BoostMP3 LauchPad BoosterPack

Hi Amit,

thanks a lot for the quick feedback.

1. The BoosterPack headers are placed on the bottom of the board. Because the OLED display size is quite big there was no chance to use through hole header here. I decided to use a SMT header like it was done on the Kentec touch screen display BoosterPack
2. The audio codec contains a SPI interface to connect to the microprocessor. Some additional GPIOs are required from device control. I think with that approach it will be compatible with all LauchPads.

I've added some more images here and on the webside to get a better understanding. Hope you like it.

You would need to perhaps do a proto board and check if a low performance device like MSP can work with your solution. From my experience most forum users and people I have met with are averse to idea of SPI for audio, unless the solution is seamless with no issues in audio data streaming.

Actually, most commercial solutions contain an application-specific controller (the acronym currently escapes my memory - it's not "ASIC") with a rather low-performance core (some even Z80-based), and a media coprocessor that does all the audio/video decoding work in hardware. Think "Raspberry Pi" - a proprietary Broadcom video "coprocessor" with a weak ARM11 core, that still outperforms most Cortex A systems in video performance.

Commercially, you will have a hard time beating such systems in power consumption.

Hi Amit,

thanks again for your nice feedback.

My thought regarding the Display were to offer a complete music player solution. But you are absolutely right. Some customers may have a display already or don't want one at all. I'll make it optional and add a through hole header to maintain the stackability. For that I would need to check the pinout of the existing display BoosterPacks to ensure compatibility. Do you might know which display BoosterPack is the most famous one?

The audio codec I'm using here is actually a complete audio subsystem with an integrated DSP to do all the decoding/encoding. It can handle almost any type of audio format e.g. Ogg Vorbis, MP3, MP1 & MP2, MPEG4 / 2 AAC-LC(+PNS), HE-AAC v2 (Level 3) (SBR + PS), WMA4.0/4.1/7/8/9, FLAC lossless audio, WAV (PCM + IMA ADPCM), General MIDI 1 / SP-MIDI format 0. There is no need for the Cortex uC on the LauchPad to do any audio decoding/encoding. All the codec royalty cost are included already.

I made a prototype board already and have tested it with the EK-TM4C123GXL and EK-TM4C1294XL LauchPad. Everything worked just fine. The audio codec is also made for low performance microprocessors. It has an internal ping-pong buffer which allows it to be fed with a pretty low SPI clock rate.
But I'ts a good hint to be compatible to MSP LaunchPad as well. For my playback application I've used the FatFS driver which came with the TivaWare Framework. This would have to be ported to the MSP platform if there isn't a port already.

Regards,
Mathias

Hi Amit,

ok thanks!  I'll the maintain compatibility to the Kentec BoosterPack and maybe one more if possible.

The audio codec can be updated over SPI. One can even load special plug-ins to support more audio codecs or to implement digital filters and/or effects. The IC itself is in an LQFP48 package and can easily replaced in case of an damage.

Good point, I'll specify the minimum required SPI clock rate.

Regarding the price of $89 I know its not that cheep compared to the other BoosterPacks but its equipped with quality products only and delivers a crystal clear audio impression. Do you think people will buy this or do I have to reduce the price by reducing functionality?

If you are interested I could provide an free evaluation sample to you.

Have a nice one!

Regards,

Mathias