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The Future of MEMS Directional Microphones Goes Digital: Soundskrit Announces the SKR0410
Soundskrit, the Canadian company determined to evolve MEMS microphones for consumer electronics, announced the availability of its second product, the SKR0410, touted as the world’s first digital directional MEMS microphone. The SKR0410 brings the latest innovations in MEMS and acoustic transducer design to the digital domain to enable directional audio capture in consumer devices of all form factors. As the first directional microphone on the market with a PDM output, it becomes easier than ever to interface with existing audio chipsets and drive the next generation of designs. Read More
ALTI Expo and Conference 2023. Largest Focused Event for the Loudspeaker Industry and Audio Product Developers
The traditional Audio & Loudspeaker Technologies International (ALTI) Association annual gathering has long been the highest quality networking event for any audio industry professional, particularly for brands, manufacturers, and its suppliers. The upcoming ALTI Expo and Conference 2023 will be held June 11-12 at the DoubleTree by Hilton at Universal Studios, in Orlando, FL, and will combine a highly focused exhibition with the largest conference program for audio product developers. The education sessions extend to June 13, as part of the APDA-ALTI Education Symposium 2023, which includes a third full day focused on DSP and developing high-quality conferencing products. Read More
Sensory VoiceHub 2.0 Integrates Generative AI for Fast Development of Custom Voice UIs
Sensory, a leading provider of AI-based speech recognition technologies, announced the launch of VoiceHub 2.0, a new and improved version of the company's web portal for the development of wake words and custom voice recognition user interfaces. The updated solution now integrates generative AI-powered tools, making it even more powerful, allowing developers to quickly create custom voice UIs capable of understanding spoken commands and natural language. Read More
Cirrus Logic Introduces Smart Amplifier and Low-Power Codec Solution for Enhanced Sound from Small Speakers
Cirrus Logic announced a premium audio solution built specifically for PCs that enables a louder, more immersive audio experience, whether listening to voice calls and music from the small internal speakers on ultra-thin laptops or from headphones. Built specifically for PCs, the Cirrus Logic CS35L56 smart amp and CS42L43 SmartHIFI codec minimize hardware and software design complexity for OEMs, simplifies design for PC manufacturers, and contributes to a reduction in the total number of components and board space. Read More
SUBPAC and JLR Partner to Bring A New Dimension of Sound to Range Rover
High-fidelity tactile audio company, SUBPAC, teamed up with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to improve the in-vehicle audio experience in the new Range Rover Sport SV Edition One system. The tactile experience was added to the Body and Soul Seat (BASS), which delivers audio vibrations allowing front-seat occupants to feel the music. According to the companies, this new approach to sound in-vehicle comes complete with wellness benefits, setting a new standard in immersive audio. Read More
Trinnov Audio Multiple Source Multiple Controller Approach Becomes WaveForming Technology
Trinnov Audio announced that following the successful first public demonstration of its Multiple Source Multiple Controller (MSMC) technology at the 2023 ISE show in Barcelona, multiple partners are incorporating the technology in their respective demonstration systems and showrooms. Intended to improve home theater design, Trinnov is now promoting the technology with the name WaveForming, as part of the company's vision for room acoustics, utilizing passive and active room acoustics. Read More
Audioscenic Announces 3D Audio Beamforming Software Solution for Laptops and PCs
Audioscenic, the company behind the first commercially available 3D audio beamforming speaker solution, announced the launch of the Amphi Windows Suite, a set of software packages that integrates the company's patented spatial audio technology into currently available laptop and desktop systems. Audioscenic introduced and demonstrated this technology at the Computex 2023 show in Taipei, Taiwan. The UK audio company is aiming to make its spatial audio technology more accessible for consumer computing platforms. Read More
iFi Introduces Flagship iCAN Phantom Headphone Amplifier
iFi, the sister-brand of UK-based Abbingdon Music Research (AMR) specializing in lifestyle audio products and high-end hi-fi components, announced a new reference headphone amplifier. The brand is already recognized for the diverse range of headphone amplifiers, from small and affordable portable devices to high-performance designs to use at home. The new iCAN Phantom is the ultimate effort to create the last headphone amplifier anyone will need, able to drive hypersensitive in-ear monitors to the most power-hungry electrostatic headphones. Read More
Guest Editorial
Morag Agmon
(CEVA)
Low-Latency Gaming and Hearing Aids
Next Drivers for Bluetooth Low Energy and LE Audio
Amid a steady beat of advances in communications standards, the Bluetooth SIG is being just as aggressive. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is already well established in mobile applications. Last year the SIG officially announced the release of LE Audio, building on BLE to enable improved tradeoffs between audio quality and low energy for greatly enhanced user experience in multiple potential applications. This has created buzz in the gaming industry, which sees significant potential in enhanced gaming experiences through LE Audio thanks to much lower latencies.

