Conexant Partners with DIOTEK for High-Performance Speech Recognition in Embedded Applications

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Conexant Systems Inc. today announced a technology partnership with DIOTEK to integrate speech recognition with its high-performance digital audio processor, the CX20805. DIOTEK’s speech recognition engine is an ideal complement to Conexant’s digital audio processor, which features the industry’s most comprehensive collection of pre- and post-processing algorithms and far-field voice input technology. The joint solution is targeted to smart home appliances, consumer electronics and educational toys and brings to market a high-performance, cost-optimized platform.

“This powerful combination of technologies will not only produce crystal clear speech recognition but also reduce time to market for our customers.”

This partnership comes at a time when there is a growing trend for applications to include voice technology as the next generation of products will feature the ability to use voice commands to control and/or ‘wake up’ the devices/appliances. In fact, a recent BCC Research report projected the voice recognition technology market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8 percent between 2010 and 2015, with the total market value estimated to reach $58.4 billion in 2015.

However, enabling voice commands for many products does not come without challenges. For home appliances, ambient noise and distance must be taken into consideration. Conexant has addressed these issues with its pre-processing algorithms that include noise reduction and far-field voice input processing. Conexant provides the hardware and advanced pre-processing algorithms to filter out ambient noise and provide a good hit-rate for DIOTEK’s speech recognition engine to produce reliable voice control from far away.

Target areas of automatic speech recognition (ASR) segmentation include:

Voice Wake Speech Recognition – power-on scenario with no audio playback and magic word scenario with audio playback
Keyword Recognition – full ASR on-chip parameter feature extraction, lookup, recognition, and fixed words library
Natural Language – cloud-based recognition and response

“Our DSP with its integrated memory and patented far-field voice input processing technology coupled with DIOTEK’s speech recognition engine enables us to offer our customers a low-power, high-performance solution to meet demands in a variety of applications,” said Sailesh Chittipeddi, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer for Conexant. “This powerful combination of technologies will not only produce crystal clear speech recognition but also reduce time to market for our customers.”

“With the ever-increasing number of applications that will enable consumers to wake up their devices and control them with their voices, there is a great need to produce voice and speech recognition technology to meet the demand,” said Jeong In Doh, chief executive officer, DIOTEK. “Our partnership with Conexant, an established leader in far-field voice input processing, will help to make true hands-free operation for a variety of products a reality.”

The CX20805 from Conexant is a dual-core 32-bit, high-performance, low-power digital audio processor targeted to applications with the most demanding audio requirements. Based on the Conexant Audio Processing Engine (CAPE) architecture with scalable performance of up to 800 MIPS, the CX20805 integrates high-speed USB 2.0 and other key audio interfaces with advanced power management functionality.

Please visit www.conexant.com for more information.

About DIOTEK

Since its establishment in 1999, DIOTEK Co., Ltd has been leading the software market for mobile devices focusing on smart phones and touch screen phones. Through strategic partnerships with global device manufacturers, DIOTEK provides various products worldwide for both general consumers and corporate customers, including handwriting recognition, electronic dictionaries, mobile OCR, and speech recognition/synthesis software. DIOTEK is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. For more information, visit www.diotek.com.

About Conexant

Conexant’s comprehensive portfolio of innovative semiconductor solutions includes products for imaging, audio, embedded modem, and video surveillance applications. Conexant is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif. To learn more, please visit www.conexant.com.