Automotive Mobile Audio Video

SCF5250 Audio Processor Adds Features to Support the Latest Digital Rights Management and Video Technologies

Manufacturers of portable media players and automotive entertainment systems are striving to meet consumer demand for seamless connectivity between devices. Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) is rolling out software libraries for its SCF5250 processor that will help enable new portable and automotive compressed audio and video solutions.

Since going into production in 2003, Freescale's SCF5250 audio processor has been quietly racking up design wins with many of the top digital audio player manufacturers. As the leading supplier of automotive semiconductors, Freescale is uniquely positioned to transfer its audio expertise into the automotive market.

"It looks like the phenomenal growth of compressed audio entertainment is expanding well beyond the home and portable device markets," said Joanne Blight, director, automotive practice at Strategy Analytics research and consultant firm. "In fact, digital and 'soft' audio products are rapidly entering the automotive industry, as satellite radio and MP3 player in-vehicle connectivity are clearly demonstrating. People increasingly want to have the same entertainment choices in their cars as they have on their portable devices and at home. Single-platform technologies that support an easy interface between car and portable devices will be key to meeting both consumer and automotive requirements."

The SCF5250 solution

The SCF5250 is a second-generation audio processor that provides more memory and improved power management over the previous SCF5249 device. Built on the ColdFire(R) V2 core with enhanced multiply-accumulate (eMAC) module, the SCF5250 supports a variety of universal serial bus (USB) interfaces, including the latest USB 2.0 high-speed (HS) on-the-go (OTG) technology.

The SCF5250 supports the latest versions of Microsoft Windows(R) Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) 10, as well as JPEG and MPEG4 video formats for mobile displays.

Freescale's extensive software library for the SCF5250 includes real-time operating systems (RTOS); compressed audio codecs; and file systems for compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), hard disk drives (HDD) and flash memories. It also has recording features such as real-time MP3 or adaptive differential pulse-code modulation (ADPCM) encoding for both speech and music (jukebox). In addition, the library incorporates USB mass storage class software stacks and Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) slave support for digital rights management (DRM).

New reference designs for the SCF5250

Freescale reference designs are driving the adoption of the SCF5250 into new markets, allowing product designers to develop new HDD and flash-based digital audio devices. The reference designs include the M5250C3 evaluation board and M5250ADC daughter card that incorporate all of the components and connectivity required for quick and efficient product design.

"As important as any component we supply are the tools we provide customers to help create state-of-the-art products that can be quickly shipped to market," said Flip Lockhoof, operations manager for Freescale's digital audio and radio business. "Our reference designs provide hardware and software support for product developers to transform new ideas into groundbreaking, efficient product designs that satisfy their customers' needs."

On request and at no additional charge, Freescale provides schematics, layout files and component lists for a 1.8-inch, 20GB HDD reference design that includes a color liquid crystal display (LCD) and support for JPEG and MPEG4 and USB 2.0 HS OTG.

"Our new X5 digital audio player required the performance and security features the Freescale audio processor offered," said Harold Jeon, director, Cowon Systems (Multimedia Device Department), "We've incorporated MPEG4 playback on the X5 to provide our customers a full multimedia experience, and we'll be working with Microsoft to obtain PlaysForSure verification to make sure that experience is consistent and reliable. By using a compact and efficient HDD reference design from Freescale, we were able reach the market quickly with the product style and functionality our customers are demanding."

Freescale is currently developing its next-generation audio processor, which is planned to include on-chip integration of USB 2.0 HS OTG technology with a real-time clock (RTC), as well as an on-chip flexible controller area network (FlexCAN) module for automotive applications.

Product features

SCF5250 audio processor

  --  ColdFire V2 CPU + eMAC

  --  128KB SRAM plus 8KB cache. Compressed audio decoding possible
      with no external SDRAM (MP3, AAC, WMA)

  --  Software modules, including:

      --  Microsoft Windows Media DRM10 support

      --  MP3, WMA, AAC, MP3PRO, Ogg Vorbis decode and MPEG1 Layer 2
          decoder (VCD)

      --  MP3 and ADPCM encoders

      --  Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC, planned for July 2005)

      --  Variable Play Speed (planned for July 2005) supporting
          MP3, WMA, MP3 Pro, Windows Media DRM10, MPEG2 Layer1, AAC,
          Ogg Vorbis, ADPCM and FLAC

      --  JPEG and MPEG4 decode (20 fps at QCIF resolution while
          simultaneously playing audio files)

      --  SRS WOW and other third-party algorithms

      --  ADPCM voice record


M5250C3 evaluation board

  --  SCF5250 running at 120 MHz, memory bus speed of 60 MHz

  --  Monitor/debugger on 2MB of flash with 1.8MB available for
      customer use

  --  On-board 10/100 Ethernet connectivity

  --  SCF5250 software modules support

  --  DRM support

  --  USB 2.0 HS OTG support (requires M5250ADC daughter card)

  --  Graphical interface (requires M5250ADC daughter card)

  --  Power management softwar