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August 2006FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE...
AKM Launches an
Industry First Single-Chip Digital BTSC Decoder
Milford, MA - THAT
Corporation today announced the launch of a dbx-TV™-enabled BTSC
TV-sound decoder IC by licensee Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co.,
Ltd. of
Tokyo Japan (AKM). This new chip, the AK4140, is a complete,
single-chip, alignment-free digital BTSC TV-sound decoder for BTSC
markets such as USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Taiwan. The new chip
is a part of AKM's Audio4home™ range.
The AK4140 decodes BTSC using digital dbx-TV™ technology licensed
from THAT Corporation. According to THAT's president Les Tyler,
"This all-digital implementation eliminates the many components
needed in existing analog BTSC decoders. Our dbx-TV approach to BTSC
decoding delivers high performance without any alignment, eliminating
time-consuming adjustments during pre-shipment testing."
Mr. E. Murakami, AKM's Marketing Manager added, "The AK4140
directly accepts at its input the analog 4.5MHz aural subcarrier, and
outputs 16-bit digital PCM data for all BTSC TV audio signals: Mono,
Stereo, and SAP (Second Audio Program). The part senses the presence
of the BTSC Pilot and, SAP signal, as well as SAP signal quality,
allowing it to switch automatically to the appropriate audio signal
(Mono/Stereo/SAP) based on the signals detected."
Mr. Tyler commented, "We're especially pleased to have worked
with AKM on this project. The combination of AKM's superior A/D
conversion technology plus THAT's dbx-TV expertise has resulted in a
self-contained BTSC decoder that's especially easy to apply."
The AK4140 includes a soft mute and digital volume control, and
supports several common digital output formats, including MSB
justified and I2S. It also supports a TDM mode which permits cascading
up to four devices to simplifying the data interface to a DSP in
multi-tuner systems. The part accepts external master clock rates of
256fs, 384fs, or 512fs, and sample rates of 32kHz, 44.1kHz and 48kHz.
Audio performance is very good, with maximum 0.3% THD+N and at least
70dB dynamic range.
THAT Corporation's dbx-TV technology supports decoding TV audio in
all the world's legacy formats, including BTSC (the Americas, Taiwan),
EIA-J (Japan), A2 (Europe, Asia), and NICAM (Europe, Asia). THAT's
licensees include some of the world's most prominent IC manufacturers,
including Analog Devices, Philips Semiconductors, and AKM . For
further information about THAT's licensing program, contact THAT at licensing@thatcorp.com.
The AK4140 is available in a 24-pin VSOP. Evaluation boards and
samples are available now. To obtain more information about this IC,
contact AKM, Audio & Video Business Operation, Nishi-Shinjuku
1-23-7, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan. In North America or South
America, contact AKM Semiconductor (email: icinfo@akm.com).
The dbx-TV brand identifies a range of technology solutions for
digital TV-audio decoding developed and licensed by THAT Corporation.
dbx-TV provides high-performance solutions with high-quality sound.
THAT
Corporation,
45
Sumner Street,
Milford
,
MA
01757-1656
,
USA
Telephone: +1.508.478.9200; Fax +1.508.478.0990
Email: info@thatcorp.com
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