Cirrus Launches Three-Chip Set For Home Theatre Audio

Cirrus Logic (Fremont, California) said that its three-chip home theater audio chip set delivers functionality that would otherwise require as many as eight chips. Included in the set are the 24-bit CS49326 multistandard audio digital signal processor; the 96kHz, 103dB CS4228 audio codec and the CS8415A Sony/Philips Digital Interface (S/PDIF) receiver.Manufactured on a 0.25-micron process, the CS49326 DSP packs enough memory to store code for both DolbyÆ Digital AC-3Æ and Digital Theater SystemsÆ (DTSÆ) Digital Surroundô, eliminating the need for external memory, said Terry Ritchie, Vice President of Consumer Marketing for Cirrus' Crystal Consumer Audio Products Division. The DSP is RAM-based and fully programmable, so it can download new standards such as MP3 or SRS Labs' Circle SurroundÆ.""Programmability was needed to enable the DSP to keep pace with the rapidly changing standards in the consumer audio market,"" Ritchie said. Processing power has also been enhanced, to make the CS49326 approximately 40 percent faster than its predecessor.""In the home theater market, where the DSP is responsible for decoding 5.1 channels, post-decode sound management demands numerous processing cycles,"" Ritchie explained. ""DSP speed enhancement is essential to bringing true theater quality sound into the home. It lets the DSP focus more processing cycles on dual-precision bass management, to make sure that audio signals are appropriately processed according to speaker characteristics.""Meanwhile, Ritchie claimed the CS8415A is the first digital, 96kHz S/PDIF receiver to integrate a 7-to-1 input multiplexer, which reduces external circuitry requirements by more than 30 percent. It eliminates relays, external switches and associated electronic components, reduces printed-circuit board size and lowers manufacturing costs, he said.The multiplexer lets consumers plug in seven different digital consumer devices, such as set-top boxes, digital audio tape, S/PDIF-based PCs, and minidisk, DVD, CD and laser-disk players.Like other Crystal digital audio receivers, the CS8415A uses low-jitter phase-locked loop technology to eliminate signal-degrading sampling errors during audio playback.Finally, the CS4228 audio codec integrates two analog-to-digital (A/D) and six D/A converters. Ritchie said the codec has been optimized to interface directly with Cirrus' CS4932x DSP family, which eliminates the need for an external buffer IC between the DSP and the codec.""The CS4228 has 24-bit resolution and 103dB dynamic range, which represents an 8dB gain over earlier codecs,"" Ritchie said. ""That results in more accurate sound reproduction. It's the equivalent of a 1-bit gain in resolution to more than double sonic performance.""In quantities of 10,000, the CS49326 DSP is $16.50, the CS8415A S/PDIF receiver is $3 and the CS4228 codec is $8.60.

For more information, phone 512 623 8300, or visit the Web site at www.crystal.cirrus.com.