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Interview with Tal Bakish

CEO of VocalZoom

Speakers and Smart Amplifiers

Printed and Flexible Sensor Technology

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 Sensor Technology CONTENTS

EDITORIAL STAFF NEWSWIRE

Content Editor
Alex Maddalena
4 Time-of-Flight Signal Processing IC
amaddalena@aspencore.com
PRODUCT WATCH
Digital Content Manager
Heather Hamilton
6 Humidity, Temperature, and Barometer
hhamilton@aspencore.com Sensors from TE Connectivity
Tel | 208-639-6485
TECH REPORT
8
Global Creative Director
Nicolas Perner The Future of Printed and Flexible Sensors
nperner@aspencore.com

Graphic Designer 18 Speakers and Smart Amplifiers:

Carol Smiley All about the Bass
csmiley@aspencore.com
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
24
Audience Development
Claire Hellar VocalZoom Enables a Speech-activated Life
chellar@aspencore.com Interview with Tal Bakish CEO of VocalZoom
Register at EEWeb
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4 18
Published by
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Suite 450
Boise, Idaho 83702
Tel | 208-639-6464
Victor Alejandro Gao
General Manager
Executive Publisher

Cody Miller
Global Media Director
Group Publisher 8 24

EEWeb
 Sensor Technology

Newswire
Time-of-Flight
Signal Processing IC
Intersil Corporation rolled out its innovative time-of-flight (ToF) signal
processing IC that provides a complete object detection and distance
measurement solution when combined with an external emitter (LED
or laser) and photodiode. The ISL29501 ToF device offers one-of-a-kind
functionality, including ultra-small size, low-power consumption, and
superior performance ideal for connected devices that make up the
Internet of Things (IoT), as well as consumer mobile devices and the
emerging commercial drone market.

4
 NEWSWIRE

The ISL29501 overcomes the shortcomings of traditional KEY FEATURES

amplitude-based proximity sensors and other ToF solutions AND SPECIFICATIONS
that perform poorly in lighting conditions above 2,000 lux,
or cannot provide distance information unless the object is On-chip DSP calculates ToF for accurate
perpendicular to the sensor. Alternative solutions are too proximity detection and distance
expensive, bulky or power hungry for use in small measurement up to two meters
form factor, battery-powered applications. Based on
Modulation frequency of 4.5MHz
Intersils patented technology, the ISL29501 sensor provides
prevents interference with other
a small solution footprint and precision long-range accuracy
consumer products such as IR TV
up to two meters in both dark and bright ambient light
remote controls that operate at 40kHz
conditions. Unlike competitive solutions, the ISL29501
allows customers to select the emitter and photodiode of On-chip emitter DAC with
their choice and configure a low power ToF sensing system programmable current up to 255mA
customized for their application. To make system design allows designers to choose the desired
easy for customers, Intersil offers a reference current level to optimize distance
design featuring the ISL29501, emitter and photodiode, measurement and power budget
along with graphical user interface (GUI) software
and users guide. Operates in single shot mode
for initial object detection
The ISL29501 applies Intersils power management expertise and approximate distance
to save power and extend battery life through several measurement, while continuous
innovations. The on-chip emitter DAC with programmable mode improve distance accuracy
current up to 255mA allows system designers to select
On-chip active ambient light
the desired current level for driving the external infrared
rejection minimizes or eliminates
(IR) LED or laser. This feature enables optimization of
the influence of ambient light
distance measurement, object detection and power budget.
during distance measurement
The devices single shot mode saves power by allowing
designers to define the sampling period for initial object Programmable distance zones: allows
detection and approximate distance, while continuous the user to define three ToF distance
mode more accurately measures distance. The ISL29501 zones for determining interrupt alerts
also performs system calibration to accommodate
Interrupt controller generates interrupt
performance variations of the external components
alerts using distance measurements
across temperature and ambient light conditions.
and user defined thresholds
Prior to Intersils time-of-flight technology breakthrough, Automatic gain control sets
there was no practical way to measure distance up to two optimum analog signal levels to
meters in a small form factor, said Andrew Cowell, senior achieve best SNR response
vice president of Mobile Power Products at Intersil. The
innovative ISL29501 provides customers a cost-effective, Supply voltage range of 2.7V to 3.3V
small footprint solution that also gives them the flexibility
I2C interface supports 1.8V
to use multiple devices to increase the field of view to a
and 3.3V bus
full 360 degrees for enhanced object detection capabilities.

