Voice Quality Feature

STMicroelectronics (News - Alert), a provider of electronics applications with innovative semiconductor solutions to the Automotive Infotainment segment, has announced that iBiquity Digital Corporation has certified company’s HD Radio Technology chipset embedded in the Alps Electric module, for fulfilling various performance requirements satisfactorily.

The iBiquity Digital certification is based upon a number of yardsticks, such as sensitivity, acquisition time, audio quality verification, functional check and bit error rate testing. The chipset developed by STMicroelectronics has been previously awarded with various design wins for both built-in and after-market HD Radio receiver installations, while some car equipment manufacturers who have deployed the chipset have been expecting to get their certification soon.

HD Radio Technology was developed by iBiquity, and enables the device manufactures to provide enhanced sound quality, more programming choice, and new wireless data services on existing FM and AM radio channels. The car market has been consistently showing serious interest towards the technology, which has already been adopted by a total of 13 automotive brands representing more than 70 vehicle lines to date.

Offering an end-to-end solution that integrates the base-band receiver or ‘STA680’ with the RF front-end IC or ‘TDA7706,’ STMicroelectronics has been helping the manufacturers in improving the features of HD Radio receivers. It has adding a number of enhancements to the receivers, such as Conditional Access Support and Dual Channel Application for HD Radio 1.5.

Deploying the technology embedded within the STMicroelectronics chipset, broadcasters are able to offer pay-per-listen options and private channels for specific needs. Additionally, they can leverage the conditional access system in scrambling the signal and enabling only authorized receivers to decode it with a custom key. The chipset is also helpful in offering support to HD Radio 1.5, so that the receiver is also able to simultaneously demodulate audio and data from two independent radio channels. Using the technology, a user can receive audio content from one channel, and simultaneously pull traffic and weather information from another channel.

According to Jeff Jury, chief operating officer at iBiquity, STMicroelectronics' industry-leading expertise in digital audio and car infotainment has played an instrumental role in the development of new-generation HD Radio chipsets. Jury noted that an important milestone, the pre-certification of ST-based module sets to accelerate the adoption of HD Radio technology, providing equipment manufacturers with an optimized, one-stop-shop solution for next-generation car-radio reception.