The future of car radio technology?
1 min read
Silicon Laboratories has announced what it claims to be the industry's most advanced automotive tuner IC family.
According to the mixed signal/analogue specialist, the Si476x tuner family delivers the highest rf performance coupled with advanced signal processing, while reducing the cost and complexity of car radio systems.
SiLabs describes the as 'a best in class multiband receiver solution' for automotive infotainment head units and am/fm car radios.
The Si476x receivers are built around the company's patented digital low IF technology and combine most of the traditional external bill of materials into an integrated single chip cmos solution. The receivers support scalable multi-tuner designs and all worldwide broadcast radio bands.
iBiquity Digital, the developer of hd radio technology, has certified the Si476x family to provide am/fm hd radio tuner outputs and reception with compatible hd radio demodulator ICs. "The introduction of the Si476x tuner family represents a major new product offering from a world leader in rf products and a global player in the hd radio market," said Jeff Jury, chief operating officer of iBiquity. "Automakers are continuing to embrace hd radio technology, with more than 20 automotive brands to date announcing the technology as a factory installed infotainment feature. The Si476x family offers a compelling new solution for this market."
According to SiLabs, the Si476x family represents the automotive industry's first viable receiver alternative to enable developers to pair a best in class tuner IC with the optimal choice of audio dsps to create cost effective back end audio processing designs. To deliver the audio system solutions, the company worked with silicon providers such as Cirrus Logic and Freescale Semiconductor.
"The combination of Cirrus Logic's broad portfolio of audio ICs and Silicon Labs' Si476x radio ICs provides automotive OEMs with a very powerful platform for building highly differentiated in car entertainment products," said Carl Alberty, director of marketing for audio products at Cirrus Logic. "By working closely with Silicon Labs, we have developed an optimised car radio platform that delivers best in class audio and rf technology, enabling our customers to build outstanding products."
Samples and production quantities of the Si476x car radio tuner ICs are available now.
