Many semiconductor companies have developed an audio system on a chip – ICs that combine some form of audio processing capabilities, surrounded by any number of mixed-signal audio features such as a D/A or A/D converter. With the CS47048, Cirrus Logic has joined this class of product, but the result is something entirely different than anything on the market today!

For starters, the CS47048 is the industry’s highest-performance audio system-on-a-chip. It combines an advanced 32-bit audio DSP, high performance multichannel audio codec and a digital audio receiver/transmitter into a single IC. With this level of integration, the CS47048 dramatically reduces overall board space requirements and system cost. With this feature set, the chip is targeted squarely for automotive amplifier applications. In these products, you might find up to 12 separate IC components that are necessary for the design. With the CS47048, you only need ONE chip!

The high level of audio quality and overall audio processing capability is also what sets the CS47048 from its competitors. It features an advanced, 32-bit single core audio processor with powerful customer programming tools and multibit Delta-Sigma audio converter technology, both of which provide best in class performance. Among its overall integrated features are an A/D converter, a D/A converter, and audio DSP, memory, and SPDIF I/O transceiver.
With the CS47048, Cirrus Logic has packed a high performance audio DSP and audio converters onto the same piece of silicon and supported it with its easy to use DSP Composer programming environment.
Previously, one of the struggles for chip makers was how to get high quality audio from such an integrated approach, because having the digital and analog components so closely co-located presents inherent issues with electromagnetic interference (EMI). Cirrus Logic’s patented and patent-pending technology on the CS47048 allows the mixed-signal audio converters to be co-located on the same silicon as the high-speed DSP while maintaining premium analog performance. This patented technology features new continuous time architectures, which improves the isolation between the converters and DSP and allows for the high-performance capability of the DSP with negligible impact to the converter performance. A white paper on this topic is available on the Cirrus Logic website.

The 4-channel ADC measures 105 dB dynamic range and -98 dB THD+N and the 8-channel DACs offer 108 dB dynamic range and -98 dB THD+N – both superior metrics among SOC products and on par with the best stand-alone multichannel codecs available in the market today. Taking into account the convergence of digital media in automotive audio systems, including media players, radio, Bluetooth and navigation devices, the integrated sample rate converters simplify the management of audio sources at any sample rate up to 192 kHz. These digital audio sources can be accommodated through either the on-chip 192 kHz S/PDIF receiver and transmitter or the standard serial audio ports.
Whereas some audio system-on-a-chip solutions offer limited 24-bit or 28-bit DSP solutions, the CS47048 features a potent 32-bit, audio-optimized fixed-point DSP operating at 150 MHz with greater on-chip memory than competitive solutions. With this greater signal processing capacity, the CS47048 supports more channels, higher sample rates and processing chains. Customer programming is simplified through DSP Composer™ software, a powerful graphical programming tool that offers a wide array of audio drag-and-drop building blocks in which customers can easily adjust filters, delay, bass boost, graphic/parametric EQ and many other audio parameters. Cirrus Logic also provides numerous standard third-party audio algorithms from leading companies such as Dolby, DTS, SRS Labs and THX. The CS47048 is also software upgradeable, ensuring readiness for future audio features.