VIA Technologies  today announced the launch of the VIA Vectro VT6204 USB 2.0 to IDE bridge. Configured for consumer and mobile devices, the VIA Vectro VT6204 USB2.0 to IDE bridge offers a solution to extend storage capabilities, enabling seamless connectivity for IDE peripheral devices such as external hard disk drives and optical media drives.

Compliant with USB 2.0 and ATA Specification Revision 6.0, the VIA Vectro VT6204 is highly interoperable with all kinds of IDE devices such as HDD, CD-RW, DVD-RW, CDROM, DVD ROM and any other IDE-based networking or communication devices. An integrated fully compliant USB2.0 Transceiver Macrocell Interface (UTMI) supports 480Mb/s high speed and 12Mb/s full speed communication and allows for dynamic attach and re-attach to the USB bus to allow hot-swap of drives. The External Serial (EERPOM) Interface enables memory retention and supports serial number, vendor number, product ID and miscellaneous storage.

Increasing demand for storage capacity, efficient communication between devices and fast data transmission is directing OEMs to manufacture mass storage devices supporting the latest communication and connectivity standards, and the VIA Vectro VT6204 USB2.0 to IDE bridge addresses this specific need.

The VIA Vectro VT6204 USB2.0 to IDE bridge is available as an add-in PCI card or an onboard chip, providing flexibility to OEMs.