In-car radio chip switches to HD

NXP's single-chip software solution supports HD radio technology, DAB, DAB+, DRM and T-DMB radio reception standards, reducing development costs and logistics complexity.

NXP Semiconductors and iBiquity Digital Corporation have collaborated to develop the first multistandard radio IC dedicated to in-car digital reception.

Dubbed the SAF3560, NXP's single-chip software solution supports HD radio technology, DAB, DAB+, DRM and T-DMB radio reception standards, reducing development costs and logistics complexity for car manufacturers and offering better quality in analogue and digital radio performance for the ultimate in car entertainment experience.

As multiple digital radio formats continue to emerge, such as HD radio technology and DAB/DRM/T-DMB in Europe and Asia, auto makers are challenged with examining all the major digital radio protocols and determining which ones to support.

The introduction of NXP's SAF3560 addresses this issue by offering auto makers a single, flexible solution that provides a simple upgrade path from NXP's DSP-based AM/FM analogue radio solution, based on the popular SAF77xx family, to other variant digital radio standards including HD radio technology, DAB, DAB+, DRM and T-DMB.

Furthermore, SAF3560 supports the latest hd Radio features, like iTunes tagging, as well as provides software upgradeability, ultimately allowing car radio makers, digital radio module makers and car OEMs to save time, effort and costs.

"We're excited to work with NXP in creating the next generation of HD radio technology".

"Together we are taking multistandard radio to a whole new level", said Jeff Jury, COO, iBiquity Digital Corporation.

"NXP's innovative multi-standard radio solution enables car manufacturers to incorporate HD Radio reception capability, along with analogue radio, in an easy-to-integrate manner - allowing the automotive industry to offer new entertainment technologies to consumers".

NXP's SAF3560 is the first dedicated single chip solution to offer software implementations to support today's unique automotive requirements for higher integrated, more flexible car radio systems.

The SAF3560 incorporates the HD radio technology from iBiquity and offers features such as conditional access with low power consumptions.

In addition, the SAF3560 supports NXP's DRM, DAB, DAB+, T-DMB software programmable platforms and reduces integration challenges and time to market by allowing flexibility to switch between standards.

"The automotive industry is increasingly looking to deliver new innovations with mass appeal".

"With the help and expertise of iBiquity, we're now able to offer auto makers a global platform to support multiple standards for excellent sound quality in car radio reception", said Joern Conze, Product Marketing Manager, NXP Semiconductors.

"We're helping our customers stay innovative by offering a highly integrated, flexible and scalable solution to dramatically improve music, audio, text and data features of digital HD radio technology".

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