Mixel Granted US Patent for its Innovative MIPI D-PHY RX+ Configuration

Issuance of patent further solidifies Mixel’s status as MIPI PHY mixed-signal IP leader

San Jose, CA – July 23^rd, 2019 - Mixel^®, a leading provider of mixed-signal intellectual property (IP), announced today that its proprietary RX⁺ MIPI D-PHY^SM IP implementation was granted a US Patent for its unique testability features. U.S. Patent No. 10,289,511 was issued on May 14, 2019, for Mixel, Inc., encompassing a novel MIPI^® system entitled “Differential physical layer device with testing capability.”

The MIPI D-PHY RX⁺ is a Mixel proprietary implementation of the MIPI Camera Serial Interface 2 (CSI-2^SM) and Display Serial Interface (DSI^SM) D-PHY Receiver. It is optimized to achieve full-speed production testing, in-system testing, and higher performance compared to traditional configurations, while reducing area and standby power.

As MIPI adoption continues to expand beyond its traditional mobile platform use-cases into safety sensitive applications such as automotive and medical, full-speed, in-system testability and diagnostics have become of paramount importance. Mixel RX⁺ configuration was created to address those safety and reliability sensitive applications.

Full-speed production testing using traditional D-PHY requires the use of Universal configuration, which includes multiple high-speed and low-power transmitters that are not required for regular operation. Mixel’s RX⁺ configuration uses one simplified transmitter to test multiple data lanes. Mixel’s patented implementation enables higher data rate performance by minimizing the capacitive load at the high-speed serial interface pins and isolates the loop back test from any loading on the serial interface pins, while achieving 100% test coverage of the complete IP.

The result is a substantial reduction of 35% in area and 50% reduction in standby power.

This patented implementation of the MIPI D-PHY Receiver provides the testability and diagnostics of the D-PHY Universal configuration with the smaller footprint and improved performance of D-PHY RX. Mixel’s D-PHY RX⁺ is truly the best of both.

"Mixel has been a longtime partner in supporting the MIPI ecosystem and was recently honored with our distinguished service award for its many contributions to the organization," said Joel Huloux, MIPI Alliance chairman. "We appreciate Mixel's involvement and are pleased to see recognition of this innovation in safety-sensitive applications, especially as it is an area of increasing importance to the industry."

“I’m delighted to see that this important and innovative Mixel implementation has been granted US patent protection. This configuration has been a great addition to our expanding and differentiated MIPI portfolio,” said Ashraf Takla, Mixel’s President and CEO. “It is gratifying to see that multiple Mixel automotive customers have already benefited from integrating this unique configuration and that many more are expressing interest in leveraging the unique testability features of this IP.”

Mixel has co-authored a technical article describing this differentiated IP and will be demonstrating many of its own and its customers’ products at MIPI DevCon Taipei later this year.

About Mixel:

Mixel is a leading provider of mixed-signal IPs and offers a wide portfolio of high-performance mixed-signal connectivity IP solutions. Mixel’s mixed-signal portfolio includes PHYs and SerDes, such as MIPI D-PHY^SM, MIPI M-PHY^®, MIPI C-PHY^SM, LVDS, and many dual mode PHY supporting multiple standards. Mixel was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Jose, CA, with global operation to support a worldwide customer base. For more information contact Mixel at info@mixel.com or visit www.mixel.com.

About MIPI Alliance:

MIPI Alliance (MIPI) develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries. There is at least one MIPI specification in every smartphone manufactured today. Founded in 2003, the organization has over 300 member companies worldwide and 14 active working groups delivering specifications within the mobile ecosystem. Members of the organization include handset manufacturers, device OEMs, software providers, semiconductor companies, application processor developers, IP tool providers, test and test equipment companies, as well as camera, tablet and laptop manufacturers. For more information, please visit www.mipi.org.