Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) today announced that Leap
Motion has selected Cypress’s EZ-USB®
FX3™ solution for its 3-D motion sensing and control technology. The
Leap Motion controller provides unparalleled accuracy, persistence, and
low latency, making it the world’s most accurate 3D motion control
technology. Cypress’s programmable FX3 solution provides Leap Motion
with a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface for transferring image sensor data
to a computer, contributing to the real-time tracking beneficial for an
exceptional user experience.
Named by Popular Mechanics as one of “The Top 10 Tech
Breakthroughs of 2012,” Leap Motion’s controller creates a
three-dimensional interaction space that allows users to control their
computer with intuitive hand and finger movements. Leap Motion captures
the precise movements of all 10 fingers to 1/100th millimeter
– smaller than the tip of a pin. The Leap Motion controller’s USB port
leverages the Cypress FX3 solution and can connect to any Mac or PC
computer with either USB 2.0 or 3.0 capability.
Inside its small (1 inch by 3 inches by 1/2 inch) form factor, the Leap
Motion controller contains two image sensors that work with the Cypress
FX3 device to capture 16-bit wide data. The Cypress FX3 solution
packetizes the data in USB Video Class (UVC) format and sends it to the
user’s computer via either a USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port. Leap Motion’s
patented 3-D motion control software then processes the data in real
time to create 3-D motion controls.
“Leap Motion set a high standard when we evaluated component providers
for our controller. Our ground-breaking software requires hardware that
provides extremely fast processing power to offer users real-time 3-D
motion control at a level never experienced before,” said Michael
Buckwald, co-founder and CEO of Leap Motion. “The programmability of the
Cypress FX3 solution helped us create a simple and elegant hardware
design for the Leap Motion device, while also keeping bill-of-material
costs low.”
“We are very pleased to work with Leap Motion in bringing their
revolutionary 3-D motion controller to the consumer market,” said Mark
Fu, senior marketing director for the USB 3.0 Business Unit at Cypress.
“FX3 provides a one-chip solution that reduces the hardware complexity
of the Leap Motion device and still provides ample flexibility for
customization and future upgrades.”
The Leap Motion controller will start shipping in early 2013. Pre-orders
can be made for US $70 at www.leapmotion.com.
Cypress’s EZ-USB FX3 is the industry’s only programmable USB 3.0
peripheral control solution. FX3 is equipped with a fully configurable
General Programmable Interface (GPIF™II), which can be programmed in 8-,
16-, and 32-bit configurations. GPIF II enables FX3 to interfaces
directly with any processors, ASIC, FPGA, and up to two image sensors.
The GPIF Designer, a graphical user interface (GUI) tool kit, helps
system designers to configure the GPIF interface to their needs. In
addition, FX3’s on-chip ARM9 CPU core with 512 KB RAM delivers 200 MIPS
of computational power. More information on Cypress’s EZ-USB FX3
solution is available at www.cypress.com/fx3.
About Leap Motion
Based in San Francisco, Leap
Motion is a motion-control software and hardware company developing
the world's most powerful and sensitive 3-D motion-control and
motion-sensing technology. Leap Motion's first product, the Leap Motion
controller, will be available in early 2013. Leap Motion is 200 times
more sensitive than existing motion-control technology, making it the
first product to let users navigate and interact with computer
applications using natural hand and finger movements. Leap Motion was
founded in 2010 by Michael Buckwald and David Holz.
About Cypress
Cypress delivers high-performance, mixed-signal, programmable solutions
that provide customers with rapid time-to-market and exceptional system
value. Cypress offerings include the flagship PSoC® 1, PSoC
3, and PSoC 5 programmable system-on-chip families and derivatives,
CapSense® touch sensing and TrueTouch® solutions
for touchscreens. Cypress is the world leader in USB controllers,
including the high-performance West Bridge® solution that
enhances connectivity and performance in multimedia handsets, PCs, and
tablets. Cypress is also the world leader in SRAM memories. Cypress
serves numerous markets including consumer, mobile handsets,
computation, data communications, automotive, industrial, and military.
Cypress trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker
symbol CY. Visit Cypress online at www.cypress.com.
Cypress, the Cypress logo, EZ-USB, PSoC, CapSense, TrueTouch, and West
Bridge are registered trademarks and FX3 and GPIF are trademarks of
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. All other trademarks are property of their
owners.
