Class-D Audio Amplifier Front End Circuit with five-bit digital volume control

A project for ECE 547 "VLSI Design" - Fall Semester 2001
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Maine

Designed by: Wayne Homer Slade, Jr. and Steven Eugene Turner

Class-D amplifiers are becoming key components of low power modern consumer devices. Their high efficiency makes them ideal audio amplifiers in laptops, cell-phones, subwoofers, and other mobile audio devices. This VLSI project implements the signal processing "front end" component of a class-D amplifier. The inputs to the circuit are stereo line-in audio, and the outputs are designed to drive an H-bridge for each audio channel. Volume control has also been implemented as a five-bit digital number input.

The project report contains a description of the project, details of the design and layout, and the test results. A poster describing our project is also available.