Company drives industry towards enhanced in-car audio experience

The Automotive Audio Bus technology facilitates the design of in-vehicle audio networks with reduced cost and complexity, and the A2B Analyser helps significantly reduce the development time for these systems.

Automotive Audio Bus (A2B): Lowest Cost-Per-Node Audio Networking Solution The A2B technology from Analog Devices is optimised to deliver superior audio quality while reducing system cost, weight and design complexity. A2B utilises a master-slave line topology to deliver audio and control data, together with clock and power over a single two-wire, unshielded twisted pair cable. The low-latency, deterministic nature of the A2B technology is particularly well suited for cutting-edge in-car audio applications such as hands-free systems, speech recognition and active noise cancellation.

Leveraging its deep industry experience and system design expertise, Mentor Automotive designed the A2B Analyzer System hardware and software solution from the ground up in close co-operation with Analog Devices. This enables complete A2B network solutions from early proof-of-concept development, network design and validation over professional tooling, to production systems with custom configurations.

This system is part of the Connected OS software development platform which includes the IVI head unit, enabling a distributed speaker network for audio throughout the vehicle, and microphones for active noise control, and the A2B Analyser System for easy set-up, configuration and functional testing: a complete cockpit development platform utilising A2B technology.

“Mentor Automotive is a leading technology solutions provider in the industry and we are excited by their pioneering test and analysis solutions for the A2B technology. We are confident our customers will benefit greatly from these offerings in the form of easier network configuration, analysis and debug, resulting in a shorter time to market,” said Vlad Bulavsky, General Manager Automotive Cabin Electronics Business Unit, Analog Devices.

OEMs need a protocol that can solve multiple problems: simplifying the electrical system design allows OEMs to offer the consumer multiple vehicle configurations; simultaneously reducing cabling weight thus improving fuel efficiency; and enabling an enhanced in-car experience across the fleet by delivering high quality signal throughout the vehicle with audio, control, clock and power all provided over unshielded twisted pair cable, further reducing the cost-per-node.

“We have seen a strong interest in the A2B technology as car makers look to reduce the weight and cost of cabling in their production vehicles, as well as creating superior audio experiences for their customers. Our design analysis tools will ensure that system performance is optimized for the many different audio sources and playback devices in a modern vehicle,” stated Rainer Oder, General Manager, Mentor Automotive.