Platform Revs Up Digital Audio Playback/Recording In Portables

The launching of the Tango digital media platform is expected to spur rapid development of new consumer electronic products offering digital audio downloading, recording and playback capabilities. The platform is powered by the firm's PP5001 SuperIntegration system-on-a-chip controller and is supported by the PP7001 Digital Media Manager application for Windows 9x PCs. It also provides the firmware needed to implement mass-market products, including licensed applications and the real-time operating system (RTOS). Claimed to be the industry's first single-chip solution supporting direct recording of CD content in MP3 file formats, the platform is well-suited for use in portable MP3-type player/recorder systems, hybrid systems combining CD and digital audio player/recorders, and hard-drive-equipped digital audio jukeboxes.
The Tango platform boasts of a number of other features. Multiple levels of security and Digital Rights Management have been implemented in the system firmware. Tango-based systems can support two banks of flash and SDRAM, with each of the four banks capable of storing 128 MB. The PP501 controller directly supports Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SmartMedia, and other solid-state storage devices. And an ATA-33 IDE controller is provided for directly interfacing to CD-ROM and computer disk drives.
Also on-board are a LCD graphics controller, general-purpose I/O, and an AC '97 2.1-compliant audio codec interface. In 1,000 unit quantities, Tango costs $40 per set.