High-Performance Si476x Receiver Family Ideal for Multi-Tuner CarRadio Systems with HD Radio Technology
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Silicon
Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance,
analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, today introduced the industry's most
advanced automotive tuner IC family designed to deliver the highest RF
performance coupled with advanced signal processing while reducing the
cost and complexity of car radio systems. Offering superior
price/performance for the global car radio market, the new Si476x tuner
family provides a best-in-class multiband receiver solution for
automotive infotainment head-units and AM/FM car radios from all classes
of providers ranging from Tier 1 suppliers to aftermarket car radio
makers.
According to J.D. Power and Associates, the global automotive market is
expected to exceed 76 million light-vehicle unit shipments this year.
The car radio technology deployed in these vehicles is evolving rapidly
as innovations in communication technology proliferate in the automotive
infotainment market. The basic car radio has been transformed into a
sophisticated infotainment system that includes multiple tuners to
deliver FM phase diversity reception, receive radio data system (RDS)
data for info-navigation systems, support AM/FM HD Radio technology and
provide detailed station quality metrics for living lists of broadcast
content. These strenuous broadcast performance demands require advanced
silicon innovations to enable a superior in-vehicle audio experience.
Silicon Labs developed the Si476x receiver family to address these major
automotive industry trends. The Si476x receivers leverage Silicon Labs'
patented digital low-IF technology and combine most of the traditional
external bill of materials into a highly integrated, single-chip CMOS
solution. The receivers provide unprecedented flexibility, offering a
modular architecture that supports scalable multi-tuner designs. The
Si476x supports all worldwide broadcast radio bands including AM/FM,
college FM, longwave (LW), shortwave (SW), NOAA weather band,
unparalleled FM RDS decoding and AM/FM HD Radio reception. iBiquity
Digital Corporation, 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."
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 digital signal processors (DSPs) to
create highly cost-effective back-end audio processing designs. Silicon
Labs has worked with leading silicon providers such as Cirrus
Logic and Freescale
Semiconductor to deliver comprehensive audio system solutions that
break the expensive partitioning approach required by current car audio
solutions.
"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 optimized car radio platform that delivers
best-in-class audio and RF technology, enabling our customers to build
outstanding products."
The superior linearity of the Si476x tuner's integrated RF front-end,
combined with a high-performance on-chip radio DSP and microcontroller,
delivers outstanding RF dynamic range and immunity to multi-path fading.
With this innovative architecture, the Si476x family raises the bar for
such key features as selectivity, sensitivity, IMD3 break-in,
desensitization, noise blanking, weak signal processing, dynamic channel
bandwidth control and advanced dual-tuner FM phase diversity reception.
"The Si476x family not only delivers superior radio reception
performance at the best system cost, it also provides unprecedented
flexibility in audio processing solutions for car radio designs," said
Diwakar Vishakhadatta, general manager of Silicon Labs' broadcast audio
products. "With the introduction of the Si476x family, automotive
developers are no longer locked into using more expensive bundled
audio/radio solutions that may not address the audio processing
requirements of their infotainment platforms."
Pricing and Availability
Samples and production quantities of the Si476x car radio tuner ICs are
available now in a compact 6 mm x 6 mm 40-pin QFN package. Pricing for
automotive-grade Si476x tuner ICs begins at $11.62 (USD) in 10,000-unit
quantities. The Si4763LNA-A-EVB and Si4767PD-A-EVB evaluation boards are
available to automotive customers for $450 (USD).
The Si476x family, the latest addition to Silicon Labs' portfolio of
automotive-grade radio tuners, complements the company's popular Si474x
and Si475x tuner families, which target cost-sensitive entry- and
mid-level radio designs. The Si476x family addresses premium-grade,
performance-intensive automotive radio and head-unit requirements. For
additional Si476x product information, please visit www.silabs.com/pr/automotive-tuner.
Silicon Laboratories Inc.
Silicon Laboratories is an industry leader in the innovation of
high-performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs. Developed by a
world-class engineering team with unsurpassed expertise in mixed-signal
design, Silicon Labs' diverse portfolio of patented semiconductor
solutions offers customers significant advantages in performance, size
and power consumption. For more information about Silicon Labs, please
visit www.silabs.com.
Cautionary Language
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on
Silicon Laboratories' current expectations. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important
factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of factors that could
impact Silicon Laboratories' financial results and cause actual results
to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements,
please refer to Silicon Laboratories' filings with the SEC. Silicon
Laboratories disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Note to editors: Silicon Laboratories, Silicon Labs, the "S" symbol, the
Silicon Laboratories logo and the Silicon Labs logo are trademarks of
Silicon Laboratories Inc. Cirrus Logic is a trademark of Cirrus Logic,
Inc. All other product names noted herein may be trademarks of their
respective holders.
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Silicon Laboratories Inc.
Dale Weisman, +1-512-532-5871
dale.weisman@silabs.com
Source: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
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