Today, Samsung announced the MUA01 and MUB01, which are the industry’s first all-in-one power management integrated circuits (PMIC), tailored specifically for today’s True Wireless Stereo (TWS) devices.
The MUA01 and MUB01 PMICs have been designed for the charging case and the earbuds, respectively. By integrating ten discrete components including switching chargers and discharge circuits into a unified package, Samsung's new PMICs occupy less than half the space compared to the previous generation. The increased space available not only allows for creativity in design but also allows earbuds to house larger batteries for longer playback times.
The MUA01 chip is also the industry’s maiden solution to support both wired and wireless charging in a single chip. For the latter, it supports the Wireless Power Consortium’s (WPC) Qi 1.2.4, the consortium’s latest wireless power transfer interface standard. It also integrates a highly effective switching charger for efficient power management. MUA01 also has a microcontroller unit and embedded Flash within it. These offer the flexibility to modify the firmware for support across multiple applications.
In addition, with power line communication (PLC) support, the new PMICs can communicate with each other over the charging pins. This allows the charging case and earpieces to share essential information such as battery levels and whether the earpieces are inserted in the case.
Currently, both the MUA01 and MUB01 are in mass production and are also featured in the newly-announced Samsung Galaxy Buds+ TWS earbuds that boast a total of 22 hours worth of music playback on a single charge.