5
 Sensor Technology

PR DUCT
INSIGHTS

Humidity,
Temperature,
and Barometer
SENSORS from
TE Connectivity

6
 PRODUCT WATCH

For this Arrow Product Insights we will discuss TE Connectivity

Sensor Solutions Humidity, Temperature and Barometer Sensors.
TE Connectivity Sensors Solutions offer a wide variety of sensors.
We would like to showcase a few of TE Connectivitys many sensors.

TEs HTU21D humidity and temperature Another sensor offered by TE is the

sensor is a three by three by point nine
millimeter surface mount sensor that
typically consumes less than half a
milliamp when taking measurements and
in the tens of nanoamps when sleeping.
It outputs data in a calibrated, linearized
signal via an I2C interface meaning this
HTU21D humidity and temperature
sensor is not only small and power
efficient, but easy to use. This sensors
optional PTFE membrane helps protect
against contamination from water and
dust without affecting response time.
From small portable devices to home
appliances and medical applications,
TEs HTU21D humidity and temperature
sensor is perfect for any application.
MS5637 ultra-compact micro barometer,
measuring a mere three by three by point
nine millimeters. This highly sensitive
barometer can be used in altimeter
applications and can achieve a resolution of
thirteen centimeters at sea level. With no
external components, this simple I squared
C interface contains no internal registers,
making this an easy-to-use device.
TE Connectivitys Sensor Solutions
portfolio include a variety of other
sensing devices such as force sensors,
photo optic sensors and position sensors.
To learn more about the wide range of
sensing solutions available, search TE
Connectivity Sensors at Arrow.com.

For more info on the latest products, join us for the next Arrow New Product Insights.

7
 Sensor Technology

The Future of
Printed and Flexible
SENSORS

By Roger H. Grace
President, Roger Grace Associates
www.rgrace.com

8
 TECH REPORT

While there are

a number of
printed/flexible (P/F) During intense exercise or other
physical activities, the system will
sensors available
assist users in determining the
today [1], leading quantity, intensity, and chemical
composition of the fluids that
research universities
the user will need to ingest to
and institutes world- overcome the problems associated
with de-hydration.
wide are engaged
in even more
interesting,
advanced
developments.

9
 Sensor Technology
Figure 1. Researchers at
Northeastern Universitys
CHN have created a flexible
biosensor, based on single-
walled carbon nanotubes
(SWCNTs), for real-time pathogen
detection and physiological
monitoring. Semiconducting
SWCNTs are functionalized
with specific molecules for
detecting pathogens, glucose,
lactate, urea, and such, and
printed on a flexible substrate.
10
Advanced Developments
The Imec Holst Centre has developed several
P/F sensors, including a solid-state, ion-
selective electrode for monitoring pH, Cl, Na
and K. Additionally, they are developing sensor
labels built on ultra-thin (less than
150 m) polyester foils that can measure
humidity, temperature, chemicals, and gases
and include NFC/RFID functionality.
Northeasterns Center for High-rate
Nanomanufacturing (CHN) has developed a
simple and highly sensitive multi-biosensor
containing semiconductor single-walled
carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that are enzyme-
immobilized for detecting D-glucose,
L-lactate, and urea in sweat (Fig. 1). CHNs
director, Prof. Ahmed Busnaina, notes that,
The utilization of semiconducting carbon
nanotubes for electric detection results in high
repeatability and sensitivity. By leveraging
the advantage of the carbon nanotubes
electrical response and enzyme reaction, fast,
specific, and continuous detection is achieved.
Printing of nanomaterials to create the
sensor results in low manufacturing cost. [2]
UCSDs Center for Wearable Sensors is also
developing biomedical sensors. Prof. Joe
Wang of the Center explains that Our team
has developed a skin-worn tattoo-based
wearable electrochemical device which
includes electrolyte and metabolite sensors, a
biofuel cell, and batteries [Fig. 2]. Temporary
tattoos are attractive platforms for
fabricating skin-worn devices. Body-
compliant wearable electrochemical
devices on temporary tattoos couple highly
favorable substrate-skin elasticity with
attractive electrochemical performance. [3]
 TECH REPORT

Figure 2. Researchers at the University of

California, San Diego, (UCSD) Center for
Wearable Sensors have developed a printed/
flexible/stretchable tattoo of electrochemical
sensors that can be applied to a subjects arm
to monitor analytes chemical constituent
of interest in an analytical procedure.

