Fremont, Calif.—Exar Corp. has added next-generation high performance (up to 16-Mbit/s) and low voltage (1.62V) quad-channel device family—the XR16M554/564/654 series—to its broad UART line.

The product family targets a wide variety of battery operated portable consumer products as well as industrial applications, including Point-of-Sale (POS), servers, industrial automation, public parking systems, and ticketing machines among others.

Exar's next-generation quad UART device family comes in three FIFO levels—16-byte, 32-byte and 64-byte. It is aimed at helping designers of advanced low voltage and low power boards differentiate their OEM products.

Consisting of six different devices, the XR16MXX4 series includes the XR16M554/554D, XR16M564/564D, and XR16M654/654D. All the devices share a common set of features, including four independent UART channels, selectable TX and RX trigger levels and data rates up to 16-Mbit/s. In addition, the XR16M564/564D and XR16M654/654D has automatic sleep mode, automatic hardware flow control, automatic software flow control, a wireless infrared encoder/decoder and a fractional baud rate generator. The series supports both the Intel and Motorola bus interfaces.

Pricing: In 1,000 piece quantities, the XR16M554/554D are priced in the mid-$6 to $7 range; the XR16M564/564D are priced in the mid-$7 range; and the XR16M654/654D are priced in the mid-$9 range.Availability: All six devices are available now, and operate over the industrial temperature range.
Datasheets: XR16M554 XR16M554D XR16M564 XR16M564D XR16M654 and XR16M654D.

Exar Corp., www.exar.com