NEC Electronics America today announced the launch of the first product in the company's new AP series of audio processors that enables 50 hours of continuous music playback on mobile phones. The single-chip uPD99910 audio processor integrates a central processing unit (CPU) and digital signal processor (DSP) dedicated to music playback and an interface dedicated to copyright protection media.

Designed to be a companion chip to an application processor, NEC Electronics' uPD99910 device appropriates and optimizes the music playback function of the application processor, incorporates an SD Memory Card interface and supports Content Protection for Recordable Media (CPRM) copyright protection technology whose SD-Audio function enables music data to be downloaded and played without copyright infringement. The power saved by having the playback-dedicated CPU and DSP operate in place of the application processor allows 50 hours of continuous music to be played back using existing resources such as user interface software. By having these features integrated
on a single chip, the new processor allows manufacturers to enhance mobile phone performance while reducing time to market and costs. 

"The functional sophistication of mobile phones continues to increase, and music playback is one of the most popular functions to emerge recently. Current mobile phones tend to realize the music playback function through the application processor, which consumes a lot of power and makes it difficult to play music for any length of time," said Kugao Ouchi, general manager, digital consumer and connectivity strategic business unit, NEC Electronics America.

"With the new uPD99910 audio processor, NEC Electronics America is able to offer mobile phone manufacturers a cost-effective solution that enables them to design in a wide range of music playback functions without compromising performance." 

In previous mobile phone models, the CPU and DSP in the application processor were used to play back music and also for other types of processing, including video processing. As a result, the application processor's high performance came at the expense of power efficiency.  With a CPU and DSP dedicated to music playback, NEC Electronics' uPD99910 audio processor does not need to engage the application processor and is able to provide 50 hours of continuous music playback using a battery with the same capacity as current battery models-a 10-fold improvement.

The rapid spread of service providers selling high-quality music content has given rise to a number of issues, such as how to protect the copyright of the purchased content while allowing customers to play the content effectively. NEC Electronics' uPD99910 audio processor's on-chip interface for an SD Memory Card, a small-scale memory card that includes a copyright protection function, enables manufacturers to develop mobile phones that support various SD Memory Card functions, including SD-Binding, whereby
purchased content can be transferred from an old machine to a new one using the same SD Memory Card. 

In addition, because NEC Electronics' uPD99910 device is a companion chip, music can be played by downloading the playback program from the application processor. The code used to run the program can be stored in the application processor's flash memory, with only a small amount of music playback code stored in the uPD99910 audio processor, thereby reducing internal memory size. Moreover, external flash memory for storing program code is not required, allowing the uPD99910 device to deliver better cost performance for portable digital audio players.