Nordic's latest nRF2460 audio streaming integrated circuit

Nordic Semiconductor has announced that Nordic's new nRF2460 audio streaming integrated circuit is immediately available. This IC is uniquely optimized for power consumption and is used in cost-sensitive battery-powered mono (single-channel) wireless audio systems, such as wireless microphones (such as home karaoke and conferences), and subwoofers (home theater) , Musical instruments (wireless audio adapters) and games (such as singing competition microphones).

Nordic nRF2460 was developed in close cooperation with AKM Semiconductor , a leading company specializing in digital audio converters. It provides unique uncompressed 16-bit PCM digital audio with clear sound and a delay time of less than 22ms. The battery life exceeds two AAA batteries. 100 hours, and low cost.

The nRF2460 now provides samples and is priced at $ 1.50 when the volume is 10K. Nordic's nRFgo-compatible nRF2460-DK development tool (priced at $ 99) is now also available. With this development tool, engineers can quickly evaluate, test, and manufacture wireless audio application systems using nRF2460.

In operation, the 4Mbps 2.4GHz RF circuit is combined with an optimized adaptive frequency hopping (AFH) protocol and a unique audio quality of service (QoS) engine, even in challenging RF environments (including other 2.4GHz interference Source, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology), nRF2460 still maintains stable wireless audio coexistence. nRF2460 has the intelligence to retransmit lost data packets, and the impact of the lost data on the sound effect is minimal. The bandwidth of nRF2460 is 4Mbps, and provides sufficient space to support auxiliary wireless data channels for users to control, such as mute and volume increase and decrease.

nRF2460 uses a compact 6 & TImes; 6mm QFN package, which can use a low-cost 16MHz ± 50PPM external crystal. Its I2S, SPI and I2C interfaces can also be closely connected with external audio ADCs, DACs and microcontrollers.

"For nRF2460, we have taken a completely different path from other wireless audio solutions currently available on the market," explains Thomas Embla Bonnerud, Nordic product manager. "We are not trying to make an optimized solution for the most extensive application system, but focus on providing a leading solution with low power and low cost for wireless mono audio system. . This unique and leading low-power, low-cost solution is used in a series of popular application systems with no loss in audio quality and coexistence performance. "

Bonnerud continued: "When developing and testing this product, it would be impossible if we did not cooperate closely with the audio professional technical team of AKM Semiconductor. In developing this unique AFH protocol and embedding the QoS engine into the nRF2460 At Zhongshi, they have insights in the basic knowledge of audio quality and implementation, and are indispensable for applying this knowledge to wireless audio. "

"We tested a variety of wireless mono audio solutions from different manufacturers. So far, no one approached the quality and performance of Nordic's nRF2460 audio streaming chip." Richard Kulavik, director of application and marketing at AKM Semiconductor, added.