A few of Prof. Wangs students formed

Electrozyme (www.electrozyme.com)
to commercialize this work. They have
developed and licensed a flexible
epidermal bio sensor system that can be
used to determine the dehydration level
of the wearer. The sensor suite consists of
their P/F electrochemical sweat sensing
device on a 7 x 40-mm PET substrate,
along with several other externally
sourced non-P/F sensors (which may
include temperature and humidity at a
minimum), and with some application
algorithms provided by their partner
customer. During intense exercise or
other physical activities, the system will
Figure 3. Using intellectual property licensed
assist users in determining the quantity,
intensity, and chemical composition of from UCSD to create a wrist-wearable hydration
the fluids that the user will need to ingest sensor that will soon to be introduced by its
to overcome the problems associated development partner, Electrozyme uses its
with de-hydration. Working with their
electrochemical chemical printed/flexible
integrator partner, this product (Fig. 3)
sensor with other, outsourced sensors to inform
is expected to reach the market in the
second or third quarter of 2016, according the wearer of what, when, and how much
to Electrozyme CEO Josh Windmiller. they should ingest to prevent dehydration.

11
 Sensor Technology
Another spin-out working on biomedical
P/F technology, this time from Professor
John Rogers materials science laboratory
at the University of Illinois, is Cambridge,
MA-based MC10 Inc. The MC10 team
has been developing a new class of
soft, conformal electronics and sensors
that laminate on the human skin like a
sticker. According to the company, the
technology exploits inorganic materials
with established fabrication and
manufacturing strategies, coupled with
mechanically optimized designs to allow
extreme bending at any location on the
human body. Their flexible electronics are
tailored for healthcare, and specifically
targets what they say are unmet needs in
the movement and neurological disorders
spaces, where accurate measurement
of the magnitude and frequency of
body movement is critical to assessing
treatment and helping patients to
become more actively engaged in care.
MC10 has announced partnerships with
UCB Pharmaceuticals and investments
from Medtronic Inc. to deliver an end-
to-end hardware, software and cloud
storage and computing platform to this
healthcare vertical.
VTT is developing large area nano-
photonic chemical sensors under the
EUs Photosens Program. The multi-
parameter sensor platform is designed to
be disposable and uses photonic crystals
and/or SERS. Their effort features
roll-to-roll (R-2-R) manufacturing.
Commercialization Challenges
Although P/F sensors have existed
for decades, much of the impetus for
developing them today is an outgrowth of
12
R&D undertaken by the displays industry
over the past several years to create
flexible displays. [4] Organizations are now
aggressively pursuing P/F application
solutions that include, at minimum,
signal processing hardware and
microcontrollers, along with proprietary
embedded software whose algorithms
are major product differentiators that
enable a systems solutions approach. [5]
It makes a great deal of sense to
judiciously integrate P/F-based sensors
into P/F-based electronics to create a
unique, low-cost solution that meets
many customer requirements; one such
example is Thin Films Smart Label [1].
However, this is a potential challenge
to the commercialization of P/F
sensor-based application solutions.
Developers and providers will need to
select the optimum integration strategy
for each application. Should these
sensors be integrated monolithically or
heterogeneously with other electronic
functions memory, logic, battery,
antenna? Which of these functionalities
should be manufactured in a P/F
approach versus discrete or (more than
likely) hybrid approach to create an
optimum price/performance outcome?
These questions are currently being
addressed by several research and
commercial organizations.
Most importantly, sensors that are
manufactured as flexible or printed/
flexible components can be sold in
non-flexible packages (Fig. 4) to replace
existing non-P/F sensors.The P/F
companies mentioned in last months
 TECH REPORT

