SRS Labs Ports TruSurround HD to Tensilica's HiFi 2 Audio Engine for HDTV SOC Designs

Update: Cadence Completes Acquisition of Tensilica (Apr 24, 2013)

SRS TruSurround HD Ideal for Midrange and High-end TV Market

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – May 8, 2007 – Tensilica, Inc. and SRS Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRSL) today announced that SRS Labs has ported its TruSurround HD virtual sound audio technology to Tensilica’s HiFi 2 Audio Engine for Xtensa processors and the Diamond Standard 330HiFi Audio Processor. SRS TruSurround HD is ideal for designers of system-on-chip (SOC) devices for the midrange and high-end digital television and digital home entertainment markets. Tensilica’s HiFi 2 Audio Engine is the most popular commercial audio processor core for SOC designs, and this year Tensilica’s customers are forecasting they will ship 100 million HiFi Audio Engine enabled processor cores in a wide variety of consumer devices.

SRS TruSurround HD accepts any input source, up to a seven-channel (6.1) audio source, and renders surround sound from 2.0 – 3.1 speaker configurations. When televisions featuring SRS TruSurround HD receive multichannel or Lt/Rt content, TruSurround HD virtualizes the channels, creating “phantom” speakers that appear to extend all around the listener, providing a superior multichannel surround sound effect. When the audio source is mono or stereo, TruSurround HD creates an expansive three-dimensional sound field, provides definition to high frequencies, and offers a center control feature to adjust the mix of center information.

SRS TruSurround HD utilizes proprietary algorithms to enhance signal clarity and improve the intelligibility of dialog, while psychoacoustic techniques maximize the perceived bass response. TruSurround HD is designed to compensate for a system that does not include tweeters for high-frequency performance by including a definition processor to provide maximum high-frequency clarity. TruSurround HD also includes bass management for subwoofer and center speaker designs. The final result is immersive sound that surrounds the listener, bass that rumbles and crystal clear high-frequency reproduction.

Tensilica’s HiFi 2 Audio Engine is optimized with hundreds of specialized audio instructions to increase code density (reducing memory requirements) and lower power (reducing MHz requirements), making it very efficient for a wide range of audio-enabled consumer products.

By adding SRS TruSurround HD to its library of available audio decoders and encoders, Tensilica expects to expand the popularity of its HiFi 2 Audio Engine to designers of popular digital television sets. The SRS TruSurround HD decoder provides SOC designers with a drop-in, proven, high-quality 24-bit audio hardware solution with over 20 encoders and decoders for a variety of different audio standards.

“Tensilica’s customers plan to deliver optimal audio solutions for the home entertainment market based on the HiFi 2 Audio Engine. TruSurround HD will provide a best in class audio experience and the available port from SRS Labs will provide a time to market advantage,” stated Larry Przywara, Tensilica’s director of mobile multimedia. “SRS WOW XT and SRS Xspace 3D, two very popular mobile sound solutions, are also available for the HiFi 2 Audio Engine.”

“By utilizing the audio-optimized instructions in the HiFi 2 Audio Engine, we were able to create a very efficient port of our TruSurround HD technology in a few weeks versus more typically months for other architectures,” said Lenka Koloma, senior director, Strategic IC Partner and Sales, SRS Labs. “Tensilica’s proven HiFi 2 Audio Engine coupled with TruSurround HD provides SOC designers with a quick way to add an enhanced audio subsystem that will be valued by consumers.”

Pricing and Availability

TruSurround HD is available directly from SRS Labs for licensees of Tensilica’s HiFi 2 Audio Engine or Diamond 330HiFi Audio Processor.

About SRS Labs

SRS Labs develops advanced audio and communications technology that optimizes and improves the listening experience through techniques based on the latest research into the human auditory system. With over one billion products shipped worldwide, SRS Labs is a leader in audio. Incorporated in products ranging from HDTVs and mobile phones to PCs and automotive entertainment, SRS Labs audio and speech signal processing provides the best possible sound on every form factor and in every environment. SRS Labs surround sound solutions enable the professional broadcast and recording industries with high-performance production, back-haul, storage, and transmission capability. SRS Labs supports manufacturers worldwide with offices in the US, China, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. For more information, see www.srslabs.com.

About Tensilica

Tensilica offers the broadest line of controller, CPU and specialty DSP processors on the market today, in both an off-the-shelf format via the Diamond Standard Series cores and with full designer configurability with the Xtensa processor family. Tensilica’s low-power, benchmark proven processors have been designed into high-volume products at industry leaders in the digital consumer, networking and telecommunications markets. All Tensilica processor cores are complete with a matching software development tool environment, portfolio of system simulation models, and hardware implementation tool support. For more information on Tensilica's patented approach to the creation of application-specific building blocks for SOC design, visit www.tensilica.com.