Austin, TX - Nov 28, 2011 - Silicon Labs has introduced its newest FM receiver line known as Si476x, and the company has published a white paper to go along with it. Read it at the website and registering.

A particular comment made inside this paper by Silicon Labs is of interest:
"HD Radio digital radio broadcast technology is gaining traction in the US automotive market. Previously relegated to high-end cars, HD Radio is now moving into mid-range automotive radio platforms in the US. To date, more than 20 automotive brands have announced HD Radio technology as a factory-installed infotainment feature. Leading automotive OEMs that have adopted HD Radio include Ford, Volvo and BMW to name a few. It is estimated that by 2015 more than 50 percent of all cars shipping in the US will support HD Radio reception." (The italics are mine.) The report unfortunately does not say who made that estimate.

Getting back to plain old FM reception momentarily, it's interesting to note that the Si476x series supports space diversity in the antenna system; it incorporates a means by which multipath can be mitigated by the use of dual antennas.

And, those of us who work in broadcasting have to appreciate this final statement by Silicon Labs: "Today's consumers expect a CD-quality audio experience from their car radios. Automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers understand this trend and are responding by designing sophisticated infotainment systems that incorporate multiple tuners to deliver FM phase diversity reception, receive RDS data for info-navigation systems and support digital radio standards such as HD Radio technology. Today's challenging broadcast performance demands require next-generation automotive tuners to enable a superior in-vehicle audio experience."