Loose-fit wireless earbuds have digital noise cancellation
Digital noise cancellation technology via an automatic leakage compensation (ALC) algorithm enables active noise cancellation (ANC) in loose-fit earbud designs, reports ams. The company has developed ALC technology for loose-fit in-ear wireless earbuds to adjust for air leakage between the earbud and the user’s ear in real time. As a result, users can also enjoy augmented hearing and noise cancellation while using loose fitting earbuds.
ALC-enabled earbuds will produce an almost-silent background to enhance the audio quality of voice calls, music and media content. Their noise attenuation capability of up to 40dB exceeds that of today’s market-leading AS3418 device (also from ams), which has a noise attenuation rating of 30dB (minimum), says the company.
With ALC technology, wearers can have pure silence, adds ams and, in future, users will be able to choose which types and sources of external noise to block out and which to hear.’
Automatic preset selection technology by ams enhances the end-user experience.
The augmented hearing engine also provides the platform for the automatic preset selection (APS) feature in ams’ AS3460 ANC product. APS audio technology lets earbud manufacturers develop differentiating features by configuring desired noise cancellation settings optimised for different types of ambient noise. They can develop earbuds which will automatically switch from one mode to another depending on the type of noise it detects, to provide the best noise cancellation performance in all environments. At a switch-over between pre-set modes, the AS3460 automatically fades one mode out and the other mode in so that the difference is not noticeable to the user and high noise cancellation performance is maintained continuously.
Manufacturers of noise-cancelling headphones have been using ams’s analogue ANC speaker driver ICs for more than a decade, characterised by its high, broadband noise attenuation and low power consumption.
With the acquisition of Incus Laboratories in 2016, ams gained new digital audio technology to supplement its analogue expertise.
The company is demonstrating its audio technologies for mobile and wearable devices at Mobile World Congress (Shanghai, China, 26-28 June 2019), stand N1.C120.
