Key takeaways from the discussion
A major update to A2B
Analog Devices developed and launched its original A2B technology more than a decade ago. As automakers have been implementing more audio use cases, including personal audio zones, spatial and immersive audio, and active road noise cancellation, they are requiring new solutions to provide these functions more cost-effectively.
With its A2B 2.0 technology, the company wanted to rethink how it could enhance the audio system support it provides while also making it easier to integrate with Ethernet, which is increasingly being used by automakers for in-vehicle networking (for example, to support movement of high data volume from vehicle sensors over the network).
One of the key elements of the updated technology gives automakers the ability to have the benefits of the protocol, which includes 119 audio channels up and down (much more than the 32 channels up and down provided by A2B 1.0) and four times the bandwidth, over Ethernet (up to 20 mbit/s) via the OASPI interface rather than needing separate cables for the audio system.
Supporting more use cases and reducing system costs
During the demo, ADI’s Kessler could control the speakers either individually or as groups, showing the flexibility it enables. From the perspective of technology benefits, ADI claims that its new A2B 2.0 chip can reduce total system cost by up to 30%.
Some of the features enabled by A2B 2.0 include an acoustic vehicle alerting system, road noise cancellation, and personal sound zones. A2B 2.0 chips from ADI will be generally available in spring 2026.
Analyst takes
ADI’s A2B technology is widely used in the automotive industry. ADI has noted that more than 35 automakers use it in production models. The company has built a partner ecosystem with semiconductor companies such as Ambarella, Qualcomm and NVIDIA, audio brands such as B&O, Bose and Dolby, and several design, test and original design manufacturers (ODMs). This partner ecosystem has helped the industry adopt A2B.
With A2B 2.0, ADI wants to ensure that this technology will remain relevant and adapt to new in-cabin use cases. In addition, the company has made it compatible with Ethernet, which has higher bandwidth than other in-vehicle networking protocols (such as CAN and CAN-FD) and significantly reduces the amount of time required to install over-the-air software updates in cars.
As automakers increasingly focus on vehicle software lifecycles, providing new features to vehicle owners to either improve customer retention or to generate revenue, higher-bandwidth in-vehicle networks are critical to making the software update process relatively smooth for end users (as nobody wants to sit in their car for half an hour while waiting for an update to finish). This willingness to adapt A2B to Ethernet and improve its capabilities shows that ADI has a long-term vision for this technology and wants the 2.0 version to be more successful than 1.0.
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Author
Jack Dolson
Charles Moon