MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ — Audience, Inc. a global provider of advanced voice and audio processors, today announced the latest generation of its industry-leading dynamic noise suppression solutions for mobile phones with the new A1026 Voice Processor chip.  Featuring improved performance features and a highly integrated, more compact and energy-efficient design, the A1026 processor significantly improves mobile call quality in noisy environments by suppressing background noise, intermittent sounds and echoes – whether surrounding the caller or the person they’re speaking with – to enable clear communications.

The third generation in the Audience line of advanced voice processors based on the intelligence of the human hearing system, the A1026 is a single, mixed-signal system-on-chip (SOC) solution that integrates with two microphones in a mobile phone to uniquely identify the primary voice in conversation and eliminate surrounding noise.  It also automatically adjusts voice volume and equalization during calls to adapt to local noise interference.  For mobile customers, the technology significantly improves the quality of voice communications.

“Audience is continuing to advance our noise suppression technology to allow users to communicate when and where they want to, without having to adapt phone usage to surrounding noise,” said Peter Santos, president and chief executive officer, Audience.  “We are committed to working with our customers and partners to provide new voice and audio processing solutions that significantly enhance the mobile communications experience by delivering greater call clarity, ease of use, and flexible design integration.”

Audience’s dynamic noise suppression technology is based on reverse-engineering the human hearing system.  By understanding and replicating the human auditory pathway – from the inner ear to the brainstem, thalamus and cortex – Audience is the first company to deliver commercial products based on the science of Computational Auditory Scene Analysis (CASA) to manage the grouping and processing of complex mixtures of sound.  Operating in much the same manner as people naturally perceive sounds, the A1026 voice processor in a mobile device can distinguish and evaluate sound signals to identify the primary conversation, and efficiently and effectively suppress surrounding background noise, to enable clear calls even in noisy environments.

For handset manufacturers, the new A1026 voice processor is designed to deliver energy-efficiency and easy integration into mobile devices, improving speed-to-market.  It also offers new features to enhance performance, including:

• Powerful Processing:  the A1026 chip includes a low-power, high-performance custom Digital Signal Processor (DSP) core that delivers industry-leading stationary and non-stationary noise suppression, acoustic echo cancellation (AEC), and Programmable Voice Equalization (VEQ) algorithms.
• Easy Integration:  the A1026 voice processor is provided in a highly compact 2.7mm x 3.5mm, 40-pin WLCSP (0.5mm pitch) package that can fit any handset style or design and easily integrates into existing mobile phone architectures.  It also provides an auto-calibration feature eliminating the need to make per-unit adjustments on the production line.  
• Energy-Efficiency:  the A1026 voice processor delivers approximately 30% power reduction from previous generation products in standard talk mode.
• Performance Advancements:  the new A1026 processor includes customizable voice quality tuning capabilities, a Post-Equalization Filter that allows handset manufacturers to manage frequency response, and a Multi-band Compander (MBC) to improve audio quality and reduce distortion for end-users when receiving communication, or using the phone’s speaker phone function.  

Audience voice processor technology is available across a wide array of mobile devices around the world and the next generation A1026 chip will be launching in mobile handsets as early as first quarter, 2010.  

About Audience

Audience is a voice processor semiconductor company that enables clear communications anywhere with dynamic noise suppression technology based on the intelligence of the human hearing system.  The technology is applicable across a broad range of consumer products where voice needs to be intelligible in noisy environments.  Audience was the Silver Winner in the 2008 Wall Street JournalTechnology Innovation Awards and the Winner of the Semiconductor category.  The company was included in Gartner’s “Cool Vendors in Semiconductors, 2008” and selected as the Most Innovative True Mobile Start-Up for the “2008 GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Awards.”  Audience is one of 34 founding member companies of the Open Handset Alliance and the only provider of advanced noise suppression technology.  Investors in Audience include New Enterprise Associates, Vulcan Capital, Tallwood Venture Capital and VentureTech Alliance.  Audience is based in Mountain View, California.  www.audience.com

UNTERPREMSTAETTEN, Austria–(BUSINESS WIRE)–austriamicrosystems (SIX:AMS), a leading global designer and manufacturer of high performance analog ICs for communications, industrial, medical and automotive applications, complements its power and audio management unit portfolio with the introduction of the AS3607, a highly integrated power management IC (PMIC). The AS3607 features a level of start-up sequence programmability not found in competing devices. This PMIC is suitable for portable navigation devices, portable media players, e-dictionaries, GPS devices, PDAs and a wide range of battery powered handheld devices using ARM-based processors.

