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STMicroelectronics Demonstrates MP3 Player Chips At CeBIT Show in Europe |
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 Hannover, Germany, 18 March 1999 -- At the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany, STMicroelectronics is demonstrating for the first time an MPEG Layer 3 Audio Decoder chip aimed at portable MP3 file players and personal computers, along with a prototype high-density Flash memory chip designed for the same application.Already available in production quantities, the STA013 MP3.docTM (MP3 Decoder-On-a-Chip) MPEG Layer 3 Audio Decoder integrated circuit decodes Layer 3 compressed elementary streams as specified in the ISO MPEG1 and MPEG2 standards. It also decodes streams encoded using low sampling rates as specified by MPEG2.5. Serial interfaces are used for both input and output, allowing the circuit to be housed in a compact SO28 small outline package. The output interface is software programmable to adapt it to the most common DAC architectures. Thanks to the use of a dedicated DSP based on a VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) architecture optimized for audio algorithms, the STA013 offers the lowest consumption on the market -- just 45mA at 3V -- thereby extending the play time of battery-powered mobile players. MP3 decoder chips like the STA013 MP3.docTM enable a new class of consumer product, the personal stereo with no moving parts. Called “mechaless” -- a contraction of mechanism-less -- these players store music in compressed digital format in Flash memory chips. Music can be downloaded into the player from a personal computer or a dedicated download unit, so the same Flash memory is used all the time. Alternatively, a low cost player with no internal memory can be used with plug-in MMC memory cards. Portable MP3 players are attractive to consumers because they are completely immune to shocks and vibration. From the makers’ point of view, they are simple to manufacture because they have no mechanical parts; this makes them particularly attractive to companies that are new to the market. A typical MP3 player will include the STA013 MP3.docTM decoder chip, Flash memory to store the music, a low-cost microcontroller, digital-analog converter, a small audio power amplifier and a 1.8V to 3.3V dc-dc converter. STMicroelectronics is the only semiconductor maker able to offer all of these technologies. ST currently offers the STA013 in an SO-28 small outline package. A TQFP 44 package version will also be available for applications where thickness is a primary design consideration. The company is also developing a new version which also includes a G.723 ADPCM encoder-decoder to add voice recording capability. The Flash memory in the ST demonstration is a prototype of an innovative high density 32Mb/3V Flash memory designed for MP3 players and other mass storage applications. CalledAnalogFlashTM, the design uses a multi-level cell (MLC) architecture to provide a very high density Flash memory in a small, low cost format. AnalogFlash technology stores four digital bits as 16 levels on a conventional Flash-EEPROM memory cell, resulting in a memory that is as much as four times less expensive than conventional 1-bit-per-cell memory architectures. The memory uses a SPI or I2C serial interface and data can be loaded into the memory from a PC using a PCMCIA adapter card, and played directly by the MP3 decoder product. Complementing its prototype AnalogFlash devices, ST is also able to supply high volume quantities of standard single bit/cell Flash memories from its dedicated 8-inch fab in Catania, Italy, using proprietary Flash technology that combines high speed and low power consumption. At CeBIT99 STMicroelectronics will be showing its industry leading technologies in Hall 13, Stand 86 (home automation and consumer) and Hall 23, stand B46 (smartcard technology). About MPEG Layer 3 Audio (MP3) Developed by the Fraunhofer Institute and Thomson Multimedia, the MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) audio compression standard allows digital music files to be compressed by a factor of 10 without compromising quality. For example, a typical song of about five minutes will occupy about 50Mbytes on a standard compact disk, but this can be reduced to just 5Mbytes if MP3 compression is used. MP3 has become the ‘de facto’ standard for the distribution of music through Internet and is commonly used to play music on personal computers. In 1998 the first dedicated MP3 file players became available. Most of these players are portable personal stereos, though some are designed for fixed installation in vehicles. About STMicroelectronics STMicroelectronics (formerly SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics) is a global independent semiconductor company with strong European roots, whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: STM), the Bourse de Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. It designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) and discrete devices used in a wide variety of microelectronics applications, including telecommunications systems, computer systems, consumer products, automotive products and industrial automation and control systems. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com. MP3.doc and AnalogFlash are trademarks of STMicroelectronics. |
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