Oxford ships its first 922 FireWire 2.0 order to LaCie

LaCie, a world leader in mass data storage, plans to be first to market with a new range of drives that will deliver data transfer rates of up to 800 Mbps. The speed breakthrough has been made possible by the use of Oxford Semiconductor's OXUF922, IDE to FireWire bridge chip. LaCie has placed the first production order for the new device.

LaCie's next generation of mass storage products will include their new stylish d2 FireWire Hard drives, with capacities over 300GB.

The OXUF922 marks the next milestone in high-bandwidth, high-speed data transfer for external drives. It combines an 800 Mbps FireWire 2.0 (1394B) Link layer and Phy controller with a 480 Mbps USB2.0 Phy in a programmable device that results in a fully integrated solution for high-speed data streaming.

The OXUF922 has been developed from the original OXUF911 IDE to FireWire bridge, of which Oxford Semiconductor has now shipped over 2 million parts.

"With greater speed, bandwidth and distance capabilities, this second generation of FireWire is bound to become the interface of choice for digital content creators. Oxford's technological breakthrough will allow us to be first to offer the fastest disks on the market to FireWire users." said Philippe Spruch, LaCie's CEO.

James Foster, Director of Oxford Semiconductor, commented, "This order builds upon an established and successful relationship with LaCie and we're delighted that our innovation will continue to ensure their technology leadership."

The OXUF922 is available in both LQFP and BGA packages and is supported by a development environment. It costs $15 in small quantities. Volume pricing is available from Oxford Semiconductor on request.