Digital audio over FireWire 800 made simple

Comprising a two-channel audio add-on board used in conjunction with the OXUF922 development board, the latest reference design from Oxford Semiconductor provides 'plug and play' evaluation of the full potential of digital audio distribution over IEEE1394b (FireWire800) networks.

The OXUF922 programmable bridge board receives isochronous audio packets over an IEEE1394b serial bus using the IEC61883-6 transmission protocol, handles buffer management, audio and sample rate control, and passes the packets to the audio add-on board for D to A conversion.

On the audio add-on board, the analog audio output produced from a Wolfson DAC is made available from dedicated stereo headphone and line jacks. Demonstration software is provided for an Apple Mac OS10 FireWire digital speaker system.

Using the Oxford Semiconductor digital audio reference design in a surround sound amplifier system for example, demonstrates the full clarity of digital audio in a home environment and achieves the auto-configuration and interoperability long promised by digital audio networks.