AT&S, Soundchip, and ST craft innovative bionic ear

LEOBEN, AUSTRIA & GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: AT&S, a leader in advanced packaging solutions, Soundchip SA, a Swiss-based innovator in wearable sound technology, and STMicroelectronics announced their collaboration in innovating a bionic hearing module that, when installed into a personal audio device, delivers an amazing wearable sound experience controlled at the ear by the wearer and software intelligence.

Personal audio devices, like an MP3 player or smartphone, equipped with the bionic hearing module, provide wearers with the ability to electronically “open” and “close” their ears to ambient sound conditions, or even to augment ambient sound with programmed audio from a connected smart device.

This capability can fully protect wearers from noise in situations where the ambient sound is too loud, or to open the ear for natural conversation with others, without having to remove the audio device, suffer from the discomfort of occlusion, or worse, the pain of loud noise.

The bionic hearing module integrates a broad spectrum of advanced electronics to further enhance the on-the-go audio experience, including head-tracking and other sensing, to enable exciting new features, including augmented-audio guidance and biometric monitoring.

The multi-mode audio capabilities of the bionic hearing module are enabled through the use of HD-PA technology developed by Soundchip. Their implementation in a compact form factor is made possible through the use of patented Soundstrate® technology, which enables the efficient combination of electronic, acoustic, and transmission means within a single, compact mechanical structure.

The semiconductor components in the bionic hearing module comprise the latest Motion and Audio MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) components from STMicroelectronics, an HD-PA®-compliant Audio Engine for zero-latency sound processing, and an ultra-low-power STM32 MCU from ST’s industry-leading portfolio of more than 500 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M-core microcontrollers.