SoftConnex To Bring USB On-The-Go Software Support to a New Generation of Mobile and Hand-Held Products Capable of Point-to-Point Data Exchange

SoftConnex Technologies, Inc. today announced that it is developing a USB On-The-Go (OTG) software solution for the embedded mobile device market. This latest addition to the USBLink product suite, to be marketed under the name USBLink OTG, will enable embedded systems developers to create digital appliances, such as mobile phones and PDAs, which can function either as host or device depending upon the application. For example, a USB OTG enabled PDA could function as a device when connected to a PC and as a host when connected to a digital still camera.

USBLink OTG will consist of three components, including USBLink Host, SoftConnex's USB host software solution, USBLink Device, SoftConnex's USB device software solution, and a transceiver driver that is principally responsible for determining which software stack will drive the OTG hardware in a specific situation.

"On-The-Go support is a natural extension of our USB host and device software products," said Jim Gilbert, vice president of marketing and business development at SoftConnex. "We are fundamentally a provider of USB related connectivity solutions, so we are very well positioned to leverage our USB expertise and enable our customers to use USB OTG to link portable devices in a new way."

USB On-The-Go is a supplement to the USB 2.0 specification that allows direct connectivity between computer peripherals and mobile devices when a desktop computer is not available. Currently in revision 0.9, the USB OTG supplement is now available for public review, with ratification of version 1.0 expected by the end of this year. The OTG working group, of which SoftConnex is an active member, anticipates that the first products based upon the specification will be available in 2002. The supplement is available for review at www.usb.org.

"SoftConnex has already agreed to undertake OTG development projects for two major players in the mobile phone/PDA markets," said Bob Lowe, president and CEO of SoftConnex. "We are also working cooperatively with our hardware partners during the development phase of this new addition to the USB family to ensure a seamless integration between OTG software and hardware."

The products that comprise the USBLink product suite, including USBLink OTG, are written entirely in ANSI-C and are modular by design, so they can support a variety of system configurations. USBLink Host, which is a significant component of USB OTG, supports 16-bit and 32-bit processors, as well as OHCI, UHCI, EHCI or non-PCI based host controllers with proprietary interfaces developed by Philips Semiconductors, ScanLogic/Cypress, and TransDimension. The software is also distinguished by its support for a multitude of USB devices, such as wireless baseband modules, mass storage and audio devices, printers, video and digital still cameras, and MP3 players.


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