CIE Components in Electronics
“This patented DDFA technology now gives us the ability to produce incredibly compact digital power amplifier stages that combine the high energy efficiency of Class D operation with output sound quality that until now has only been possible with the very best linear amplifiers,” said Anthony Murray, Senior Vice President for the Home Business Group at CSR. “With the acquisition of DDFA technology, CSR will be able to provide a complete audio platform solution to address the needs of our customers in existing and emerging new markets for wireless audio. We believe the DDFA technology will enable us to ultimately offer our customers a broad range of truly all-digital audio solutions that deliver significant cost and quality benefits over traditional designs, and which will spark entirely new consumer product categories.”
The DDFA architecture employs a fast and highly accurate digital feedback loop to create a Class-D audio switching amplifier that sets new standards in digital amplifier sound quality. Even when used with an inexpensive, unregulated power supply, including switching power supplies, digital amplifiers based on DDFA technology can achieve THD+N performance levels of less than 0.004% and a dynamic range of 120dB, according to our internal studies.
The architecture is highly scalable in terms of power output, number of channels and the range of applications it is suitable for. Implementations with today’s chipset are able to produce 20 to 250 Watts with up to eight single-ended or four bridge-tied load channels using a single modulator, with flexible combinations of modulators and feedback processors allowing a variety of channel counts to be implemented. Applications cover the entire range of consumer audio products, from docking stations, active speakers and sound bars to premium AV receivers, component high-fidelity amplifiers and home entertainment systems.
Unlike more traditional linear amplifier solutions, the DDFA architecture integrates the functions of DAC, DSP, pre-amp and power amp to significantly simplify system design, maintain signal integrity and reduce cost. DSP capability includes dedicated configurable IIR filters supported by mix/map functions to implement active crossovers and parametric EQ for room or cabinet equalization. Conventional functions such as tone and volume controls also benefit from the full digital implementation, avoiding the degrading side-effects seen in analogue implementations.
Advanced power management features enable the DDFA architecture to provide intelligent short-circuit protection, programmable clip management, dynamic compression, configurable power and current limiting.