LE Audio offers gamers real-time audio feedback for gunshots, footsteps, and explosions, without any noticeable delay. Add to that higher quality audio, or the same quality at even lower power for longer gaming on a single charge. The same low latency is also starting to generate interest in new ways to improve hearing aid experiences, for example, to clearly hear multiple speakers in a group setting. Bluetooth Low Energy plus LE Audio is creating exciting new product opportunities!
(Source: CEVA)
Market Opportunity
The market for gaming headsets from companies such as Razer and Turtle Beach is already estimated to be $2.3 billion and is expected to grow to $3.6 billion by 2028, for a CAGR of 7.5%. The gaming market in general is very healthy, driven especially by young players and perhaps recent promotion from game-centric movies, with analysts anticipating continued healthy growth.

A limitation today is lack of interoperability between gaming devices (gaming consoles, hand-held gaming devices, personal computers, mobile devices) and headsets. Standard Bluetooth audio platforms cannot offer low-enough latency for a good user experience. When you shoot an alien invader, visual response in the game is immediate but audio response noticeably lags at hundreds of milliseconds. Gaming product providers workaround this limitation through proprietary solutions, requiring you plug a platform-specific dongle into your gaming device and adding licensing margins for use of the proprietary solution.

A more competitive offering would build on standards-based end-to-end audio support at gaming latencies without need for proprietary hardware or software. The Bluetooth LE Audio standard provides that capability at BLE power efficiency, for example, in the CEVA Bluetooth Audio platform. That will empower faster and more diverse solutions for gaming headphones, interoperable with any platform supporting the LE Audio standard.
Figure 1: Gaming devices (handheld game device, smartphone, gaming console, PC) with an interoperable Bluetooth headset.
What is the LE Audio Advantage?
Audio latency for Bluetooth is determined by the audio codec. For Bluetooth Classic there are three commonly considered options: SBC, AAC, and Qualcomm aptX. Sub-band coding (SBC) is in effect a fast Fourier transform followed by a coding step and is the default for Bluetooth Classic. Latencies for SBC run around 100ms to 150ms. Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a widely used audio codec known for its efficient compression and good audio quality (somewhat better than MP3 encoders at the same bitrate). This codec is commonly used with Apple devices and is supported by some Bluetooth headphones. Typical audio latencies with AAC are around 150ms to 200ms, somewhat slower than SBC. The aptX Low Latency codec from Qualcomm is designed specifically to minimize audio latency, using time-domain ADPCM. aptX Low Latency compromises on audio quality while significantly reducing the latency, to around 40ms to 50ms. aptX has since been retired in favor of aptX Adaptive at 80ms latency. Use of either AAC or aptX is subject to license agreements.

