Embedded Electronics
Single board Computer
The size of a standard business card, this single board embedded Linux computer was designed to be the heart of the Cue Wireless Music System. The design is based on a TI “System on Chip” (SOC) and is tailored for low power consumption and high network services availability. Allocating a significant portion of the processing bandwidth to network functions is important in the arena of real-time wireless audio to minimize the likelihood of audio drop-outs.
The embedded software is designed to boot quickly from no power to full operational functionality in about 9 seconds. A secondary system runs in parallel on a nanowatt microprocessor so core system functionality (such as volume control) is available almost instantly on power up.
IR Remote Control
One of the challenges with developing a wireless speaker system that has “most” of it’s interactive controls on an iPhone or tablet is dealing with the need for volume control. A standard remote control seemed a bit pedestrian for this premium audio solution so our team developed a wireless volume knob. As part of the design process we weighted the benefits and drawbacks of using a Bluetooth connection vs a more traditional IR connection to the speakers.
Ultimately cost and simplicity directed our efforts toward a round remote with an array of IR LED’s positioned radially along the edge of the PCBA. In our testing, it turns out that IR emitted from a device with this configuration does a super effective job of reflecting off of walls, windows and objects around the room creating an elegant, reliable, low-cost solution with outstanding battery life.
DSP and Logic
Just a little bit larger than a business card, this DSP controller and logic board is designed to stack on top of a secondary board that performs audio amplification and provides power to the system.
The concept was to create a modular system architecture that would allow the same “front end” DSP board to be used across multiple output power designs without requiring any additional new design work.
At Cue, we developed a strict adherence to best practices including building “X Rev” PCBA’s with Red solder mask to ensure that they are never confused with a production ready design indicated by a black solder mask.
Miniature Music Player
After developing both table-top and larger freestanding wireless speakers, our team began development of a very small wireless music player with the idea that this common architecture could be deployed in several new products such as a “Beats Pill” style portable speaker or a pair of premium wireless headphones. This 1.5” x 1.5” board represents a complete system with a small 3.7V LiPo Battery on the underside of the board.
