Fresco Logic announces 2-port USB 3.0 controller

Brings some competition to the market

FRESCO LOGICS FIRST attempt at a USB 3.0 controller was anything but impressive, as the FL1000 was a single port PCI Express Gen 1 solution. However, it seems like the company is now ready to give Renesas some serious competition with its second USB 3.0 controller, the FL1009 which offers two ports and a PCI Express Gen 2 interface.

Fresco Logic makes an interesting claim about the FL1009, as the press release states that the “FL1009 supports xHCI Rev 1.0 specification” which, as far as we know, is impossible as Intel has yet to move to the final spec. A PDF on Intel’s website clearly states “Final Specification” means the “xHCI Specification for Universal Serial Bus as Adopted by Intel. Such Adoption shall occur no later than the date on which Intel ships its first revenue-generating version of its core logic chipset with a extensible host controller integrated into the I/O controller hub.”

Fresco Logic also claims to offer “unprecedented performance” thanks to its “GoXtream xHCI Accelerator Engine”, although there are no details as to what this accelerator engine is meant to offer in terms of advantages of over the Renesas controller. Fresco Logic also claims that its new controller is optimized for low-power operation, lowering system cost and reducing the product design cycle.

What will be interesting to see is how the FL1009 compares both in terms of performance, but also in terms of price compared the Renesas solution. The press release didn’t indicate any pricing but the good news is that Fresco Logic will be at Computex, where we’ll of course also be, so we’re going to head over and see if we can’t manage to get some more details of what’s on offer. The goods news should be lower cost which in the end will lead to more affordable USB 3.0 implementations for motherboards and add-in cards. Check back with us next week for more details from the show.S|A

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