SK Broadband AI Sound Max Powered by DSP Concepts and Tuned by Bang & Olufsen

Is it a Soundbar? Is it a Smart Speaker? Is it a TV Set-Top Box? Korean telecom operator SK Broadband has introduced its new AI Sound Max set-top box and TV sound speaker featuring three-dimensional audio perfectly tuned by Bang & Olufsen and implemented using the power of the Audio Weaver framework by DSP Concepts. The innovative AI Sound Max is a great example of an immersive home entertainment speaker design with sophisticated features built with Audio Weaver.

British chip company XMOS announced the launch of the XVF3610 and XVF3615 next generation voice processors. These high-performance two-mic voice interfaces for wireless speakers, TVs, set-top boxes, smart home appliances, gateway products and more, are built on the company's xcore.ai chip infrastructure, and are available in a cost-effective and easy-to-integrate package. XMOS also kick-started an alpha program for its all new ‘Avona’ voice reference design.

CEVA announced support for latest Dolby MS12 Multistream Decoder on the CEVA-BX2 audio DSP. The integration provides System-on-Chip (SoC) designers and device manufacturers with a low power, rapid time-to-market solution that will enable complete support for Dolby's latest family of formats and audio codecs, including Dolby Atmos, Dolby AC-4, and Dolby Audio. This makes the CEVA-BX2 an ideal solution for new Smart TVs, soundbars and more designs, benefiting of all the included audio DSP features, such as far-field noise reduction and AI speech recognition.

Diodes announced the PI3HDX12221, an HDMI 2.1 active switch with linear ReDriver that enables manufacturers of TVs, PCs, gaming consoles, and set-top boxes to adopt the latest 12Gbps HDMI standard. The device supports dual inputs with a signal cleaning function that enables extending channel lengths. Optimizing function integration into a single package reduces system BOM and power consumption, particularly when compared to an equivalent discrete solution.

Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, the inventor of mp3 and primary developer of the xHE-AAC and MPEG-H Audio standards, announced that NXP Semiconductors has licensed Fraunhofer’s MPEG audio SDK. The complete software package covers four generations of audio codecs, from legacy MPEG Layer-1/2/3 to the next-generation MPEG-H 3D Audio standard and the AAC codec family, including xHE-AAC. NXP will incorporate these codecs in home entertainment product development, from set-top boxes and soundbars to smart speakers.

Amazon has qualified the VocalFusion 2-mic dev kit for Alexa Voice Services launched by XMOS for smart TVs and set-top boxes in July 2019. The qualification highlights the opportunity for manufacturers to build Amazon Alexa voice capabilities into their products more easily and cost effectively than ever before. Amazon highlights the product’s engineering innovation, enabling lower cost voice capabilities with all the performance of a 4-mic solution, and paving the way for mass market implementation of far-field applications.

UK-based XMOS launched its next generation voice processor — the XVF3510. The 2-mic voice processor boasts all the performance of a 4-mic solution, and will be available at a market-leading cost of $0.99 per unit, paving the way for mass market implementation. The new processor is now available as part of a new development kit, optimized for far-field applications in TVs and set-top boxes, which allows manufacturers to embed Alexa or other voice engines into their products.