Micronas' Audio Box Provides Easy Consumer Link to PC's Digital Music (0009)

FREIBURG, Germany, July 17, 2000 - Micronas, a leading European manufacturer of semiconductor chips for consumer and multimedia applications, today announced the Audio Box, an audio device for the convergent markets of home computers and digital audio systems. This device is a reference design based on Micronas' USB Audio DAC, UAC 3552A. The company said it paves the way for a new generation of interactive, flexible, easy-to-use and cost-effective products connecting PCs with home stereo equipment, mini stereo components and new audio products such as MP3 players and home audio servers.

According to Kai Scheffer, multimedia marketing manager for Micronas, using the PC processor as a "backbone" will significantly reduce costs to the consumer and also make the device easy to use without being computer-knowledgeable. The Audio Box requires no microcontroller, networking interfaces, memories, local hard disk drives, or special operating systems. It can, therefore, be manufactured very cost-effectively, offering a significant, market-enabling price reduction compared to existing systems, Scheffer said.

The device delivers music in CD quality independently from the sound card of the PC and therefore meets the consumer's expectations in terms of quality. The audio data as well as the control data are transmitted over one single, easy-to-handle, robust USB cable, providing a reliable connection between the "backbone" PC and the audio system.

The Audio Box supports all audio compression formats handled by the PC such as MP3, AAC, WMA, and Real Audio as well as Internet radio standards and integrates seamlessly into the computer's operating system.

"This is of great importance because even if details about future compression standards remain unknown today it is certain that new standards will be decodable on the PC platform," Scheffer said. "Thus, the Audio Box secures the consumer's investment in new products and decouples the short life cycles of compression standards and PC platforms from the longer life cycles of audio products."

The Audio Box is a simple system based on Micronas´ USB Audio DAC, UAC 3552A (more information about this highly integrated mixed-signal IC is available at the corporate web site). It provides a front panel with an LCD and easy function-selection push buttons for the consumer to use for music selection, volume control, and similar functions without being aware of how the circuitry inside the box is accessing the PC or even the Internet to find, store, and download the music they are seeking. The core of the Audio Box is a system-on-chip which can easily be integrated into stereo equipment or other products placed wherever in the home environment you wish to control the music. In spite of the fact that the PC controls all the functions, the user gets the impression of controlling everything only by the help of the function-selection interface and the LCD on the front side of the chassis. Even if someone else in the house is using the PC for other purposes, it will not be apparent to the user of the Audio Box, and vice-versa.

"Due to the advantages the Audio Box design offers to the end user, we have already seen a lot of interest from leading system manufacturers in integrating our reference design into their next generation digital audio systems," said Scheffer. Since nowadays, every PC is equipped with the USB interface, no PC upgrades are necessary to utilize the Audio Box functions, which saves additional costs and hazards.

The Audio Box is the first of an anticipated series of modules that provide convenient ways of exploiting the various possibilities offered by digital audio and utilizing the processing power of a personal computer and Internet links. Future versions will include features like Dolby Pro Logic, Scheffer said.

"Until now our main focus has been on designing the right chips. Now we are taking the next step by packaging our chips into interface devices that are user-friendly and do not require a high-tech mind to use them."

Over time, Scheffer sees the IC industry creating its own new markets in this way, designing chips into PC interfaces for home appliances, providing a networking solution "that turns them into a broadband gateway into the home." The next step will be to replace USB by wireless interfaces to offer solutions that do not require cables for connectivity. This will lead to more convenient and flexible audio systems.

A reference design is available as design-in support for OEMs.