Windows 10: Qualcomm announces new QCC305x SoC series wireless audio chipset

Brink · Dec 16, 2020

Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. today unveiled the QualcommÂ® QCC305x SoCs, designed specifically to help its customers differentiate across a range of tiers in the very fast-moving truly wireless earbud category. The QCC305x SoCs are designed to provide more flexible and cost-sensitive options for implementing rich wireless audio use cases, by bringing our powerful support for many of its premium audio technologies to the industry-leading, mid-tier QualcommÂ® QCC30xx series of platforms. Additionally, the QCC305x will look to support the forthcoming Bluetooth Low Energy Audio standard, so that early-adopting OEMs can begin to develop an end-to-end implementation with smartphones and truly wireless earbuds supporting the exciting new audio sharing use case.

"We are entering a new era for the expanding truly wireless earbud category, which is diversifying at a terrific rate bringing new use-cases and feature enrichment to products in virtually all tiers," said James Chapman, vice president, and general manager, Voice, Music, and Wearables, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.. "Not only do our QCC305x SoCs bring many of our latest-and-greatest audio features to our mid-range truly wireless earbud portfolio, they are also designed to be developer-ready for the upcoming Bluetooth LE Audio standard. We believe this combination gives our customers great flexibility to innovate at a range of price points and helps them meet the needs of today's audio consumers, many of whom now rely on their truly wireless earbuds for all sorts of entertainment and productivity activities."

The 2020 Qualcomm State of Play Report shows that noise cancellation, making hands-free voice calls and mobile video watching or gaming are among the most popular end-use cases for truly wireless earbuds today, with usage in a range of environments outside as well as inside the home. The QCC305x offers more robust connectivity, low-power optimization, and rich feature integration necessary compared to our previous offerings, to support these applications, as well as providing access to a wide choice of differentiating audio technologies for this new era of truly wireless audio.

Premium audio technologies available with the Qualcomm QCC305x include:

Audio sharing use case - sharing from one smartphone to multiple wireless listeners at the same time - looking to meet the forthcoming Bluetooth LE Audio standard.

Voice service support with always-on wake word activation or button press activation to assist with total hands-free earbud control

QualcommÂ® Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation for superior sound quality while mitigating for differences in fit and activity of the user

QualcommÂ® aptX Adaptive at up to 96Khz audio resolution, for high quality listening and low latency streaming while watching videos or gaming

QualcommÂ® aptX Voice and QualcommÂ® cVc Echo Cancellation and Noise Suppression for top voice clarity on calls

Bluetooth LE Audio is a new industry standard that will extend the capabilities of classic Bluetooth and offer up new possibilities for wireless audio use cases, with capabilities such as broadcast, multicast, and audio sharing. We work closely with the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and are helping to further the evolution of the wireless audio ecosystem. This includes innovating integrated technology platforms that support the current Bluetooth standard alongside LE Audio, which is critical for ensuring end-products are fit for purpose in the real world.

"The Bluetooth community continues to drive the technology forward to meet evolving market needs and create new opportunities," said Mark Powell, CEO of Bluetooth SIG. "LE Audio is a prime example. Not only will it enhance the performance of existing Bluetooth audio products, it introduces Audio Sharing, a new audio use case poised to transform the way we experience audio and connect with the world around us."

The QCC305x SoCs are designed to support superior end-to-end operability from a QualcommÂ® Snapdragon powered smartphone to Qualcomm-Technologies powered earbuds. To help deliver this true end-to-end experience, the recently announced QualcommÂ® Snapdragon 888 Mobile Platform, with the QualcommÂ® FastConnect 6900 connectivity system, brings mobile-side support for Bluetooth 5.2, LE Audio, aptX audio and other features providing further interoperability benefits for sound quality, wireless audio robustness and responsiveness.

Qualcomm Technologies is inventing the technologies that will help define this new era for wireless audio. By offering OEMs a broad selection of cutting-edge audio features and experiences to choose from on the QCC305x SoCs, we aim to help further drive use case innovation in the truly wireless earbud category.
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Qualcomm Announces New QCC305x SoC Series Helping to Bring Premium True Wireless Earbud Features to a Broad Range of Tiers | Qualcomm

The next era of truly wireless audio: Qualcomm QCC305x SoCs

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Brink · Dec 16, 2020

New Qualcomm QCS400 SoC series brings AI enhanced smart audio

hFPUhgXXxsw

The future of smart audio is here.

