SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fortemedia Inc. (www.Fortemedia.com), the world leader in voice processing technologies, announced its first Audio SoC that integrates audio codec with its world-leading voice processing algorithms on-chip that enhances voice commands possible with today’s new SmartTV. Voice commands have become popular with most electronics devices in the past few years as it is the most intuitive user interface. However, using voice commands to control TV has proved to be very challenging for several reasons. The various environmental noises cause immense difficulties that earlier technologies were unable to address effectively. Distance is another challenging factor that earlier solutions failed to address and provide adequate quality of a voice signal beyond 3 meters. Key requirements for voice input applications in a SmartTV include the ability to connect to many microphones, typically 4 or more, supporting different microphone placement geometries and the capability to support distant talking ASR in reverberant environments.
Fortemedia’s new audio SoC, FM1488, has built-in capability to support voice signal processing for up to 6 microphones, in addition to processing different pickup patterns, providing the best noise suppression capability while extending the consumer’s command voice pick range up to 5 meters. The patent-pending solution will also provide multi-channel acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) and suppress room ambient reverberation; all these contribute to significant voice command accuracy improvement. Other features include voice tracking capability to ensure good pickup of user commands when the talker is in front of the viewing area.
“FM1488 is the breakthrough for TV technology,” said Dr. Paul Huang, CEO and chairman of Fortemedia, Inc. “We have made a major step in solving one of the toughest problems in the industry.”
Fortemedia will demo FM1488 technology with a 4 microphone solution at CES. The product is expected to start sampling in Q2 2014 and MP in Q3 2014.
About Fortemedia Inc.
Fortemedia Inc., headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, is the world leader in voice processing technology. Fortemedia’s focus is on developing technology for cell phones, PCs, headsets, automotive and VoIP applications, providing leading edge performance in voice quality enhancement to both hands-free and hand-held voice communication. With over 100 patents and superior performance in beam-forming noise suppression, echo cancellation and wind noise suppression, Fortemedia’s leading solutions have been adopted by industry leaders across a wide variety of markets. For more information, visit www.Fortemedia.com.
