— Line In, Line Out, Mic In, Headphone or Headset con-
nection, Modem audio connection, CD Audio In, Video
In, Aux In, and PC Speaker In
■ Joystick/MIDI Interface
■ Meets or exceeds Microsoft’s
both required and advanced, audio performance
requirements.
ORDERING INFO
CRD4610-1
®
PC’97 and PC’98 ,
CrystalClear™
AC '97 Motherboard
Reference Design
DESCRIPTION
The CRD4610-1 showcases Cirrus Logic’s Cystal
Audio AC '97 motherboard solution using the
CS4610 SoundFusion Audio Accelerator and the
CS4297 SoundFusion Audio Codec '97. This design illustrates a single sided motherboard
implementation on a PCI adapter card. Using the
Mic In, Line Out and Line In analog connectors
only, the combined motherboard footprint is approximately 3.1 sq. in. This area is outlined around
the CS4610 and the CS4297. The card includes
other optional analog inputs and outputs, as well.
Volume control buttons are also included to demonstrate the hardware master volume control.
CIRRUS LOGIC ADVANCED PRODUCT DATABOOK
NOV ‘97DS241RD1C1
Copyright Cirrus Logic, I nc. 1997
(All Rights Reserv ed)
CRD4610-1
CrystalCle ar™ AC '97 Motherboard Refe renc e Design
GENERAL INFORMATION
Today’s multimedia applications demand high
quality PC a udio an d many audi o connec tions. To
®
meet this demand Intel
defined the AC ‘97 (Audio
Codec ‘97) specification that defines a two chip audio solution [1]. The idea behind the two-chip solution is to have a separate audio controller chip
connected to the PCI bus to accelerate increasingly
popular audio p rocessi ng func tion s such as Aure al
TM
A3D
and Dolby
, DirectSound 3DTM, wavetable synthesis,
®
Digital (AC-3®) decoding. A separa te
audio codec is conne cted to th e control ler for ana log mixing and data conversion. Audio data is
transferred be twe e n the co ntr oll er ch ip an d the audio codec through a standard digital interface
called an AC Link at a 48 kHz frame rate. For more
information on AC ‘97 and the AC Link, please
consult the AC ‘9 7 specificatio n [1].
The adv antage of a two chip a udio solu tion is that
the analog section of a system can be completely
separated from the noisy digital envi ronment of a
personal compu ter. A digital link is all that is required to connec t the audio codec t o the PCI busbased AC’97 controller. This allows the audio section to reach the required signal to noise ratio of
~90 dB while making t he layout an d placeme nt of
the audio section easier to impleme nt.
The CRD4610-1 demonstrates Cirrus’ two-chip solution using t he CS4610 SoundFus ion PCI Audio
Accelerator and the CS4297 SoundFusion Audio
Codec. These two integrated circuits demonstrate
Cirrus’ powerful DSP cont roller and unsurpassed
CrystalClear audio quality in a single PCI add-in
card reference desi gn.
REFERENCE DESIGN FEATURES
The reference design ill ustrates a typ ical four-lay er, single side d mot herbo ard layo ut. T he re fer ence
design card is sectioned into th ree main parts: t he
CS4610 PCI Audio Accelerator section, the
CS4297 Audio Codec ‘97 section, and the Optional
Extended Anal og I/O section.
CS4610 PCI Audio Accelerator Section
The area aro und the CS 4610 in cludes th e required
bypass capacitors, PLL power supply filter components, an EEPROM, the components for the joystick connection and a buffer circuit for the external
MIDI connec tion. The layou t of this secti on complies with the PCI specific ation versio n 2.1 [2] for
add-in cards. Please refer to the Schematic and
Layout sections of this document for more information. For more information on the CS4610, refer
to the CS4610 Data Sheet [3]. The required area for
this particular layout is 1.97 sq. in.
