The CP220x can add Ethernet connectivity to any microcontroller or host processor with 11 or more port I/O pins. The 8-bit parallel external memory interface bus supports both industry-standard Intel and Motorola bus formats in multiplexed and non-multiplexed mode. The CP2201 28-pin QFN package supports multiplexed addressing only. Mode select pins are used to select the bus interface mode.

The on-chip Flash memory may be used to store user constants and web server content or as general-purpose, non-volatile memory. The Flash is factory preprogrammed with a unique 48-bit MAC address stored in the last six memory locations. Having the unique MAC address stored in the CP220x often removes the necessary serialization step from the product manufacturing process of most embedded systems.