EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS and BARCELONA, SPAIN — (Marketwire) — 02/27/13 — In a push for better sound quality and more output volume, leading mobile phone makers have been raising the internal voltage used to drive micro speakers — from 3.3V through to 5V, and recently as high as 8V. This week at Mobile World Congress 2013, NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI) is launching its new speaker driver IC, which enables an unprecedented 9.5V boost voltage from an integrated DC/DC converter. Increasing the voltage headroom in the audio driver IC prevents amplifier clipping and keeps sound quality high at maximum volume. The most powerful driver yet for micro speakers, the TFA9890 safely drives a record 4 W of peak power into a standard 8-ohm speaker that is typically rated at 0.5 W, making a clear improvement to the sound output and quality of mobiles, tablets, TVs and portable speakers.
“As handsets increasingly become multimedia devices, the message from consumers is loud and clear: Better sound quality can be the difference between a phone you tolerate and a phone you love,” said Shawn Scarlett, director of marketing, mobile audio solutions, NXP Semiconductors. “The commercial success of the TFA9887 audio IC we introduced last year has been game-changing — and with the TFA9890, we-re raising the bar for sound quality from mobile devices.”
Whereas traditional approaches have required cutting bass frequencies to avoid damaging the speaker, the TFA9890 builds on the advanced speaker protection introduced in the award-winning TFA9887 to enable safe operation while working at near-peak output at all times. The fully integrated protection includes adaptive excursion control, a unique approach that compensates for real-world changes in the acoustic environment. The IC measures current and voltage to the speaker, and uses the information to adapt the protection algorithm to account for changes like ageing, damage to the enclosure, and blocked speaker ports.
The feedback-controlled excursion protection algorithm enables the TFA9890 — a single chip that includes NXP-s CoolFlux DSP, a Class-D amplifier with current sensing, and a DC-to-DC converter — to provide nearly twice as much power into 8-ohm speakers, with sound output typically 6-12 dB higher than the TFA9887. In addition to increasing the speaker volume, the DC-to-DC converter-s 9.5V boost voltage improves sound quality by increasing voltage headroom and eliminating amplifier clipping.
Other circuits and algorithms which improve sound quality include an advanced clip avoidance algorithm, which monitors audio performance and prevents clipping even when the power supply begins to sag. Bandwidth extension increases the low frequency response well below speaker resonance. Further, the intelligent DC-to-DC boost converter in the TFA9890 also prevents the audio system from causing battery under-voltage issues for the mobile device. The advanced, embedded algorithms require no separate licensing and allow designers to customize their audio sound quality and choose how to optimize the phone-s performance.
The TFA9890 is now sampling with lead customers and will be released in Q2 2013. A demo showing the performance of the TFA9890 is featured this week at the NXP booth at Mobile World Congress (Hall 7, A111), and can also be viewed here:
VIDEO: Introducing the TFA9890: Louder, Deeper, Better, Safer:
NXP TFA9890 product information:
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions that leverage its leading RF, Analog, Power Management, Interface, Security and Digital Processing expertise. These innovations are used in a wide range of automotive, identification, wireless infrastructure, lighting, industrial, mobile, consumer and computing applications. A global semiconductor company with operations in more than 25 countries, NXP posted unaudited revenue of $4.36 billion in 2012. Additional information can be found by visiting .
This document includes forward-looking statements which include statements regarding NXP-s business strategy, financial condition, results of operations and market data, as well as other statements that are not historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those projected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except for any ongoing obligation to disclose material information as required by the United States federal securities laws, NXP does not have any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after NXP distributes this document, whether to reflect any future events or circumstances or otherwise. For a discussion of potential risks and uncertainties, please refer to the risk factors listed in NXP-s SEC filings. Copies of NXP-s SEC filings are available from the SEC website, .
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