External EEPROM
The CS4610 EE PROM c onta ins the requ ired Sub system Vendor ID and Subsystem ID values as well
as two configura tion regi sters which con figure the
software driver of the CS4610 to operate in AC ‘97
link mode. Th e CS4610 currently requir es 7 data
bytes in the EEPR OM for configurat ion. The PCI
Special Interest Group assigns manufacturers a
Subsystem Vendor ID. To meet WHQL
dards, the Subsystem ID must be a non-zero va lue.
Please call Cirrus Logic PC Products Crystal Audio
Division at (512) 445-7222 to have a Subsystem ID
assigned to a particu la r proj ect.
If the CS4610 is im plemented on a mother boa rd,
an external EEPROM is not required for proper operation. A host-load procedure may be used for
configuration in this case. However, silicon revisions rev. C and prior m ust use an EEPROM if a
unique Subsystem ID is required. This is due to an
errata which causes the upper byte of the subsystem
vendor ID to be duplicated in the subsystem ID
field during host load to the SSVID register.
It is recomme nded that a n EEPROM be used during system de velopment to allo w debug and configuration changes without having to modify BIOS
code. If host load will be used in producti on, the
EEPROM circuit ry can be left unpopul ated.
™ stan-
CIRRUS LOGIC ADVANCED PRODUCT DATABOOK
2DS241RD1C1
CRD4610-1
CrystalClear™ AC '97 Motherboard Reference Design
For information regarding the programming and
timing of th e EEPR OM, refer to t he CS4610 Data
Sheet [3].
CS4297 Audio Codec ‘97 Section
This section con tains the compone nts for the Mic
In, Line In, and Line Out audio connections. It also
includes a 24.576 MHz crystal that acts as the mas-
ter clock in an AC ‘97 co nfiguration. The capaci tors required for the CS42 97 and their placement
are discussed in the CS4297 Data She et. Refer to
the Grounding and Layout section of the data sheet
for the recommended routing the audio section [4].
The require d area for thi s particular layout is 1.08
sq. in.
Optional Extended Analog I/O Section
The CS4297 has many ana log inputs and outputs
that may or may not be used depending on the system’s appli cat ion. Un used in puts shou ld be t ied to
Vrefout (pin 28) o r capa citi vely c oup led to the an alog ground plane. The optional section contains
the compo nen ts for a he adpho ne amp lifie r a nd an other microphone amplifier for the MIC2 input.
This section also contains a popul ation option for
headphones or head se t operation on the 1/8 " ext ernal jack. Th e referenc e card ship s with hea dphone
operation enabled. To enable headset operation,
R24 and R26 should be removed and one of the resistors placed in the space for R25. This will enable
the microphone 2 input on the tip connection of the
external jac k and the right head phone channel on
the ring co nne ction of the external jack.
The Modem Audio, CD ROM, Video In, Aux in,
and Spk In headers a re also part of the Extended
Analog I/O section. Each header has a few resistor
packs a nd capacito rs associated with it. The header
and its associ ated compo nents may or may not be
necessary depending on the audio inputs implemented.
Audio Inputs and Outputs
The entire se t of the CS4297 ’s analog I/O is re presented on the refe rence design card through internal headers a nd external connectors:
-Line Out
-Mic In
-Line In
-CD ROM In
-Modem audio connection
-Headphone Out or Headset connection
-Aux In
-Video In
-PC Speaker
Five external 1/8" jacks and six internal header
connections are used for analog inputs and outputs.
The modem audio connection and the line out connection have an internal header and an external 1/8"
jack conne ction. When a pl ug is inserted in to the
external jac k for the modem audio or the line out
connections, the correspondi ng internal conn ector
is disabled.
The line ou t, line in and microphone in circuits are
included in the area outlined around the CS4297
codec. The other analog connections are considered to be part of the optional extended analog I/O.
Line Out
The Line Out connection can either be made
through the exte rna l 1/8" jack or t he int e rnal 4- pin
(0.1 inch center) header. If the 1/8" jack is used the
internal 4 p in connecto r is disabled. The Line Out
output can only drive input impedances greater
than 10 kΩ.
