Austriamicrosystems' Active Noise Cancellation Solutions for High Quality Audio

The AS3501 is a highly integrated cost competitive solution for feed-forward noise cancellation and the AS3502 enables active noise cancellation for feed-back solutions where the microphone of the system is acoustically close to the loudspeaker. Both ICs operate from a single 1.0V to 1.8V supply and combine true ground headphone amplifier stages with flexible noise cancelling architectures. This reduces the typical bill of materials by at least 60% and enables the most integrated solutions on the market. Internal user definable register settings allow different device configurations which lead to differentiation and flexibility for a broad end-product portfolio.

The devices operate in either stand-alone mode, ideal for accessories, or embedded mode, ideal for integration into music players and other portable multimedia equipment. The high level of integration implies PCB area is reduced by at least 50% of comparable competing solutions. The optimized system architecture enables a world class power consumption which increases the battery life for the end-user significantly.

“Especially travellers and commuters know the influence of ambient noise on the limitations to really enjoy music and get the most out of their phone conversations. By effectively reducing the external noise austriamicrosystems’ AS3501 / AS3502 active noise cancelling solutions improve dramatically the dynamic range of the sound playing through the headset, implying you can listen to conversations and music with improved clarity without having to turn up the volume to unreasonable levels. In fact you can often even turn the volume down,” said Oliver Jones, Marketing Manager Audio at austriamicrosystems. “With no compromise between audio quality and noise cancelling behaviour, our solutions combine superior system performance, simplified manufacturing and innovative features with low power consumption, ideal for portable high quality audio applications”.

The AS3501 and AS3502 are able to provide up to 34mW in single ended mode and over 100mW in BTL into 16Ohms loudspeakers from a 1.5V supply. The devices offer this performance together with the ANC function and still guarantee superior sound quality, ensuring >100dB SNR and <0.1% THD. This high audio quality is a big competitive advantage over existing active noise cancellation solutions which in many cases introduce artificial noise when being activated. In addition, an innovative (patent pending) calibration solution removes the need for manual intervention during the manufacturing process and improves field reliability, avoiding challenges typically encountered in today’s best in class solutions.