SiliconInterventions claims Fractal-D is better audio amplifier
IP licensor SiliconIntervention has launched the Fractal-D audio amplifier with the claim that enhanced efficiency at low power provides superior performance overall.
IP licensor SiliconIntervention Inc. has announced the Fractal-D audio amplifier with the claim that enhanced efficiency at low power provides superior performance
Fractal-D is 60 to 70 percent more efficient 1 percent of maximum power output, which is where music and speech signals spend a lot of time without hurting efficiency at high power.
The company has also announced that it has received a US patent for the architecture. Patent No. 12,021,491 covers the combination of a Class-D driver and Buck Regulator using the same components.
Two control loops run in parallel and simultaneously create the audio output and an intermediate voltage level. This allows the bridge to re-use the charge that flows through the speaker again in later cycles.
“Increasing operating efficiency and extending battery lifetime is key to implementing future wearable products and a patented Fractal-D amplifier family is one contributor towards that goal,” said Allan Cox, CEO of SiliconIntervention Inc. (Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada).
Martin Mallinson, CTO and founder of SiliconIntervention commented, “While efficiencies of 80 to 90 percent at 1W output levels are achievable with standard H-Bridge Class-D amplifiers, the result is typically only 30 to 40 percent efficiency at 10mW output levels. The Fractal-D architecture solves this problem and shows greatly improved efficiency at 10 mW while maintaining 90 percent efficiency at 1W. This translates to a significant increase in battery life in wearable audio products such as earbuds and earphones.”
The technology is based on standard CMOS processes and needs no special processing steps.
SiliconIntervention said that design services are available for chip design and implementation assistance, including mapping to process nodes of choice.
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