Innostor, a Taiwan-based controller IC supplier, has successfully penetrated the mid-range and high-end USB 3.0 market with its USB 3.0 flash SoC IS 902 and the SATA controller chip IS888, both of which have been widely adopted by major vendors of the market since Innostor unveiled them at COMPUTEX 2010. This year, the company has launched a brand new USB 3.0 flash SoC IS 916 at Computex 2011, aiming at the entry-level market. Innostor stated that the USB 3.0 flash built in IS 916 will be very price competitive as opposed to USB 2.0, and therefore the company expects the new product will speed up the replacement demand for USB 3.0 flash from USB 2.0 flash.
Innostor's assistant manager Steven Lee stated that IS 916 employs a one-channel design, and its overall cost structure is nearly the same as USB 2.0 flash, but its efficiency significantly higher than USB 2.0 flash. Therefore, the new product is expected to stimulate replacement demand.
Lee indicated that the design of PCB substrates for IS 916 is the same as USB 2.0 flash. Therefore its clients do not need to replace the casing of flash, and the manufacture can easily start mass production and save a lot of R&D cost, which is expected to popularize USB 3.0 flash.
Lee projects the penetration rate of USB 3.0 to jump significantly after Computex 2011, and IS 916 is expected to dominate the entry-level market, including China and other emerging markets. Currently IS 916 is under customer certification, and Innostor expects to start mass production of the product by July 2011.
Additionally, lnnostor's IS 902 has passed USB-IF logo certification after its USB 3.0 to SATA controller chips IS888 was also certified for the USB-IF logo. Both solutions center on low cost, low power consumption and high efficiency. IS902 has the advantages of USB 3.0's high-speed transmission and USB 2.0 chips' compact size. Furthermore, IS 888's compact size is able to meet clients' needs as its special power control technology can skip many components.
IS902 adopts 0.13-micron process and therefore is cost effective. As the product is low power consumption, the operating temperature of the controller chip is able to fall below 55 degrees C, which will further improve IS902's overall efficiency and stability. For its applications, clients can streamline its inventory management by simply embedding IS902 with high, mid and low-end products. For instance, IS902 can work with high-end SLC flash products.
IS888 also adopts 0.13-micron process and lowers the overall operating circuit with its power control technology. USB 3.0 mode's standby power consumption is about 80mA (5V), and USB 2.0 mode's standby power consumption only requires 40mA. As IS888 enjoys overall power consumption, it improves IS888's efficiency and life expectancy. Its power saving technology reduces the adoption of components. Overall, its rBOM allows IS888's solutions to catch up with the cost structure of USB 2.0 and helps PCBA's size to meet the product housing design of the clients.