For Bluetooth LE Audio there are two codec options. The big innovation is the introduction of the Low Complexity Communications Codec – LC3. This codec was initially developed by Fraunhofer and Ericsson and subsequently submitted to the Bluetooth SIG for standardization. Typical audio latency with LC3 is around 20ms to 30 ms. Further LC3 improves significantly in quality over the default SBC codec used with Classic Audio. Even when scaling down to low bit rates audio quality is generally rated far better than SBC. LC3 also promises lower energy usage through acceptable lower bitrates, and therefore longer battery life for applications where quality is already sufficient. As a component of the Bluetooth standard, LC3 is not subject to license agreements.

LC3plus, also developed by Fraunhofer and Ericsson, is a superset of LC3, providing capabilities for transmission robustness, extremely low delay use cases and high-resolution audio. Latency with this codec can run as low as 5ms, more commonly in the 10ms to 15 ms range. LC3plus has been standardized by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) rather than the Bluetooth SIG, which may limit appeal to some potential adopters.

Both LC3 and LC3plus can be implemented fully in software, ensuring future-proofing through software-only upgrades.
Figure 2: Comparison of Bluetooth audio codec latencies.
A New Use-Case for the Hearing Impaired
You might wonder what else can be done to improve the quality of life for hearing aid wearers. Bluetooth Low Energy already offers good battery life for hearing aids. LE Audio promises an improved hearing experience, again through improved latency. We all subconsciously watch a person’s mouth for reinforcing cues as we listen to them speak. For any of us, watching a video becomes painful when visual and audio stimuli are not well synchronized. The hearing-impaired depend even more on visual speaking cues to augment what they are hearing. Without close synchronization, listening becomes both confusing and tiring.

A further advance is even more exciting. Hearing aids today are very directional; a wearer can easily hear a speaker directly in front, but not speakers to the side. Group discussions are very challenging, say a group of family or friends around a table. A hot idea now is to place a small hearing assistance device in the center of the table. Anyone around the table can talk, the device will pick up what they say, just like a conference phone, and broadcast those inputs to LE Audio-enabled hearing aids, filtering out external noise as necessary.

New Markets Waiting for Innovators!
Bluetooth Low Energy low-latency gaming headphones and hearing aid conversation assist devices suggest a wealth of opportunity for new consumer devices building on BLE and LE Audio in already proven strong markets. As standards-based capabilities, carrying no royalties for use of proprietary solutions, there should be no limitations in market reach for product makers.

CEVA's Bluebud Bluetooth Audio platform integrates support for Classic Audio and LE Audio with Auracast support and a range of codec options together in one platform. If you want to learn more, contact us at CEVA to discuss your product needs.

About the Author
Morag Agmon received the B. Sc. (cum laude) and M. Sc. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, in 2008 and 2010, respectively. He went on to lead the DSP Cellular Voice and Speech group in Marvell Semiconductor for five years, and subsequently worked as Audio Software team leader at Intel and General Motors. He joined CEVA as Senior Product Manager, Wireless Platforms in August 2021, leading the company's Bluebud and Sensors & Audio efforts. His research interests include acoustical signal processing and real-time microphone arrays.
Sound Control
The Ubiquitous Helmholtz Resonator
By Richard Honeycutt
Our readers who follow Richard Honeycutt's column Sound Control know how this series of articles covers the most fundamental topics in acoustics and electroacoustics. Most people who have been around acoustics or acousticians have heard of the Helmholtz resonator. In this article, Richard Honeycutt discusses the extraordinary scientist for whom this device is named - Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821–1894) - and examines how the resonator works, as well as its uses. This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2017. Read the Full Article Now Available Here
Voice Coil Patent Review
Acoustic Resistive Elements for Ported Transducer Enclosure
By James Croft
This review highlights a patent granted to Bose Corp., part of an interesting series of bass reflex and tuned pipe enclosure architectures explored by Bose, which James Croft reviews and explains in detail. The patent describes a single chamber, single tuned, bass reflex enclosure system, using a more advanced, single Helmholtz tuned bass reflex design, with a port that is folded and extended. A great patent review with lots of informative details. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, October 2017.  Read the Full Article Now Available Here
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