article all stated that their P/F solutions

had performance advantages over the
classical three-dimensional versions.
Joe Stetter, founder and CTO of Spec-
Sensors (www.spec-sensors.com) who
produces gas sensors stated it succinctly
It is an issue of electronics vs. chemistry!
In physics/electronics we are concerned
about the movement of electrons, vs.
that of ions in chemistry, and electrons
move near the speed of light and are
10,000-times-or-more lower mass! So
printed structures, [which] are smaller
and reduce mass-transport effects,
enhance the performance of the printed
chemical sensors! It thus makes good
sense to address the functionality of the
sensor, irrespectively of its format (that is,
printed/flexible versus discrete package)
and how it satisfies the requirements of
the design engineer from a specification,
size, and cost perspective. So, as the
architect John Louis Sullivan once
Figure 4. The small 15x15x3.8-mm electrochemical
remarked, Form must forever follow
function. And P/F sensors can shift form.
gas sensors shown before-and-after singulation;
packaged with analog flex interface; and as a
Chris Salthouse, co-founder of the Center hand-solderable assembly make integration
for Personalized Health Monitoring at into standard PCB and flexible hybrid platforms
UMass, states that sensors, antennas,
possible. (Courtesy: Spec-Sensors)
and actuators all frequently require
large areas to effectively interface with
the world. Fabricating these devices
on flexible substrates has advantages,
both because the finished product
can conform to complex shapes and
because it enables low-cost, high-rate,
roll-to-roll production. The transistors
required for computation, memory,
and radio communications need to be
small and high-performance, so today
those transistors are best fabricated
in traditional CMOS processing. Our

13
 Sensor Technology

current strategy at UMass is: optimize participation in the EU Interflex Project

the integration of these small rigid
CMOS components with large flexible
substrates that contain sensors,
antennas, and actuators. We are actively
working to improve the performance of
transistors fabricated on the roll-to-roll
process to reduce the size and number
of connections to the CMOS in the
future, with the ultimate goal of building
systems that are entirely fabricated on a
roll-to-roll process.
Prof. Christoph Kutter and his team
at Fraunhofer EMFT, through its
along with several collaborators, is
vigorously addressing this important
topic (Fig. 5). [6] Fraunhofer ENAS is
also pursuing high volume R-2-R
manufacturing and integration
issues, as is Fraunhofer IZM.
For U.S. electronic companies who
hope to participate in the P/F market,
there is a special concern. From 2004 to
2016 period, foreign governments have
been spending substantial amounts on
P/F electronics. For that period, total
government expenditures will amount

Fgure 5. This conceptual sketch of the demonstrator developed by

Fraunhofer EMFT for the INTERFLEX project shows three layers of
different electronic functionalities: photovoltaics and energy storage,
micro-controller IC and sensors, and wireless communication. The system
was built using aligned, 3D-stacking of the film layers, in a process that
combines hybrid component assembly and printing techniques.

