MEMS
MEMS microphone to help voice recognition
MANY of today’s portable electronic devices are on the cusp of an audio revolution. While in recent years designers have focused on the development of exciting new functions, such as wireless Internet access and mobile TV reception, advancement of audio functions has lagged behind. Analog Devices, well known for delivering high-performance audio signal processing technology, has created two new MEMS microphones that enable advanced audio functions for portable electronics. These functions include high-fidelity audio/video playback, hands free communication, and voice recognition with built-in wind noise suppression, and TIA-920- compliance for VoIP applications. The new ADMP404 and ADMP405
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iMEMS microphones combine ADI’s audio signal processing expertise with its innovative patented and patent- pending iMEMS technology. The resulting MEMS microphones offer the industry’s highest SNR (signal-to-noise
ratio) of 62 dB A-weighted and the highest PSRR (power supply rejection ratio) of 70 dBV with integrated high- pass filtering. End-product manufacturers can now develop portable electronic devices that deliver clearer, more intelligible voice quality without the background noise/hiss produced by other microphones with lower SNR.
Delivering a flat wideband
frequency response from 100 Hz to 15 kHz on the ADMP404 and from 200 Hz to 15 kHz on the ADMP405, these new MEMS microphones eliminate the need for hardware filtering or advanced signal processing to enhance audio acquisition.
The ADMP405 with a 200 Hz roll-
off is the industry’s first with this capability, enabling engineers to filter wind noise or fan noise energy at the transducer; this provides a clearer audio signal that can be more easily conditioned with any downstream signal processing. Engineers can now move
MEMS funding go ahead
QUALTRE has announced that it has completed an $8 million Series B round of financing, bringing the total funds raised to $13 million. The infusion will fund the company’s product development, sales, and operations infrastructure to commercialize its proprietary Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) micro electromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscopes. Participating institutional venture capital investors in this round are Matrix Partners and Pilot House Ventures, whose past portfolio investments include Xilinx and SanDisk. Qualtre is developing the world’s first solid-state multi-axis MEMS gyroscopes targeting mobile handsets, game controllers, and digital camera image stabilization markets. Commercially available MEMS gyroscopes serving these applications have delicate moving mass structures
vibrating at low frequencies of 5-50KHz, making them susceptible to bias drift over time, temperature and vibration. “MEMS gyroscopes are gaining popularity in game console controllers as they enable accurate tracking of the user’s hand motions with on-screen game play,” said Stan Reiss, a General Partner with Matrix Partners. “We expect Qualtre’s motion sensor technology will enable new functionality in the billion unit handset market through a gesture controlled user interface, entertaining mobile games, and pedestrian navigation services.” Tri-axis MEMS gyroscopes are expected to drive a new boom in the motion sensing market. Yole Developpement forecasts a $732 million market for MEMS gyroscopes in consumer electronic applications for 2015 with tri-axis gyroscopes
beyond simple command and control voice recognition to full voice recognition for hands-free, translator, and dictation applications. “There’s a growing recognition by system designers that poor microphone performance at the front end significantly increases requirements for downstream audio processing. This leads to higher power consumption, higher cost and a more complex system design,” said Mark Martin, vice president, MEMS/Sensor Group, Analog Devices. “By leveraging ADI’s proven iMEMS and audio signal processing technologies, these new MEMS microphones simplify designs and enable many new high performance capabilities for portable consumer and industrial products.”
representing 80% of this demand. In a success pattern seen before, the mobile phones will be the killer application for advanced gyroscopes, similar to the rapid adoption curve of MEMS accelerometers in handsets. “We expect that GPS assistance will be a must-have for a wide range of mobile devices in the coming years, enabling pedestrian navigation and advanced location-based services,” outlined, Laurent Robin, Lead MEMS Analyst for Yole Developpement.
www.euroasiasemiconductor.com Issue II 2010
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