Texas Instruments and Lyrtech Announce Industry's First Complete Small Form Factor Reference Design for Hands-Free Car Cellular Phone Kits

New Design Leverages Industry Leading Software and Hardware Technology from

Acoustic Technologies, Adamya Computing Technologies, Lyrtech and TI to Speed

Time-to-Market for OEMs

HOUSTON, Texas, Nov. 1 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Simplifying system design

of hands-free cellular phone kits for automobiles, Texas Instruments

Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) and Lyrtech (TSX Venture Exchange: LYT) today

announced the availability of a complete Hands Free Kit (HFK) Reference

Design for use with the new TMS320C54HFK digital signal processor (DSP). This

complete small form factor reference design from Lyrtech provides original

equipment manufacturers (OEMs) all the necessary hardware and software for

creating unique Bluetooth and audio streaming-enabled, high-quality cell

phone HFK Reference Designs for the automobile aftermarket by providing the

flexibility to add additional proprietary or off-the-shelf algorithms to fit

individual product needs. Featuring a TI DSP-based platform, the new

reference design eliminates the need to further design any core hardware or

car audio software modules, thus saving OEMs cost and up to nine months in

development time. For more information, visit http://www.ti.com/hfkpr .

Spurred by bans on holding a cellular phone while driving in multiple

U.S. states, European nations and other countries worldwide, HFK technology

is not only a growing necessity for drivers, but also for developers that

need to meet this demand by providing sound quality products that meet

specific consumer expectations. As a result, it is increasingly important to

have integrated platforms in order to keep from reinventing fundamental

technology.

The TI HFK Reference Design is a full system solution including hardware,

schematics and Gerber files, freeing customers from the burden of hardware

and software development of the reference design, part selection validation

and testing. Instead, they can concentrate their efforts into customizing

specific features on their higher quality audio products while saving at

least 40 weeks in development time and cost.

“Sufficient on-chip memory and processing horsepower are extremely

important features to have in DSPs in HFK Reference Designs,” said Greg

Eslinger, vice president of engineering at Acoustic Technologies. “The new

TI TMS320C54HFK DSP is optimized for HFK Reference Design products and offers

optimal performance and more on-chip memory than options from other

manufacturers. This allows our SoundClear(R) software to deliver a crisp,

clear, higher-quality user experience by removing echoes, performing noise

cancellation and enhancing the audio.”

Optimal Combination of Audio Quality, Voice Clarity and Extended Features

The HFK Reference Design is based on TI’s audio optimized TMS320C54xTM

DSP, which gives designers an effective way of achieving the high-

performance, low-power operation and low system cost ideal for audio specific

applications. Combined with expertise from an array of TI DSP Third Party

Network members, designers now have access to easy-to-use hardware and

software to help deliver improved sound quality hand-held devices with the

reference design. The design leverages Acoustic Technologies’ key software

algorithms for echo cancellation, noise reduction and enhanced speech to

achieve clear, crisp audio allowing engineers to build best-in-class hands

free devices that deliver the best user experience.

Satisfying the growing need and trend for Bluetooth-enabled hand-held

devices, TI utilizes Bluetooth technology from Adamya Computing Technologies,

a leading third party with a track record of providing quality support to TI

customers, to deliver Bluetooth communication software allowing simultaneous

audio and data streaming. By integrating Bluetooth, this makes it possible

to use the HFK Reference Design with any Bluetooth enabled phone regardless

of phone manufacturer. Bluetooth and audio streaming have removed the

cradle, making it unnecessary to upgrade the kit for new or additional

phones, thus simplifying systems and providing customers with more consistent

use across products. Lyrtech provides additional flexibility by providing a

complete packaged solution and technical support based on its experience in

designing advanced DSP development solutions. Moreover, having joint system

design engineering and manufacturing capabilities to quickly support

customers looking to go in production will greatly help reducing time-to-

production and time-to-market for OEMs. The result of this joint

collaboration is a system that can be used as-is or differentiated through

the addition of customized software features or the OEM’s own proprietary

software.

Complete Solution Reduces Development Cycle Time and Provides

Customizable Features

While the Bluetooth software, noise reduction and echo cancellation are

standard, additional software is available to customize the design, such as

phone book download functionality and speech recognition, to create an ideal

user experience. A Bluetooth A2DP profile for audio streaming allows the

driver to play MP3 music via the phone through the headset or car speakers

and also lets them connect to a laptop PC or other Bluetooth-enabled audio

systems. Another helpful feature includes automatic car stereo music muting

when receiving incoming phone calls.

“The HFK Reference Design puts OEMs a step ahead in the development of

cellular car kits,” said John Dixon, worldwide low power DSP product

marketing manager, Texas Instruments. “With proven technology from

experienced DSP third parties, plus TI’s leadership in the Hands Free Car

Kit DSP market, OEMs can now quickly and easily build quality cellular phone

HFKs for the auto aftermarket.”

Proven Technology

The HFK Reference Design is an evolution from TI’s HFK Development

Platform, which provides OEMs with the necessary software and tools for

designing their own C54HFK DSP-based HFK products. In addition to TI’s Code

Composer Studio(TM) Integrated Development Environment (IDE) library examples

and a trial version of Code Composer Studio tools, the HFK Development

Platform includes Acoustic Technologies’ SoundClear(R) software, which

delivers a combination of patented algorithms for acoustic echo cancellation,

noise cancellation, sound enhancement and full-duplex control that work

together to provide dramatic improvements in sound quality and speech

intelligibility. Additionally, Acoustic Technologies’ RAPID-HFK(TM) tuning

tool allows manufacturers to tune their designs quickly and efficiently.

Numerous TI analog and logic components help complete the HFK Reference

Design. For example, the BTR6300 provides very low-power Bluetooth 1.1, 1.2,

2.0 specification-compliant connectivity and supports enhanced data rates of

2 and 3 Mbps. The TLV320AIC31 low-power stereo audio Codec enables excellent

audio quality (100-dB signal-to-noise ratio), and the audio/control interface

works seamlessly with the TMS320C54HFK DSP.

Pricing and Availability

The HFK Reference Design is available for $495 through Lyrtech, with

order entry beginning in December 2006.

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog

technologies to meet our customers’ real world signal processing

requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company includes the

Educational & Productivity Solutions business. TI is headquartered in

Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than

25 countries.

Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the

symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at

http://www.ti.com .

About Lyrtech

Lyrtech develops and manufactures advanced digital signal processing

solutions for companies worldwide, a vital technology to network and wireless

communications, audio and video processing, as well as electronic systems in

all fields of technology. Lyrtech offers a full range of DSP-FPGA development

platforms, as well as design, prototyping, and manufacturing of electronic

products through its Innovator division.

From the company’s state-of-the-art 50,000 ft. facility in Montreal,

Lyrtech offers prototyping services, new product introduction, turnkey

assembly, box build assembly, and other electronic manufacturing services,

providing customers with a quality production run of highly complex products

with a fast turnaround.

Lyrtech works in partnership with industry leaders such as Texas

Instruments, The MathWorks and Xilinx. Lyrtech’s customers include companies

operating in the consumer electronics, telecommunications, aerospace and

defense fields, such as BAE Systems, Defence Research and Development Canada

(DRDC), European Aerospace Defence and Space Company (EADS), Fujitsu, Harris,

ITT, Motorola, Neural Audio, NTT DoCoMo and Samsung-Thales.

Trademarks

TMS320C54xTM and Code Composer Studio(TM) are trademarks of Texas

Instruments. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property

of their respective owners.