Arena: Micronas presents purely digital, close to production Audio Decoder/Amplifier Reference Design with PC networking (0417)
Arena brings digital technologies, new features and PC connectivity to the high-volume mid-range audio market while providing a cost-effective design and a new level of support to audio equipment manufacturers.
Freiburg, Germany, October 7, 2004: Micronas (SWX Swiss Exchange: MASN, Frankfurt: MNSN, Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX), a market leader of innovative global audio/video system solutions, today unveiled a new reference design for a purely digital audio decoder and amplifier. Based on the latest Micronas Audio Processor MAP 460yA and encompassing leading-edge Micronas peripheral ICs, Arena provides a formerly unknown wealth of features for mid-range audio applications. With the Arena design, the company effectively demonstrates the predominant capabilities of its audio chip families. Arena is targeted at the fast growing market of cost-sensitive mid-range 5.1 surround sound applications, for example 5.1 AV amplifiers or richly featured powered speaker applications. Paired with an additional DVD module, Arena can also serve the DVD-Home-Theatre-in-a-Box (HTiB) market, outperforming existing low-end designs feature- and connectivity-wise. As Micronas provides the complete design data, including PCB files, part list and software, manufacturers can put the design into production practically straight away and with very little design effort.
Arena is a complete, close to production reference design for a fully digital 5.1 audio decoder/amplifier with a USB interface for PC networking. The hardware, including power supply fits on a single PCB plus a front-PCB for display and push buttons. State-of-the-art Class-D power stages ensure low power dissipation. The small and lightweight hardware allows for aesthetic, stylish and compact housing designs.
Stefan Hepp, Director Marketing Consumer Audio of Micronas explains: "Arena can be seen as a capability demonstrator of Micronas' comprehensive set of advanced audio ICs. The design in its entirety is very close to production which makes Arena also an ideal solution for own design manufacturers who want to bring their products to the market extremely fast."
The heart of the design is Micronas' Audio Processor MAP 460yA with Hi-Resolution PWM technology and powerful audio post processing capabilities. For 5.1 multichannel audio decoding and S/PDIF interfacing, a MAS 35xyH DSP is connected to the MAP 460yA. The USB codec UAC 3556B enables the PC networking capability - a unique feature for this type of device. Also integrated are an audio/video "lip sync" delay line and three dual channel Class-D amplifiers. The parameters and settings of the MAP 460yA are controlled via I2C bus by an SDA 555x microcontroller, which also controls the display, the push buttons and the IR input from the remote control. A 120 W switched-mode power supply powers the design. Due to the MAP 460yA plus co-processor architecture, Arena can very flexibly be employed in different feature sets and configurations, just by using different versions and combinations of ICs in its scalable design. The modular system software, structured in five layers from I2C communication up to system application, is available as "C" source code and easy to customize.
As the only design in its class, Arena features USB PC networking, enabling digital audio playback. The PC acts as a jukebox, able to serve the audio system with the compressed audio files on its disk drives. Software drivers for Win98®, Win2k® and WinXP® already contained in each standard Windows® installation. Two digital S/PDIF inputs, optical and coaxial, as well as four analog line inputs and one analog line output enable easy connection to other audio devices. Up to six speakers including the subwoofer can be directly attached. An analog volume-controlled output for the connection of a powered subwoofer and an independent headphone output are also available.
The Micronas solution realizes attractive audio processing and connectivity with a cost-effective chip set. The digital audio processor not only enables standard features like volume control, tone control, downmix, programmable bass management and subwoofer filter, but also advanced features such as DTS® and Dolby Digital® Pro Logic® II decoding as well as BBE® sound processing. For two-loudspeaker playback of 5.1 surround sound, the Virtualizer technologies Spatializer N-2-2 Ultra® and SRS TruSurround XT® are available. A license from these companies is required to use their technologies. A set of proprietary Micronas audio technologies top the list of features off:
- Micronas BASS flexible bass enhancement
- Micronas NIGHT mode with dynamic limiter and speech processing
- Micronas SOUNDFIELD room simulation programs for e.g. "Cathedral", "Jazz Club" or "Karaoke".
Arena is ideally suited as a reference design for manufacturers wanting to deploy some or all of Arena's chips in their own designs. The extremely short time-to-market offers a distinct competitive advantage to manufacturers who are interested in producing a complete Arena device, for example loudspeaker manufacturers who intend to offer complete bundled systems to their customers without spending resources on the development. Apart from a one-time payment for the complete production data for the Arena reference design, no royalties apply.