Orlando, FL - Cirrus Logic will launch a new family of 'audio systems processors' at the NSCA Systems Integration Expo on March 10. The new CS496XX family of ICs integrates Cirrus Logic's 32-bit audio optimized 49K series of audio digital signal processors (DSP) with its CobraNet technology.
"The intent of this integration is to allow our OEM customers to eliminate the separate DSP in their board designs, and thereby enable a smaller form factor and lower price points," explained David Parker, Cirrus Logic's senior marketing manager, commercial audio.
With the CS496XX ICs, Cirrus Logic has its sights set on the professional and commercial audio markets, where the lower price point and channel counts of 2 x 2, 8 x 8 and 16 x 16 have the most appeal. "Where we're really enthusiastic about that is the commercial space, where we can lower the price points enough to get the CobraNet technology all the way out to the end nodes, the speakers," Parker elaborated. "The 2 x 2 is very much aimed at networked loudspeakers."
The CS496XX audio system processor series, which currently includes the CS496102 (2 x 2), the CS496112 (8 x 8) and the CS496122 (16 x 16), combines a 120-MIPS audio-optimized 32-bit DSP along with a CobraNet communications processor on a single chip. With the added DSP, manufacturers can build basic functionality such as crossovers, limiters, feedback elimination and delays into the CobraNet chip.
In the commercial audio product realm, Cirrus anticipates that the new ICs will be used in noise masking and/or ambient level sensing, as well as life safety systems. "The concept of intelligent audio has been brought more to the forefront in commercial spaces because of homeland security," Parker said. "They want to know that at all times the evacuation capability is up and working, and all the nodes in a networking audio context are alive and can repeat back."
