Freescale's ColdFire(R) Audio Processor Drives a New Beat; MCF5251 Brings Portable Audio Entertainment to Automobiles and Consumer Devices

The MCF5251 audio processor is an excellent choice for portableand in-car infotainment audio applications such as satellite radio, CDor hard disk drive (HDD) compressed audio players, USB Thumb driveplayers, jukeboxes and MP3 docking stations. Additionally, the MCF5251enables hours of audio playback time and enough power to drive MPEG4QCIF video playback.

"Our latest generation of ColdFire audio processors offers animpressive list of multimedia features enabling OEMs to bring excitingnew possibilities to their latest automotive and consumer deviceprojects," said Berardino Baratta, general manager of the MultimediaApplications Division for Freescale. "Combined with our comprehensivesoftware and Microsoft PlaysForSure and PlaysFromDevice support, thishighly integrated processor reduces chip count and allows designers tocreate even smaller form factor audio devices."

The ColdFire MCF5251 supports Microsoft's PlaysForSure 2.0 andPlaysFromDevice specifications for security and portability. Thesetechnologies allow consumers to connect their MP3 player via USB tothe car audio system, play back music over the car audio system andhave full access to the device contents via the in-car controls.

"Based on the performance we see on the ColdFire MCF5251processor, we are confident that the HDD and CD reference softwaresolutions we are building will be the best in the market for both caraudio and portable HDD players," said Mr. K. Srinivasan, CEO of AllGoEmbedded Systems, Bangalore, India. "Our free PlaysForSure V2.0compliant software package will help existing and new Freescalecustomers designing with the MCF5251 to adopt the new Microsoftstandard seamlessly, thus, accelerating their time to market."

ColdFire MCF5251

The MCF5251 is powered by the ColdFire V2 32-bit microprocessorcore with a small DSP engine (eMAC) that is well suited for MP3 andsimilar applications. With two automotive CAN interface modules in thesame device, the MCF5251 works as a digital audio solution for car andportable audio applications. Other hardware features include on-chipUSB 2.0 On-the-Go (OTG) technology with an integrated high-speed (upto the specification maximum of 480 Mbps) transceiver and atamper-proof real-time clock for improved digital rights management(DRM). A high-speed UDMA ATA interface facilitates fast data transfersfor easy uploads and downloads. Additionally, the MCF5251 isAECQ100-qualified, a mandate by the automotive industry for compressedaudio.

The scalable MCF5251 software requires minimal hardwarededication, which can shorten design cycles and makes it easier toreact to changing market requirements. Software compatibility with theSCF5249 and SCF5250 devices enables a simple migration path fornext-generation devices. Also, the MCF5251 comes with a comprehensiveaudio reference software package that supports a wide range of audioencode, decode and DRM standards.

Microsoft Digital Rights Management

Freescale has adopted Microsoft's Windows Media Audio DigitalRights Management 10 (WMA-DRM10) format for its MCF5251 components anddevelopment tools. DRM is an important way to protect the ownership ofsubscription-based content, such as downloaded music, even as itpasses from one portable device to another. Many content providers arenow supporting WMA-DRM10, and Freescale incorporates thesetechnologies into its ColdFire product family.

Availability

To get next-generation designs to market more quickly, Freescaleprovides schematics, layout files and component lists for a 1.8-inch,20 GB HDD reference design that includes a color liquid crystaldisplay and support for JPEG, MPEG4 and USB 2.0 OTG. The MCF5251 isavailable now in production quantities. Visithttp://www.freescale.com/digitalaudio for more details.

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Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) is a globalleader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors forthe automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets.Freescale became a publicly traded company in July 2004 after morethan 50 years as part of Motorola Inc. The company is based in Austin,Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing orsales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale, a member of theS&P 500(R), is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with2005 sales of $5.8 billion (USD). www.freescale.com

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