Zarlink Semiconductor first to support 16x DVD recording speeds

"Speed is the key driver in the DVD/CD recorder market, with manufacturers of optical pickup units demanding components that support the highest speeds possible at an acceptable cost," said Peter Minett, product marketing manager, Consumer Communications, Zarlink Semiconductor. "The ZL40510/1 laser diode drivers offer the first commercially available devices to efficiently meet these demands, with high-current write channels and industry-leading switching times."

Write channels support leading DVD/CD record speeds

Laser diode drivers are electrical-based devices that convert voltage into current, which the laser then converts into a light pulse to burn information onto an optical disc. The ZL40510/1 laser diode drivers include two four-channel devices capable of driving separate 650 nm (nanometer) DVD and 780 nm CD lasers in a combination DVD/CD unit. The premier ZL40510 device supports up to x16 capabilities for high-speed DVD recorder systems and optical disc drives, while the ZL40511 is suited for existing slower speed x4 and x8 systems.

Both devices include three 500 mA (milliamp) write channels with 240x current gain - the industry's most powerful single-channel write output - and one 150 mA low-noise read channel with 100x current gain. With high-current output write channels, the ZL40510/1 laser diode drivers can write x16 DVDs and x52 CDs using a single channel.

In comparison, competing devices require designers to combine several lower-current channel outputs to reach the power requirements necessary for high-speed DVD/CD write and rewrite. This approach is more sensitive to timing inaccuracies between the combined channels, also known as skew, resulting in slower overall system speed and corrupted optical discs.

Industry's fastest switching times

The ZL40510/1 devices feature the industry's fastest high-current switching times, with guaranteed rise times of 1.2 ns (nanoseconds) and fall times of 1.4 ns, and typical performance of 0.9 ns rise time and 1.1 ns fall time over the full current range. Faster rise and fall times translate into fast DVD/CD write and rewrite speeds for users.

The ZL40510/1 laser diode drivers deliver the industry's fastest propagation delay of 1.4 ns and the smallest channel-to-channel skew of 50 ps (picoseconds). The combined ability to deliver full write power with a single channel in 1 ns edge speed, and switch between write, erase, cooling and read levels within 50 ps timing skew, offers manufacturers a low cost route to optical disc drivers delivering x16 DVD write and rewrite speeds.

Providing ultra-stable performance at a maximum junction temperature of 150 degrees C (Celsius), the high heat tolerance of the ZL40510/1 devices simplifies the design of the optical pickup unit and helps ensure reliable operation. The devices also include a high performance, low harmonic, switched oscillator with a programmable frequency range of 200 MHz (megahertz) to 500 MHz and 20 mA to 100 mA peak-to-peak. By suppressing laser noise when reading optical discs, the oscillator helps deliver superior audio and video quality.