NXP introduces far-field offline voice control solutions based on the i.MX RT106L crossover microcontroller

     NXP Semiconductors announced the launch of its voice solution SLN-LOCAL-IOT. This is a fully integrated development platform for offline voice control. The solution includes a complete hardware module design and the necessary associated software for implementing far-field voice control with customizable wake words and local commands. Based on the i.MX RT106L crossover microcontroller (MCU), the solution addresses embedded voice control needs in a wide range of smart home, commercial and industrial markets.

     Voice control solutions based on NXP i.MX RT106L MCUS enable original equipment manufacturers (Oems) to dramatically reduce system costs and time to market with turnkey solutions. The solution provides a private, secure, low-latency, hands-free experience for end users. In addition, on-premises voice control solutions eliminate the need for complex, costly cloud connections and can help protect users' privacy due to their support for processing audio directly on the device. To achieve this, NXP has partnered with Sonos to develop integrated automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology based on machine learning. Sonos, one of the world's leading sound experience brands, recently acquired Snips, a leader in embedded speech recognition software for businesses, products and services.

     Joseph Dureau, vice president of Voice experience at Sonos, said: "We have partnered with NXP this time to deliver an industry-leading solution based on Sonos (NASDAQ: SONO Voice Command gives Oems new flexibility and speed to quickly develop and bring to market advanced offline voice control solutions that provide end users with a completely seamless experience at home and at work, while eliminating privacy concerns."

     The i.MX RT106L is a member of the i.MX RT1060 family of crossover microcontrollers, a solution for off-line embedded local voice control dedicated to the edge side. It features NXP's high-performance Arm® Cortex-M7 core based microcontroller, operating at speeds up to 600 MHz. The i.MX RT106L solution includes Sonos voice command technology (licensed by Sonos), machine learning far-field audio front end, acoustic echo cancellation, voice interruption, ambient noise reduction, beamforming, playback processing, and many other features. In addition to providing voice control capabilities, the i.MX RT106L MCU can also be used as the primary microcontroller in most iot product implementations.