14

to $658M in Europe and $474M in East
Asia. In the U.S., government investment
in the same time frame will be a mere
$176Mconsiderably less than half
Europes and East Asias outlay [7, 8]. This
discrepancy could have a detrimental
impact on future competitiveness
of U.S. technology firms.
Want to Know More?
Roger Grace will make presentations on
P/F sensors this year at MEMS Industry
Group (MIG) Executive Congress (Napa
Valley, CA, Nov. 4-6), the Sensors Global
Summit (La Jolla, CA, Nov. 10-11), and Flex
2016 (Monterey, CA, Feb. 29 - Mar. 3, 2016).
About the Author
With a background that includes over 45 years in
high-frequency analog circuit design, application
engineering, project management, and product
marketing, Roger H. Grace is the President
of Naples, FL-based Roger Grace Associates,
which he founded in 1982 to provide strategic
marketing consulting in high tech. A MEMS
pioneer, Mr. Grace has advised technologists
and top executives on sensor and IC design,
development, and commercialization at clients
that include the international Whos Who of
corporations and government agencies. He
received his BSEE and MSEE (as a Raytheon
Fellow) from Northeastern University and was that
schools 2004 Engineering Alumni of the Year.
TECH REPORT
REFERENCES
[1] R. Grace, Printable/flexible
sensors: valuable additions to
the designers toolkit, Electronic
Products, June, 2015, pp. 26, 28.
[2] A. Busnaina, Nanoprinting Scales
Up, The Wired World in 2015, Wired
Magazine Annual Briefing, p.28.
[3] A. Bandodkar et al., Tattoo-Based
Wearable Electrochemical Devices: A
Review, Electroanalysis 2015, Wiley-
VCH Verlag GmbH and Co., pp. 562-572.
[4] The Flexible Electronics Opportunity,
National Research Council of the National
Academies, The National Academies
Press, Washington D.C., 2014.
[5] R.Grace and M. Maher; Why MEMS-
based systems solutions?, Electronic
Products, February 2011, pp. 17-19.
[6] K. Bock et al, Multifunctional system
integration in flexible substrates,
Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE 64th
Electronic Components and Technology
Conference, May 2014,pp.1482-1487.
[7] Z. Kay, C. Curling; Printed Electronics:
Analysis of Competency Matrices
for UK and Germany, UKDL
Newsletter, Winter 2008/2009.
[8] Dial-Up Sensors: Printed, Flexible
and Organic Sensors for the Things in
the Internet of Things, Lux Research,
September, 2014.
15
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 Sensor Technology

Speakers and
Smart Amplifiers
Its All About the Bass

By Russell Crane, Audio Marketing Manager

and Matthew Kucic, Audio Systems Engineer
Texas Instruments
www.ti.com

18
 TECH REPORT

Smart amps can improve your

audio solution, compared to
standard Class-D amplifiers
Remember the days when you strung two tin cans together to
make a telephone? Unfortunately, cell phone audio can sound a
lot like those tin cans because of the miniaturization of devices,
including the speakers. Unless you have upgraded your phone to
a top-of-the-line handset over the last couple of years, you know
that using your loudspeaker for either voice or audio can be, well,
painful. Thats because handset manufacturers have been slow
to make audio a differentiator in high-end handsets, and there is
little low-frequency audio, commonly referred to as bass, present.

This is now changing thanks to a technology that we call smart

amplifiers, or smart amps, because, unlike traditional amplifiers,
they can safely and temporarily push the speaker to its limit. By
sensing a speakers operation while playing music and applying
advanced algorithms, smart amps can get a lot of sound out of a
cell phones micro-speaker without hurting your ears.

19
 Sensor Technology
Whats in a Speaker Today?
Before we discuss how smart amps
work, it is important to understand
another key piece of the audio signal
chain: the speaker. Regardless of the
amplifier, if the speaker isnt designed
properly, no amount of audio processing
or amplification will overcome its
shortcomings. It would be like putting
rocket-fuel in a lawnmower engine
all of that power and no way to use it.
However, if you start with a reasonable
engine, adding a smart amp is like adding
a turbo charger to push it to the limits in a
controlled manner.
Speakers are constructed with a frame,
magnet, voice coil, and diaphragm (Fig. 1).
Regardless of the amplifier, if the speaker isnt designed
properly, no amount of audio processing or amplification
will overcome its shortcomings.
Figure 1. Anatomy of a speaker
20
Electrical current moves through the
voice coil, which causes it to magnetize
by reacting with the speakers fixed
magnet. This motor causes the membrane
attached to the coil to move up and
down and emanate sound waves that are
actually audible. We call the movement
of the diaphragm excursion, and this
excursion has limits. When the excursion
limits are exceeded, audible distortion
can occur. In extreme cases, a damaged
speaker may result in failure. Traditional
amplifiers use simple equalization (EQ) to
limit the excursion. However, to protect
across all speaker variations, operating
conditions and audio signals, these filters
are generally conservativegiving up the
ability to push the speaker to its true limit.

