PCI Audio/Modem ICs Come In Two Flavors

Offered in digital signal processing (DSP) or in host signal processing (HSP) versions, the V.90 SuperLink products meet the requirements of next-generation PCs with respect to high-performance audio and 56-kbps data, fax and voice communication. The HSP-based chips (see photo) incorporate a digital audio accelerator, an audio codec, and a modem codec. The DSP-based chips include a high-performance DSP to off-load the host CPU and increase overall system performance.Both chipsets feature 500-MIPS equivalent processor performance to accelerate multi-stream PC audio and 64-channel Wave Processor for DirectSound and/or wavetable applications. At the heart of both chipsets is the firm's Maestro-2EM digital audio accelerator.