Date: 04/06/2009

IC with dual hydrophone amplifier and ADC for use in marine streamer

Cirrus Logic has added a new marine-seismic application specific IC to its already available ICs for oil exploration and seismology. This new analog IC is exclusively made for use in marine streamers to sense seabed energy sources. The CS5374 has two analog signal -amplifying and -conditioning channels to detect sound in the water through a sound transducer called hydrophone. Each channel is made up of high-input impedance programmable gain differential amplifier that buffers analog signals into a high-performance, fourth-order Delta Sigma modulator. The low-noise Delta Sigma modulator converts the analog signal into a one-bit serial bit stream suitable for the CS5376A digital filter.

The other performance features of this device are, it offers 127 dB signal-to-noise rate and 118 dB THD (total harmonic distortion).
CS5376A has low input bias current of less than 1 pico Amps to pick weak signals from the hydrophone. The gains can be set by internals registers, which can be accessed through SPI port.

The device is packaged in 48 pins QFN.

"The CS5374's integration allows for the industry's smallest footprint, significantly reducing the overall size of the streamer design and improving mechanical reliability," said Tom Stein, vice president and general manager, Cirrus Logic's Energy, Exploration and Lighting division.

For details and data sheet visit: http://www.cirrus.com/en/products/pro/detail/P1228.html