Low-power DAC for portable applications

These applications include media players, headsets, multimedia phones and navigation devices.

The WM8912 features Wolfson's SmartDAC technology, a low-power DAC capacitor switching architecture, which enables DAC-to-headphone power consumption of less than 4mW.

Also incorporated into the WM8912 is Wolfson's Class W amplifier technology, an evolution of Class G, which includes an adaptive dual-drive charge pump and DC servo circuit architecture.

The Class W ground-referenced amplifier technology uses an adaptive dual-drive charge pump to optimise power dissipation and eliminate the need for large DC blocking capacitors on both headphone and line outputs, resulting in savings in PCB space and the audio subsystem bill of materials.

The WM8912 also features a control write sequencer to ensure ease of system design by enabling and disabling the DAC with a single register write.

Flexible clocking options are provided by a low-power frequency locked loop (FLL).

A programmable dynamic range controller compresses the output signal ensuring maximum volume is achieved when desired.

Used in conjunction with the Retune Mobile parametric equaliser, the WM8912 offers features to optimise the performance of an output transducer, such as a headphone or speaker.

The total package is said to allow consumer electronics designers to develop highly differentiated end products at a reduced cost.

The WM8912 is available for sampling in a 32-pin 4x4mm QFN package.

WM8912 customer evaluation boards with the Wolfson Interactive Setup and Configuration Environment (WISCE) are available to aid device evaluation and development.

WISCE connects to the evaluation board over USB and offers an interactive register map interface.

This interface provides good control and overview of the device settings.