitry.. Since the PHY is usually provided by the ASIC vendor, interoperability between the controller and the PHY is essential to assure proper functionality. DFI compliance ensures seamless integration of the PHY and controller.

The silicon-proven ChipX DDR and DDR2 solutions combine third party DDR/DDR2 controllers from IP vendors such as CAST, Inc. and NorthWest Logic with the ChipX DFI DDR/DDR2 PHY. Recognizing that customers prefer the easiest integration path possible, ChipX has ensured that its 800Mbps, DDR2 PHY is also fully DFI v2.0 compatible. The ChipX controllers and DDR/DDR2 PHY are available for design-in today.

DDR and DDR2 controllers from ChipX can be combined with a wide variety of processor solutions including ARM™, Beyond Semiconductors, PowerPC™, and over 200 blocks of configurable IP. Customers can also take advantage of a wide variety of mixed-signal and analog IP including PCI Express, USB 2.0, high-speed digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital convertors (ADCs), PLLs and regulators. ChipX DDR/DDR2 PHY solutions are available on a wide range of platforms including Standard Cell, Embedded Array, Structured and Hybrid ASICs.

About ChipX

ChipX, Inc. is a mixed-signal ASIC company with the broadest offering of value-added ASIC solutions, including Standard Cell, Structured ASIC, Embedded Array and Hybrid ASIC technology. ChipX has unique expertise in PCI Express, USB 2.0, DDR/DDR2 and data conversion mixed-signal cores; all are silicon proven and certified and can be integrated into customers' ASICs with record first-time to market success. ChipX products are widely used in consumer equipment, computing peripherals, communication systems, instrumentation and industrial control, medical equipment and military/aerospace systems. Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, ChipX is a privately held corporation, with a Research and Development subsidiary in Israel. Investors include Elron Electronic Industries, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ELRN), VantagePoint Venture Partners, Wasserstein Venture Capital, UMC and Needham Capital Partners.