A typical mobile device has many low-speed/bandwidth peripherals connected to the host processor, which include microphones, speakers, sensors, and many others. There is a need for a standard bus that enables multiple audio channels, peer-peer communications, and a lower pin count on the host processor. The MIPI Alliance has defined the SLIMbus specification which provides a standard, robust, scalable, low-power, high-speed, cost-effective, two-wire multipurpose interface that supports a wide range of digital audio and control solutions for mobile terminals.
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. The v2.0 key features:
- A new approach for a multiline configuration that increases bandwidth scalability.
- A 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 the use of limited board space in a device.
- 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.
The Arasan Chip Systems MIPI SLIMbus digital controller provides a mature, highly capable solution for the MIPI SLIMbus Protocol. Arasan provides customers with both Host and Device functionality used on multiple production designs. The MIPI SLIMbus controller IP is applicable for host and application processors.
- Fully compliant with MIPI standard
- Integrated active manager, framer support for generic devices
- Direct system interconnect interface like AXI and others for host control
- Small footprint
- Functionality ensured with comprehensive verification
- Product quality is proven with silicon
- Includes controller and verification IP and Hardware Development Platform
Arasan provides a breadth of software packages for connectivity solutions which are available as source code to help expedite internal software testing and development. The software stack has been verified and integrated with Arasan IP solutions and provides developers a complete set of APIs for easy integration and a complete design environment.
