Silicon Laboratories has introduced the industry’s first crystal-free USB to I²S audio bridge designed to support a wide range of codecs and digital-to-analog converters used in USB-based audio applications.

 

The CP2114 audio bridge chip simplifies the transfer of audio data from USB to I²S by eliminating the need for time-consuming code development. The new component uses the standard USB audio device class that is natively supported by most operating systems, eliminating the need to develop and install custom USB software drivers. Host programming capabilities also allow configuration of practically any external codec or DAC and enable in-field upgrades.

 

The chip combines a USB 2.0 Full-Speed host controller, a USB transceiver, a crystal-free oscillator, ROM, a UART, I²C and I²S interface. The device’s innovative architecture eliminates the need for external clock crystals and associated components, including external memory when combined with a codec or DAC. It supports a variety of mainstream DACs and codecs from Wolfson Microelectronics, Cirrus Logic and Texas Instruments.