EDN's 19th Annual Innovation Awards Finalists
-- EDN, February 2, 2009
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&& PREVIOUS FINALIST | MAIN | NEXT FINALIST >> Category: Analog ICs Finalist: LMV1088 analog dual-input-microphone-array amplifier (National Semiconductor)  National Semiconductor has used its analog expertise to make a microphone amplifier that uses analog computing to reduce noise and improve directionality. The LMV1088 microphone amplifier uses about one tenth of the power of DSP and digital computing techniques. Since the signal does not have to be digitized and buffered for filter implementations, the response is nearly instantaneous. The part can provide 20 dB of noise suppression and also enhances any single channel echo canceling that is already in place in the signal path. The analog signal path also reduces the pops, clicks and distortions that are often the unintended artifacts of digital processing.We take for granted the achievements of digital chips when it comes to computing. One of the best computing applications is DSP functions that can filter and condition audio signals for noise reduction. But all digital techniques have a serious drawback. It takes a relatively large amount of power to convert the analog audio signal to digital, and then do all the discrete cosine transforms and filtering and all the other tricks that can improve the signal to noise or provide directionality to a microphone. Digital math has the benefit of precision, 32 and 64 bit floating point numbers are routine. However all the math can be done in the analog domain, as historians familiar with the original analog computers that were used for gun targeting back in WWII. We are now coming full circle where analog computing is used for the distinct advantages it offers. |
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