Agere’s SV92A2 was a soft-modem chip announced in 2004 that could connect over either the newer HD Audio bus, then codenamed “Azalia,” or the established AC’97 bus. Its dual-mode design was intended to let PC makers reuse one modem-card design as systems moved to the newer interface. It was a modem-interface announcement, not an audio codec announcement.
What “Azalia” meant in the announcement
Azalia was the codename for the High Definition Audio bus architecture. Agere’s announcement concerned using that bus to connect a soft modem to a host PC; it did not describe an audio product. Contemporary coverage appeared in Electronic Design on August 1, 2004 and EE Times.
How the SV92A2’s dual mode worked
The SV92A2 was a digital chip for a soft-modem design. According to Agere’s announcement, it could automatically operate with either an AC’97-based bus controller or an HD Audio controller. “Dual mode” therefore referred to those two host-bus environments—not two modem standards or two audio modes.
Agere’s central design claim was that an OEM could use the same modem-card design in both environments, easing the move to HD Audio while retaining AC’97 support. The announcement said the existing AC’97 card layout, schematic, and bill of materials could be retained. That was a vendor claim about design reuse, not a guarantee that every card would fit or work in every computer.
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Card design and intended systems
The SV92A2 was described for soft analog data/fax modem designs on notebook modem daughter or riser cards. Agere also said it could be used with the HD Audio-defined MDC 1.5 mobile daughter-card form factor. That identifies a possible design format; it does not establish universal notebook compatibility. The host, card dimensions, connector, firmware, and driver would all matter when assessing a particular system.
Electronic Design reported that the modem solution required fewer than 50 discrete components. That is a figure from the 2004 announcement, not an independent component-count comparison. A product document hosted by RF China also identifies the SV92A2 as a dual-mode AC’97/HD Audio soft analog client data/fax modem for notebook cards and lists legacy Windows and Windows CE environments. Those listings are historical documentation, not evidence of current driver support: Agere SV92A2 product document.
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Other modem chips announced alongside it
Agere also announced three controller-based modem chips for external modems and embedded equipment. They were separate products from the SV92A2 and were associated with different modem standards:
| Chip | Standard identified in the announcement | Stated rate | Intended uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| OCM34 | V.34 | 33.6 Kbits/sec | External modems and embedded applications such as multifunction peripherals, set-top boxes, point-of-sale terminals, and fax devices |
| OCM90 | V.90 | 56 Kbits/sec | |
| OCM92 | V.92 | Not stated in the cited announcement |
Electronic Design described these single-chip devices as combining controller and digital signal-processing functions without external memory. Its coverage gives the V.34 and V.90 rates above; it does not specify a rate for OCM92 in the cited account. The figures are historical announcement specifications, not measured results.
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What the announcement does—and does not—establish
Agere said the SV92A2 and the other chips would be showcased at Computex 2004 in Taipei. Electronic Design reported expected volume production in the third calendar quarter of 2004; that was a forecast, not confirmation that production began. Neither announcement establishes current availability, a retail replacement, present-day driver support, or compatibility with a particular surviving computer.
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- For historical context: the SV92A2 addressed migration from AC’97 to HD Audio by supporting both bus environments on one modem-card design.
- For identifying a machine’s hardware: check its exact modem-card part number, form factor, connector, and driver requirements rather than relying on “Azalia” or “MDC 1.5” alone.
- For a replacement today: the 2004 announcement is not evidence of current stock or of a compatible retail product.
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