Qualcomm Launches AI SoCs and Dedicated Smart Speaker Platform

Qualcomm Launches AI SoCs and Dedicated Smart Speaker Platform
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Qualcomm launched the new QCS400 SoC series. In these SoCs, the company brings its high-performance, low-power compute capabilities together with its legacy in audio technology to help deliver optimized, AI-enabled solutions that are designed for smarter audio and IoT applications.

The QCS400 SoCs are built to deliver evolved premium audio experiences throughout the home. They tightly integrate high-performance processing, the AI Engine, connectivity, and multiple advanced audio and visual display capabilities in a single, power-optimized chip architecture.

For users of smart speakers, the QCS400 SoCs support a more robust voice assistant experience with faster, smarter voice UI, even in noisy environments compared to previous SoCs, including AI-based local automatic speech recognition, low-power, multi-keyword far-field voice pickup with beam-forming and echo cancellation, and support for cloud-based voice assistants.

“These new SoCs raise the bar on both feature integration and power performance for smart audio compared to our previous technology. This will help manufactures to more easily overcome significant technical challenges and build smarter speakers and assistants with more intuitive voice UI, connected user experiences and exceptional sound quality.“ said Rahul Patel, senior vice president and general manager, connectivity, Qualcomm.“

To help streamline the process for developing a smart speaker, Qualcomm is also announcing the Smart Audio Platform 400, available as a comprehensive, customizable development kit and example design, built around the QCS400 SoCs. The platform is the evolution of Qualcomm's end-to-end solution designed specifically to help reduce the materials cost and development time associated with creating next-generation smart speakers.