ON Semiconductor unveils BelaSigna R261 high performance voice capture SoC

PHOENIX, USA: ON Semiconductor, a premier supplier of high performance silicon solutions for energy efficient electronics, has introduced BelaSigna R261.

This complete system-on-chip (SoC) solution for portable consumer electronics incorporates a highly optimized digital signal processor (DSP) with an advanced dual-microphone noise reduction algorithm to improve speech intelligibility in noisy environments, while preserving voice naturalness.

In applications such as smartphones, BelaSigna R261 eliminates noise from the microphone signal while improving voice quality so that the user can be clearly heard in normal handset mode. While conferencing, BelaSigna R261 identifies and extracts speech within a range of up to 6 meters from the surrounding noise in a 360 degree range. This markedly enhances voice clarity and increases freedom of movement for the user, even when they are not optimally aligned with the microphones or far away.

The SoC’s high level of integration - with DSP, regulator, phase-locked loop (PLL), level translator and memory - reduces the bill-of-materials compared to other solutions.

The integrated algorithm is customizable, so that the desired balance between noise reduction and voice quality can be tuned for each particular application. The completeness of the solution minimizes the time and engineering effort required for design-in, as design teams do not have to develop or acquire an algorithm or design complex support and interface circuitry.

The BelaSigna R261 SoC simply plugs directly into a digital microphone interface (DMIC) or into a baseband chip’s microphone inputs. It works with inexpensive omni-directional microphones in cost-sensitive OEM designs and offers greater flexibility in the placement of the microphones. Production line tuning of the microphones is not required, saving further time and cost.

The new SoC is housed in a highly compact 5.3 mm2 WLCSP package that occupies considerably less board real estate than alternative solutions, enabling it to fit into even the most space-constrained portable electronics form factors.

The BelaSigna R261 SoC is targeted at voice capture applications including notebooks, mobile phones, webcams, and tablet computers. Its power consumption is less than 16 milliamps (mA) at 1.8 volts (V), halving that of many competing solutions currently on the market.

“Audio system designers are looking for a voice capture solution that is easy to integrate into their systems, thereby shortening time to market,” stated Michel De Mey, senior director Hearing and Audio Solutions, ON Semiconductor.

“BelaSigna R261 offers a drop-in solution that enables clear, comfortable communication anywhere. The state-of-the-art acoustic noise reduction technologies employed in this product means that manufacturers of all kinds of portable electronics can dramatically improve voice quality and customer satisfaction.”

BelaSigna R261 is supplied in Pb-free, RoHS-compliant WLCSP-30 and WLCSP-26 packages and priced at $2.00 per unit in 10,000 unit quantities.