Conexant Introduces New Far-Field Voice Input Processor SoC for Smart TVs

Conexant-Introduces-New-Far-Field-Voice-Input-Processor-SoC-for-Smart-TVs-20010101

Conexant Systems Inc. today announced the CX20865, its new high-performance Far-Field Voiceinput processor system-on-chip (SoC) designed specifically for Smart TVs. The CX20865 is the first dedicated Far-Field Voice solution with integrated Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) engine, optimized for telepresence and voice control applications. Conexant has integrated a third party ASR with the new low-power DSP to support stand-alone Wake-on-Voice functionality during Smart TV power-off state. Combined with Conexant's proprietary Far-Field Voice pre-processing algorithms and integrated high-performance 24bit ADCs, the CX20865 adds a differentiated Watch Live and Talk experience with popular VoIP applications, such as Skype TV, and delivers accurate voice control performance while the TV is blasting in high volume. The new Selective Source Pickup technology maintains speech recognition in the presence of random ambient interference, enabling live demos in the retail environment and tradeshows.

As the centerpiece of the living room, the Smart TV is becoming the new hub for the human interface to other digital appliances and the Cloud. Voice is the natural and ideal hands-free interface for consumers to access and interact with Smart TVs; from basic voice remote controls to advanced voice search, apps interaction, social networking, chat and gaming. However, in order for voice to deliver on the promise of Smart TV experience for users, ambient noise, TV playback volume and distance must be taken into consideration. A pioneer in Far-Field Voice processing technology, Conexant is working closely with leading TV OEMs to overcome these technical challenges.

The new CX20865 hardware features dual cores, high-performance 32bit DSP, processing multi-thread voice streams and a third party ASR. The integrated DC/DC provides advanced power management functions. The device has full-speed USB and I2S I/Os for voice data, and I2C and UART interface for control. The quad microphone input paths have been upgraded with high-performance pre-amp and 24 bit ADCs, delivering 106dB dynamic range full path. Further, each microphone path has dedicated microphone bias to prevent cross-talk.

The voice pre-processing performance is enhanced to deliver >97 percent ASR hit-rate when the TV is playing sound at high volume. The new echo-cancellation supports stereo, 2.1CH, and 2+2CH internal speaker configurations. The improved de-reverberation and true wideband processing has radically enhanced the perceptual voice clarity. To this end, Conexant is also working with leading regional ASR vendors to optimize hit-rates and reduce false detection with their local and Cloud-based ASR engines.

The featured Watch Live and Talk seamlessly blends voice conversation and TV entertainment into a single experience, allowing two parties to "share the moment" watching the same or different TV programs while carrying on a conversation. The experience also applies to voice-chat during multi-party game play on TV, without tethering to a headset.

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