Convertor enables broadband wireless applications

Broadband sigma-delta convertor can digitise all FM radio channels simultaneously, rendering a 100x increase in performance.

NXP Semiconductors has developed the industry's first broadband sigma-delta convertor that digitises all FM radio channels simultaneously, rendering a 100x increase in performance.

The cascaded sigma-delta convertor enables a wide range of unique in-dash car radio functions and broadband wireless applications, such as software defined radio.

This sigma-delta convertor technology was highlighted in a paper presented by NXP Research scientists at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco.

The NXP sigma-delta convertor eliminates the need for radios to individually filter each FM radio channel.

This enables every passenger in the vehicle to listen to a different radio station or source simultaneously with a single in-dash car radio using wired or wireless headsets.

The NXP sigma-delta convertor also supports applications like frequency diversity, in which the strongest FM signal is detected and selected while broadcasting the chosen channel and radio data streaming (RDS) to supply the consumers with more information related to their programming.

"NXP is committed to providing consumers with new and exciting ways to enjoy media anytime, anywhere, including in their cars", said Leo Warmerdam, Senior Director, Research, NXP Semiconductors.

"Our ground-breaking research programme focused on broadband sigma-delta convertor architectures will reshape what consumers expect from their car audio experiences and holds the promise of revolutionising many other wireless applications".

The sigma-delta convertor is based on a continuous-time quadrature cascaded architecture, exploiting the lower oversampling of the convertor to boost the signal bandwidth to unprecedented frequencies.

NXP expects this innovative architecture to produce significant performance enhancements in the coming years.

When applying the sigma-delta convertor's cascaded architecture to car radio, NXP's solution enables the complete 20MHz FM radio band to be digitised accessing all 101 US radio channels (100 in Europe) simultaneously.

The sigma-delta convertor is an advanced technology development that will become available in future products from NXP Semiconductors.

Pricing information is not yet available.

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