DAB receiver from Maxim

Claimed to be the industry’s first RF to Bits DAB/FM tuner, it integrates a radio tuner, analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and digital filtering, and uses a digital I2S output to interface directly to digital signal processors (DSPs). RF to Bits radios will enable system designers to implement baseband processing using off-the-shelf DSPs. This architectural partition will facilitate faster development times and seamless software based upgradability. This level of integration eliminates numerous external components associated with traditional RF tuners to reduce cost, BOM count, and space. By integrating ADCs with digital filtering, the MAX2173 reduces the output data rate and eases the processing load on the back-end DSP. The clear separation between the radio’s front-end and the DSP simplifies system design. The DSP’s processing capacity is freed to support other functions or future upgrades. The MAX2173’s high performance and flexible RF front-end supports DAB, FM, and Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcast (T-DMB) applications in the FM, VHF band-III, and L-band frequency bands. “Maxim Integrated’s latest DAB/FM tuner is a revolutionary step towards transforming the architecture of auto infotainment into flexible, software defined radio solutions,” said Vickram Vathulya, Managing Director at Maxim Integrated. “This DAB/FM RF to Bits tuner delivers automotive grade RF performance while supporting the widest array of ecosystem baseband products for an unmatched level of design flexibility to optimize cost, performance and size.” “Software-based functionality is becoming a key differentiator for the automotive infotainment semiconductor market, which is expected to exceed $4.0 billion by 2018,” said Richard Robinson, Director of Automotive Analysis at Strategy Analytics.