Focusing on enabling enhanced voice processing features in smartphones, tablets and other consumer electronics applications, Cirrus Logic, Inc. has introduced the ultra-low power CS53L30 analog-to-digital (A/D) converter.

With ultra-low power consumption of less than 2.5 mW per channel, the CS53L30’s high- performance, four-channel microphone A/D converters enhance voice processing features such as noise suppression, acoustic echo cancellation and multi-channel beamforming and offer improved performance in voice capture processing for voice control and recognition. The CS53L30 is currently shipping in volume production in multiple handsets to a leading manufacturer of high-quality smartphones.

“The performance of today’s voice processing algorithms relies heavily on the integrity of the captured audio source,” said Carl Alberty, director of marketing for Cirrus Logic’s Mixed Signal Audio Division. “With its high-precision analog performance, the CS53L30 will launch a new generation of mobile consumer products that differentiate the voice experience and offer improved voice control with the user interface.”

In a typical microphone-array application, multiple microphones embedded within a device aim to hone in on the audio’s source and eliminate or attenuate surrounding noise. With the CS53L30, each of the four microphone channels has a dedicated mic bias for improved channel-to-channel separation, which enhances the performance of beamforming algorithms. Digital signal processing features such as high-pass filters, noise gates and volume controls provide further pre-conditioning, which is essential to improve voice-processing performance.

A flexible input front end accommodates a combination of digital and analog microphone inputs in fully differential, pseudo-differential and single-ended configurations. A single CS53L30 can output its four channels of audio data up to 48 kHz sample rate over two I²S ports, or a single TDM port in master or slave mode. For applications that require additional mic inputs, up to four CS53L30 A/D converters can be used together to output 16 channels of data over a single TDM line allowing for seamless system integration.

The CS53L30 can be controlled through a high speed I²C control port and is powered by a 1.8V nominal analog supply and a typical 3.6V battery supply.