The Si469xx product family supports advanced capabilities such as Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) and seamless linking of digital radio, analog radio and Internet Protocol content. With its integrated customer-programmable microcontroller (MCU), the Si469xx can significantly reduce bill of materials (BOM) costs by eliminating the need for an external MCU and its support components. Software design is simplified through several improvements, including a Demod/Tuner Manager that relieves system developers from having to program low-level radio control functions.
As of June 2022, over 59% of all new vehicles delivered in the US contain a factory-installed HD Radio receiver as reported by Inside Radio. While WorldDAB, the international association promoting the global adoption of this digital radio transmission standard, notes that in 2022, 96% of new cars sold within the European Union were equipped with DAB+.
Radios in automobiles have historically been implemented in the head unit (HU) or cockpit system located in the dashboard. However, increasingly radio tuners are implemented in a separate module, often as a remote tuner module (RTM). The RTM offers benefits including reduced cable weight and the ability to design and qualify the radio for use across car models, which decouples it from the evolution of the HU/cockpit system. The cable weight reductions are a result of replacing RF coaxial cabling to the HU with a much lighter twisted pair cabling, typically accomplished with Analog Devices A2B technology, which is optimized for automotive digital audio applications, or Ethernet.
By leveraging separate tuner and coprocessor ICs, Skyworks offers an optimal balance between partitioning and integration, which helps solve thermal challenges associated with RTM applications. This also provides robust scalability and configurability to address multiple regions and performance points. System designers can create a single board design that can be populated with different pin/package and software API compatible devices.
"The integration of the Si469xx product family from Skyworks has allowed us to usher in the next generation of remote tuners from Hirschmann Mobility together," says Adrian Sigg, manager product management at Hirschmann Mobility. "We now offer our customers a cutting-edge product with top performance and optimum cost-benefit relation."
"In recent years, A2B technology has become the industry's standard for low-latency digital audio connectivity. Our innovation is uniquely tailored for the RTM use case, where it not only offers substantial performance enhancements, but also drives a reduction in overall system costs," adds Andy Lanfear, general manager, Automotive Audio & Networking at Analog Devices. "ADI is proud to work with Skyworks in jointly promoting our complementary technologies into this rapidly expanding application area."
"Building on the unparalleled scalability of Skyworks' automotive radio product portfolio with the added benefits of improved performance, lower system cost and ease of use, the Si469xx family of products enhances our ability to address the needs of future IVI systems by delivering best-in-class capability, flexibility and affordability to our customers," comments Juan Revilla, vice president and general manager of broadcast products at Skyworks. "Along with our family of Si479xx Hybrid SDR tuners, this new family of digital radio coprocessors enhances our overall automotive product portfolio and bolsters our strategy in this key secular growth market. Skyworks is strongly positioned to address RTM, SDR and head unit automotive radio implementations."
The production release of the Si469xx family of digital radio coprocessors is expected in 1H2024. More information available here.
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