With the new Qualcomm QCS400 SoC series, we’re bringing immersive sound quality together with on-device artificial intelligence (AI) designed to deliver evolved audio experiences throughout the home. From the simple smart assistant to the hi-fidelity soundbar, this exciting new technology is engineered to deliver better sound quality, optimal battery life, and next-gen voice control compared to our previous technology.

We chatted with Rob Saunders, director of product marketing at Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. to find out how the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs have been engineered specifically for consumer audio within the expanding IoT and how they’ll support their customers and enrich the audio experiences of consumer electronics users.

What are the three most important user experiences that the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs make possible?

First, the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs support the evolutionary improvements in voice UI that are critical to realizing the vision of the connected smart home. A combination of highly-integrated tech — including our advanced Qualcomm AI Engine, far-field multi-keyword voice pickup with beamforming, and low-power voice detection — compared to our previous technology, it supports faster response times for voice commands, more robust voice pickup when people are using their speaker in noisy environments, and local voice control, which makes it possible for smart speakers to respond even when they aren’t connected to the internet.

Added to that, these SoCs can drive smarter, more immersive sound quality, particularly for home cinema experiences compared to our previous SoCs. With its high-performance, low-power architecture, the Qualcomm QCS400 can support rich audio features, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, that help people to have a powerful surround-sound experience with a soundbar and networked speaker set-up. People want to be further immersed in the thrill of a car chase or the excitement of a live stadium concert, and this helps to make that a reality.

The third thing to call out is that the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs are designed to make it easier for people to enjoy this great sounding audio virtually everywhere. There are two ways we look to achieve this. One is with robust, multi-channel connectivity that is engineered to enable smart speakers to be networked together in a room or around the home. This means people can have ample control of the audio devices on their home network and play back music and audio in different rooms or the whole home at the same time. The second way we help enable great audio is by driving improvements in power performance and battery life — people can take their speakers with them into the yard or even to the park or beach and enjoy playback with voice commands.

Would you tell us more about the superior audio features you mentioned?

The new SoCs have a quad-core processor as well as a dedicated audio DSP offering up to 32 channels of processing, as well as rich features like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. It’s all about helping our customers to deliver a rich, more immersive, cinema-like experience in the home.

In addition, with Qualcomm DDFA amplifier technology for premium audio amplification and Qualcomm aptX Bluetooth technology, we’re supporting great sound quality on other wireless audio devices like smart speakers. And, the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs are designed to also deliver low-latency whole-home networking for virtually seamless audio streaming minus the lag or delay.

Apart from low-latency streaming, there are other rich connectivity features on these SoCs — for example, support for tri-radio coexistence of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee channels all at once. This is a complex feature that supports music streaming and home control at the same time, and by having it pre-integrated we’re helping save development time for our customers. With all this combined, we believe this SoC series is really delivering quite an impressive array of audio capabilities and features.

One of the most notable advances on the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs is the on-device AI. Can you tell us more about that?

Our Qualcomm AI Engine is an exciting feature of the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs. AI is a growing force in all areas of technology because it gives devices the ability to learn ways of doing things, instead of relying on programmed logic — by learning in this way, they can be more efficient and effective. On Qualcomm QCS400, we’ve taken this AI capability and applied it to help us make a smarter, more robust Voice UI than our previous technology. We believe that smart speakers with this technology can more accurately recognize wake words, respond faster, and perform many commands without connecting to the cloud. This is better for on-the-go use and at home control.

Our Qualcomm AI Engine is compatible both with third-party neural networking frameworks and our own Qualcomm Neural Processing Engine (NPE) SDK — tools that will help developers utilize this advanced AI to create their own machine-learned features. This is a powerful capability.

How does the Qualcomm QCS400 SoC series span across different types and tiers of devices?

Qualcomm QCS400 is designed to underpin smart audio devices from a home assistant or portable smart speaker through to a high-end audio/visual receiver (AVR). And within those categories, it’s possible to have a broad spectrum of features and price points.

We looked to achieve this scalability by creating SoC variants at different tiers to suit the needs of different product categories. By including our Audio Development Kit (ADK), we also looked to provide flexibility in the SoC design to give developers the power to configure and customize a broad range of features for their end products. The Qualcomm AI Engine is also designed to be highly flexible, and through our Qualcomm NPE SDK, audio manufacturers can utilize this powerful system to create and run their own machine-learned inferences.

What does the future of smart audio look like?

It will be connected — both to the cloud and between local devices. This means robust networking across all channels will be a critical technology requirement.

