Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq:ISIL - News), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions, today unveiled a new dual laser diode driver designed specifically to enable read (CD-R) and read/write (CD-R/W) speeds up to 52X in laser disk drives. Intersil's new EL6229C dual three-channel laser driver enables optical disk drive manufacturers to increase the performance of existing designs or quickly develop a DVD/CD dual writer driver from a single CD writer drive design. "The EL6229C is the latest addition to a portfolio of CD and DVD recordable products that have made Intersil the number one laser driver IC supplier in the world. Our latest offering, a dual laser driver that provides outputs for both a CD and DVD laser, allows customers a quick upgrade path to better waveform fidelity, better performance and higher speed CD-R and CD-R/W drives," said Stephen P. Sacarisen, director of Strategic Marketing for Intersil's Elantec Optical Storage Products. "The EL6229C is pin-for-pin compatible with our EL6119, but offers the superior performance of our new EL622XC family, enabling read and read/write speeds up to 52X in CD-R/W laser disk drives. Like the other products in our EL622XC family, the EL6229C reduces component count, shortens signal routing and enables more compact optical pickup designs."

Intersil's EL6229C is a dual three-channel (one read and two write levels) laser driver that provides improved current control to both the CD and DVD laser diodes. Each channel has a separate enable pin for the DVD or CD driver output. This simplifies control and gives 100 percent compatibility with existing single channel designs. Like other devices in Intersil's new EL622XC family, the EL6229C provides improved waveform fidelity, increased output current, lower power dissipation and reduced noise to enable higher speed CD-R/RW and DVD designs.

The EL6229C has an on-chip 600 MHz oscillator to allow frequency and amplitude control by use of external resistors to ground. The external resistors allow customers to accurately and independently set each amplifier transconductance by applying a voltage to the resistor without restriction on the voltage range, thus ensuring broad voltage DAC compatibility. It also includes a disable feature for power-up protection and power savings. The EL6229C is compliant with the industry-standard Orange Specification for CD-R and CD-R/W write strategy disc formats at speeds up to 52X and all DVD formats.

EL6229C Key Features
- Three-channel device provides controlled current to grounded laser diode
- 600 MHz on-chip oscillator allows output current modulation in any mode
- Switching speed of less than 1 nanosecond rise/fall time
- Single +5V supply (+/-10%)
- Disable feature for power-up protection and power savings
- CMOS control signals
- 32-pin leadless plastic package

EL6229C Availability and Pricing
The EL6129C is available now in a 32-pin leadless plastic package at $3.50 each in 10,000-unit quantities. Contact Stephen P. Sacarisen for samples or additional information at 408/945-1323, extension 345. To learn more about Intersil's optical storage devices and solutions, visit the Intersil Web site at http://www.intersil.com/cda/application_e/0,1293,36,00.html