DSP IP core optimised for voice trigger, recognition

The HiFi Mini DSP IP core enables a hands-free experience and is optimised specifically for the smallest area and lowest power in smartphones, tablets, appliances and automotive applications. The company has worked with Sensory and other software partners, providing the voice-activation, speech command recognition, voice pre-processing and noise reduction products optimised on the HiFi Mini DSP.

"Voice activation and speech command are essential ingredients in making devices much more user friendly, and we see that the market for devices utilising this technology will explode in the years ahead," stated Michael Morgan, mobile devices senior analyst with ABI Research. "A number of companies are working on the software side, but it's also important to have a very low power DSP to run that software so battery life is not meaningfully impacted. Tensilica's HiFi Mini will help drive this market."

Tensilica optimised the HiFi Mini DSP core to be as small and power efficient as possible for voice trigger and voice recognition in two major ways. First, the core uses compact 40bit encoding, which significantly improves code size. Second, Tensilica added efficient16bit instructions that are optimised for voice and audio codecs. The result is a post-route core that's only 0.039 mm² in 28 nm HPL.

"Power is the single most important factor in enabling always-on listening capability in mobile devices.锟経sing Sensory's Truly Handsfree voice control technology, HiFi Mini is able to achieve less than 88 uW of power for the core in 28 nm HPL, achieving both the lowest power consumption and uncompromising accuracy for speech recognition," stated Larry Przywara, Tensilica's senior director of mobile multimedia. "The combination of ultra-low power and small area makes HiFi Mini an attractive addition to mobile as well as other consumer electronics. And as voice control emerges as the natural interface, we expect it will become more ubiquitous as it migrates to automotive, consumer appliances and potentially industrial control."

The HiFi Mini DSP IP core will be available in March 2013. Tensilica will demonstrate Sensory's Truly Handsfree voice trigger and speech command products on HiFi Mini at the Consumer Electronics Show in booth MP25060, January 8-11, 2013 in Las Vegas, NV USA.