Micronas Introduces Reference Design for SD Audio Player (0101)

Helps Manufacturers Bring Digital Music Players to Market Faster

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Consumer Electronics Show, January 6, 2001) - Micronas today introduced a reference design for building digital audio players that supports the Secure Digital (SD) flash card design, compliant with the security standards of the SD Card Association. To address audio compression and copy protection issues, which are still largely unsettled, the reference design from Micronas (SWX: MASN, Neuer Markt Frankfurt: MNSN), co-developed by SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), is designed to support the Secure Digital Music Initiative specifications.

The entire reference design requires only two chips to realize all functions of the secure digital audio player: a microcontroller and the Micronas MAS 3509F MP3 decoder chip. The microcontroller performs decryption of security data on the SD flash card, and the audio data stream (MP3, AAC) is decoded by the MAS 3509F.

"The reference design enables system manufacturers to develop digital music players without spending a lot of time and effort on security issues on the technical level," said Hubertus von Janecek, marketing manager of advanced audio for Micronas. "The simplicity of the two-chip solution allows system manufacturers a faster time-to-market at minimal cost."

Integrated on the MAS 3509F chip are a RISC processor, a digital signal processor, an A/D and a D/A converter with headphone amplifier. A key feature on the MAS 3509F chip are the two DC/DC step-up converters, enabling the chip to run on 2.2 volts, while other components within the system, such as the microcontroller and the SD flash card can run at 3.3 volts and still use only one battery. A playback time of up to 10 hours can be achieved with a single AAA battery.

The SD card audio player currently supports MP3 and MPEG Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) and will soon also support Microsoft corp.'s Windows Media (WMA). Additionally, the audio player reference design is equipped to record speech, supported by codec G.729, and features expanded base band functions such as automatic volume control, Micronas Dynamic Bass, and bass/treble.

The reference design is available for system manufacturers through Micronas and for SD Card development tools through Micronas and SanDisk. In high volumes the two-chip solution will cost less than US$15 and is currently available in production quantities.