Touch Sensing Devices enable button and slider replacement.

Press Release Summary:



Offering up to 10 capacitive and/or general purpose I/Os, Models CY8C201X0 and CY8C201X2 Capsense Express(TM) devices allow for design flexibility to implement combinations of buttons, sliders, and general purpose functions. For battery-powered applications, they offer power consumption of 1 mA active current and 2.6 µA in sleep mode. PSoC®-based devices feature 2.4-5.25 V operating voltage, -40 to +85ºC temperature range, 2 Kb of Flash memory, and I2C communication interface.



Original Press Release:



New Cypress CapSense Express(TM) Touch Sensing Solution Enables Industry's Easiest and Fastest Button and Slider Replacement in Any System



New PSoC®-Based Solution Adds to Industry's Broadest Offering from Touch Sensing Leader

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 24, 2008 - Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY) today introduced the CapSense Express(TM) capacitive touch sensing solution for button and slider replacement. The CapSense Express solution enables designers to implement up to 10 buttons and/or sliders in as little as five minutes - with no coding. The PSoC Express(TM) visual embedded system design tool and CapSense Express configuration tool allow designers to monitor and tune the performance of the buttons and sliders in real time using a graphical user interface. Competing solutions require designers to program and test each adjustment, adding design time and cost.

Cypress is the worldwide leader in capacitive sensing with the industry's broadest portfolio. Its PSoC®-based CapSense devices have implemented over 2.5 billion buttons, sliders and other touch sensing interfaces in systems worldwide. The CapSense portfolio offers unmatched flexibility and integration, addressing a broad range of designs from complex, feature-rich applications to simple button replacement. More information about the new solution is available at www.cypress.com/capsense.

"Mechanical buttons and sliders are prone to wear and tear from prolonged usage and exposure to heat, moisture and other elements." In addition, they do not provide the clean, elegant styling preferred by today's consumer," said Robert Dunnigan, vice president of Cypress's Non-Volatile and Mixed-Signal Business Unit. "The CapSense Express solution offers our customers an easy to use, cost-competitive solution to button replacement that enables innovative new products with the fast time-to-market needed to beat the competition."

CapSense Express Features

The CY8C201X0 and CY8C201X2 CapSense Express devices offers up to ten capacitive and/or general purpose I/Os (GPIOs), allowing design flexibility to implement combinations of buttons, sliders, and general purpose functions like LED control and interrupt outputs. For battery-powered applications, the devices offer low power consumption of just 1 mA active current and 2.6 µA in sleep mode. The new devices offer a wide operating voltage of 2.4V to 5.25V and an industrial temperature range of -40º C to +85º C. In addition, 2 Kb of Flash memory and an I2C communication interface are provided so designers can choose whether to store tuning values in Flash or load them over I2C at power-up.

Availability

The new CY8C201X0 and CY8C201X2 CapSense Express devices are available today. They are packaged in 8- and 16-pin SOIC and 16-pin QFN packages. Cypress is offering three evaluation kits for designers using the CapSense Express solution. The CY3218-CAPEXP1 kit features three CapSense buttons, three backlighting LEDs, three LEDs for status and 1 mechanical button. The CY3218-CAPEXP2 kit offers a 5-segment slider with four status LEDs and 1 Mechanical button. The CY3218-CAPEXP3 features two CapSense buttons with two status LEDs using the smallest package, the 8-pin SOIC. The kits are available from the OnLine Store at www.cypress.com and from authorized distribution partners." The three kits are priced at USD $44.99 each. More information is available at cypress.com/capsense." Download a high-resolution image of the CapSense Express solution at cypress.com/go/41."

About CapSense

A single CapSense device can replace dozens of mechanical switches and controls with an elegant touch-sensitive interface, and the solution supports touch screens and proximity sensing for superior product differentiation. CapSense-based "button" and "slider" controls are more reliable than their mechanical counterparts because they are resistant to environmental wear-and-tear from temperature change and moisture. Cypress has garnered well over 100 CapSense design wins worldwide in applications that include mobile handsets, portable media players, white goods, computers, printers and automotive, among others.

Cypress's CapSense solution offers system designers numerous advantages over capacitive sensing products built around modules and sub-assemblies, including increased flexibility, reduced board space and lower cost. Because of the unique PSoC architecture, designers can easily integrate multiple functions (e.g., LED drivers and LCD displays), in addition to capacitive sensing. The PSoC CapSense solution also delivers benefits such as easy communications using either I2C, SPI or USB interfaces, the ability to implement both touchpad (x-y matrix) and linear slider applications with the same device, and the ability to make quick design changes using the flash-based PSoC architecture. In addition, users can complete CapSense designs with pre-configured and verified "user modules" within Cypress's PSoC Designer(TM) 4.4 Integrated Design Environment (IDE), and experience real-time sensor tuning and monitoring with PSoC Express(TM) visual embedded system design tool.

PSoC -- Because Change Happens

PSoC devices employ a highly configurable system-on-chip architecture for embedded control design, offering a flash-based equivalent of a field-programmable ASIC without lead-time or NRE penalties. PSoC devices integrate configurable analog and digital circuits, controlled by an on-chip microcontroller, providing enhanced design revision capability and component count savings. They include up to 32 Kbytes of Flash memory, 2 Kbytes of SRAM, an 8x8 multiplier with 32-bit accumulator, power and sleep monitoring circuits, and hardware I2C communication.

The flexible PSoC resources allow designers to future-proof their products by enabling firmware-based changes during design, validation, production, and in the field. The unique PSoC flexibility shortens design cycle time and allows for late-breaking feature enhancements. All PSoC devices are also dynamically reconfigurable, enabling designers to morph internal resources on-the-fly, utilizing fewer components to perform a given task.

A single PSoC device can integrate as many as 100 peripheral functions saving customers design time, board space and power consumption while improving system quality. Customers can save as much as $10 in system costs. Learn more about PSoC products at www.cypress.com/psoc and receive free online training at cypress.com/psoctraining."

About Cypress

Cypress delivers high-performance, mixed-signal, programmable solutions that provide customers with rapid time-to-market and exceptional system value. Cypress offerings include the PSoC® mixed-signal array, USB controllers, general-purpose programmable clocks and memories. Cypress also offers wired and wireless connectivity solutions ranging from its WirelessUSB(TM) radio system-on-chip, to West Bridge(TM) and EZ-USB® FX2LP controllers that enhance connectivity and performance in multimedia handsets. Cypress serves numerous markets including consumer, computation, data communications, automotive, industrial, and solar power. Cypress trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol CY. Visit Cypress online at www.cypress.com.

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