ChipX Announces New CX6000 Structured ASIC Family with Embedded IP

– ChipX, the Structured ASIC leader, today announced the CX6000 family of Structured ASICs. Fabricated in a high performance, eight-metal 0.13-µm process, the latest addition to ChipX’ extensive Structured ASIC product portfolio accelerates time-to-market and reduces risk by integrating silicon proven IP subsystems into the Structured ASIC fabric.

The first twelve devices available in this new product family, the CX6200 series, integrate an industry-standard PHY for USB 2.0 hi-speed On-The-Go (OTG) applications. ChipX will supply a single-cycle per clock instruction 80515 processor capable of up to 200MHz operation, and a USB controller proven to work with the PHY to customers through IP partnerships. The combination of PHY and Controller has achieved USB-IF compliance in silicon.  

“Normally, designers seeking to build USB capability into an ASIC must purchase a PHY, a controller, and a processor, integrate them into their design, develop the software, then run the entire solution through compliance testing,” explains Elie Massabki, Vice President of Marketing with ChipX.   “This process is arduous, time-consuming and full of risk, since the various IP blocks may not communicate well. By providing our customers with a complete, compliance-capable solution, we can reduce their chip integration effort, shorten their development cycle and maximize their chance of design success.”

The CX6200 series is ideal for PC peripheral, imaging, consumer, security and a variety of industrial applications.

SideChip™ Approach

New CX6200 products also enable profitable access to highly segmented markets using the SideChip™ approach. A SideChip™ is a Structured ASIC that resides next to a main ASIC and provides integration relief and flexibility to a system architecture.  In a growing number of systems where standards are changing and markets are segmented, designers regularly need to expand the capabilities of the system but cannot afford to respin the main system chip or build a new chip for each individual market. By mounting additional capabilities on a ChipX SideChip™  with an embedded USB interface, designers can meet changing market requirements and extend the life of an existing system with minimal effort.

Product Family Details

The new CX6000 family uses ChipX’ silicon-proven X-Cell™ architecture. The highly granular and efficient architecture delivers higher gate densities and much lower device costs when compared to programmable devices in smaller geometries.  This new ChipX  product family can be customized in 2, 3 or 4 layers of metal depending on the customer’s priority in terms of density and  time to market.  The CX6000 family is also equipped with configurable I/Os, capable of a wide range of capabilities including LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL18/2/3, HSTL, LVDS, LVPECL, XOSC, PCI, PCIX and double data-rate.  The I/Os can be programmed with a number of parameters and can be individually configured as input, output, bi-directional, power or ground.   

The new CX6200 product line offers 140k to 1.8M ASIC gates, up to 1.2 Mbits of embedded high-density SRAM and a maximum operating frequency of 250 MHz. It also adds four configurable, low-jitter PLLs with output frequency from 10 MHz to 1 GHz.

Tested prototypes can be delivered in as little as 4 weeks.  CX6200 device prices start at under $5 in 100,000 unit volume.  Customer designs can be accepted now and production units are expected in Q4’2005.

About ChipX

ChipX, Inc., is a pioneer and leading manufacturer of late-stage programmable application-specific integrated circuits, or Structured ASICs. The company's innovative, patented technology consolidates wafer production tooling, reduces time-to-market and minimizes the total cost to profit. ChipX Structured ASIC technology is widely used in consumer equipment, computing peripherals, communication systems, industrial control, medical equipment, instrumentation and military/aerospace systems.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, ChipX is a privately held corporation, founded in the U.S. in 1989. A subsidiary, ChipX (Israel) Ltd., performs Research & Development. Investors include Elron Electronic Industries, Ltd., VantagePoint Venture Partners, Wasserstein Venture Capital, Newlight Associates, Parker Price Venture Capital, UMC, Needham Capital Partners and Insite Capital.