Development kit improves voice recognition rate in IoT market

The kit is designed to enable third party developers and original design manufacturers (ODMs) to evaluate and incorporate Alexa functionality in H2M applications, while interfacing with the Microsemi Timberwolf ZL38063 multi-mic audio processor.

Microsemi’s Timberwolf is a field programmable, field upgradable digital signal processor equipped with specific hardware accelerators to run three simultaneous acoustic echo cancellers (AECs). Its AcuEdge Development Kit for Amazon AVS comes complete with a development board that connects directly to a Raspberry Pi and plastic frames to help position microphones and speakers in targeted applications. It also enables users to speed development of their products by utilising the quick start guide and user interface.

“The Microsemi AcuEdge Development Kit for Amazon AVS offers a scalable platform enabling developers to quickly and cost effectively achieve their design criteria requiring two mics,” said Shahin Sadeghi, Marketing Director at Microsemi. “Our AcuEdge development kit utilises Microsemi’s state-of-the-art Timberwolf solution and has been tested for compatibility with Amazon AVS. The kit is for use by ODMs and third party developers to bring innovative H2M applications to market.”

Microsemi’s Timberwolf is enabled with compressor/limiter/expander (CLE) microphone pickup algorithms, beam forming, and stationary and non-stationary noise reduction, enabling voice control and speech recognition not only from a distance but also in the presence of adverse noise and audio sounds. The complete kit features a Timberwolf evaluation board, which is populated with two microphones capable of operating in both 180 and 360 degree audio pickup modes. The evaluation board is equipped with the Raspberry Pi connector, which allows for quick and easy setup. Additionally the kit is delivered with a board and speaker stand allowing users to quickly evaluate the performance of the solution.

“Amazon’s goal is for developers and device makers to have access to a wide range of reference solutions that fit their needs,” said Priya Abani, Director, Alexa Voice Service. “We’re excited to be working with Microsemi to provide device manufacturers with a way to quickly and easily integrate Alexa into their products across a variety of form factors, including wall-mounted and on-table devices, smart speakers, and connected home products.”

While the Raspberry Pi runs the Amazon AVS client and Alexa wake word detection, the Timberwolf solution runs all front-end audio processing enabling improved speech recognition accuracy. The signal processing technology implemented by the Timberwolf audio processor includes:

• Noise reduction
• Beam forming
• Barge-in support
• CLE mic pickup
• Full duplex two-way audio
• Stereo acoustic echo cancellation
• Direct mic interface as well as Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) and Inter-IC Sound (I2S)/time-division multiplexing (TDM) connection to the Raspberry Pi