Integrated Circuit enables high-end audio sound.
Press Release Summary:
Housed in 3 x 3 mm QFN package, QF1D512 SavFIRe Chip can be configured to provide complete digital filtering for 2-way audio crossover network. Chip enables 100 dB attenuation in stop band and better than 24 dB per octave attenuation in transition band based on 48 kHz sampling and 1,500 Hz crossover. Configuration can be applied to wired and wireless audio systems including wireless speakers, devices that plug into iPods®, and audio systems for stereo networks.
Original Press Release:
Quickfilter Technologies Programmable Digital Filter Can Now Be Configured to Provide Complete Two-Way Audio Crossover Network
High-Quality Sound Usually Available Only in High-End Audio Systems Now Possible with Low-Cost Quickfilter Device
Date: September 10, 2007
ALLEN, TX - Quickfilter Technologies, Inc. today announced a reference design to allow a single QF1D512 Simple and versatile FIR engine (SavFIRe (TM)) IC to be configured to provide the complete digital filtering for a two-way audio crossover network. Using this solution, designers can now achieve exceptionally high-quality filtering that is generally seen only in high-end audio systems with a programmable digital filter device that costs less than 1/3 the cost of an equivalent DSP previously used to perform these functions.
"The QF1D512 SavFIRe chip gives designers an incredibly easy-to-use solution with world-class quality. When paired with just an inexpensive codec, the device provides a complete two-way audio crossover network at a very low cost," said Don DiDonato, Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Quickfilter Technologies. "The QF1D512 device can be configured in minutes to support the user's choice of sampling and crossover frequencies."
In the two-way audio crossover network configuration, the QF1D512 SavFIRe chip enables 100dB attenuation in stop band and better than 24dB per octave attenuation in transition band based on 48 kHz sampling and a 1500 Hz crossover. The combined response is perfectly flat over the entire frequency band.
This configuration can be applied to both wired and wireless audio systems including wireless speakers, devices which plug into iPods® and audio systems for stereo networks. (Please refer to block diagrams in attached Product Bulletin.)
Announced in September 2006, the QF1D512 SavFIRe chip allows systems designers to quickly and easily add precision digital filtering to an application. The chip can simply be added between an existing analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and the host controller (microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor or field programmable gate array), or can be connected as a co-processor device for controllers with embedded ADCs. "Using the Quickfilter Design Software, the QF1D512 SavFIRe chip can be easily programmed to support virtually any FIR digital filter configuration," DiDonato continued.
"With design-wins at key high-volume players, the costs for the QF1D512 chip continue to move down. At Quickfilter Technologies, we are aggressively passing those savings on to customers to secure more high-volume design wins," DiDonato concluded. "The Quickfilter management team sees this as a big trend for the company going forward."
The QF1D512 SavFIRe chip is packaged in a 3x3 mm QFN package, is characterized over the industrial temperature range and is available now in production quantities from Quickfilter Technologies, Inc. and its authorized distributors.
About Quickfilter Technologies
From Concept to Product in Minutes, not Days
Quickfilter Technologies, Inc utilizes patented and pending techniques for implementing a programmable IC that allows an engineer to design a custom circuit for signal processing without the cost and complexity of programming a DSP. Using the Quickfilter solution, it is possible to create and begin operating a custom four-channel analog front end, digital converter and multi-stage digital filter in less than five minutes. Quickfilter's products are ideally suited for sensors in industrial monitoring and control, medical equipment, homeland security, and engine control applications.
The Quickfilter solution comprises over a dozen individual component functions, both analog and digital, into a single integrated circuit (IC) that is programmable using Quickfilter software. This enables customer to rapidly complete a design at significantly lower cost and higher performance. In addition, the IC can be reprogrammed in circuit during design, at the time of shipment or in the field.
Quickfilter Technologies Inc. is a private equity funded fabless semiconductor company founded in 2003 by Bob Silco and located in Allen, Texas. The company is developing a family of programmable mixed-signal integrated circuits that convert noisy analog signals into clean, usable digital signals.
Trademarks
iPod is a Registered Trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
SavFIRe is a trademark of Quickfilter Technologies, Inc.
