Dolphin Integration paves the way for the next generation of Digital microphones "CoolMic"

Grenoble, France – January 08, 2017 -- Dolphin Integration introduces Rooster Silicon IP to design “CoolMic – A high performance & ultra low power Digital Microphone” for Voice First devices

Voice based interaction with human interface devices is on the rise, especially driven by search through natural language on mobiles, Voice assistants, tablets and so on. For success of these Voice First Devices, being Always-On and consuming ultra low power while delivering high audio performance is both a necessity and a unique challenge.

This establishes the groundwork for designing intelligent and high performance smart microphones with the lowest possible power consumption from bottom up.

We understand that our customers are demanding much more from the Digital Microphone providers and therefore our efforts are dedicated in that direction.

At Dolphin Integration, we are highly focused bettering the coolest DMICs with the best dynamic range for playback as well as recording, while seamlessly working with Automatic Speech recognition algorithm both for DMIC providers and System Makers.

Our latest generation of silicon IP – the mMOD71.5-Rooster-LR-VD.03 – enables a CoolMic by embedding “Voice Activation” to achieve ultra-low power consumption in the Voice detection mode.

Click to enlarge

Figure 1: Voice activation with Rooster IP for digital “CoolMic”

The WhisperTrigger^TM, a patented and standalone ultra low power Voice Activity detector, achieves a 100% detection of vowels in less than 30% truncation of the first phoneme, so you will never miss your keyword!

The key here is an embedded powerful self-adaptive algorithm, which senses the ambient noise while dealing with stringent user environments, be it in near-field or far-field contexts up to 6-8 meters.

With a near zero consumption in the detection mode including the mode controller, the product has been tested to extend the battery life of a smart speaker with a 2,850 mAh battery capacity up to 2 years compared to the 3 weeks it boasts of today!

An additional noise floor information analysis forms a feedback loop to the DSP, which can be used to enhance the performance of the Key Word Spotting algorithm.

The WhisperTrigger^TM combined with an ADC modulator, allows up to 133 dB SPL of Acoustic Overload Point (AOP) to ensure a very high dynamic range for the best recording regardless of the end user environment.

The ADC modulator of the Rooster features SNR performances of 71.5 dB @ -37 dBFS in order to achieve a digital microphone performance up to 64 dB.

The Rooster also supports applications demanding enhanced audio algorithms such as Key Word Spotting, Noise/Echo Cancellation and Beam forming.

Hope you liked reading about our new product! We welcome you to connect with us to know more about the entire low power offering and write to us at contact@dolphin.fr

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About Dolphin Integration

Dolphin Integration contributes to "enabling low power Systems-on-Chip" for worldwide customers - up to the major actors of the semiconductor industry - with high-density Silicon IP components best at low-power consumption.

"Foundation IPs" includes innovative libraries of standard cells; register files and memory generators as well as an ultra-low power cache controller. "Fabric IPs" of voltage regulators, Power Island Construction Kit and their control network MAESTRO enable to safely implement low-power SoCs with the smallest silicon area. They also star the "Feature IP": from ultra-low power Voice Activity Detector with high-resolution converters for audio and measurement applications to power-optimized 8 or 16 and 32 bit micro-controllers.

Over 30 years of experience in the integration of silicon IP components, providing services for ASIC/SoC design and fabrication with its own EDA solutions, make DOLPHIN Integration a genuine one-stop shop addressing all customers' needs for specific requests.

It is not just one more supplier of Technology, but also the provider of the DOLPHIN Integration know-how!