Digital audio from TV set-top box (9902)
Multistandard sound processor from MICRONAS INTERMETALL now with digital-TV compatibility
Hanover, March 18, 1999 - At CeBIT '99, MICRONAS INTERMETALL unveils a new version of its successful multistandard sound processor MSP. In addition to all analog TV audio standards, the IC family MSP 34x8G now also supports the digital interface with digital or hybrid (analog/digital) set-top boxes and TV receivers. MICRONAS INTERMETALL thereby offers equipment manufacturers the possibility of both global and future-oriented system design.
"Global TV"- analog and digital"
Manufacturers of TV receivers have already been able to equip their sets with the MSP for all European A2, NICAM and satellite standards; the latest MSP generation also covers the US standard BTSC and the Japanese system EIA-J as well as various substandards. Today, altogether more than 45 million MSP chips are in use in TV receivers, video recorders, satellite receivers and multimedia PCs worldwide.
The new IC family MSP 34x8G now has the additional capability of processing digital audio signals such as those delivered by the digital TV broadcasting decoders on the basis of the standards DVB (Europe) or ATSC (USA). The IC features three digital I2S interfaces with an audio data rate of 32...48 kHz and therefore supports the entire analog and digital audio infrastructure of a hybrid set-top box: from the (analog or digital) tuner to the baseband processing and D-A conversion of the audio data.
The MSP 34x8G series comprises three IC versions which differ in terms of their design for different analog broadcasting systems:
- The "European" version MSP 3418G for the A2 and NICAM standards.
- The US version MSP 3438G for BTSC.
- The "global" version MSP 3458G which covers all analog TV standards worldwide.
All versions are pin and software-compatible. This means that MICRONAS INTERMETALL's customers can choose between two different strategies for implementing a "global TV" concept:
- standard chassis worldwide with regional equipment variations.
- standard chassis worldwide equipped with the "do-it-all" MSP 3458G.
Intelligent functions
In common with the other MSP ICs of the latest generation, the MSP 34x8G series also possesses "built-in intelligence" which considerably simplifies the system design. The IC contains, as it were, an "internal operating system" which performs many of the functions of an external controller. The exchange of information between the audio processor and the controller can be reduced to an absolute minimum, therefore, and the scope of the controller software is reduced by around 80 %.
MICRONAS INTERMETALL will continuously add new functions to the MSP series, for example multichannel audio and virtual surround sound.
Standard delivery and available packages
The ICs in the MSP 34x8G family are available in a choice of package types: 64-pin PSDIP, 64-pin QFP and 80-pin QFP.
The standard delivery includes an application kit comprising product and application documentation, two test boards and a Windows software package with a user-friendly interface to help the user acquaint himself with the functions of the MSP 34x8G and the debugging and controller matching facilities.