Voice/speech processing IC supports range of audio functions in phone

Audience has announced voice processor earSmart eS325 for smart phone to support features such as real-time communications, speech recognition and media capture. Smartphones built with this chip are expected by the end of April 2013.

earSmart eS325 can feed in with simultaneous three microphone inputs for processing, optimized Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Mobile Audio Zoom, Super Wideband support for Voice over IP (VoIP) and Enhanced Stereo Recording. The earSmart eS325 also allow HD quality voice call experience when moving between 3G and 4G networks with audio quality of natural conversations.

“The Audience earSmart eS325 raises the bar for mobile voice quality, delivering a host of exciting features and technologies that transform a consumer’s experience of using speech to communicate, interact and connect through their mobile device,” said Robert Schoenfield, vice president of marketing and business development, Audience. “With many leading manufacturers already engaged with us, we expect to see the earSmart eS325 Advanced Voice processor play an important role in this year’s most exciting mobile devices.”

"Due to the importance of voice in so many key applications we expect things like three-microphone support and voice processing to come to most high-end smartphones," said Ben Bajarin, Principal Industry Analyst, Consumer Technology and Market Trends at Creative Strategies, Inc. "Technologies like these not only increase the quality of the sound experience overall but set the stage for next generation voice processing and recognition technologies which are critical to the future of smart devices."
Advantages of this chip as claimed by Audience:
Three microphone performance improvements of approximately 30% to 55% signal-to-noise ratio improvement (SNRi) in noisy environments. In optimal conditions, Audience claims its tests show SNRi improvement of up to 80% over two microphone-enabled, previous generation products.
Dramatically improved consistency of voice quality when mobile device is held in a variety of different positions.
41% lower power consumption for Narrowband phone calls and 52% lower power consumption for HD Voice/Wideband calls.
The Audience earSmart eS325 is compatible SLIMbus
Feature speech-enabled applications such as virtual assistants and voice search.
Removes the echo effect in spaces such as conference rooms and hallways.
Support voice recording by suppressing noise and capturing both voices with clear accuracy.
Clear VoIP calls in nearly any environment.
Two-microphone 48 KHz noise suppression implementation for recording clean, high definition audio.