Tensilica and Sensory announced that the two companies have worked together to provide the lowest power voice activation solution based on Tensilica's recently introduced HiFi Mini DSP (digital signal processor) IP core and Sensory's TrulyHandsfree™ always-on voice activation technology. By utilizing Sensory's Low Power Speech Detection technology, Tensilica was able to further reduce power to an average of under 25 μW when implemented in a 28 nm HPL process, the lowest power implementation by far in the industry. This makes this joint solution ideal for always-on voice activated smartphones, tablets, appliances and automotive applications. Tensilica and Sensory demonstrated their joint voice solution at Tensilica's booth, #6D101 at the Mobile World Congress, February 25-28, in Barcelona, Spain. "The Low Power Speech Detection capability significantly extends battery life," stated Bernard Brafman, vice president of business development at Sensory. "When the HiFi DSP detects speech, the full TrulyHandsfree 3.0 voice trigger features, including speaker verification passphrase, user-defined speaker verification and user-defined speaker identification, will be enabled." "Using Sensory's TrulyHandsfree technology, we can offer our customers the lowest power total solution, with power ranging from below an average of 25 μW in basic detection mode," stated Larry Przywara, Tensilica's senior director of mobile multimedia. "With this level of efficiency, Sensory's voice trigger running on our HiFi DSP is the smallest part of the power budget for the entire voice signal chain."
