News

In a pre–Consumer Electronics Show announcement, Texas Instruments says it has integrated its FireWire (IEEE1394), multichannel audio digital signal processor (DSP), and digital amplifier technologies in a single board to demonstrate an all-digital audio system from source to speaker.

In a press release, TI states that "By combining these technologies onto one board, TI is demonstrating to manufacturers how they can more easily build a high-resolution audio system, such as an A/V receiver or DVD receiver, that incorporates all of the latest features required by discriminating audiophiles."

According to TI, the single-board system includes native 1394 networking capability, receives Dolby Digital and DTS as well as full-resolution digital SACD and DVD-Audio streams, incorporates optional content-restriction protocols for compatibility with high-resolution formats, and enables multi-format audio decoding with a reprogrammable 32/64-bit audio DSP.

TI says FireWire connectivity is made possible with its TSB43CA43A integrated network controller, which includes command and control functions as well as content use-restriction capability. "Audio and video packet formatting are performed in hardware, making the TSB43CA43A ideal for A/V receivers and multi-format audio players including CD, SACD and DVD-Audio."

Also on the board is TI's TMS320DA610 Aureus audio processor, with floating-point audio DSP. "With 225MHz and native support for 32/64-bit processing, the DA610 chip can decode the latest audio standards and still provide enough headroom for proprietary post-processing algorithms," says TI. TI says the DA610 chip also provides a library of decoders, including Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP), part of the DVD-A standard.

Finally, TI's TAS5026 PurePath digital amplifiers are included on the board, sporting a six-channel PWM processor the company says has been designed specifically for multichannel systems.