
GA3219 / GA3218 / GA3217 Preliminary Data Sheet
Proprietary and Confidential
32718 - 2
February 2005
12 of 24
and audio distortion. The Noise Reduction algorithm efficiently removes a wide
variety of types of noise, while retaining natural speech quality and level.
7.3 A/D and D/A Converters
The system's two A/D converters are 2nd-order sigma-delta modulators, which
operate at a 2.048MHz sample rate. The system's two audio inputs are
pre-conditioned with antialias filtering and programmable gain pre-amplifiers.
These analog outputs are over sampled and modulated to produce two, 1-bit pulse
density modulated (PDM) data streams. The digital PDM data is then decimated
down to pulse-code modulated (PCM) digital words at the system sampling rate of
32kHz.
The D/A is comprised of a digital, 3rd-order sigma-delta modulator and an
H-bridge. The modulator accepts PCM audio data from the DSP path and converts
it into a 32-times over-sampled, 1-bit PDM data stream, which is then supplied to
the H-bridge. The H-bridge is a specialized CMOS output driver used to convert the
1-bit data stream into a low-impedance, differential output voltage waveform
suitable for driving zero-biased hearing aid receivers.
7.4 HRX Head Room Expander
Venture has an enhanced Head Room Expander (HRX) circuit, which increases
the input dynamic range of Venture without any audible artifacts. This is
accomplished by dynamically adjusting the preamplifier's gain and the post-A/D
attenuation depending on the input level.
7.5 FRONTWAVE Directionality
The FRONTWAVE block provides the resources necessary to implement
directional microphone processing. The block accepts inputs from both a front and
rear microphone and provides a synthesized directional microphone signal as its
output. The directional microphone output is obtained by delaying the rear
microphone signal and subtracting it from the front microphone signal. Various
microphone response patterns can be obtained by adjusting the time delay.
The FRONTWAVE circuit also provides a fixed filter for compensating the
sensitivity and frequency response differences between microphones. The filter
parameters are adjusted during product calibration.
A dedicated biquad filter following the FRONTWAVE block has been allocated for
low frequency equalization to compensate for the 6dB/octave roll off in frequency
response that occurs in directional mode. The amount of low frequency
equalization that is applied can be determined during product calibration.
Gennum recommends using matched microphones with FRONTWAVE, although
calibration is fully possible using unmatched microphones.