It could be even smarter, with more intuitive and robust voice interaction and more opportunities for personalization (through biometrics, for example) and security features. These things are necessary to help truly deliver the convenience benefits that smart audio devices could offer people.

Finally, sound could be even higher quality and more immersive across audio devices. From wireless headphones and earbuds, to soundbars and home cinema. Our 2018 State of Play report shows sound quality has repeatedly been the highest-ranked factor by consumers when choosing wireless audio products. That’s not going away, and I think people will become even more aware of sound quality and care even more about it over time.

Learn more about how the QCS400 SoCs and the Smart Audio Platform 400 are made to deliver smarter audio.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/20...eets-device-ai

Brink · Dec 16, 2020

New Qualcomm QCS400 SoC series brings AI enhanced smart audio

hFPUhgXXxsw

The future of smart audio is here.

With the new Qualcomm QCS400 SoC series, we’re bringing immersive sound quality together with on-device artificial intelligence (AI) designed to deliver evolved audio experiences throughout the home. From the simple smart assistant to the hi-fidelity soundbar, this exciting new technology is engineered to deliver better sound quality, optimal battery life, and next-gen voice control compared to our previous technology.

We chatted with Rob Saunders, director of product marketing at Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. to find out how the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs have been engineered specifically for consumer audio within the expanding IoT and how they’ll support their customers and enrich the audio experiences of consumer electronics users.

What are the three most important user experiences that the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs make possible?

First, the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs support the evolutionary improvements in voice UI that are critical to realizing the vision of the connected smart home. A combination of highly-integrated tech — including our advanced Qualcomm AI Engine, far-field multi-keyword voice pickup with beamforming, and low-power voice detection — compared to our previous technology, it supports faster response times for voice commands, more robust voice pickup when people are using their speaker in noisy environments, and local voice control, which makes it possible for smart speakers to respond even when they aren’t connected to the internet.

Added to that, these SoCs can drive smarter, more immersive sound quality, particularly for home cinema experiences compared to our previous SoCs. With its high-performance, low-power architecture, the Qualcomm QCS400 can support rich audio features, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, that help people to have a powerful surround-sound experience with a soundbar and networked speaker set-up. People want to be further immersed in the thrill of a car chase or the excitement of a live stadium concert, and this helps to make that a reality.

The third thing to call out is that the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs are designed to make it easier for people to enjoy this great sounding audio virtually everywhere. There are two ways we look to achieve this. One is with robust, multi-channel connectivity that is engineered to enable smart speakers to be networked together in a room or around the home. This means people can have ample control of the audio devices on their home network and play back music and audio in different rooms or the whole home at the same time. The second way we help enable great audio is by driving improvements in power performance and battery life — people can take their speakers with them into the yard or even to the park or beach and enjoy playback with voice commands.

Would you tell us more about the superior audio features you mentioned?

The new SoCs have a quad-core processor as well as a dedicated audio DSP offering up to 32 channels of processing, as well as rich features like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. It’s all about helping our customers to deliver a rich, more immersive, cinema-like experience in the home.

In addition, with Qualcomm DDFA amplifier technology for premium audio amplification and Qualcomm aptX Bluetooth technology, we’re supporting great sound quality on other wireless audio devices like smart speakers. And, the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs are designed to also deliver low-latency whole-home networking for virtually seamless audio streaming minus the lag or delay.

Apart from low-latency streaming, there are other rich connectivity features on these SoCs — for example, support for tri-radio coexistence of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee channels all at once. This is a complex feature that supports music streaming and home control at the same time, and by having it pre-integrated we’re helping save development time for our customers. With all this combined, we believe this SoC series is really delivering quite an impressive array of audio capabilities and features.

One of the most notable advances on the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs is the on-device AI. Can you tell us more about that?

Our Qualcomm AI Engine is an exciting feature of the Qualcomm QCS400 SoCs. AI is a growing force in all areas of technology because it gives devices the ability to learn ways of doing things, instead of relying on programmed logic — by learning in this way, they can be more efficient and effective. On Qualcomm QCS400, we’ve taken this AI capability and applied it to help us make a smarter, more robust Voice UI than our previous technology. We believe that smart speakers with this technology can more accurately recognize wake words, respond faster, and perform many commands without connecting to the cloud. This is better for on-the-go use and at home control.

Our Qualcomm AI Engine is compatible both with third-party neural networking frameworks and our own Qualcomm Neural Processing Engine (NPE) SDK — tools that will help developers utilize this advanced AI to create their own machine-learned features. This is a powerful capability.

