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Future HD Radio Chips from TI, University of Arizona
The chipmaking giant Texas Instruments is working with a group from the University of Arizona to produce smaller, chipper HD Radio chips: Their aim is reduce the chip count, requiring just a single chip for all analog and digital tuning. The fewer chips, the less cost not just for chips but supporting circuitry. In the Wi-Fi world, which I know well, the chip size, power requirements, and count have dropped dramatically over the last five years, with single chips now performing functions that required entire circuit boards. Less power means the potential for portable, battery-powered devices.
HD Radio cannot become mainstream until radios featuring the technology are available in every form: not just the tabletop radios generally available at a cost far too high for average consumers, but also as portables, an add-on or built-in option for digital music players, factory inclusion by automakers, and home amplifier/receivers.