Processor and memory power supplies must follow precise start-up sequences otherwise they can be seriously damaged. Therefore it is critical that the voltages are switched on and off in the correct order. Compared to a discrete solution consisting of a collection of standalone DC-DCs, LDOs and chargers, this task has become very easy with AS3607. With its software programmable start-up sequences, the AS3607 is bringing flexibility to the market that is new for midrange PMICs. Other competitors offer PMICs with fixed start-up sequences that are selected with external resistors.

The output voltage and the timing of all regulators of the AS3607 are programmed via software. With the software and demo board, the OTP memory of the AS3607 can easily be programmed enabling fast prototype runs for quick market introduction. The slope of the ramp can be set for the step-down converters. The user can program the start-up sequence with timing steps of 1 ms or 4 ms, insuring that all ARM-based processors can easily be covered. In order to control other parts of the system, the general purpose I/O pins can be programmed to a specific timing.

“Last minute changes, slight modifications or even new features are no problem for the AS3607, because it is easy to modify the start-up sequence, timing and configuration of regulators. There is no need to redesign the power management portion or to re-approve a new PMIC, which saves time and money,” says Manfred Kogler, marketing manager consumer and communications at austriamicrosystems. “Even if the designer decides to switch to another processor, the PMIC can stay the same. All the software and layout can be completely reused and the AS3607 can be easily programmed to the processor’s requirements. So austriamicrosystems’ AS3607 covers several generations of a product line.”

In portable systems, maximizing battery lifetime and minimizing PC board space are critical. The PMIC together with the application processor manage and optimize the power rails within the system to maximize battery charge. The AS3607 PMIC has a significant space benefit over a discrete solution, since it integrates all the regulators, charger, backlight driver and monitoring functions in a 6×6 mm QFN package.

The AS3607 fully programmable power management unit includes: three DC-DC step-down converters and five low-noise LDO regulators suitable for RF applications, an LED backlight driver, two programmable current sinks and a powerful Li-Ion battery charger. The three step-down converters deliver 700 mA each with an efficiency of up to 95%, extending battery life significantly. The fixed 2 MHz switching frequency minimizes PCB footprint by allowing the use of tiny, low-profile inductors.

The AS3607 contains a Li-Ion battery charger with constant current and constant voltage with a maximum charging current of 1 A, enabling fast charging of large batteries. An integrated battery switch separates the battery when charging or whenever an external power supply is present. This enables operation of mobile devices with deeply discharged batteries or even with no battery. In order to be compliant to the USB standard the maximum current can be programmed.

The integrated DC-DC step-up converter is capable of generating voltages up to 30 V to supply OLED displays or LEDs for backlighting LCD displays. In the case of LEDs two strings of up to 8 LEDs can be powered, whereas the current is programmable via registers in 150 uA steps, enabling smooth dimming. In addition an external PWM signal can be used to dynamically control the brightness of the two LED strings. The GPIO pins can be used to get information about charger status, low battery, power good and power-up key.

The AS3607 is available in a QFN36, 6×6 mm, 0.5 mm pitch package and has an operating temperature range of -40° to +85°C. The price is $2.99 for 1000 piece quantities. For further product specific information about the new power management unit with configurable start-up please visit www.austriamicrosystems.com/Power_Management_Unit/AS3607

austriamicrosystems will present its highly integrated power and audio management ICs in an off-exhibition suite at CES 2010 in Las Vegas from January 7 -10, 2010.

Download Press Picture or Block Diagram of this IC at http://www.austriamicrosystems.com/eng/Press/Release-Archive-2009

About austriamicrosystems

austriamicrosystems is a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance analog ICs, combining more than 27 years of analog design capabilities and system know-how with its own state-of-the-art manufacturing and test facilities. austriamicrosystems leverages its expertise in low power and high accuracy to provide industry-leading customized and standard analog products. Operating worldwide with more than 1,000 employees, austriamicrosystems focuses on the areas of power management, sensors & sensor interfaces and mobile infotainment in its markets Communications, Industry & Medical and Automotive, complemented by its Full Service Foundry activities. austriamicrosystems is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich (ticker symbol: AMS). For more information, please visit www.austriamicrosystems.com