Chip IP (intellectual property) vendor Arasan says its Linux 2.6 SDIO driver and protocol stack is ready for high-throughput applications, including mobile phones and consumer devices with UWB (ultra-wide band) and/or WiMAX. The company's new “SDIO Nex” stack is said to use “advanced” DMA2 to eliminate the SDIO bus bottleneck.

SDIO Nex runs only on SoCs (system-on-chip processors) and ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) built with:

• Arasan's SDIO Host and SDIO Device Controller IP, which support SD, SDIO, and MMC cards in single or multiple host slots
• SDIO Combo Controller IP, which adds support for MMC 4.2 Card and CE-ATA microdrives

SDIO Nex uses an “entirely new” architecture designed for low processor utilization and maximum throughput, Arasan said. Additional touted benefits include fewer application threads, and a more compact footprint. The stack is said to comply with the Standard SD host Controller Specification Version 2.00 from the SD Association.

Similar to CompactFlash I/O (CFIO), SDIO defines a standard for peripherals such as GPS receivers, WiFi cards, and cellular modems based on the physical form-factor of memory cards.

Availability

The SDIO Nex stand and bus driver are available now for Linux 2.6, as source code, with technical documentation and a year of support. Arasan offers custom porting services for other RTOSes, and includes SDIO Nex in object form with its Hardware Design Kit (HDK) for SDIO.

 
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