Industry Expert Blogs

MIPI SoundWire specification will be integrated into mobiles systems, like smartphone or media tablet. In fact some of the well-known chip makers have already decided to integrate MIPI SoundWire into their last application processor release. MIPI SoundWire is also the type of specification which could be used in many other applications even if the primary target is smartphone, features phones and media tablet. According with Cadence: “SoundWire is a new digital audio interface specification from the MIPI Alliance that enables bi-directional digital communication with a focus on low complexity and low gate count, making it attractive to many mobile design applications.” The important words are low complexity and low gate count. An application processor for mobile count billion transistors, so the gate count is not an issue, but if we consider the IC devices controlling the peripheral (earpiece, speaker, internal micro, etc.), these are probably designed in more mature technologies, up to 130nm or even more. Such chips are targeting consumer or mobile applications, implying very high production volume and the cost is a key driver. Thus, benefiting from an efficient interface protocol is attractive at the condition that the cost impact is kept as low as possible.

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