DSP allows highly energy-efficient audio playback for Dolby Atmos in cars

Cadence Design Systems, Inc has revealed that Cadence Tensilica HiFi DSP IP now supports Dolby Atmos for cars, making it the first DSP IP with this ability. It has optimised Dolby car experience technology to run on the Tensilica HiFi DSP for audio playback of Dolby Atmos for cars. Offloading Dolby Atmos to the low-energy, high-performance HiFi DSP enables SoC providers to present automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers with a more energy-efficient implementation with no effect on the audio experience.

Dolby Atmos for cars engrosses drivers and passengers in the future of in-car entertainment with better audio details, clarity and sound separation that bring listeners closer to their favourite content.

“At Dolby, we are passionate about expanding the options for consumers to enjoy Dolby Atmos experiences, and music is an important aspect of any in-car experience,” said Andreas Ehret, director of Automotive at Dolby Laboratories. “Dolby is a long-standing Cadence partner, and enabling Dolby Atmos on the popular Tensilica HiFi DSP allows OEMs and users to optimise their automotive infotainment experience.”

“The Tensilica HiFi DSP is the most widely used audio DSP on the market. HiFi DSPs are licensed by 19 of the top 20 semiconductor companies, with more than 1.5 billion HiFi DSP cores shipping per year. In collaboration with Dolby, we have brought Dolby technology to billions of consumer devices over the years, including the first-ever Dolby Atmos TV,” stated Yipeng Liu, group director of marketing, Tensilica audio/voice IP at Cadence. “Offering Dolby car experience technology on Tensilica HiFi DSPs enables our customers to deliver Dolby Atmos for cars to the market with extremely high performance, energy efficiency and value.”

The company's comprehensive audio ecosystem includes more than 180 partners varying from industry giants such as Dolby to other companies offering innovative sensor fusion, always-on, sound-enhancement and noise-reduction software. More than 300 audio, voice, speech recognition and voice enhancement software packages have already been ported to the Tensilica HiFi DSP architecture, allowing customers to get up and running extremely quickly and effortlessly port their proprietary software with the same or higher performance as other DSP solutions.