•Maximum outp ut l eve l: 1 Vrms
CIRRUS LOGIC ADVANCED PRODUCT DATABOOK
DS241RD1C13
CRD4610-1
CrystalCle ar™ AC '97 Motherboard Refe renc e Design
Mic In
The Microphone In 1/8" jack provides an input to a
microphone preamplifier circuit that provides
17 dB of gain.
•Maximum input level:
- Microphone Boost enabled: 12.7 mV
- Microphone Boost di sabled: 127 mV
•Supports 3-pin phantom power and dynamic
microphones
•Microphone power is provided on the ring con-
nection of th e 1/8" stereo jack
Line In
The Line In 1/8" jack provides an input to the Line
In pins of the CS4297 .
•Maximum input level: 2 Vrms
CD ROM In
The CD ROM input header is a 4 p in (0.08 inch
center) shrouded connector that fits most CD ROM
audio ad apter cabl es .
•Maximum input level: 2 Vrms
•Differential input using the CD common pin as
the ground
Modem Audio Connection
The modem audio connection can either be m ade
through the e xter na l 1/8" j ack or the i nter na l 4-pin
(0.1 inch center) header. These connectors have
both an input and an output on them.
External 1/8" jack:
•Ring connection: Mono inp ut
-Maximum input level: 1 Vr ms
•Tip connection: Mono output
-Maximum ou tput level: 0.7 Vrms
Headphone Out or Headset
An external 1/8" ja ck is provided for a hea dphone
or headset co nne ction. The ca rd com es c onf igured
for headphone operation with the selection being
made by a 0 Ω resistor population option. The
headphone option is selected by populating R24
and R26 and not populating R25. The headse t option is selected when R25 is populated and R24 and
R26 are not populated.
Headphone output option:
•Capable of driving low impedance loads such
as 32 Ω headphones
•Maximum outp ut l eve l: 1.4 Vrms
Headset option:
Ring connecti on: Right headphone output
•Maximum outp ut l eve l: 1.4 Vrms
Tip connection: Microphone 2 input
•Maximum input level:
- Microphone Boost enable d: 12 . 7 mV
- Microphone Boost disabled: 127 m V
•Microphone power i s provided o n the tip con nection. This setup supports phantom power
mics only (not dynamic mics)
Aux In
•Internal 4 pin hea der (0.1 inch cen te r )
•Maximum input level: 2 Vr m s
Video In
•Internal 4 pin hea der (0.1 inch cen te r )
•Maximum input level: 2 Vr m s
PC Speaker
•Internal 2 pin hea der (0.1 inch cen te r )
•Mono input for the internal PC speaker output
CIRRUS LOGIC ADVANCED PRODUCT DATABOOK
4DS241RD1C1
CRD4610-1
CrystalClear™ AC '97 Motherboard Reference Design
Other Reference Card Features
Other referenc e card fea tures tha t are not ass ociat ed with the other secti ons are the e xternal vol ume
control buttons, the joystick/ M IDI connection, and
the power regulators.
Volume Control Buttons
The volume control buttons are connected to the
CS4610 and ac t as a master volume co ntrol. The
four-pin header can be populated to provide a cable
connectio n for volu me con trol but tons that can be
placed e lsew he re in t he s yst em. Th ere is a volum e
up button and a volume down button. Pressing both
buttons at the same time enables the mute/unmmute function .
Joystick/MIDI connection
The DB-15 connector allows a joystick or an external MIDI device to be connected to the CS4610. In
the AC’ 97 conf igurati on, the C S4610 ha ndles the
joystick operation. The external connection can
also take MIDI data from a n external source to the
CS4610. A buffer circuit allows the MIDIOUT pin
of the CS4610 to drive an external M IDI input.
