TI Delivers World's First Six-Channel Digital Audio Power Stage

The TAS5186 is the world's first single package six-channel digital amplifier power stage. The amplifier offers five 30 W channels and one 60 W channel, providing more than 200 W in a single integrated device. It reduces component count, simplifying design and shrinking board size, as well as improving manufacturing logistics. The TAS5186 introduces a new system precharge feature that is unmatched in the industry, eliminating pops and clicks experienced on power up. It also will support TI's latest innovation, a two-stage over-current detector, which manages over-currents, avoiding unnecessary shut downs and protecting against short circuit conditions. This feature allows the power stage to drive real world speakers with minimum audible artifacts during high power peaks in the audio source, while still protecting the power stage from high current conditions.

The companion TAS5086 is a cost-optimized digital audio PWM processor operating at 3.3 volts. Providing an impressive 100+dB dynamic range, the TAS5086 is the most cost-effective PWM at this level of performance. It also offers bass management, as well as flexible signal routing capabilities, allowing designers to route any input channel to any output channel, easing the PCB trace routing.

"The cost pressures and footprint demands for the DVD receiver market are tremendous," said Will Strauss, founder and principal analyst, Forward Concepts, who recently released a report entitled "Emerging Markets for Class D Power Amplification." "With the impressive innovation behind the TAS5086 and TAS5186, TI continues to lead the transition from analog to digital, reducing system cost and design complexity while improving the overall listening experience."

Analog Class AB amplifiers require an external DAC to convert the digital signal back to analog before entering the amplifier. Digital amplifiers accept the digital signal directly, creating a 100 percent digital signal path that experiences no losses or noise pick up inherent in analog systems. With an efficiency on the order of 90 percent, digital amplifiers reduce heat design issues compared to analog amplifiers, which typically have an efficiency in the range of 50 percent. As a result, the TAS5186 does not require a large heat sink, enabling the design of slim profile receivers, an important feature to users.

"Putting this much power into a single package is a major technological achievement from TI's engineering design team," says Jeff Akgul, director of Home Audio Products at TI. "TI has always been on the forefront of advancing the digital amplifier market. With the TAS5086 and TAS5186 priced in the same range as Class AB amplifiers, TI can enable higher performing amplifier and receiver products with a much slimmer industrial design at the same price points."

Building on the debut of the TAS5518 earlier this year, which is the industry's highest performance PWM processor with a dynamic range up to 118dB, TI now also has achieved the highest channel density power stage available with the TAS5186. TI continues to demonstrate its commitment to increasing performance, while driving down the system cost for mass market audio applications.

TI's PurePath Digital(TM) Audio Technology

The TAS5086, TAS5186 and TAS5518 are all part of TI's PurePath Digital(TM) technology family of products, which allows consumer electronics manufacturers to build completely digital, end-to-end audio products with cutting-edge sound reproduction and the most lifelike sound in a compact form factor. By reproducing movie soundtracks or music exactly the way the artist intended, PurePath Digital technology offers the best in high-end digital entertainment to the everyday consumer. PurePath Digital technology complements other TI digital and analog products that support audio applications, such as digital signal processors (DSPs), switch mode power management, analog Class D amplifiers and audio converters.

Availability, Packaging and Pricing

Currently sampling, both devices are expected to be in volume production in Q1 2005. The TAS5086 is packaged in a 38-pin TSSOP package and priced at $1.59 each in quantities of one thousand units, while the TAS5186 is packaged in a 44-pin HTSSOP package and priced at $5.12 each in similar quantities.

Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.

Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com/ .

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