Check out our CES 2022 coverage.
The Overview
This week at CES 2022, CEVA has unveiled enhancements to the software offerings and tool kits for its Bluebud wireless audio platform with the addition of Bluebud-HD, a pre-configured software package that includes all the audio, voice and context-aware software required in premium TWS earbuds, gaming headsets, hearables, wearables, and other smart audio products.
Who Needs It & Why?
According to research firm Yole Développement, shipments of true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds, hearing aids, smartwatches, and smart speakers will surpass 1.3 billion units annually by 2026, with premium audio becoming a must-have feature for many applications such as gaming, AR/VR experiences, and 3D sound. CEVA’s Bluebud wireless audio platform, combined with the accompanying Bluebud-HD software package gives OEMs a means of capitalizing on the market momentum behind premium audio while sidestepping the complexity of combining wireless and audio.
Under the Hood
The Bluebud-HD software package takes advantage of the on-board CEVA-BX1 DSP to consolidate a wide range of optimized HD audio, voice, and context-aware modules which are otherwise processed on separate DSPs or MCUs in non-CEVA architectures. The Bluebud hardware platform has been upgraded to include CEVA’s latest SIG-qualified RivieraWaves Bluetooth 5.3 IP, with both Classic Audio and LE Audio, and the CEVA-BX1 audio processor, together with all the required peripherals for wireless audio, in a compact low-power design, with a footprint of less than 0.5 mm2 in 22-nm process technology.
Bluebud-HD also supports audio processing using 96-KHz/24-bit precision, enabling many high-resolution audio standards. The fully integrated software package includes:
- CEVA’s ClearVox, enhanced to support sampling rates up to 48 KHz, for super wideband voice conversations
- VisiSonics RS3D software for an immersive 3D audio experience
- CEVA’s MotionEngine Hear software for accurate head tracking, in-ear detection, and tap control
- Personalized hearing tuning for adaptation to each listener’s hearing
- LHDC high-definition audio codec
- CEVA’s SenslinQ DSP software framework for plug-and-play, power-efficient, native DSP algorithms
- Bluebud-HD SDK
CEVA also announced today that its SenslinQ software framework and the CEVA-BX1 DSP tool kit have been upgraded for the Bluebud platform to streamline the addition of 3rd-party DSP algorithms and to facilitate the easy migration of existing software from other processor architectures. Host CPU application developers benefit from the OpenAMP API for virtualized access to the feature sets enabled by Bluebud-HD and other audio, voice, and speech software available through the CEVAnet partner ecosystem. The SenslinQ framework enables Bluebud customers to consolidate all audio, voice, and IMU-based contextual awareness workloads onto the CEVA-BX1 DSP rather than embedding separate DSPs for wireless and audio and results in smaller die size and lower power consumption.
Availability
The Bluebud platform, Bluebud-HD software package and SenslinQ software framework are available for licensing today.