Industry Articles
PART 1 : TWS challenges explained
By Hai YU, Clément MOULIN (Dolphin Design)
The audio market for wireless Bluetooth headsets is growing rapidly. Audio devices using Bluetooth (BT) connectivity are more ubiquitous than ever. People have gotten used to wireless audio systems, and the mobile phone industry is pushing towards a world without audio connectors and cables. The latest trend in wireless headsets and speakers is True Wireless Stereo systems (TWS), consisting of two independent units that are each charged in their own charging case. These headsets or speakers are typically connected through Bluetooth to an audio source while some contain additional memory to store music. TWS smart devices often contain integrated Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) to eliminate unwanted background noise from the received audio and at the same time minimize disturbances in the transmitted audio stream e.g., during voice calls.
December 16th, 2020 Bluetooth SIG
At CES in January, Bluetooth SIG announced a spin-off standard for for wireless sound called Bluetooth LE Audio (low-energy). The new framework allows two key features: native support for hearing aids and audio sharing. And, of course, the standard promises higher quality sound while using less power all thanks to a new Low Complexity Communication Codec (LC3). This means nothing is headphone companies can’t put it in their products, but that will soon be a possibility. Today, Qualcomm announced its QCC305x SoC, a true wireless earbud chip that’s properly equipped for Bluetooth LE Audio.