Taipei, Taiwan, April 24, 2012 – VIA Labs, Inc., a leading supplier of USB 3.0 integrated circuit controllers, today announced its 3rd generation USB 3.0 hub controller, the VIA Labs VL812. The VL812 USB 3.0 Hub Controller utilizes a new low-power design and features an industry-first integrated 5V DC-DC switching regulator, offering a single-chip solution that achieves both high power efficiency and greater system integration for further reduced BOM.

The VIA Labs VL812 USB 3.0 hub controller offers high performance, high power efficiency, and reduced overall system BOM, making it an ideal choice for mobile and other low-power applications. Shown here with coin.

In typical configurations, the VIA Labs VL812 USB 3.0 Hub Controller consumes less than 0.5w under load, making it one of the market’s low-power leaders. The low operational power consumption of the new VIA Labs VL812 USB 3.0 Hub allows users to attach an external 2.5" USB 3.0 hard drive, USB 2.0 Flash drive, and a USB Mouse simultaneously without the need for an AC adapter, when connected to a regular USB 3.0 port.

"The VIA Labs VL812 USB 3.0 hub is a perfect expansion companion for the growing Ultrabook market, which have a sleek form factor but few external ports," said Terrance Shih, Product Manager, VIA Labs, Inc. "It provides Ultrabook users with a wide range of USB connectivity options for peripheral devices without necessitating the need for an additional power adapter for the hub."

"We are excited to partner with VIA Labs and integrate the VL812 USB 3.0 Hub Controller into our next generation of USB 3.0 Hubs," said Steven Lu, Vice President of Actionstar. "The high level of integration and low-power design enables Actionstar to create exciting new, highly portable companion products for the growing Ultrabook market."

The VIA Labs VL812 is a 4-port USB 3.0 hub controller that supports the higher transfer rates of the USB 3.0 specification, while remaining fully backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1 hosts, hubs, and devices. In addition to rapid transfers, the VIA Labs VL812 integrates battery charging controller logic, enabling Dedicated Charging Port (DCP) and Charging Downstream Port (CDP) functionality as described in the USB Battery Charging 1.2 specification, in addition to supporting the YD/T 1591-2009 specification and other vendor-specific modes.

Employing an advanced CMOS process, VL812’s integrated in-house USB PHY features adaptive equalization, offering improved signal integrity over a variety of topologies and channel conditions, making VL812 well suited not only for stand-alone hubs, but also USB Docking, integrated motherboard, and compound device applications.