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The electronics industry in general and the manufacturers of integrated circuits in specific have welcomed multimedia with open arms and a can-do attitude. So when the most recent burning issue has come to the fore--can multimedia-qualify audio be managed on a single chip--the response from the major chip manufacturers has been encouraging, if predictable: We can do that, too.
All of the companies discussed here have developed solutions for integrating multimedia functions into smaller pieces of hardware and aimed at motherboards, combo boards, and the like. They all seem to have slightly different technological approaches, marketing strategies, and philosophies, which is not only interesting but good for end-users. Together, these chip manufacturers make up a market in which competition seems to have led--as it is supposed to but rarely does--to a healthy diversity of products that attempt in one way or another to provide multimedia integration in PC hardware.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
One AMD Place P.O. Box 3453 Sunnyvale, CA 96088-3653 408/732-2400
Known primarily for its CPUs, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD
describes itself as the "fourth-largest merchant supplier of integrated circuits." Joining the rush to get audio chips on motherboards, AMD has chimed in with its new InterWave audio processor chip. With the InterWave, AMD has upped the ante for its competitors by offering motherboard-makers wavetable synthesis--something that has been in great demand from audio board makers.
The InterWave chip uses downloadable, 16-bit, 32-voice wavetable synthesis and features a "Mix, Move, and Modify" capability that lets developers create new sounds, combine multiple audio sources, and modify sounds in real-time. On-chip audio effects processing gives developers control of such special effect as vibrato, tremolo, chorus, echo, flanging
phase shifting), and reverb. AMD says these capabilities will enable more realistic and exciting titles and games by providing interactive sound that moves and changes with what's occurring on the screen. Wavetable synthesis is handled by a DSP chip and there is a serial port provided for connecting other DSPs for additional capabilities such as concurrent communication or speech processing. The InterWave chip sells for $39.
Analog Devices One Technology Way P.O. Box 9106 Norwood, MA 02062-9106 617/329-6700 Fax 617/326-8703
Analog Devices is probably the DSP maker most supportive of Intel's NSP initiative. That may be because Analog...