Audio Capacitive Touch BoosterPack offers crystal clear audio to microcontroller-based applications

March 28, 2012 // Paul Buckley

Texas Instruments Incorporated has introduced the C5000 ultra-low-power digital signal processor (DSP)-based Audio Capacitive Touch BoosterPack which enables new functionalities in microcontroller applications, including crystal clear audio with playback and recording capabilities.

The new Audio Capacitive Touch BoosterPack ( 430Boost-C55audio1 ) is a plug-in board for the $4.30 MSP430 LaunchPad development kit, and it is the first solution from TI where a DSP is solely controlled by a microcontroller which allows designers to add audio and other real-time features to their system without DSP programming experience. The BoosterPack is ideal for low-power applications that use record and playback audio functions such as MP3 players, home automation and industrial applications.

 “TI is making it possible to achieve rock-bottom power consumption for audio applications by combining the industry’s lowest active power DSPs and ultra-low-power microcontrollers,” said Jon Beall, marketing director, single-core processors, TI. “In addition to the low power advantage, the real-time DSP performance added to the already-popular Capacitive Touch BoosterPack means the possibilities are endless for microcontroller developers wanting to take full advantage of sophisticated DSP technology without programming on the DSP.”

Featuring a C553x ultra-low-power DSP and an MSP430 Value Line device, the Audio Capacitive Touch BoosterPack combines the industry’s leading ultra-low-power microcontroller and DSP platforms. This allows developers to add DSP functionality to their microcontroller applications while ensuring the low power consumption. D evelopers can easily control the DSP through simple commands using the UART b y leveraging the pre-programmed DSP functions.

The C553x ultra-low-power DSP claims to be the industry’s lowest total power DSP with total active core power < 0.15 mW/MHz at 1.05V and enables crystal clear audio/voice MP3 encode and decode.  The MSP430G2452 microcontroller offers standby power of 0.5 uA and <1 μs wake-up time for a wide range of low-power applications.  The MSP430 microcontroller capacitive touch interface allows users to control volume, select song titles and record and playback audio files.

The C553x features an integrated LED display, high-speed USB 2.0 and SD/MMC interfaces to offer an enhanced user experience.  The device is supported with a free capacitive touch library that enables capacitive touch buttons, sliders, wheels and proximity sensors on all MSP430 microcontrollers, eliminating the need for developers to create complex touch-sensing algorithms.

The new C5000 ultra-low-power DSP-based Audio Capacitive Touch BoosterPack ( 430Boost-C55audio1 ) is available today for a one-time promotional price of $30 USD for the next 30 days (normally priced at $34.99) in honor of TI’s 30 th anniversary of digital signal processing innovation.  Developers can also take full advantage of the C553x ultra-low-power DSPs, starting at $1.95 in quantities of 1,000 units, and the C5535 eZdsp development kit for $99.

More information about the C5000 Audio Capacitive Touch BoosterPack at
www.ti.com/c55xboosterpacks or ti.com/launchpad

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December 15, 2011 | Texas instruments | 222901974

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