MIPI Alliance Updates its MIPI SLIMbus Specification to Advance Audio System Performance in Mobile and Mobile-Influenced Devices

The New Release, v2.0, supports Higher Bandwidth, High-Quality Audio Streams and Phase Coherence to enable Multichannel Sound, Microphone Arrays and Other Compelling Audio Applications

PISCATAWAY, NJ, November 4, 2015 - The MIPI^® Alliance, an international organization that develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries, today announced an update to MIPI SLIMbus^®, a specification used to interconnect audio components in mobile and mobile-influenced devices. The new release, v2.0, adds new features that address the market’s needs for increasingly sophisticated audio performance while simplifying component integration for manufacturers.

“We’re very pleased to introduce this important, updated specification for MIPI SLIMbus, a well-established technology that is interconnecting audio system components in hundreds of millions of mobile terminals,” said Joel Huloux, Chairman of the Board of MIPI Alliance.

“MIPI Alliance is continually engaged with the market to identify new requirements for audio interface technologies and the updates provided in MIPI SLIMbus v2.0 were developed in direct response to emerging market needs,” Huloux said. “In particular, with v2.0, companies can optimize multichannel sound transport to support new functionalities, better audio quality or better user interaction in their mobile terminal designs.”

MIPI SLIMbus is a two-wire hardware interface and transport protocol that was developed by the MIPI Alliance Low-Speed Multipoint Link Working Group (LML WG) and introduced in 2007. The specification supports a wide range of digital audio and control solutions to seamlessly transport audio and related data for larger-sized mobile device components, such as the application processor, audio codec, modem, audio digital signal processor, Bluetooth, and FM receiver.

The v2.0 release introduces three key features. One feature is a new approach for multiline configuration that increases bandwidth scalability. Another feature is multichannel capability that can transmit multiple, phase-aligned audio streams between multiple devices and peripherals; the multichannel feature can also support phase-coherency, improved direct memory access (DMA) efficiency, and higher bandwidth via a reduced number of ports to simplify integration and improve use of limited board space in a device. A third feature is a segment distribution technique that uses new secondary data transport lines to maximize the use of available bandwidth for asynchronous data transmissions; this feature can improve performance for pushed or pulled data, software downloads, audio uploads or bulk data transport.

MIPI SLIMbus v2.0 is also backward compatible with previous versions of the specification. MIPI

Alliance offers MIPI SLIMbus in addition to MIPI SoundWire℠, an interface used to support very small audio peripherals such as amplifiers and microphones. MIPI SLIMbus can coexist with MIPI SoundWire or non-MIPI interfaces through bridging solutions.

Lior Amarilio, vice chair of the MIPI LML WG and wired connectivity architect at Qualcomm, said the broadened capabilities and implementation flexibility offered by the updated MIPI SLIMbus specification will enable designers to use this single means of transport to quickly interconnect multiple audio components on the same link. The specification also supports software configuration, which enables system flexibility. The techniques facilitate interoperability, reduce time-to-market and lower design costs by simplifying the interconnection of products from different manufacturers.

“MIPI SLIMbus v2.0 represents the culmination of extensive teamwork by key engineers, experienced in the audio product development of SLIMbus v1.1, who carefully analyzed the implications of the new performance enhancements on hardware, software and product integration while retaining full backwards compatibility,” Amarilio said. “It was a pleasure to be part of the effort to enhance this standard.”

For more information about MIPI SLIMbus, please visit http://bit.ly/1LOydKt.

About MIPI Alliance

MIPI Alliance (MIPI) develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries. Founded in 2003, the organization has more than 275 member companies worldwide, more than 15 active working groups, and has delivered more than 45 specifications within the mobile ecosystem in the last decade. Members of the organization include handset manufacturers, device OEMs, software providers, semiconductor companies, application processor developers, IP tool providers, test and test equipment companies, as well as camera, tablet and laptop manufacturers. For more information, please visit www.mipi.org.