Nippon Precision Circuits, Inc. (NPC, Main office: 4-3 Fukuzumi 2-chome, Koto-Ku, Tokyo, President: Yoshifumi Gomi) developed and started shipment of the sample of digital surround processor LSI, the SM5953AV, that is ideal for realizing high-quality surround sound in portable audio systems that have increasingly become compact and low-power.

Based on digital audio signals of the left and right stereo channels, the SM5953AV is a digital surround sound processor LSI that synthesizes reflected sound and reverberation components and adds a surround effect to the original stereo signals.

The parameters of the surround effect are set by using a 3-wire microcomputer interface. One of the features of SM5953AV is that each parameter can be adjusted by continuously varying the parameter. This product operates at a voltage as low as 2.5V, and has a power-down function that keeps the power consumption low. Housed in a small 16-pin VSOP package, the SM5953AV is ideal for a portable audio system that should be space-saving.

The demand for higher added value for sound quality such as the surround effect has grown in the field of portable audio systems that have increasingly become compact. There is also a demand for adjusting the surround effect for each piece of music. By using the SM5953AV, an audio processing circuit can satisfy these demands, consumes less power and can provide wide-ranging surround sound.

NPC continues to develop digital audio LSIs by making the best use of its signal processing technology.

Product Name	Shipment of Sample	Sample Price (including tax)	Mass Production	Mass Production Plans
SM5953AV	April 2004	¥400 yen per unit (¥420 per unit)	September 2004	200,000 units per month