How does the Qualcomm QCS400 SoC series span across different types and tiers of devices?

Qualcomm QCS400 is designed to underpin smart audio devices from a home assistant or portable smart speaker through to a high-end audio/visual receiver (AVR). And within those categories, it’s possible to have a broad spectrum of features and price points.

We looked to achieve this scalability by creating SoC variants at different tiers to suit the needs of different product categories. By including our Audio Development Kit (ADK), we also looked to provide flexibility in the SoC design to give developers the power to configure and customize a broad range of features for their end products. The Qualcomm AI Engine is also designed to be highly flexible, and through our Qualcomm NPE SDK, audio manufacturers can utilize this powerful system to create and run their own machine-learned inferences.

What does the future of smart audio look like?

It will be connected — both to the cloud and between local devices. This means robust networking across all channels will be a critical technology requirement.

It could be even smarter, with more intuitive and robust voice interaction and more opportunities for personalization (through biometrics, for example) and security features. These things are necessary to help truly deliver the convenience benefits that smart audio devices could offer people.

Finally, sound could be even higher quality and more immersive across audio devices. From wireless headphones and earbuds, to soundbars and home cinema. Our 2018 State of Play report shows sound quality has repeatedly been the highest-ranked factor by consumers when choosing wireless audio products. That’s not going away, and I think people will become even more aware of sound quality and care even more about it over time.

Learn more about how the QCS400 SoCs and the Smart Audio Platform 400 are made to deliver smarter audio.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/20...eets-device-ai

Brink · Dec 16, 2020

Qualcomm announces first 6-series Snapdragon 690 5G Mobile Platform

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced its first 5G mobile platform in the 6-series, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G Mobile Platform. This new platform is designed to make 5G user experiences even more broadly available around the world. Snapdragon 690 also supports remarkable on-device AI and vibrant entertainment experiences. HMD Global, LG Electronics, Motorola, SHARP, TCL, and Wingtech are among the OEMs/ODMs expected to announce smartphones powered by Snapdragon 690.

Video: Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm Incorporated, Announces the Snapdragon 690 5G Mobile Platform

"With over 375 5G designs launched or in development to date using Qualcomm Technologies' 5G solutions, we are driving the proliferation of 5G across multiple tiers to make the next generation of camera, artificial intelligence, and gaming experiences more broadly available," said Cristiano Amon, president, Qualcomm Incorporated. "Driving the expansion of 5G into the Snapdragon 6-series has the potential to make 5G accessible to more than 2 billion smartphone users around the world."

The Snapdragon 690 brings many of the most in-demand premium mobile experiences to the 6 series for the first time including 4K HDR (true 10-bit) support to capture over a billion shades of color and snapshots at up to 192 Megapixels. It also supports 120hz displays for fast refresh rates and smooth UI experiences. Plus, 5G connectivity gives gamers superior access to cloudbased, multi-player games virtually anytime, anywhere. Snapdragon 690 is equipped with the latest 5th generation Qualcomm AI Engine, enabling smart camera and video, voice translation, advanced AI based imaging, and AI enhanced gaming experiences. Additionally, Snapdragon 690 features a Qualcomm Kryo 560 CPU that delivers up to 20% performance improvement compared to its predecessor. The new Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF System is optimized for the 6-series platform to bring multi-gigabit speeds and superior 5G coverage to the 6-series for the first time.

Snapdragon 690 Reference Device

Features

First 5G connectivity in 6-series

Support for TDD, FDD and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing for global 5G coverage

First 5th gen Qualcomm AI Engine and Hexagon Tensor Accelerator in a 6-series

More than 70% improvement in AI performance compared to its predecessor

Qualcomm Sensing Hub for always-on environment awareness and AI virtual assistance

Support for 4K HDR video recording a first in the 6-series

Up to 192MP capture for larger than life photos

Qualcomm Spectra 355L ISP for crisp capture and noise reduction

Improved Adreno 619L offers¯up to 60% faster graphics rendering compared to the Snapdragon 675 Mobile Platform

Improved Kryo 560 offers up to 20% performance improvement compared to Snapdragon 675

Supports 120 Hz on-device display - a first in the 6-series

Qualcomm 5G PowerSave provides major power efficiency improvements for big battery benefits

Qualcomm FastConnect 6200 Mobile Connectivity Subsystem provides highly integrated 2x2 mobile connectivity (Dual Wi-Fi antennas) that is Wi-Fi 6 ready

