June 28, 2012 -- Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has released an extension to its integrated design environment (IDE) for the PSoC 3 and PSoC 5 programmable system-on-chip families. Known as a "Component Pack," the update includes new functions for power monitoring and fan control.

Components are "virtual" chips represented by an icon in Cypress's PSoC Creator software that are dragged and dropped into a design. Each component is fully tested and characterized to accelerate time-to-market for customers. Cypress releases Component Packs that provide new components as well as upgrades to existing components approximately every eight weeks. A Component Pack updates an existing PSoC Creator installation while keeping the core functionality of the design environment unchanged.

Component Pack 3 adds a new Power Monitor component that simplifies voltage and current measurements on power rails. Up to 32 DC power rails can be monitored using a PSoC 3 device at 0.5% accuracy. The Power Monitor component simplifies the complex configuration of the ADC, clock frequencies, resolutions and ranges by abstracting the underlying analog front-end and firmware code into a simple graphical user interface (GUI). System designers enter voltage and current ranges into this GUI, click the "build" button and can start measuring power rails within minutes on the PSoC Power Management Expansion Board Kit (CY8CKIT-035).

The new Fan Controller component provides the capability to independently control up to 16 industry standard 3-wire and 4-wire brushless DC fans through a simple GUI tool. The Fan Controller component generates pulse width modulation (PWM) outputs for fan speed control and accepts variable-frequency tachometer inputs from the fans to enable measurement of fan rotational speeds. This component also comes with advanced fan-control algorithms that reduce fan noise and regulate fan speeds even as airflow and fan loads vary which can be prototyped and developed using the PSoC Thermal Management Expansion Board Kit (CY8CKIT-036).

These new components enable highly reliable, hardware-based solutions for the telecommunications, server and storage markets where reliability is critical. A detailed datasheet and video is available for each of these components on Cypress's website.

Availability

A free download of Component Pack 3 for existing PSoC Creator 2.0 users is available now. Users downloading PSoC Creator 2.0 for the first time will automatically receive the Component Pack. Going forward, registered users will receive alerts when new Component Packs are released.