New Audio Accelerator Chip Enhances Personal Computer Sound.SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 1997-- -- Oak's OTI-610 uses PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). audio to bring new sound capability to PCs -- Includes Aureal's A3D (hardware) A3D - (Aureal 3-Dimensional?) A technology developed by Aureal that delivers sound with a three-dimensional effect through two speakers. Many modern sound cards and PC games now support this feature. technology to deliver a realistic audio experience -- Xitel's add-in card is first to use Oak's new sound chip Oak Technology (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :OAKT), a provider of high-performance multimedia semiconductors and related software, today announced the OTI-610, a PCI-based digital audio controller for PC OEMs. The device supports Microsoft's DirectSound (2D and 3D) and Aureal's HRTF HRTF Head Related Transfer Function (3D Audio) (Head Related Transfer Function) 3-D positional sound See 3D positional sound. standards as well as the AC'97 audio system specification. Its integrated RAM-based DSP (1) (Digital Signal Processor) A special-purpose CPU used for digital signal processing applications (see definition #2 below). It provides ultra-fast instruction sequences, such as shift and add, and multiply and add, which are commonly used in math-intensive allows OEMs to easily support new audio standards as markets evolve. PCI SUPPORT DELIVERS ENHANCED PERFORMANCE TO OEMS AND END-USERS The OTI-610 brings the benefits of PCI, including higher bandwidth, reduced latency, and more efficient resource usage, to the PC sound market today. When combined with Microsoft's DirectSound standard, this architecture provides multiple audio channels that can be used for music reproduction, audio special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. and positional HRTF 3D sound. The OTI-610 also incorporates PCI bus PCI bus - Peripheral Component Interconnect mastering, a feature that allows the chip to provide automatic audio data transfers from system memory. This reduces system overhead while increasing the amount of data that can be pumped through the bus for a given period of time. The integrated PCI bus master interface results in a significant performance increase over ISA-based solutions. For software developers, this translates into computationally efficient, accelerated audio. By taking advantage of system memory, the OTI-610 eliminates the need for a separate dedicated memory for audio functions. "Higher quality audio has been a driving element in home theater systems and has led, in part, to the emerging DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. market," stated David Tsang, president of Oak Technology. "The OTI-610 moves PC audio to a new level, one that is more on par with a DVD audio experience than traditional PC sounds. The OTI-610 is an exciting product for OEMs, allowing them to create products for the coming generations of consumer PCs." AUREAL'S A3D TECHNOLOGY HELPS OTI-610 DELIVER HEIGHTENED AUDIO REALISM The OTI-610 incorporates Aureal's (Fremont, CA) A3D technology which allows for Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTF) to be performed on various audio channels. This provides the listener with a highly realistic 3-Dimensional audio experience wherein sounds appear to approach from behind, above, beside, or far away. Toni Schneider, VP of Strategic Alliances at Aureal, stated "Aureal has worked closely with Oak to insure that our A3D algorithms function optimally with the Oak AC `97 digital controllers." SUPPORT FOR MULTIPLE STANDARDS The OTI-610 supports a number of multimedia sound standards, including General MIDI compliant wavetable synthesis, multi-channel digital audio mixing via Microsoft's DirectSound, DirectInput, SoundBlaster Pro software emulation through Microsoft's DirectX environment, Windows Sound System A sound card from Microsoft for Windows PCs. The card was not widely used, but certain characteristics of the card are built into Sound Blaster and other sound cards for compatibility with the Windows 3.1 drivers that were created at that time. , and the MPU-401 MIDI interface. The OTI-610 can co-reside with ISA bus SoundBlaster hardware, resulting in the highest multimedia compatibility for today's new software and legacy titles. DESIGN WIN FOR OTI-610 In a separate announcement, Xitel Pty. Ltd. (Canberra, Australia) announced an AC `97-compliant PCI audio add-in card using the OTI-610. The Xitel XA20 includes an AC `97-compliant audio codec and implements all the features supported by the OTI-610. According to Barrie Davis, Managing Director of Xitel, "We have chosen Oak's OTI-610 as the digital controller component of the XA20 PCI sound card because of its audio software support for not only Aureal's A3D HRTF sound algorithms but also for Microsoft's DirectSound 5 multiple digital audio channels and HSP (Hosting Service Provider) An organization that specializes in hosting Web sites. There are various levels of offerings from sharing a Web server with several other companies to having a dedicated Web server or to providing co-location services. See co-location. Wave Table synthesis See wavetable synthesis. . In addition, its ability to support AC `97 codecs The following is a list of codecs. Audio codecs Non-compression formats
AVAILABILITY AND PRICE The OTI-610 is sampling now with production planned for Q2 `97. The device is priced at $15 in a 160-pin PQFP (Plastic Quad Flat Package) Refers to many varieties of QFP chip packages, which are molded in plastic. See QFP. (Plastic Quad Flat Pack). Prices are for 25,000 piece quantities. READER CONTACT Oak Technology, Inc., 139 Kifer Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. Tel: (408) 737-0888 Web site: www.oaktech.com ABOUT OAK TECHNOLOGY Founded in 1987, Oak Technology Inc. designs, develops and markets high-performance multimedia semiconductors and related software to original equipment manufacturers worldwide who serve the multimedia PC, digital video consumer electronics, and digital office equipment markets. It has subsidiaries in Japan (Oak Technology K.K.), Taiwan (Oak Technology, Taiwan) and Andover, Massachusetts (Pixel Magic). The Company completed its initial public offering in February 1995. Additional information about Oak Technology and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at www.oaktech.com . -0- NOTE TO EDITORS: Oak Technology and the Oak logo are registered trademarks of Oak Technology, Inc. Pixel Magic is a trademark of Pixel Magic, Inc., a subsidiary of Oak Technology. All other registered trademarks and trademarks belong to their respective holders. CONTACT: Oak Technology Tony Rodrigues, 408/737-0888 or Curtis & Associates Curtis Panasuk, 415/594-4800 or Xitel Pty,Ltd. Barrie Davis, 61-6-241-8272 or Aureal, Inc. Lisa Downey, 408/453-9194 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion