Class D family provides single-chip audio

Philips Semiconductors has boosted the home audio market, launching a series of single-chip Class D audio amplifiers.

Philips Semiconductors has boosted the home audio market, launching a series of single-chip Class D audio amplifiers.

Aimed at multiple applications, including DVD receivers, these new single-chip devices enhance the company's existing Class D family, enabling smaller end products and greater flexibility with a larger power range.

The first product in the series is the TDA8920TH.

The introduction of the single chip device confirms Philips Semiconductors' strength in digital amplifiers, reinforcing their market and technology leading positions in analogue audio.

The device's high efficiency will decrease both power consumption and heat dissipation facilitating qualification for environmental standards.

In addition, minimising the use of heatsinks results in a reduced application size and cost.

The single chip will deliver excellent power performance and sound quality for all medium- to high-power music applications.

In the past, higher power meant an increase in EMI, however vast experience in IC design has enabled Philips Semiconductors to overcome this problem and ensure lower EMI at high power.

The one-chip Class D offers best-in-class performance (THD 0.02%) because of closed loop construction.

Compared with the open-loop systems, used in current full digital solutions, power supply costs are minimised and the excellent EMI performance of the Philips one-chip enables integration of the tuner and amplifier in receiver systems.

Furthermore, the pin-to-pin scaleable power level ensures a high level of flexibility, enabling manufacturers to upgrade their designs by simply changing the IC.

Philips Semiconductors is one of only a few companies to manufacture a one-chip Class D device using the innovative SOI audio-BCD process.

As a result the Class D chips are versatile, with the ability to handle analogue and digital power simultaneously.

In addition, the ICs fabricated in A-BCD have the advantage of inherent robustness and greater temperature tolerance.

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