Analog Devices Revs Auto, Infotainment Platforms.

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Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) today laid out a road map for its Blackfin car telematics platform, which aims to capitalize on the power of a single processor to reduce telematics system costs, size and development time.

ADI said its Blackfin processors contain a combination of DSP and microprocessor functionality, aimed at embedded audio, video and communications applications in the automotive market.

"From digital video playback systems for rear-seat entertainment to GPS-enabled navigation systems, a car is no longer just a means for travel… It has become a rolling media processing solution," said Mark Gill, product line director for automotive telematics and infotainment systems at ADI, in a statement.

"As the automotive industry looks to thread the needle of low-cost and feature-rich electronics delivery -- introducing high-end systems to mid-tier vehicles --solutions like Blackfin can bring these features to life at the right price point," he added.

A new breed of 16-/32-bit embedded processor fuels Blackfin, allowing it to handle convergent applications as portable and networked media players; automotive telematics, infotainment and driver assistance; satellite and terrestrial radio; and networked security systems.

ADI also equipped its platform with tools from Green Hills Software, for real-time signal processing, vehicle network stacks, diagnostics code and the software download functions, as well as to eliminate the need for additional microprocessors in the system.

The Blackfin allows hands-free applications that combine speech recognition, multi-microphone noise and echo cancellation algorithms, and text-to-speech applications -- all running on a 400MHz processor, along with the CAN network protocol, Bluetooth stacks and system general diagnostics code.

As for video entertainment, a single Blackfin processor can connect to the MOST bus, extract and decrypt the audio and video bit streams, decode them, and present high-quality video to the rear seats of the car, ADI concluded.