Reference design for 3D spatial audio in headsets and TWS earbuds

Update: October 1, 2021

Reference design for 3D spatial audio in headsets and TWS earbuds

Reference design for 3D spatial audio in headsets and TWS earbuds

CEVA, together with Beken and VisiSonics, a developer of 3D spatial audio technologies, is making available a complete 3D audio reference design for headsets and True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds.

The reference design is intended to support earbuds supporting spatial audio for use in gaming, multimedia and conferencing.

The reference design leverages Beken’s BK3288X Bluetooth Audio SoC series featuring the CEVA-X2 Audio DSP running VisiSonics’ RealSpace 3D audio software, together with CEVA’s MotionEngine Hear head tracking algorithms.

This is a highly-optimised hardware plus software solution that is able to offer OEMs and ODMs a cost-effective, ready-to-deploy SoC with best-in-class performance, using any audio encoding format, capable of delivering a best-in-class 3D audio hearing experience for VR, AR and the new generation of motion-aware earbuds.

The single chip-based reference design provides a self-sufficient 3D audio solution, fully residing on the headset side, eliminating the need for a 3D audio rendering engine on the host device, which also enables a lower latency design.

“We are pleased to partner with CEVA and Beken to create a reference design that includes our RealSpace 3D Audio technology,” said Dr. Ramani Duraiswami, CEO, VisiSonics. “Our joint reference design offers consumer electronics OEMs and ODMs a complete hardware and software solution to add 3D spatial audio to their product line of headsets and TWS earbuds.”

“Spatial audio is an incredibly hot market right now, as the Android and PC ecosystems look to build on the industry momentum behind its use in music and gaming to create immersive audio experiences,” explained Moshe Sheier, Vice President of Marketing at CEVA. “Our collaboration with Beken and VisiSonics aims to help OEMs and ODMs address this burgeoning market with a fully-featured, self-sufficient turnkey solution for spatial audio that can be rapidly deployed in headsets and earbuds.”