Atmel Unveils Industry's Smallest Laser Diode Driver Solution Supporting HD-DVD/Blu-ray, DVD and CD Format

HEILBRONN, Germany, July 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Paddle-up Package for Improved Heat Dissipation

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the availability of 
the ATR0881 laser diode driver IC for use in combined HD-DVD/Blu-ray, DVD, 
and CD drives. The ATR0881 is housed in a 4 mm x 4 mm QFN24 package. This is 
the industry's smallest laser diode driver solution and is especially suited 
for small slim drives used in notebook computers as well as for half-height 
drives in desktop PCs and consumer DVD recorders.

The ATR0881's QFN housing is a lead-free paddle-up package with the
exposed paddle on top to improve heat dissipation. A bottom-located exposed
paddle, as found in conventional QFN packages, causes difficulties due to its
inaccessibility for circuit design, particularly in optical pick-up products.
This design restriction is eliminated with Atmel's ATR0881.

Although the ATR0881 has 3 outputs for connecting 3 laser diodes -- a
blue (HD-DVD/Blu-ray), a red (DVD), and an infrared (CD) -- it still fits
into the same small 24-pin package used by Atmel's well-known laser diode
drivers for two-output combined DVD and CD drives.

The ATR0881 is the first of its kind with a serial interface. Whereas
conventional laser diode drivers have a fixed gain between input and output,
the gain of each of the ATR0881's 5 channels can be individually programmed
using the serial interface. As a result, the ATR0881 is extremely flexible
and avoids complete re-designs if the users' gain requirements change.

The serial interface can also be used to set all parameters of the
integrated oscillator including frequency, amplitude, and spread-spectrum
settings. Current laser diode drivers need up to 6 external resistors and
pins to set the oscillator parameters. With the ATR0881, these additional
resistors are not required; thus the overall bill of material is reduced.

The requirement for oscillator frequency accuracy is very high to ensure
low electromagnetic interference. Due to resistor tolerances, common laser
diode drivers enable a maximum accuracy of +/- 10%. In contrast, designs
using the ATR0881 achieve a frequency deviation of less than +/- 5% thanks to
the laser diode driver's integrated frequency counter.

Compared to competitor devices, the ATR0881 can optionally be set to a
special synchronization mode, which synchronizes all write channels to the
second channel, thus enabling the generation of very sharp output pulses for
increased data security.

Availability and Pricing

Samples of the ATR0881 in 4 mm x 4 mm QFN24 paddle-up packages are now
available. Pricing starts at US $5.00 in quantities of 10k.

Footnote
    DVD = Digital Versatile Disc
    HD = High Density
    LDD = Laser Diode Drivers
    QFN = Quad Flat No Leads



About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of
microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio
frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest
intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide
the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on consumer,
industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.

(C) 2007 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), logo and
combinations thereof, and others are registered trademarks or trademarks of
Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be
trademarks of others.

Information

Product information on Atmel's laser diode driver IC ATR0881 may be
retrieved at: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=4191

Press Contacts

    Dr. Susanne van Clewe, Marcom Manager Communications and Automotive
    Products
    Phone: +49-7131-67-2081, Email: susanne.van-clewe@hno.atmel.com

    Helen Perlegos, Public Relations -- USA and Asia Pacific
    Phone: +1-408-487-2963, Email: hperlegos@atmel.com

    Veronique Sablereau, Corporate Communications Manager -- Europe
    Phone: +33-1-30-60-70-68, Fax: +49-7131-67-2423,
    Email: veronique.sablereau@atmel.com



Web site: http://www.atmel.com