Summit Semiconductor confirms availability of new extended distance transmit and receive modules for those multi-zone home theater and whole home audio applications with support to the WiSA Association’s updated compliance and interoperability test specification.
WiSA members recognize the growth of whole house stereo audio solutions in the market place and the practical need to keep system cost down for mass market acceptance. With the new extended distance radio capabilities, a single system will also provide consumers with a WiSA-compliant home theater system and a whole house system.
“The average speaker attach rate for whole house systems has been reported to be less than 4 speakers while streaming no more than 2 separate audio streams at a time to different parts of the home. The WiSA multi-zone solution easily meets these requirements without needing special routers, bridges or additional transmitters,” states Tom Lee, president of the WiSA Association. “By leveraging the new extended distance transmit and receive module, we can address the majority of consumer home audio applications in a single cost effective WiSA compliant audio system.”
The new Summit Semiconductor modules can transmit high quality, uncompressed audio up to 100 meters line of site. “These new transmit modules enable a single WiSA compliant audio system to support both multi-channel wireless home theater as well as multi-zone, whole house audio streaming,” says Tom Lee.
When integrated in an AVR, audio hub, HDTV, Blu-ray player or gaming console, a single transmit module can manage up 32 speakers, and 8 different zones with separate volume control while simultaneously supporting both home theater and multi-zone audio transport. For example, during the CEDIA Expo the WiSA Association demonstrated a wireless 5.1 home theater system with Summit’s extended distance modules that will also simultaneously transmit a separate stereo pair with different content to a separate location.
The new extended distance modules come pre-certified by country and are backward compatible to the prior generation of Summit’s home theater wireless modules. Engineering samples for the new extended distance modules are available from Summit Semiconductor.
“We’re excited to offer the new extended distance modules in support of the WiSA Association’s multi-zone and whole house initiative,” says Tony Parker, vice president of marketing, Summit Semiconductor. “This is a perfect tool for audio products that need high resolution multi-channel audio, but want to appeal to a broader base as a multi-media whole house platform. Products such as a HDTV, AVR/Pre-amp, game console, soundbar and HTiB can benefit significantly from adding these modules to their designs.”
www.summitsemi.com | www.wisaassociation.org
