STMicroelectronics announced that its Unicorn II USB (Universal Serial Bus) ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Loop) chipset is the first such product to be offered with drivers for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista. It achieves up to 8-Mbit/sec downstream speed, is fully compliant with ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) standards, and interoperates with all major ADSL and ADSL2+ DSLAMs. As well as support for Windows Vista, the line-up of drivers also includes Apple Mac OS 9 and OS X, Linux, Windows 98SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. This driver suite includes a number of diagnostic tools to help operators and ISPs to reduce their help-desk costs, and a reference design kit is available which includes schematics, PCB layout, bill of materials and documentation. Third-party turnkey solutions are produced by a number of leading ODMs.

The Unicorn II chipset consists of the ST70138 Controllerless Transceiver, with integrated DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone) engine, control logic and USB Physical-layer interface (PHY); and the MTC20174 ADSL Analog Front End (AFE) chip, which integrates the AFE, line driver and DCXO (Digitally-Controlled Crystal Oscillator). The architecture of the Unicorn-II removes the need for an external SDRAM. The chipset is now available in volume in RoHS-compliant lead-free packages (ST70138 in LFBGA80, MTC20174 in TQFP100), and is priced at $6.50 in quantities of 10,000 units.