Microchip's LAN9730 was specifically designed to provide a high-performance, low-cost USB to 10/100 Ethernet connectivity solution with a Hi-Speed Inter-Chip (HSIC) interface. Taking advantage of the broad availability of existing USB drivers and software, Microchip's proprietary HSIC technology incorporates a 2-pin digital bus that enables the use of USB as a low-power, chip-to-chip interconnect at speeds up to 480 Mbps. The internal device controller is USB 2.0-compliant and the HSIC interface is HSIC USB Electrical Specification Revision 1.0-compliant. The device implements Control, Interrupt and Bulk-in and Bulk-out USB endpoints. Microchip's UniClock™ technology simplifies the clocking scheme and reduces system BOM costs by using a single 25MHz crystal for both USB and Ethernet connectivity – without the need for additional components when adding USB hubs.

Applications well-suited for the LAN9730 and LAN9730i (industrial temperature range option) include embedded systems, set-top boxes, PVRs as well as USB port replicators and test instrumentation. The LAN9730 also supports auto-negotiation, auto-polarity correction, HP Auto-MDIX† and is compliant with IEEE 802.3 and 802.3u standards. An external MII interface provides support for an external PHY which enables HomePNA® (HPNA) or HomePlug® functionality. Multiple power management features are provided, including various low-power modes, as well as Magic Packet, Wake-on-LAN and Link Status Change wake events. These events can be programmed to initiate a remote USB wakeup. A PCI-like PME wake is also supported when the USB host controller is disabled.

†HP Auto-MDIX eliminates the need for special "crossover" cables when connecting LAN devices together.Read more