Karlsruhe, Germany. The MOST Cooperation—the standardization organization for the automotive Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST)—will present an audio-mixer demo using the coax physical layer at the upcoming MOST Forum on April 19, 2016, in Stuttgart/Esslingen, Germany. “The setup will demonstrate the scaling of MOST150 for entry-level systems,” explained Dr. Wolfgang Bott, technical coordinator of the MOST Cooperation. “The audio demo is based on MOST150 coax and includes several microphones and amplifiers. Thus, we can show that MOST handles multiple audio streams with no audible latency.”
The demo setup produces high-end 5.1 surround sound. It implements a USB application interface. All other nodes are remote-controlled nodes and set up via remote I2C. This central approach simplifies the software development. Another advantage is the low material cost, with only one microcontroller in the entire network and no programming required. This demonstration shows how MOST150 can be very cost effective, by placing all the processing power it needs in a single node and making the other nodes in the system very simple.
The demo setup has six microphones streaming audio to the MOST network over six mono channels. The mixer sources two 5.1 streams from an SD Card over 12 mono channels. The mixer then blends all 18 mono channels into one 5.1 stream output to MOST. Three stereo amplifiers render the mixer output to the speakers.
MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) is a multimedia networking technology optimized for use in cars and other applications. It enables the transport of high quality-of-service audio and video together with packet data and real-time control over a single transmission medium. MOST can use plastic optical fibers (POF), coax based electrical physical layer, and shielded and unshielded twisted pair (STP/UTP) copper wires that meet automotive environmental requirements. Today, over 195 car models use MOST as the communication backbone for their information and entertainment equipment.
The MOST Cooperation (MOSTCO) is the organization through which MOST Technology is standardized and refined so that it continues to stay abreast of the latest industry requirements. It consists of international carmakers and key component suppliers. They have joined together to work with the MOST technology and to contribute to its innovation. The MOST Cooperation is prepared to embrace efforts to develop and standardize the technology for other industries and to establish the corresponding work structures. The MOST Cooperation was founded in 1998 to standardize MOST Technology as a global standard for multimedia networking. Audi, BMW, Daimler, HARMAN, and Microchip Technology are its core partners and constitute its steering committee.
