Technology Front
New Digital Radio Receiver to Support Worldwide Radio Reception
Published: Sep 17,201429 Read
Silicon Labs announced the expansion of its popular Si468x digital radio IC family to include new options for AM and AM HD Radio.
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The Si468x ICs are the most cost-effective single-chip digital radio receivers available that support worldwide radio reception and are certified for the Digital Radio Tick Mark and AM/FM HD Radio.
The industry’s first monolithic, CMOS-based antenna-input-to-audio-output digital radio ICs, the Si468x receivers are ideal for portable and consumer electronics products supporting digital radio standards including tabletop and clock radios, boom boxes, mini/micro audio systems, home theater systems, docking stations, mobile phones, tablets and personal media players.
The Si468x family features a low-power, multi-band receiver supporting global analog and digital radio standards including AM, FM, FM RDS, AM/FM HD Radio, DAB and DAB+. The Si468x family is one of a few select receiver technologies to be approved by Digital Radio UK (DRUK) for the Digital Tick Mark.
This means that consumers who buy Si468x-based DAB radios can be assured of the quality of their radios and their readiness for digital radio reception. The Si468x ICs supporting AM/FM HD Radio reception are pre-certified by iBiquity, the sole developer and licenser of HD Radio technology, enabling designers to develop and certify their HD Radio products in the shortest timeframe possible.
The Si468x receiver family offers a complete, cost-effective digital radio solution integrating the RF tuner, baseband and audio processing circuitry on a single die. The Si468x receivers require a minimal bill of materials (BOM) and consume very low power, making the ICs ideal for the portable and mainstream consumer electronics markets.
The family’s high level of integration provides significant benefits compared to traditional radio solutions including reduced system complexity, easier validation and testing, and improved reliability and manufacturability.
Leveraging Silicon Labs’ proven digital low-IF receiver architecture, the Si468x receivers deliver superior RF performance compared to existing digital radio solutions.
The Si468x receivers support auto-calibrated digital tuning and AM/FM seek functionality based on multiple signal quality and band parameters, and they provide flexible, advanced audio processing including configurable AM/FM soft mute, FM stereo-mono blend and AM/FM hi-cut filtering.
Features:
- AM HD Radio support and AM capabilities added to the DAB/DAB+ line of receivers
- Approved for Digital Radio Tick Mark
- Certified by iBiquity for AM/FM HD Radio reception
- Pin- and API-compatible DAB and HD Radio receiver ICs enabling one single design to support both digital radio markets
- Worldwide AM and FM band support allowing future IBOC adoption beyond North America
- Integrated VCO, PLL, synthesizer and high-fidelity stereo audio DACs for reduced board area and BOM cost
- Integrated high-performance DSP for audio decoding and flexible, advanced audio processing enabling improved audio performance
- The best sensitivity and selectivity of any single-chip digital radio receiver in the industry
- Lowest power consumption of any digital radio receiver, enabling extended battery life for portable products
- Si468x master-mode/slave-mode modules available to speed design-in and time to market
- Wafer-level chip-scale package (CSP) option enabling complete, compact radio receiver system with only 12 external components in < 100 mm2 area