A chipmaker says its latest product line will allow automakers to include HD Radio in vehicles more cost-effectively.
Silicon Labs introduced a product line of automotive tuner integrated circuits designed to deliver high RF performance with advanced signal processing as well as reduced cost and complexity.
The Si476x tuner family is a multiband receiver for automotive infotainment head-units and AM/FM car radios from OEM suppliers to aftermarket car radio makers.
The company noted that the global automotive market is expected to exceed 76 million light-vehicle unit shipments this year, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Car radio technology is evolving thanks to technology in the automotive infotainment category. The car radio, Silicon Labs says, has been transformed into a sophisticated infotainment system that includes multiple tuners to deliver FM phase diversity reception, receive RDS data for navigation systems and support AM/FM HD Radio technology.
The Si476x supports AM/FM analog as well as both AM and FM HD Radio reception, FM RDS decoding, longwave, shortwave and NOAA weather band. iBiquity Digital has certified the Si476x to provide AM/FM HD Radio tuner outputs and reception with compatible HD Radio demodulator ICs.
Ibiquity CEO Jeff Jury called the new IC “a compelling new solution” for the HD Radio market. More than 20 automotive brands to date have announced HD Radio technology as a factory-installed infotainment feature.
