Ambiq announces new voice biometrics tool for IoT integration

Ambiq has unveiled a new tool to help manufacturers integrate voice commands into their IoT (Internet of Things) devices.

Dubbed Voice-on-SPOT (VoS) Kit, the new solution aims to deliver the company’s complete ultra-low-power solution at both the microcontrollers (MCU) and the system levels for edge processing. SPOT refers to Ambiq’s Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology.

The Voice-on-SPOT Kit integrates both Ambiq’s hardware and software with peripherals and third-party IP. Its capabilities include voice biometrics and signal processing using DSP Concepts Audio Weaver, Sensory VoiceHub, and Retune DSP VoiceSpot.

According to Marc Miller, the Director of Solutions Marketing at Ambiq, this is the perfect moment to release the VoS Kit for the company, as the speech and voice recognition market is experiencing substantial growth.

“Voice is the most convenient but least utilized input modality to interact with a product,” Miller explained. “The mass adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in our everyday lives has accelerated the shift toward voice applications.”

The VoS Kit will now enable voice and audio capability integration within battery-powered devices via Always-on-Voice (AoV) technology.

Potential applications include remote controls, gaming controllers, smart sensors, smartwatches, remote mics, and health trackers.

“With the Ambiq VoS Kit, manufacturers finally have a complete solution to implement always-on voice command in their IoT devices while achieving up to one-year battery life,” Miller added.

The first VoS Kit, which is built on the Apollo3 Blue Plus MCU, is already commercially available.

The device features AoV capabilities with application and cloud service-driven options for one or two mics, as well as signal processing, wake word/command detection, codec, and Bluetooth LE (BLE) communication.

Ambiq is also already working with the next generation of MCUs powered by the VoS Kit.

The upcoming Apollo4 Blue VoS Kit, which is planned for release in the third quarter of 2021, will offer even lower AoV power, as well as higher specifications.

These will include up to eight digital mic inputs, a 120dB Signal to Noise Ratio Pulse Density Modulation to Pulse Code Modulation converter, a 192MHz Arm M4F MCU, highly precise clocking, and advanced interconnectivity with hardware rate matching.

Article Topics

Ambiq  |  biometrics  |  biometrics at the edge  |  IoT  |  research and development  |  voice biometrics  |  voice recognition