P R O D U C T I N F O R M AT I O N
AC鈥?7 Revision 2.3 Codecs
AC鈥?7 rev 2.3
Audio Codecs with Internal Jack-Sense and Paging Registers
INTRODUCTION
The
STAC9752/53
are the industry鈥檚 first
AC鈥?7 2.3
Audio Codecs for the PC and portable segment. Both
codes are
20-Bit
AC鈥?7 devices adhering to
Intel鈥檚 newly released 2.3 specification.
The new version adds
important usability features like integrated
Jack-Sense
and
Paging Registers
to the already rich feature set that
includes integrated headphone amplifier, SPDIF output,
and the Crystal elimination Circuit.
The most important
aspect of AC鈥?7 version 2.3 is the cost saving potential of
the Internal Jack Sense capability.
The Internal Jack-
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Sense can determine what has been plugged into the
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audio connectors and alert end-users when they have
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made a mistake. This helps the end-user get their
system setup quickly, and it keep audio technical support
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call costs down for the OEM. Right now the largest
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support call item is audio setup 鈥?2.3 codecs with
Internal Jack-Sense can really help keep that cost down.
($40/hour for call support)
x
(15minutes per call)
=
$10 Savings
OEM cost savings from
Internal Jack-Sense
is the drive for AC鈥?7 2.3
MARKET OPPORTUNITY
Audio has moved full force to the motherboard in the last year, especially with the introduction of 20-bit south
bridge controllers such as the
845 chipset from Intel.
This is a very important development for SigmaTel鈥檚 line
of 20-bit codecs. With the STAC9752/53, and the soon to be announced 6-ch STAC9758/59, SPDIF output,
standard motherboards can now more easily become part of today鈥檚 home entertainment system with a full 6-
channels audio playback from the PC. Given the growing importance of multi-channel games, DVD playback
and home theater, the AC鈥?7 2.3 Internal Jack-Sense codecs are becoming essential to help end-users set their
systems up for the first time.
Every time someone calls the OEM for technical support, it costs the OEM
$40 per hour on lost profits. With average call times of 15 minutes, each call costs the OEM roughly $10
per confused end-user.
The family of AC鈥?7 2.3 parts from SigmaTel help eliminate the confusion, the poor
end-user experience, and the lost OEM profits.
AC97 REVISION 2.3 TECHNICAL FEATURES
The newly released
AC鈥?7 revision 2.3 specification
has recently been upgraded with several new features
that greatly improve the end-user experience. These new features include
Internal Jack-Sense
that lets the PC
determine what type of device 鈥?such as speaker, headphones, and various microphones 鈥?is actually plugged
into the audio connectors.
The headphone, line-out, and microphone all incorporate SigmaTel鈥檚 Internal
Jack-sense capability that does not require any external components.
This means that SigmaTel鈥檚 Jack-
Sense works on existing MBs without any modifications. In addition to the Jack-Sense, the new AC鈥?7 2.3
specification provides for
Paging Registers
that store key audio sub-system information like external amplifier
settings, gain, phase, and location of connectors. This type of information is very important to Microsoft in their
progress for improved business audio. Without this type of
Analog Plug-n-Play information
the key features of
business audio are very difficult to implement for voice record, speech recognition, and better use of the PC for
telephony. The standard GPIO Jack-Sense pins are still available for designs that have previously implemented
the older style mechanical approach to jack-sense that depended on special high-cost connectors with customer
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