A second problem with speakers is that,
as current is pushed through the voice
coil, some of the energy is converted into
heat instead of sound. Push the speaker
too hard and this heating can possibly
damage the voice coil by melting
the varnish on the magnetic wire. As
the voice coil heats from the energy
delivered by the amplifier, it must cool
through the magnet into the surrounding
structures. In traditional amplifiers, the
maximum power is limited to a value
that, if continually supplied, will not
damage the speaker. This maximum
power value must cover all speaker
variations, operating conditions and
signals. As such, this value is typically
below what the speaker can handle
and is, therefore, conservative.
What Makes an Amp Smart?
How can we extract the most sound
pressure level (SPL) from a given speaker
and still ensure safe operation? We can
use a smart amp. Audio has a peak-to-
average ratio (PAR) that allows us to
push the instant peaks while maintaining
average or safe levels. Smart amps fall
into two categories. The first is feed-
forward, in which models of the speaker
are created and the audio is fed through
these models to predict the speakers
behavior. Feed-forward tends to work
well for larger speakers in which the
variations are smaller and the operation
is more linear. Even with larger speakers,
TECH REPORT
we must account for the speaker
variations in the headroom, but the
dynamic system can temporarily push
the speakers to the limits to produce
loud audio.
Micro-speakers, commonly used in
How can
smartphones, require a slightly more
advanced smart amp. The second we extract
category is feedback smart amps, the most
which add current and voltage (IV)
sound
sense to the digital-to-analog converter
(DAC) and Class-D of the feed-forward pressure
solution. This IV-sense allows us to level (SPL)
directly measure the speakers voice
from a given
coil temperature and detect changes
in the speaker due to unit-to-unit speaker
variations, ambient temperature, and and still
loading of the speaker (such as placing
ensure safe
your hand over the speaker port). This
information allows the algorithm to operation?
extract additional SPL from the speaker We can use
that otherwise would be lost by limiting
a smart amp.
the output to cover these variations.
To take advantage of the voltage and
current sense information, smart amps
need a processor (preferably a digital
signal processor, or DSP) to parse this
data and apply sophisticated algorithms
to extract the best performance and
sound while maintaining safe speaker
operating conditions. Smart amps with
or without integrated DSPs are available
to meet the designers cost, time-to-
market, and performance expectations.
21
 Sensor Technology
Getting to Know Your Speaker
With a basic understanding of how
speakers and smart amps work
together to deliver better sound at
higher volumes, we can discuss how to
get your product to market using this
technology. The first step is to create a
speaker characterization that measures
numerous aspects of the speaker to
identify its limits. These limits must be
fully understood to get the loudest and
highest-quality sound from the speaker
without damaging it. Take detailed
measurements to develop an accurate
model of the speaker. One way to do this
is with TIs PurePath Console 3 (PPC3)
along with a companion learning board;
the combination can perform these
measurements using an easy-to-follow
procedure.
These measurements include, but
are not limited to, system checks,
excursion characterization, thermal
characterization, and SPL measurements.
Although the excursion measurement
can be done using parameters from the
speaker data sheet, a more accurate
method is to use a laser displacement
sensor to measure excursion and extract
TIs smart amp learning board
allows engineers to easily
characterize speakers by providing
all the data acquisition needed
using the laser, as well as a
microphone for SPL
measurements.
22
the needed parameters. TIs smart amp
learning board allows engineers to easily
characterize speakers by providing all
the data acquisition needed using the
laser, as well as a microphone for SPL
measurements. Once complete, users
can quickly view the different measured
data plots, including excursion versus
frequency and safe operating area limits.
TIs PPC3 can simplify the tuning
process. Its suite of sophisticated tools
automatically merges the low-end
impedance measurements with high-
frequency microphone measurements.
This creates a clean, full-frequency SPL
measurement to begin the tuning. The
low-frequency bass region can quickly
be tuned to push the bass by easily
selecting various alignment filters and
allowing the software to automatically
generate the needed compensation
filters. The smart amp dynamically
adjusts this filter to push the maximum
bass without exceeding excursion limits.
Next, the speakers voicing can be easily
performed using SmartEQ. The user
can simply specify the target EQ curve
and PPC3 will calculate the necessary
filters to adjust the speakers measured

