Audio technology firm HiWave will reveal a low-power wireless audio amplifier reference design at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January.
It is based around a wireless receiver/decoder/audio amp module (see picture above) from the firm, which will also be on show at CES.
The 13W burst (26W peak) module is intended for wireless speakers that receive streamed audio from home cinema systems, PCs, smartphones and tablets within the home.
Based in Cambridge, and formerly called NXT, the firm combined its knowledge of loudspeakers with the HIAS2001-QNC-010 low-power audio chip it acquired when it bought UK fabless chip company Audium.
"The complete wireless speaker system draws less than 75mA at typical playback levels," said HiWave. "Connected to single 1.2V 3Ah rechargeable NiMH AA battery, the speaker delivers 40 hours of playback, and over 145 hours from a rechargeable size 11Ah D battery. HiWave anticipates consumer Hi-Fi quality speakers to be in shops for Q2 2012."
HiWave's low power consumption depends on a proprietary low-bit-rate encoding scheme and on the bursty nature of speech and music.
When listeners typically set volume controls, peaks are high but the RMS power delivered is low.
As demonstrated, the radio link for the module will be provided by a Bluetooth daughter card from a third-party supplier. 