Hello

We are thinking about building a 2 track magnetic card reader, because we saw that paper you have about psoc5.

However, we have size constraints, and we try to compete with MagTek's Delta Asic.

From our research, the smallest psoc that will be able to accomodate our project is 8mm x 8mm, however the magtek's product is only about 4.5mm.

Is there any other solution to go below 8mm for a 2 track magnetic card reader ?

Thanks

There is always an approach to use die in the design, you would have

to contact Cypress direct or manufacturers rep to determine availability.

And of course you have the attendant passivation issues in assembled

product to deal with.

Regards, Dana.

 But, off the shelf, there is nothing available that can suit my needs right ?

The 68 pin QFN package has 8 x 8 mm dimension...

Tight, but just fits...

Bob

Sorry, forgot the link to datasheet http://www.cypress.com/?docID=42376 

Bob

 Yes, we know about the 8x8... was wondering if there is anything smaller...

Bob, they are targeting 4.5 mm

Regards, Dana.

Yes, Dana, I know but when I look at MagTek's devices there is usually more space than 8mm depending on where you place the PCB, upright or below. The device is shaped like the letter "U" and there is room in one of the vertical bars and room below within the horizontal bar.

Bob

 Even 5-6mm would work.... but 8 is barbaric for our application.

Regards

I don't know the reources you need, but the new psoc4 comes in 6x6 QFN package.

Yes, the smallest package  PSoC is the 40pin QFN which is 6X6. Not sure if you may need more resourse from higher end version of PSoC4.

We are trying to create a dual track magnetic stripe reader.

 ok, but it still dont tell us what resources you need. 

For a simple reader I'm guessing : 1 OPAMP,  1 PGA, 1 ADC , 1 comparator. So you need 2 of them, I think a PSOC4 can be good for it, except you wont have DMA, so a lot of stuff  will have to pass though the cpu.

also, you didn't mention what communication or display interface you need, you will probably need more resources for that.

 We won't need display interface or stuff like that, basically we want to replace the magtek delta asic & cpu, with a single chip.

So the function of the psoc will be purely to process the magstripe data.

But you will need a communication interface. Preferrably to a PC? PSoC4 lacks the USB interface, you'll have to stick to one of the supported interfaces.

Bob

 Serial connection will be used.

Other than that, is the psoc4 able to handle this project with the same performance like the psoc5 ? From the paper I read about psoc5, it makes a very performant card reader.

The PSoC4's core is an ARM M0 which is not as performant as the PSoC5's ARM Cortex M3 core. The actual chip runs at 24MHz and only the upcoming devices will run at 48MHz. So I think a bit of experimenting will be needed to get a proof-of-concept.

Bob

seems to me that core performance is not the most important factor for this kind of design but rather having the right analog periperals. Of course you will have a performance penalty with the M0 and not being able to use DMA but I think the most penalty will maybe come from having to implement some of the features in software rather than hardware.

The PSOC4 has a serial module that can be configured as UART , so you have that covered.

For magnetic card reader, the M0 should be fast enough. Only issues is if there is enought internal digital/analog resource for the anpplication.

This might help -

www.google.com/url

www.planetanalog.com/document.asp

Regards, Dana.

 your first link is broken.