STMicroelectronics Accordo2 Automotive Audio Processor Shrinks Design Cycle and Time-to-Market

November 27 2014, 06:00
STMicroelectronics has introduced a new generation of processors for Car-Radio and Display-Audio applications. Building on the success of the popular STA1052 audio System-on-Chip (SoC), the new Accordo2 family (STA1095 and variations) offers an unprecedented level of hardware and software integration, thereby enabling the industry’s fastest time-to-market solutions at the greatest value.

The Accordo2 family offers a fully integrated audio subsystem, including media decoding, audio routing, sound processing, and analog audio inputs and outputs, as well as an independent secure Controller Area Network (CAN) microcontroller subsystem. Until now, car infotainment manufacturers had to use multiple devices to achieve the same result that a single Accordo2 device delivers.

In addition to minimizing the bill of materials (BoM), Accordo2 facilitates faster product development as it comes, uniquely, with a complete turnkey software solution that includes middleware, media players, audio codecs, and sound-effect processing. Moreover, the various members of the family offer application scalability to design a basic car radio all the way up to Connected-Car Radio and Display-Audio applications, while reducing engineering costs by reusing the same hardware and software architectures for all use-case scenarios.

“The Accordo2 family offers a platform for customers to develop their own unique products with the lowest BoM and in the shortest time,” says Antonio Radaelli, Infotainment Business Unit Director, STMicroelectronics. “The hardware and software integration that we have built into Accordo2 unleashes unprecedented levels of creativity for customers because they can “cut and paste” our reference design and then modify it quickly to create their own branded products.”

Accordo2 devices include a 32-bit ARM Cortex R4 core, running at up to 600 MHz, to handle all media management, connectivity, and audio-decoding functions. The flagship product (STA1095) incorporates an additional ARM Cortex M3 controller dedicated to real-time CAN/Vehicle Interface Processing, as well as a powerful digital signal processor (DSP) that supports sound-enhancing algorithms as well as Echo Noise Cancellation (ECNR) for Bluetooth hands-free phone calls.

All Accordo2 devices are housed in LFBGA 361-ball (16 mm × 16 mm × 1.7 mm, 0.8 mm pitch) packages. Samples are available, with volume production scheduled for Q2 2015.
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