- Providing wireless modules and SDKs at competitive prices that enable the development of high-quality audio products

Seoul, December 11, 2014 – Microchip Technology (Korea Representative: Byung-Don Han), a global leader in microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog, and Flash-IP solutions, announced the launch of the 4th generation JukeBlox® platform.

With this new product, audio brands can develop a variety of products, including standalone or multi-room wireless speakers, AV receivers, mini and micro systems, and soundbars, featuring outstanding quality and low latency. The combination of Microchip's new Jukeblocks 4 SDK (Software Development Kit) and the CY920 Wi-Fi®/Bluetooth® Network Media Module enables enhanced consumer listening experiences through next-generation dual-band Wi-Fi technology, multi-zone/multi-room capabilities, AirPlay®, and DLNA® connectivity, along with integrated music services. Additionally, additional cost-saving features allow for lower bills of materials (BOM) and the development of highly competitive consumer products.

In addition, the certified CY920 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth network media module is based on Microchip's new low-cost DM920 Wi-Fi network media processor. This processor integrates 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, high-speed USB 2.0, and Ethernet connectivity. Speakers using the 5 GHz band can avoid RF congestion commonly found in the 2.4 GHz band, which not only reduces audio loss but also allows for the use of a larger number of speakers in multi-room/whole-home audio systems.

The DM920 Wi-Fi network media processor also integrates dual 300 MHz DSP cores, reducing the number of expensive standalone DSP chips. A user-friendly PC-based graphical user interface (GUI) allows for easy use of a pre-developed suite of standard speaker tuning DSP algorithms. This feature includes a 15-band equalizer, multi-band dynamic range compression, equalizer presets, and various filter types, enabling engineers without experience in writing DSP code to easily implement DSPs in their designs, while allowing experienced DSP engineers to fully utilize the performance of industry-standard DSP architectures.

With Zukeblox 4, developers can create solutions that allow direct streaming of cloud-based music services such as Spotify® Connect, Qobuz, Rhapsody, and Deezer while using a mobile device as a remote control. This enables users to move to any location within a Wi-Fi network without interrupting music playback on their mobile devices and maximizes battery life. As before, Zukeblox technology continues to provide seamless cross-platform support across iOS, Android™, Windows® 8, and Mac®, and offers full audio codecs and various user-friendly features to simplify network setup.

In addition, the SDK provides whole-home audio (multi-zone/multi-room) capabilities, allowing simultaneous audio streaming and control to multiple Zukeblocks-enabled devices within the home. Through the combination of new hardware and software technologies, you can experience robust audio streaming while improving synchronization and reducing network bandwidth utilization.

“The Zukeblox platform, having shipped over 8 million modules to date, leads the streaming audio market and is being adopted by more audio brands than any other existing brand platform in the field of Wi-Fi audio connectivity. Microchip has established an unrivaled and solid position in the wireless audio market and is currently supplying the 4th generation Zukeblox SDK and CY920 network module to key customers,” said Sumit Mitra, Vice President of Microchip’s Wireless Products Group.

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The JukeBlox 4 SDK and JukeBlox CY920 module are currently available in samples and bulk. For more information, please contact a Microchip sales representative or an authorized distributor worldwide, or visit the Microchip website ( http://www.microchip.com/JukeBlox-Page-120814a ).