XMOS, NAMM 2009

XMOS to demonstrate complete suite of Audio Reference Designs at NAMM 2009

News Release from: XMOS Semiconductor
24/12/2008

XMOS, the creator of Software Defined Silicon, has developed source code for a range of digital audio applications including Ethernet AVB and USB 2.0. They will be demonstrating hardware versions of these applications at the 2009 NAMM conference in Anaheim. Source code for the applications will be made available in January for royalty-free use in XMOS programmable chips, adding to the growing body of open-source hardware for electronics design.

Ethernet AVB is ideal for networked audio applications that use existing cabling and mixed-used networks to route audio data amongst multiple sources and sinks. The reference design from XMOS is the world’s first software-based implementation of the 802.1AS timing synchronisation engine and the IEEE 1722 Layer 2 transport protocol. Designed to run on the XS1-G family of programmable devices from XMOS, the Ethernet AVB code requires 9 threads and 80 Kbytes of memory. This leaves 70% of the resources in the four-core XS1-G4 device available for application customisation.

USB audio is ideal for point-to-point audio applications such as connecting audio components and consumer products. The USB 2.0 code from XMOS supports high-speed (480Mb/s) devices, supporting multiple high-fidelity audio streams on a single link. The reference design is available in C-code, and is intuitive to read and easy to modify to suit particular application requirements.
Typical applications include networked audio appliances such as AV receivers, IP Speakers and professional studio equipment. The unused resources in the target XMOS device are ideal for differentiating features such as audio enhancement and display management. The code will be demonstrated on the XMOS Development Kit (XDK), a fully featured development platform that includes Ethernet and USB connectivity, audio in/out, and digital I/O expansion.

XMOS will be in booth 1027 at NAMM 2009 (January 15-18, 2009). You can reserve a slot for a demonstration.