Qualcomm aptX Adaptive Audio keeps audio in sync with media

aptX Adaptive Audio for robust, low-latency, high-quality wireless audio

Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec (up to Qualcomm WCD9385) smart speaker amplifier (up to Qualcomm WSA8815)

Specifications

5G

5G Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF System

5G Spectrum: Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), sub-6 GHz

5G sub-6 GHz specs: 100 MHz bandwidth, 4x4 MIMO

5G Peak Download Speed: 1.2 Gbps (LTE), 2.5 Gbps (5G)

Multi-SIM features: Global 5G multi-SIM

Performance Enhancement Technologies: Qualcomm 5G PowerSave, Qualcomm Smart Transmit technology, Qualcomm Wideband Envelope Tracking, Qualcomm Signal Boost adaptive antenna tuning

5G Peak Upload Speed: 210 Mbps (LTE), Up to 660 Mbps (5G)

Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine

AIE CPU: Qualcomm Kryo 560 CPU

AIE GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 619L GPU

AIE DSP: 2x Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Sensing Hub, Qualcomm Hexagon Scalar Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon 692 Processor

CPU

CPU Clock Speed: Up to 2.0 GHz

CPU Cores: Qualcomm Kryo 560 CPU

CPU Architecture: 64-bit

Process

Process Technology: 8 nm

Qualcomm FastConnect Subsystem

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Subsystem: Qualcomm FastConnect 6200 Subsystem

Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5.1

Wi-Fi 6 features: 8x8 sounding, WPA3 security support, Target Wake Time

Cellular Modem

Modem Name: Qualcomm Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF System

Cellular Technology

Cellular Technology: HSPA, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, CDMA 1x, EV-DO, GSM/EDGE

LTE Technology: LTE including CBRS support

5G Technology: 5G NR

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Standards: 802.11a/b/g/n, 802.11ax-ready, 802.11ac Wave 2

Wi-Fi Spectral Bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz

Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6-ready technology features: Target Wakeup Time, 8x8 sounding, WPA3 security support

MIMO Configuration: 2x2 (2-stream)

Wi-Fi Features: 8x8 Sounding

Bluetooth

Bluetooth Audio: Qualcomm aptX Adaptive Audio, Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo

Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5.1

NFC

Near Field Communications: Supported

Location

Satellite Systems Support: Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, Dual frequency GNSS, NavIC, GPS, GNSS, QZSS, SBAS

USB

USB Version: USB 3.1, USB-C

Camera

Image Signal Processor: Qualcomm Spectra 355L image signal processor, 14-bit, 2x Image Signal Processor (ISP)

Dual Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 16 MP

Single Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 32 MP

Single Camera: Up to 192 MP

Slow Motion Video Capture: 720p @ 240 FPS

Video Capture Formats: HDR10, HLG, HEVC

Video Capture Features: Rec. 2020 color gamut video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth video capture

Video

Codec Support: H.265 (HEVC), H.264 (AVC), VP8, VP9

Display

Max On-Device Display: FHD+ @ 120 Hz

Max External Display: QHD @ 60Hz

HDR: HDR10+, HDR10

Color Depth: Up to 10-bit

Color Gamut: Rec2020

General Audio

Audio Technology: Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant Accelerator, Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec up to Qualcomm WCD9385, Qualcomm Aqstic smart speaker amplifier up to Qualcomm WSA8815, Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology

GPU

GPU Name: Qualcomm Adreno 619L GPU

API Support: OpenCL 2.0 FP, OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, DX12

Charging

Qualcomm Quick Charge Technology Support: Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ technology

Security Support

Secure Processing Unit: Biometric Authentication (Fingerprint, Iris, Voice, Face)

Security Features: Camera Security, Crypto Engine, Key Provisioning Security, Malware Protection, Qualcomm Content Protection, Qualcomm Mobile Security, Qualcomm Processor Security, Qualcomm Trusted Execution Environment, Secure Boot, Secure Token

Memory

Memory speed: 2133MHz

Memory Type: 2x16bit

Part

Part Numbers: SM6350

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Qualcomm Announces First 5G Snapdragon 6-Series Mobile Platform | Qualcomm

Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G Mobile Platform | Qualcomm

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Windows 10: Qualcomm announces new QCC305x SoC series wireless audio chipset

Qualcomm announces new QCC305x SoC series wireless audio chipset

Qualcomm announces new QCC305x SoC series wireless audio chipset

Qualcomm announces new QCC305x SoC series wireless audio chipset

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