Power Regulators
There are t wo powe r regula tors o n the bo ard. One
is a Linear Technologies LT117CST-3.3 voltage
regulator that derives the +3.3 V supply for the
CS4610 and the CS4297 from the +5 V on the PCI
bus. This regulator is unnecessary on mother
boards with a +3.3 V supply. The regulator was
used in this reference design because the +3.3 V
PCI bus power pins are not guaranteed to be on the
PCI bus connector. The card is also designed to be
used in a 5 V PCI Connector [2].
A Motorola MC78M05CDT regulates the PCI
+12 V supply down to provide a clean +5 V analog
supply for the operational amplifiers and the
CS4297. A power regulator is recommended for
the analog voltage supply to provide good audio
signal quality. The MC78M05CDT regulator can
provide up to 500 mA of current with adequate
heat-sinking, which is enough power for the
CS4297 and the three audio op-amps. The
MC78L05 power regulators do not provide enough
current to power the same devices, and are not recommended for use with the CS42 97.
SCHEMATIC DESCRIPTION
Figures 1 through 8 show the schematics for the
CRD4610-1 card. This section will describe particular pages of the schematic that need to be discussed.
Figure 7 : CD Audio Input
C5 and C6 a re used in pa rallel to ma ke a 2 µF capacitor on th e CD Co mmon li ne becau se th e input
impedance on tha t li ne is half of what is on the CD
In Right and CD In Left. A 2 µF capacitor could be
used, but m any of t he 2 µF ca pacitors tested ha ve
shown distortion problems.
Figure 3 : CS4297
A 10 µF electrolytic capacitor should be added
next to pins 25 and 26 if the capacitor connected to
the output of the power regulator is located far
away from the CS429 7. For the best aud io perfor mance, the an alog voltage re gulator should be located near th e C S429 7. R1 and R2 a re te rmin at ion
resistors in the serial AC link be t ween the CS4297
and the CS4610. NPO-type capacitors should be
used on all lo ading capacitors of a udio signals to
ensure minimal a dded distortion.
Figure 2 : CS4610
The 0.1 µF capa ci tors connec te d to th e pow er pins
of the CS4610 should be as close as possible to the
chip. The inductor L6 is used to f ilter the power
supply for the in ternal PLL cir cuit. R7 can be removed from a production design, and pin 51 can be
connected directly to digital ground. R3 and R4 are
terminatio n resist ors in the ser ial AC l ink be tween
the CS4297 and the CS4610.
CIRRUS LOGIC ADVANCED PRODUCT DATABOOK
DS241RD1C15
CRD4610-1
CrystalCle ar™ AC '97 Motherboard Refe renc e Design
Figure 4 : Line Input
Two parallel 1 µF capacitors are used on the line in
circuit to dec rease the low freque ncy corner since
this input is usually used for high signal quality input. A 2 µF capacitor c ould be used , but 2 µF surface mount capacitors are often not high quality
capacitors and can add distortion to audio signals.
Figure 6 : Headphone or Headset
A resistor popula tion optio n is incl uded to ch oose
between a hea dphone or headset connecti on. The
headset connection incorporates the right headphone and MIC2 on one external jack.
Figure 14 : MIDI and Joystick Connection
A buffer driver circuit is use d on the MIDI out put
pin to provide the necessary drive for MIDI devices
connected through a long cable. This circuit can be
removed, and R28 populated to by pass the buffer
driver circuit if it is unnecessary.
Figure 15 : PCI Bus Connection
The PCI 2.1 specification requires that each unused
+3.3 V power pin should be connected with an average of 0.01 µF capacitor [2]. Two 0.1 µF capacitors in parallel provide the required capacitance for
the power pins.
EMC Components
on trace lengths that are not imposed on motherboard designs. These trace length limits for add-in
cards are as follows:
•Maximum trace length for 32-bit signals on 32bit and 64-bit ca rds is 1. 5 inches.
•Maximum trace lengths for signals on th e 64bit extension are 2 inch es .
