Self-Contained Digital Audio Player Fits into Mobile Phones; austriamicrosystems Ships Enhanced AS3520 Mobile Music Chip.

Business Editors

HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 2003

austriamicrosystems has launched the most flexible low-cost digital audio chip on the market, further strengthening its industry leadership as the IC architecture supporting the world's smallest portable music player - a position it has held for more than a year.

The enhanced version of austriamicrosystems' proven AS3520 music decoder IC includes an extended software stack, delivering a self-contained digital audio player which even fits into a mobile phone. At just one-third the component count of its nearest competitor the chip ranks in top position in terms of small board size and player production costs.

austriamicrosystems' reference player needs 30 per cent less PCB space than the smallest competing design. In addition, austriamicrosystems' external component count is 65 per cent less than its nearest competitor.

austriamicrosystems' chip not only plays the highly popular MP3 and WMA music files, it also supports the industry's most advanced AAC audio coding format - known from the highly successful Apple iPod. The AS3520 now makes this top quality ultra-compact music file format available for memory-card based music players. Currently no other single-chip player in the sub US$10 price category can play MP3, WMA and AAC as well as offering ADPCM and additional user-defined codecs, packing all these features in the same firmware pack.

The music chip's digital equaliser eliminates the acoustic restrictions of small earphones, offering rich, crystal-clear sound on the road. But thanks to the powerful internal amplifier the music does not stop at earphones. The chip can directly drive stereo speakers at up to one Watt, for listening pleasure at home, at the office desk or in hotel rooms.

Downloading music files from the computer via a certified USB 2.0 full-speed interface is straightforward. Since it is a plug-and-play solution, no driver installation is required. The player, which can be used to store data as well as music, simply identifies itself as an external storage device.

With its seamless support for FM radio and microphone input, the AS3520 player can also store voice memos or quickly record a favourite song or an important news flash from the air.

Designed for truly worldwide use, the AS3520 handles diverse character sets including Chinese, Korean and Japanese text. With a proven reference design freely available, an open software stack and local engineering support in many countries, austriamicrosystems' mobile music chips are the ideal solution for the rapid design and development of audio players, enabling music devices with rich and diverse features and functions to be brought to market quickly and economically.

The AS3520 mobile music chip comes in a 100 pin CTBGA package measuring 10x10x1.2 mm. It supports all standard sampling rates from 8 kHz to 48 kHz and is capable of playing back MP3 files at up to 320 kbps, WMA and AAC files at up to 256 kbps.

Because of its self-configuring DC/DC converter, any supply voltage between 1.0 V and 5.5 V is suitable for operation of the device. The output voltage of the linear regulators is programmable. Three separate built-in regulators are used for internal analog and digital circuitry as well as for external auxiliary devices (eg FM radio).

CPU clock rate (up to 50 MHz) and core supply voltage (down to 2.25 V) are programmable on the fly. This feature is used to automatically run the device at minimum power consumption in each functional state.

Play time is typically 10 hours when operated from a single AAA battery. Double battery configurations or Lithium batteries can be handled without additional components or protection circuits. Input sensitivity and gain control can be programmed in three ranges to support microphones as well as line input levels.

The AS3520 is available immediately and is priced at approximately US$10 per single 10,000 shipment. Discounts apply for mass volume.

About austriamicrosystems:

With headquarters near Graz, Austria, austriamicrosystems AG is one of the world's leading designers and manufacturers of highly integrated mixed signal ICs. austriamicrosystems combines more than 20 years of design capabilities, product and marketing know-how with a full service silicon foundry specialized in mixed signal, RF and HV technologies.

Operating worldwide with more than 800 employees, austriamicrosystems is organized in four strategic business units: Communications, Automotive, Industrial & Medical and Full Service Foundry.

Additional information is available on Internet pages:

http://www.austriamicrosystems.com

Electronic picture images are available on request or on Intranet: http://www.austriamicrosystems.com/07presscenter/presscenter_start.htm