Other Parts Discussed in Post: TUSB7340, TUSB8040, TUSB9261, TUSB1310A, SN65LVPE502

Hi there everyone from Las Vegas and CES 2011.

Thought I'd share a few of my observations from today.

I thought I'd start with what was in the USB TechZone where I spent most of the day.  There are twenty exhibitors this year, half of which are either IC suppliers (eight of these) or chip IP suppliers.  There are also three cable assembly manufacturers, three test solution providers, and finally one each on the end product. motherboard, embedded software, and Wireless USB markets.

Of the eight silicon suppliers, three were highlighting xHCI host controllers and three were highlighting hubs - the two type of devices that had very little offer just a year ago.  At CES 2010 there was one host supplier and no hub suppliers demoing ASICs.  There were also three companies in the USB-HDMI market which is one of the new segments that USB 3.0 have opened up capabilities that were very limited with USB 2.0.  The Fujitsu raid controller device was demoing an impressive throughput of over 350MB/s!  However, not to be too self serving, but in my opinion, the TI demonstration was the most impressive with the only full end-to-end product offering.

Our demo included:
TUSB7340, the industry's first four-port xHCI host controller
TUSB8040, four-port SuperSpeed Hub
TUSB9261, 2nd Generation SuperSpeed USB to SATA 3G Bridge; three instances - one with a BluRay drive and two with SSDs
TUSB1310A, 2nd Generation of the Industry's first (and only still!) SuperSpeed Transceiver as implemented in the Total Phase Beagle 5000
SN65LVPE502, SuperSpeed USB Redriver as implemented by Hosiden in a 10m active cable

We believe this gives us the industry's only full end-to-end product portfolio and when you include the power management and ESD solutions available from TI, we can offer the industry a one-stop shop for their SuperSpeed USB Product needs.

Outside of the TechZone, some of the other cool things, OK some of them maybe not so much "cool" but fascinating! First was the Taser booth right across the aisle.  This is an example of "consumer electronics" that des not typically come to mind when we here the term.  But the technology in the products is impressive and they are targeting the general consumer with their products as a means of non-lethal personal security.  They actually included an area where you could "seel" what it is like to fire one.  But the fascinating - you know in the can't pass a car wreck without looking sort of way - was the opportunity to willingly allow yourself to be tased!  I watch a early 30's gentleman who works in the law enforcement area reduced to a sputtering after take a hit!  Really made me want to avoid ever having a run in with the law that might have one of those things aimed at me!

The other hot item was again 3D TVs.  There were many of these spread throughout the show floor with varying experinces including one sthis year that use some sort of polymer between glass setup to enable a 3D experience without the need to use glasses - that is the way I would want to own one, but to be honest it was not quite up to the "experience" of the glasses versions yet, but hopefully it will get there soon!

Let me know what cool things you saw this year!

Anonymous