Silicon Labs Enhances Automotive Tuner Portfolio with Software-Defined Radio Technology

(Image source: Silicon Labs official website)

According to foreign media reports, Silicon Labs, a supplier of in-vehicle radio solutions, has launched a new hybrid SDR (software defined radio) tuner to expand its portfolio, provide a universal platform, meet the growing needs of car radio manufacturers, and support global digital radio standards. The new Si479x7 device is Silicon Labs' first car radio tuner that supports the DRM (digital AM radio) standard. The Si479x7 tuner is an extension of the company's Global Eagle and Dual Eagle AM/FM receiver and digital radio tuner series, with excellent field performance, pin and package compatible with single and dual tuners, and bill of materials (BOM) cost advantages.

In addition, Silicon Labs has enhanced the performance of Si4790x/5x/6x automotive tuners with "SDR-friendly" technologies, effectively transforming these devices into hybrid SDR tuners. Silicon Labs' hybrid SDR technologies include advanced DSP automotive features such as maximum ratio combination calculation (MRC), digital automatic gain control (AGC), digital radio fast detection, and dynamic zero intermediate frequency (ZIF) I/Q. These features enable car radio manufacturers to leverage common radio hardware and software designs to support global digital radio standards. This flexibility helps OEM and Tier 1 customers reduce design, certification, procurement and inventory costs while avoiding the complexity and inefficiency of supporting multiple car radio platforms.

The Silicon Labs automotive tuner portfolio includes highly integrated single and dual tuners with excellent AM/FM reception performance. The portfolio supports all broadcast radio bands, including AM, FM, longwave, shortwave, weather band, HD Radio, DAB (Band III), and DRM. These tuners are based on Silicon Labs RF CMOS technology and provide excellent automotive receiver performance. Due to their mixed-signal and low-IF RF CMOS design, these devices have high sensitivity in weak signal environments and excellent selectivity and intermodulation immunity in strong signal environments.