Bosch Launches World’s Smallest MEMS Accelerometers for Wearables and Hearables

Meeting the market momentum for hearables that combine bone conduction, Bosch Sensortec has announced the new BMA530 and BMA580 MEMS accelerometers, currently the world’s smallest devices of this type, with just 1.2 x 0.8 x 0.55mm³. This is also an easy-to-integrate variant with voice activity detection, saving power and extending battery life, while allowing advanced audio processing features.

This article addresses the practical approach to testing and evaluation of multichannel MEMS microphone arrays. The simultaneous acquisition and measurement of signals from a microphone array presents a variety of challenges to developers seeking to evaluate their designs. This article explains the fundamentals to address challenges in smartphones, smart speakers, and all sorts of voice-activated devices, typically using two, and up to seven or more microphones. This article was originally published in audioXpress, March 2022.

During Mobile World Congress 2018, CEVA announced the availability of Dynamic Speaker Management (DSM) software from Maxim Integrated Products for its CEVA-TeakLite-4 family of ultra-low power audio/voice DSPs, allowing for much louder and richer sound on smartphones, wearables and headsets. CEVA also confirmed that Nuance Voice Activation technology is now available for the CEVA-TeakLite family of DSPs, offering improved performance and power efficiency for mobile devices and smart home applications.

CEVA, a leading licensor of signal processing IP for smarter, connected devices, and Taiwan's leading embedded speech solution provider, Cyberon Corporation, announced a partnership to offer an ultra-low power, always-listening voice activation solution for smartphones, consumer and IoT devices. Cyberon has developed an optimized implementation of its CSpotter voice recognition engine for the CEVA-TeakLite family of DSPs.

Vesper has launched VM1010, the first wake-on-sound MEMS microphone that consumes nearly zero power — allowing consumers to voice-activate battery-powered smart speakers, smart earbuds and TV remotes without draining the battery. The inaugural member of Vesper’s ZeroPower Listening MEMS microphone product line, VM1010 is a tiny, ultra-rugged piezoelectric MEMS microphone.

Cirrus Logic's newest smart codec - CS47L15 SmartHIFI Audio IC - expands advanced audio features to a wider range of smartphones, including “always on” voice activation and virtual stereo for high-fidelity music playback experiences. The new low-power smart codec allows delivering better audio quality and many of the same advanced audio features found in its premium audio and voice ICs to smartphones beyond flagship models.