SPL response to the target EQ. The
tool does all the math, allowing the
acoustic engineer to quickly obtain the
results without the restrictions normally
found in the competing EQ solutions.
Putting it all together
With speaker characterization and
fine-tuning complete, it is important to
ensure that your selections can operate
safely and reliably across a larger sample
of speakers. This reliability testing is
an important step before taking your
product to the assembly line. Invariably
and regardless of speaker manufacturer,
there is variance from speaker to speaker.
Although the tuning sounds good and
it appears to be within safe operating
limits, additional speakers may not be
as robust as the target you have been
working on through the previous steps.
It is recommended that you take a larger
sample of your speakers through a
lifetime test. This sample should be at
least 20 speakers, which you should test
over a longer time and across extreme
temperatures to simulate your expected
customer use-cases. Use the test results
to adjust your final safe operating
area parameters.
TECH REPORT
If you are using the TI TAS2555 smart
amp, you do not need to integrate the
smart amp sequencing and settings
into the host processor, because a
DSP is fully integrated into the smart
amp. This greatly reduces software
development time. Further, if your
application processor is upgraded
or changed, there is no need to re-
integrate sequencing and settings.
As you move to the production line, a
fast-and-robust test program can be
implemented to ensure that the end
product adheres to the parameters
set during development. Production-
line software can help screen the
speakers, making sure they are within
preset limits and were not damaged
during assembly. Additionally, speaker-
to-speaker impedance variations can
be measured and stored. This step
ensures that the full thermal headroom
of each speaker can be used.
References
1. Visit TIs Smart Amp pagefor
more information about TI smart
amps.
2. Visit TIs E2E Community
Audio Amplifier Forum, where
engineers ask questions and
help each other solve problems.
23
 Sensor Technology

VocalZoom
Enables a
Speech-
activated
Life Interview with Tal Bakish
CEO of VocalZoom

24
 INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

Human-to-Machine Communication Sensors

Deliver High-accuracy User Experience
While having a conversation with robots may seem like technology reserved for
Sci-Fi movies, the groundwork for that vision has already been paved. Speech
recognition software has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, particularly with
the debut of Apples Siri in the iPhone 4s. But the ongoing challenges associated with
voice-activated commands and voice authentication are still being addressed, and
many companies are working to smooth out the kinks in these systems.

Israeli-based startup VocalZoom has spent years developing proprietary optical

sensor, utilizing military technology that maps out vibrations emanating from people
when they speak. The companys human-to-machine communication (HMC) sensor,
coupled with the acoustic microphone voice signal, is then translated to a machine-
readable sound signal that delivers one of the most accurate speech-recognition
technologies on the market today. But developing this product was no easy task;
EEWeb spoke with Tal Bakish, CEO of VocalZoom,
about the technology behind this groundbreaking
speech-recognition system.

25
 Sensor Technology
How exactly did VocalZoom
come about?
I was working for Cisco, where I was
a hardware engineer. When I left the
company in 2006, I joined some of my
colleagues from college to work on a
few projects. Back then, there was a
lot of buzz circling speech recognition
technology, and the challenges facing
this new technology were huge. We sat
down and tried to figure out if there
was a completely different way to solve
the problems for speech recognition.
My colleagues and I had all studied
Physics in school, so we started looking
at technologies that were beyond the
scope of microphones and we came
up with a military technology that is
commonly used for eavesdroppingit is a
laser microphone that senses vibrations
on windows. We thought if windows
vibrate when you speak, then surely
everything must vibrate when you speak.
We started looking into some academic
research that was done on this subject
26
and began doing some experiments.
We found that everything is vibrating
around us when we speak, but more
importantly, we found that the facial
skin vibrates only because of your
voice. From that point on, we started
looking for a way to create a product
that is small enough and low-cost that
can measure facial vibrations in a very
similar way that is used in microphones.
This challenge took us around three
years to overcome, but in 2010, we found
a way to do it. From there, we founded
VocalZoom and started moving forward.
How does your product work in
collaboration with microphones?
The final goal is to reach a point where
the sensor is independent and can
perform and give input to a speech
recognition system by itself. Today,
products have microphones and audio
processors and we are simply adding our
sensor on top of that without making any
hardware changes. This way, we improve
the performance while working in

