American Megatrends and ASMedia Technologies Collaborate in Delivery of xHCI Compliant ASM 1042 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Host Controller Chip

Norcross, Georgia, USA / Taipei, Taiwan – American Megatrends Inc. (AMI), a leader in BIOS and computing innovations, and ASMedia Technology, designer of IC devices including Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) compliant Host Controller Chips, announce their collaboration in the delivery of a new xHCI compliant SuperSpeed USB 3.0 solution - the ASM 1042 Host Controller Chip. AMI’s xHCI BIOS module provides essential support for the speed, power savings and virtualization support that is at the core of the xHCI architecture.

The ASMedia ASM1042 is fully compatible with the eXtensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) and provides high speed, low power data transmission and supports backwards compatibility with the current USB 2.0 standard. It has been certified by Microsoft Corporation to ensure its compatibility with Microsoft Windows® and offers versatility for a wide variety of applications in the PC, mobile, consumer and communication sectors.

ASMedia Technology, a leader in the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 industry, has developed a number of groundbreaking SuperSpeed USB Controller products including the ASM1051, which earned ASMedia the distinction of the first Taiwanese vendor to earn SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) certification by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), and the high end ASM1051E, which offers peak performance and has earned SATA certification. ASMedia Technology is the one of the few Taiwanese manufacturers with multiple years of experience in IC design and the capability for both Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) devices and host side products.

Since its inception, AMI has been a consistent leader in the technology industry. AMI was the first BIOS vendor to support USB in the BIOS, first to create a GUI BIOS interface with mouse support, first to integrate diagnostics, and first to support ACPI with AMIBIOS®. Now, AMI extends its history of innovation and industry firsts by becoming the first vendor to develop and provide the xHCI BIOS module to key customers in support of ASMedia Technology’s newest host controller chip, the ASM 1042.

According to S. Shankar, President and CEO of American Megatrends, “xHCI will become the mainstream of USB support and will be the version targeted by the major OS and chipset vendors. As a technology leader, AMI is aware of its responsibility to support new industry standards and has always been committed to being the first to deliver these in the form of high-quality solutions for our customers. Now that USB 3.0 has become one of the key technologies for our customers’ products, AMI's support for xHCI will give these customers peace of mind, knowing that the products they are delivering today will be viable as adoption of USB 3.0 becomes further entrenched. Providing first access to key new technologies is one of the primary components for maintaining strong, long-term partnerships with our customers.”

“USB 3.0, the next generation high speed USB solution, is founded upon and backwards compatible with the USB 2.0 ‘High Speed’ specification. Initial USB 3.0 compliant devices from ASMedia Technology became available in 2009 and will see broad deployment by the end of 2010. In designing a high quality USB 3.0 IC, ASMedia’s R&D team leveraged its expertise with USB 2.0 architecture and its background in high speed IP design. ASMedia Technology owns the largest number of certified device silicon and has a proven record of USB 3.0 production, as our ASM 1042 host controller enters volume production near the end of 2010. ASMedia Technology is committed to providing a complete, high-performance USB 3.0 solution from device to host controller,” said Chewei Lin, CEO of ASMedia Technology.

About ASMedia Technology
ASMedia Technology is a premier Taiwan-based IC design house which consistently provides high quality products to its customer through its strength in research and development. ASMedia Technology’s main product lines include high speed switches, PCIE bridge controllers and USB3.0 controllers, and its R&D activities are focused on the development of high speed physical layer (PCIE Gen II, SATA 6 Gbps and USB 2.0/3.0) devices. ASMedia Technology’s customers include all major Taiwanese motherboard vendors and brand-name OEMs, including ASUS, Dell, ECS, Gigabyte, HP, Seagate, Samsung, Lacie, LG, Liteon, MSI, Sony, and Toshiba. For more information on ASMedia Technology, please visit the corporate website at www.asmedia.com.tw.

About AMI
Founded in 1985 and known worldwide for AMIBIOS®, American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) supplies state-of-the-art hardware, software, and utilities to today's high-tech manufacturers. AMI’s innovative Aptio® solution for UEFI, modular AMIBIOS8, high quality StorTrends® IP Storage Area Networks (IP-SAN), Network Attached Storage (NAS), and Storage Management software solutions, along with MegaRAC® remote server management, KVM over IP, IPMI 2.0 firmware and high-density motherboards continue to garner industry acclaim and awards around the world. In line with the diversity of its technology and product line, AMI is a member of a number of industry associations and standards groups, such as the Unified EFI Forum (UEFI), the Intel® Embedded Alliance and the Trusted Computing Group (TCG). Headquartered in Atlanta, AMI has locations in the U.S., China, Germany, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to better serve its customers.

For more information on AMI, and its products and services, call 1-800-U-BUY-AMI or visit www.ami.com.

American Megatrends, Inc.
5555 Oakbrook Parkway, Building 200
Norcross, GA 30093 USA
Main: 770-246-8600
Fax: 770-246-8790
On the web: www.ami.com

Press Contact: Chris Menosky, Marketing Communications Manager
American Megatrends, Inc.
5555 Oakbrook Parkway, Building 200
Norcross, GA 30093 USA
Direct: 770-246-8617
Mobile: 770-329-5216
Email: christopherm@ami.com

This release was published on openPR.