CSR creates the industry’s first audio processor with Bluetooth connectivity for handsets

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

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CSR (LSE:CSR) today announced CSR7810, a unique product that embeds an audio processing platform and a handset Bluetooth radio onto a single chip. Users often struggle to make themselves heard on a mobile phone - background noise from traffic, roadworks or even a noisy railway station can render conversations inaudible. CSR7810 contains voice processing technology for handsets designed to radically improve the audio quality of conversations in extremely noisy environments.

“The mobile handset has evolved tremendously over the past decade”

“Quality of audio has a significant impact on consumer experience with handsets,” said Matthew Phillips, Senior Vice President for CSR’s Handset Business Unit. “Our inventive audio platform architecture is providing our customers with a cost effective and space efficient way to provide crystal clear voice processing along with Bluetooth radio connectivity to mobile phone platforms.”

By combining Bluetooth and voice processing functionality in a single chip, CSR7810 significantly reduces manufacturing costs and design integration time as well as overall PCB space. Existing handset designs that incorporate a CSR Bluetooth device can be easily upgraded to CSR7810 and benefit from noise cancellation.

“The mobile handset has evolved tremendously over the past decade,” said Raj Gawera, Vice President of Marketing for CSR’s Handset Business Unit. “However one area that hasn’t changed much is the user audio experience – until now. Cellular operators are upgrading their networks to have wider audio pipes to improve the audio experience. On the mobile handset side, there is the increased use of speech recognition technology. Operating systems such as Google Android 2.0 contain built-in speech recognition to enter text and control phone functions. All of this means that active noise cancellation will quickly become a mandatory technology on high end phones.”

CSR7810’s noise cancellation uses signals from one or two microphones (digital or analogue) to remove background noise from the transmitted voice signal. By ‘listening’ to both the caller’s voice and the surrounding environment, and then calculating the difference between the two signals, CSR’s dual-microphone noise cancellation makes a big difference to audibility.

CSR’s Audibility Enhancement algorithms improve the incoming audio quality by dynamically adjusting the volume and equalisation at the earpiece to compensate for background noise. The Voice Equalisation and Echo Cancellation for Speakerphone mode from CSR’s Clear Voice Capture (CVC) hands-free configuration technology is also included. This mode uses a single microphone noise reduction and echo cancellation algorithm to improve the transmitted and received audio quality, which allows handsets to support a speakerphone whilst still maintaining high voice quality.

The Kalimba DSP, a very power-efficient architecture optimised for low power connectivity applications, is at the heart of CSR7810. Kalimba is the lynchpin of CSR’s audio platform solutions. As audio functionality becomes an increasingly prominent capability in more products utilising connectivity, CSR is receiving customer requests to incorporate Kalimba into ever more devices. CSR’s Kalimba DSP has shipped in over 100 million Bluetooth devices and this expertise and success provides a proven solution for many other categories of products.

CSR7810 is the first of a range of audio devices to be launched by CSR this year, with further products optimised to suit a variety of different applications. Come and hear the difference for yourself. CSR will be demonstrating CSR7810 at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona from 15–18 February on stand E51 in Hall 1.

About CSR

SR plc is a leading provider of multifunction connectivity, location and audio platforms. CSR’s technology portfolio includes Bluetooth, GPS, FM, Wi-Fi (IEEE802.11), UWB, NFC and other technologies to enable silicon platforms that incorporate fully integrated radio, baseband and microcontroller elements. CSR’s Connectivity Centre is designed to enhance the user experience with mainstream mobile devices by intelligent integration of multiple wireless connectivity and location-awareness technologies. CSR’s Location Platforms are complemented by wireless connectivity and multimedia capabilities for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications.

CSR’s technology has been adopted by market leaders into a wide range of mobile consumer devices such as mobile phones, automobile navigation and telematics systems, portable navigation devices (PNDs), wireless headsets, mobile computers, mobile internet devices, GPS recreational devices, digital cameras, mobile gaming, plus a wide range of personal and commercial tracking applications.

More information can be found at www.csr.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements (including statements concerning plans and objectives of management for future operations or performance, or assumptions related thereto) that are ‘forward looking statements’ within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 in relation to the launch of CSR7810 and other future events and their potential effects on CSR. These forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as ‘can’, ‘designed to’, ‘becomes’, ‘will’, ‘to be’, and other similar expressions, including statements relating to: whether CSR7810 will significantly enhance the user experience with voice and audio on mobile phones, whether active noise cancellation will quickly become a mandatory technology on high end phones, and whether CSR will launch other audio devices this year. Availability and functionality of CSR7810 is subject to change. Any future release of the product or planned modifications to product capability, functionality or feature are subject to ongoing evaluation by CSR, and may or may not be implemented and should not be considered firm commitments by CSR and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. Such forward-looking statements represent the current expectations and beliefs of management of CSR, and are based upon numerous assumptions regarding CSR’s business strategies and the environment in which CSR will operate and therefore involve a number of known and unknown risks, contingencies, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of CSR. Each forward looking statement speaks only as of the date hereof. CSR does not undertake to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward looking statements contained herein, otherwise than required by law.