New A²B™ 2.0 technology diving upgrades in automotive audio systems

Cabin technology and audio experience become core purchase decision factors

Today's tech-savvy car buyers rank in-cabin technology and audio experience at the top of their purchase criteria. In fact, many consumers are willing to switch automotive brands for superior cabin connectivity. Furthermore, recent surveys indicate cars are increasingly becoming genuine "third spaces" - personal sanctuaries beyond home or work. Half of respondents, with the figure rising to 74% among those aged 25 to 34, value their car space as much as their favorite café or gym. The automotive industry is undergoing a significant shift, moving away from a focus on horsepower and exterior styling towards a concentration on the in-cabin experience.
 
This trend is particularly evident in audio systems, where the number of speakers and microphones in vehicles is projected to double by 2030. Drivers for this growth include personal sound zones, spatial audio, immersive audio, and advanced noise management - all requiring significantly higher bandwidth, greater flexibility, and deeper integration with modern vehicle networks. To meet these demanding requirements and fully unlock the potential of next-generation in-cabin experiences, a major breakthrough in automotive audio technology is urgently needed.

Immersive audio experience powered by A²B

For the past decade, A²B has been synonymous with in-vehicle audio innovation, establishing itself as the leading technological standard for automotive OEMs seeking reliable, low-latency audio connectivity. This technology has enabled numerous cutting-edge applications in the automotive industry, including spatial audio, road noise cancellation (RNC), and immersive 3D surround sound. Additionally, A²B is embedded in hundreds of millions of vehicle nodes worldwide and features in flagship customer applications like Hyundai's road noise cancellation system.
 
However, with the era of the Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) upon us, automotive OEMs must continuously enhance their capabilities to meet rising consumer demands. As expectations for high-quality, personalized, and high-fidelity audio soar, car manufacturers face immense pressure to develop more advanced audio features beyond the limitations of current vehicle infrastructures.
 
As consumers increasingly view their cars as immersive personal spaces, in-cabin audio technology is evolving at an unprecedented pace. Technologies like A²B empower engineers to design audio systems with superior sound quality, lower latency, and seamless connectivity. A²B 2.0 is poised to further accelerate the adoption of personalized audio experiences in the automotive sector.
 
Building on a proven legacy, A²B 2.0 is set for global launch in Spring 2026. This iteration transforms the audio network into an "internet-connected infotainment superhighway," offering four times the bandwidth of A²B 1.0 and enabling audio architects to create previously unattainable in-cabin experiences. Automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers now possess the capability to realize cutting-edge applications, removing bottlenecks that previously constrained innovation.
 
Key enhancements brought by A²B 2.0 include quadrupled audio bandwidth, supporting 119 uplink/downlink full-duplex audio channels - easily meeting the demands of even the most advanced automotive audio systems. Ethernet connectivity via the industry-standard OASPI interface significantly boosts connectivity and flexibility. Furthermore, A²B 2.0 integrates directly into SDV networks, achieving notable cost savings - up to 30% in locally powered systems - through enhanced functional integration and reduced external Bill-of-Materials (eBOM) components. Its enhanced EMC performance meets stringent automotive industry requirements.

Advanced automotive connectivity fuels audio innovation

ADI's A²B™ product line offers a straightforward, flexible, and cost-effective audio connectivity solution. A²B is specifically designed for a wide range of automotive, consumer electronics, and industrial applications, such as road noise cancellation (RNC), in-car communication (ICC), and unified communication systems (UCS). In these applications, low and deterministic latency are critical system design criteria. To date, over 35 automotive manufacturers have deployed millions of links, solidifying A²B's position as the de facto standard for digital audio data buses.
 
Meticulously engineered, A²B 2.0 seamlessly integrates into evolving SDV architectures and supports Ethernet tunneling, making it a future-ready solution that easily connects to the growing Ethernet backbone within SDVs. Leveraging the enhanced capabilities of A²B 2.0, car manufacturers can integrate more immersive audio technologies into their designs, including Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS), Road Noise Cancellation (RNC), Personal Sound Zones (PSZ), and external voice features.
 
A²B 2.0 technology quadruples the available audio bandwidth, making it ideally suited for in-vehicle intelligent nodes such as head units, cockpit domain controllers, audio amplifiers, and remote tuner modules. Concurrently, it retains the hallmark low latency (62 µs) and ease of use of A²B technology, ensuring seamless integration and dependable performance. Supported by a comprehensive suite of low-cost evaluation boards and powerful debugging/emulation systems, it simplifies the entire development process from concept to final validation. ADI provides a complete set of evaluation kits, hardware debugging tools, and software development tools to help customers seamlessly integrate A²B solutions into next-generation vehicle architectures.

Integrated solutions encompassing A²B, signal processing, power, inertial MEMS, and advanced algorithms

As a comprehensive automotive systems provider, ADI leads the industry in addressing escalating in-car audio demands with integrated solutions spanning A²B, signal processing, power, inertial MEMS, and advanced algorithms like ADI LISTN™. The upgraded A²B 2.0 portfolio underscores ADI's commitment to high-performance, experience-driven automotive design, aimed at fostering wider market adoption. The platform offers user-friendly evaluation tools and can reduce system costs by up to 30%, aiding OEMs in achieving both engineering efficiency and commercial success. The following section introduces some of ADI's A²B 2.0 solutions.
 
