FireWire Audio Gains Support with New Chips

February 18, 2003

Based on several years of research and development, TC Applied Technologies is now launching the Dice II chip-set. The Dice II handles all standard pro audio I/O formats, most notably the IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface, in an integrated solution dedicated to fulfilling the requirements of the professional audio world.

Managing Director at TC Applied Technologies Morten Lave comments: "With the introduction of the new Dice II technology we will now be able to offer significantly improved performance and convenience, taking computer integration to a new level. In recording and post-production environments, easy-to-add DSP and I/O modules providing extensive additional processing power, can be plugged in at a breeze according to your needs. Also, in the installation market the option of using a single-cable to network a large number of audio channels will eliminate the hassle and cost of working with bundles of cables and thus make a huge difference for everybody involved. The DICE II handles 96 audio channels at 96kHz"

Morten Lave continues: "The benefits offered by DICE II can be traced into the consumer market as well, where the networking capabilities are evident within 5.1 setups and home theatres. Looking into the crystal ball, it is also a perfect match for home networking installations where a fusion of the IT zone and the entertainment zone is likely to happen in the near future."

Several recording and installation equipment partners have been providing input during the development process, securing that the chip specifications live up to the quality standards needed for various pro audio applications. Those partners will now be implementing the chip in audio gear to be available in the future. Discussions with further potential pro audio equipment makers are being initiated now.

'After many years of intense work, we are pleased to see the Dice II come to life. We have now gone into the synthesis phase, and will have physical chips available this summer', says TC Applied Technologies' Managing Director Morten Lave. 'Due to the high bandwidth of the streaming engine combined with state of the art digital PLL technology and support of 100m Ethernet style cables, we believe that this solution overcomes the last hurdles for FireWire being broadly applied in pro audio. Furthermore, the Dice II offers a cost and real estate effective solution for handling all relevant I/O formats.'

Some of the main features of the Dice II include:

A total of 96 FireWire audio channels at 96kHz Sample Rate.
Two Sample Rate domains each featuring an on-chip PLL.
AES receiver/transmitter handling 8 channels in each direction.
ADAT receiver/transmitter with S-MUX support for 96kHz.
Glueless connection of AD/DA converters (more than 16 channels in each direction).
Glueless connection of a high number of commodity DSP processors.
ARM 32 bit RISC processor.
IEEE 1394 Link Layer Controller.

About TC Applied Technologies:

Located in Markham near Toronto, Canada, TC Applied Technologies is a newly established subsidiary of TC Group. The team has been working in TC Electronic's research and development laboratories until recently, but has now established itself as a stand-alone unit with the completion of the Dice II. TC Applied Technologies will continue to design solution-specific chips in the future, among other things incorporating certain technologies developed at TC Electronic. Heading the team is Morten Lave, who until recently was managing software and chip developments at TC Electronic.

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FireWire Audio Gains Support with New Chips (2003-02-18)

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