Oki Electric Releases World's Lowest Power Consumption Sound Chip for Mobile Phones, Equipped with 64 Polyphonic Sound Generator and MP3 Decoder
World's lowest power consumption chip of its type, enabling 60 hours of music playback
ML2841
Tokyo, Japan, September 5, 2006 -- Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (TSE: 6703) today released its ML2841, a sound chip equipped with a 64 polyphonic(*1) sound generator and an MP3 decoder. Oki succeeded in reducing the power consumption of long-period MP3 playback on mobile phones down to 32mW, a decrease of approximately 80% compared to previous products. Oki has been providing samples already and will launch the ML2841 in full-scale production and sales from December 2006.
"With stiffer price competition, GSM(*2) mobile phone manufactures have been using software on their phones for various functions. This approach, however, increases the power consumption of the base band LSI which contains the main CPU (Central Processing Unit) and DSP (Digital Signal Processor)," said Masahiko Morioka, President of Silicon Solutions Company at Oki Electric. "Oki focused attention on the music playback function, which requires low power consumption, and developed a chip that integrates a conventional sound generator and MP3 decoder that can play back music for a longer period. While music playback functions have become requirements on Japanese mobile phones, we believe demand in the GSM market, in which we focus, will also grow significantly in the next few years."
Oki succeeded in reducing three notable parameters for the ML2841. First, it decreased the MP3 decoder power consumption from 57mW to 5mW. Secondly, by applying a digital amplifier, it reduced the headphone amplifier power consumption down to 32mW, an 80% decrease. Finally, it reduced the total cost by utilizing the mobile phone platform and optimizing specifications as necessary. With these achievements, Oki completed an experiment to play back music for 30 hours non-stop by connecting the chip to a GSM mobile phone platform and a 1000mAh battery. Theoretically, it can extend playback time to 60 hours by improving the software for the mobile phone platform.
The chips consist of a low power consumption MP3 decoder, an SRS 3D surround, an equalizer and a 64 polyphonic sound generator. With a super-small package of 4.16 x 4.16mm, it is best suited to achieving audio functions on mobile phones. Oki also upgraded its tool to create multimedia communication data files (MCDF) compliant to be compliant with ML2841, which enables users to create their own multimedia content. The tool can be downloaded from: https://www.oki.com/jp/sisc/swingnringercp/
Glossary
- *1 :Polyphonic
In the musical ring tone of mobile phones, polyphony represents the number of sounds generated simultaneously.
- *2 :GSM
A mobile phone technology used in countries other than Japan and Korea, which stands for Global Service Mobile network.
Reference
About Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Founded in 1881, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is Japan's first telecommunications manufacturer, with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. With the corporate vision, "Oki, Network Solutions for a Global Society," Oki provides top-quality products, technologies and solutions to its customers through its info-telecom system business, semiconductor business and printer business. All three businesses function as a collective force to create exciting new products and technologies that satisfy a spectrum of customer needs in various markets. Visit Oki's global web site at http://www.oki.com/.
- SRS is a registered trademark of SRS Labs, Inc. in the U.S. and selected foreign countries.
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