The ADAA2455, ADAA2456, and ADAA2457 are a series of 100Mbps A²B 2.0 transceivers. The ADAA2455 is a low-cost sub-node transceiver, while the ADAA2457 includes an OASPI interface. The available bus bandwidth of the ADAA245x family is four times that of existing A²B 1.01 devices, making them particularly well-suited for high-definition (HD) audio transport in Electronic Control Unit (ECU) connectivity applications. ADAA245x devices are compatible with existing A²B 1.0 cabling/connector infrastructure and are fully supported by ADI's unified software framework, SigmaStudio+®. Moreover, the ADAA245x series and future A²B 2.0 devices can be easily connected to A²B 1.0 branches via their integrated industry-standard I²S, I²C, and SPI interfaces.
 
These transceivers can connect directly to general-purpose digital signal processors (DSPs) or microprocessors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), microphones, accelerometers, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and codecs through a multichannel I²S/TDM interface. They also provide a Pulse Density Modulation (PDM) interface for direct connection of up to four PDM digital microphones. The transceivers' Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) outputs can control LED drivers or voltage regulators, while General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) status and control signals are transmitted directly between nodes.
 
ADI also offers several A²B 2.0 evaluation boards and kits. For instance, the A²B-Analyzer-HP is a next-generation A²B node emulator and bus traffic monitor, designed to support both A²B 1.0 and A²B 2.0 transceivers. It accelerates the design, debugging, and validation of A²B networks. Featuring a hot-swappable Personality Module architecture, it supports all A²B transceiver families, including A²B 1.0 (AD242x/AD243x) and A²B 2.0 (ADAA245x), with plans to extend compatibility through future updates. Used in conjunction with the A²B Analyzer Studio software, the Analyzer HP can be configured as an active bus emulator, a bus traffic monitor, or both.
 
The A²B Analyzer HP boasts swappable Personality Modules for true node emulation, USB-C power delivery, support for various audio input/output interfaces, a high-speed USB interface for audio/control communication, and a high-speed Ethernet interface for audio/control communication (support planned for a future release). It also offers Wi-Fi/Bluetooth support for remote control/triggering (support planned for a future release).
 
The A²B Analyzer Studio software features an intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI) for device configuration and control, requires no licensing, and allows for capture/playback of real-time audio streams and bus traffic on a PC. It enables injection of test tones/streams from a PC onto the bus for debugging, supports A²B network/node management and diagnostics, and facilitates audio streaming over USB using ASIO/ALSA/CoreAudio. It is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS and provides a Software Development Kit (SDK) for creating custom applications using C/C++ and Python. The tool is applicable in scenarios such as engineering design & development, testing & validation, and pre-production testing. CE/FCC certification processes are currently underway.
 
The ADAA24XX-EV-B2BX Sigma-DSP Audio Baseboard is a feature-rich platform designed to interface with the ADAA245X-EV-A1CA (and other A²B MINI boards) via a dedicated high-speed 100-pin A²B MINI connector. It serves as a central hub for audio processing, peripheral configuration, and power management in A²B® systems. At its core is the ADAU1452 SigmaDSP processor, which provides advanced audio processing capabilities with breakouts for auxiliary ADCs, optical SPDIF input/output, a status LED, and a 0.1" header for connecting I²S/TDM signals and multipurpose control pins. The board also includes the ADAU1761 CODEC, delivering high quality DAC output and ADC input via standard 3.5mm audio jacks.
 
A MAX4948 6-channel SPDT switch allows dynamic selection of the CODEC controller - either the onboard DSP or an external board connected via the A²B MINI interface. An additional LED, controllable by the interfaced board, is available for status indication or signaling. Peripheral configuration is streamlined via a USBi interface, enabling access to I²C, SPI, and OA-SPI devices. The board also incorporates a boot-capable EEPROM for initialization and configuration storage. Power is supplied via a 12V barrel-jack, with onboard regulation provided by dual MAX77504 supplies offering selectable 1.8V and 3.3V I/O voltages. These regulators can be externally enabled using a WAKEUP signal, allowing for synchronized external power control.
 
The ADAA245X-EV-A1CA Mini Module is a compact, cost-effective breakout board designed to accelerate the development and evaluation of A²B® systems. It connects seamlessly to DSP carrier boards and audio baseboards via a 100-pin connector and supports custom hardware integration through a 32-pin (0.1") header. This board can function as either a main or subordinate node, featuring flexible local power configurations to adapt to various system topologies.
 
The ADAA245X-EV-A1CA supports direct connection to PDM microphones and a wide range of peripherals via I²C, SPI, OA-SPI, and a multichannel I²S/TDM interface with two independent clock domains. Additional features include up to 16 multiplexed GPIOs, 4 PWM outputs, 2 ADC inputs, and a 4-channel Asynchronous Sample Rate Converter (ASRC) input/output. Integrated MAX20075D step-down regulators ensure stable power, while onboard diagnostic LEDs provide visual feedback for power, status, GPIO/PWM activity, and interrupts. This board is part of a modular evaluation platform supporting various A²B configurations, enabling developers to validate system performance across multiple use cases.

Conclusion

For OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers, the in-cabin experience is now a key factor influencing consumer vehicle purchase decisions. A²B 2.0, through its scalable, low-latency audio network, enables immersive entertainment, road noise cancellation, and personal sound zone functionalities, helping automotive industry leaders meet rising market expectations. As cars evolve into interconnected "third spaces," superior audio experience has become a strategic competitive advantage. ADI's solutions empower engineers and manufacturers to create high-quality, personalized in-cabin experiences that resonate with tech-savvy users.