Designers using the Qualcomm QCC5141, a premium low-power voice-enabled audio chip for advanced true wireless and headset products, can now offer OnlyVoice, an advanced voice acquisition solution relying on sensor fusion technology for devices incorporating acoustic microphones and a vibration sensor.
Bluetooth headphones and TWS products are appraised for many features, including transmission call quality. After all, words matter. And those words should be intelligibly delivered to the person (or machine) on the other end of the call even when speaking from a noisy environment such as a windy park, cafeteria, and even the office — at work, home, or wherever. The immense popularity of True Wireless Stereo (TWS) creates an opportunity for the product designer to ensure that the users’ voice is heard, even in these small form-factor earbuds.
Part of the multiple digital signal processing solutions developed by Alango Technologies, OnlyVoice improves communication intelligibility in noisy environments by employing an in-ear signal source, which due to its positioning is isolated from ambient noise. The user’s speech is acquired with either an in-ear microphone via the eustachian tube or an in-ear accelerometer via bone conduction. The in-ear signal is combined with the external microphone’s beamforming signal and intelligently mixed, since the frequency limit of internal voice pickup is effectively 1.5kHz.
The combination of the in-ear sensor and external beamforming array captures clear, full-spectrum speech surpassing the performance limitations of modern-day headphones. OnlyVoice also includes Voice Activity Detection (VAD) functionality allowing low-power, always-listening operation of voice-activated devices.
“Alango has been a long-time member of the Qualcomm Extension Program, successfully serving customers by providing Alango DSP algorithms running on Qualcomm Technologies’ Bluetooth feature rich SoCs that have broad industry adoption,” says Dr. Alexander Goldin, CEO of Alango Technologies. “OnlyVoice is our latest addition to the set of technologies available on the latest generation of Bluetooth solutions from Qualcomm Technologies.”
Already available for the Qualcomm QCC5141 platform is Alango VoiceFirst (previously known as SEN or Sound Effect Normalization), a unique solution developed to improve speech intelligibility in movies, television shows and sports broadcasts through de-emphasis of background sounds and music. Besides increasing dialogue intelligibility, VoiceFirst can also reduce the user’s fatigue from exaggerated sound effects, making content more suitable for older adults.
Alango is also working on making its 4 mic (2x2) VoiceDefender solution for over-ear/over-the-head headphone form factors, available soon on the QCC platform later in 2021.
www.alango.com/technologies-onlyvoice-in-ear-microphone
