May 3, 2021 | Jim Davis A | biometricupdate.com
Advancing voice recognition in smart devices
A San Diego, CA-based startup called AonDevices has offered a preview of a new edge AI processor specifically designed for voice biometrics in applications requiring low power consumption – think battery powered devices like true wireless earbuds and smartphones as well as smart speakers and other smart home devices.
The company has developed application-specific inference algorithms integrated with edge AI chips; together they can reliably recognize human speech and audio commands in very noisy environments while still using ten times less power than typically used by digital signal processors (DSPs). The company is claiming 150 microwatts of power are used in continuous speech conditions.
AonDevices initially prototyped the solution on the Xilinx Zynq-7000 FPGA but can be delivered as an ASIC, according to the company.
“By adding artificial intelligence to our advanced wireless communication ICs, it offers the potential for voice activity and hotword detection at the edge in headsets, remote controls and other applications where performance, high noise-resilience and battery lifetime are crucial,” said Arend van der Weijden, VP of Wireless, Audio and Voice BU at Dialog Semiconductor in a press release.
AONDevices said it has licensed its AONVoice edge AI processor technology to top tier semiconductor companies and is currently demonstrating best-in-class performance results in both ASIC and FPGA designs.