•Trace length for the PCI CLK signal is 2.5 inches ± 0.1 inch.
•The PCI CLK si gna l must drive only one load.
Please refer to the PCI 2.1 Specification Section
4.3.6 for information on routing PCI bus signals on
a motherboard [2 ].
Partitioned Voltage and Ground Planes
The CRD4610-1 is partitioned into a digital and analog section. Correspondingly, the voltage and
ground planes are partitioned to keep digital and
analog ground currents from crossing. Ground currents from digi tal s igna ls are inhere ntly noisy with
respect to analog signals and should be isolated
from the audio se ction. Th e first ru le in lay ing out
mixed signal PCBs is to keep all digital signals
over the digital ground plane and all analog signals
over the analog ground plane. When digital and analog signals cross pl anes, they introduce noise into
the audio sec tion reducing pe rformance.
A number of capacitors a nd inducto rs are included
to help the board meet EMC compliance tests, such
as FCC P art 15. T he se com pon ents are ou tlin ed in
the schematic. They may or may not be needed in a
particular design, so the footprints are added in
case they are ne cessa ry. EM C te sting should sho w
where problem areas exist, and components can be
added to those areas. EMC components can also be
removed in area s tha t do not show problems.
GROUNDING AND LAYOUT
The routing of the CRD4610-1 provides a good example of how a PC I add-i n ca rd should lo ok. PCI bus based add-in card s have explicit requireme nts
CIRRUS LOGIC ADVANCED PRODUCT DATABOOK
6DS241RD1C1
The pinout of the CS4297 allows the ground split to
complete ly separate digi tal signals on one side and
analog signals on the other. This split is located
very close to the CS4297 so analog and digital
ground return currents originating from the
CS4297 may flo w thro ugh their respe ctiv e gr ound
planes. A bri dge is made acr oss the split to m aintain the p rop er ref erenc e poten tial for eac h gr ound
plane.
Another small pa rtiti on in the digi tal ground p lan e
is for the cryst al oscillator. T he data conv erters in
the CS4297 ar e highly susce ptible to noise on t he
CRD4610-1
CrystalClear™ AC '97 Motherboard Reference Design
crystal pins. This partition serves to keep noise
from coupling into these pins.
A separate chassis ground is also used on the VCC
Layer for EMC purposes. All of the components
that are for EMC complian ce are referenced to thi s
plane. The chassis ground plane is connected to the
analog ground plane at the external jacks.
CS4297 Layout Notes
Please refer to the CS429 7 Data She et on how the
area under the chi p should be parti tioned and ho w
the bypass capacitors should be placed [4]. Pay
close attention to the suggestions for the bypass capacitors on REFFLT, AFLT1, AFLT2 and the
power supply capacitors. The pinout of the CS4297
is designed to k ee p digital and an al og signals from
crossing when laying out the board.
REFERENCES
1) Intel, Aud io Codec ‘97 C omponent Spe cification, Revision 1.0 3, September 15, 1996.
http://develo per. i nte l.com/pc-supp
/platform/ac97/
2) PCI Special Interest Group, PCI Local Bus
Specification, Revi sion 2.1, June 1, 1995.
http://www.pcisig.com/
3) Cirrus Logic, CS4610 SoundFusion PCI Audio
Accelerat o r Data Sheet
7) M. Montrose. Printed Circuit Board Design
Techniques for EMC Compliance, IEEE Press,
New York: 1996.
Dolby and AC-3 are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.
Aureal A3D is a trademark of Aureal Semiconductor Inc.
Intel is a registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
Microsoft is a registered trademark, DirectSound 3D and WHQL are trademarks of Microsoft.
SoundFusion and CrystalClear are trademarks of Cirrus Logic, Inc.
All other names are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective companies.
,
CIRRUS LOGIC ADVANCED PRODUCT DATABOOK
DS241RD1C17
CRD4610-1
CrystalCle ar™ AC '97 Motherboard Refe renc e Design