conjunction with preexisting microphones.
However, in the future, the sensor will be
used independently for voice control and
authentication without any microphones.
Does this technology serve
other functions aside from
speech recognition?
Yes. IoT and wearable devices all utilize
sensor consolidation and we have
developed an interferometer which
measures distance and velocity. This
can be used as a microphone to measure
vibrations of audiobe used for 3D
imaging, accurate heart-rate detection,
proximity sensing, tapping detection,
and biometric authentication. It is a
multi-functional sensor with a very wide
dynamic ranges that can be implemented
in a lot of applications. For example,we
have many inquiries from customers to
measure vibrations in engines, turbines
or industrial printers, for industrial IoT
applications to collect information
and send it to the cloud for analytics
and detection of small anomalies.
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
We found that everything
is vibrating around us when we
speak, but more importantly, we
How exactly does
found that the facial skin vibrates
the sensor work? only because of your voice.
The main challenge in the first few
years of development was how to
make this sensor very small and low
cost. We decided to either develop an
interferometer, which is very small
but expensive, or go for a much more
challenging option , which is based
on the internal physics of a laser. In
this method, we took the risk of being
the first to make it robust enough
to become a consumer product.
In most cases, an emitter and detector
are required to perform measurement
of distance and velocity (like time-
of-flight based sensors), but with the
method selected, the laser is used as the
emitter as well as the detector. This fact
enabled a super low cost design which
has almost no optical components. The
method we use is something that nobody
has been able to put into consumer
electronics before, it was always just
an academic exercise. The challenges
27
 Sensor Technology
The biggest challenge with this
technology is the signal-to-noise ratio.
were very high. We had to overcome the
noise issues related with this method,
and measuring on non- reflective and
changing surfaces like facial skin.We
are very proud of the achievements.
What were some of the challenges
you faced in developing this and
how were you able to
overcome them?
The biggest challenge with this
technology is the signal-to-noise
ratio. To achieve a working sensor in
consumer electronics environment is
very difficult given the diversity of use
cases, environmental conditions such
as lightning and temperature, and the
fact that a person is always moving. All
of those problems come down to the
signal-to-noise ratio inside of the sensor.
We are working to improve this ratio
all the time, which means we are using
better electronics, more sophisticated
algorithms, better optics, and a better
laser. Each one of these components
is a project in itself. When you take
28
everything together, you eventually get
to a certain performance where you can
decide if it is good enough for a product.
We started developing our own laser in
2010. At some point, after having much
better understanding of the physics, we
discovered that we can take this laser off
the shelf. This is an example of something
we developed from scratch, but after two
years, we found out that we can actually
buy that from another company to keep
costs down. We still develop our own
laser for more advanced, future products.
On the application side, one of the
biggest challenges for a startup that
develops a sensor or other component, is
to demonstrate the solution end-to-end
and to be able to show the added value.
The full solution requires customization
of existing products to use the new
sensor and most product companies are
not willing to go through this process
without a proof of commitment from
end customers. For example, to connect
the sensor to a speech recognition

software, you need to bring a company
like Samsung to commit to buy, for
the speech recognition provider to
agree to make the required changes.
How is the iFLYTEK demo going
and what can we expect from that
in the next few years?
VocalZoom is working with a few
partners to develop more advanced
speech recognition and noise reduction
technologies that are using optical
sensors. In some cases the sensor is
used to improve the noise reduction and
by that improve the speech recognition
performance and in other cases
without the need for noise reduction
by feeding the optical sensor directly
into the speech recognition. We have
reached disruptive performance with
these technologies, which means
in environments that have a lot of
background noise, we can reduce the
results of the speech recognition or
voice authentication to very low error
ratefar superior to the competition.
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
When will this be
deployed commercially?
We have several customers already
working on products. We have two phases
in our go-to-market strategy: consumer
electronics first and then automotive. We
have some OEMs and suppliers that have
been working with us to develop some
proprietary products. The consumer
electronics products will see the light
of day in 2016-2017 and the automotive
products will follow in 2018-2019.
VocalZoom is working with a
few partners to develop more
VocalZoom is working with
advanced speech recognition and
few partners to develop more
noisespeech
advanced reduction technologies that
recognition
and noiseare usingtechnologies
reduction optical sensors.
that are using optical sensors.
29
M o v i n g To w a r d s David Elien
VP of Marketing & Business
Development, Cree, Inc.

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