Spreadtrum Selects ART to Bring Voice Recognition to SC6600 GSM/GPRS Baseband Chipsets

Spreadtrum Communications selected the smARTspeak XG embedded speech interface from ART for its SC6600 family of GSM/GPRS baseband chipsets. Spreadtrum is a fabless semiconductor developer for wireless communications based in China and the United States.

The new integrated technology marks the first technical association between Spreadtrum and ART and it is the first time that speech recognition has been added to any Spreadtrum chipsets. ART's smARTspeak XG voice interface is designed to recognize the Mandarin Chinese language which is spoken by over 1 billion people.

ART's latest voice interface will be added to Spreadtrum's family of GSM/GPRS baseband chips. The SC6600 is a compact single baseband chip solution for GSM/GPRS wireless phones, combining all digital, analog, and power management functionalities in a 0.18 um mixed signal, using 1.8V CMOS technology.

The new smARTspeak XG features name-dialing technology for wireless phones and mobile devices. ART's smARTspeak technology introduced the company to speaker-independent name-dialing. The smARTspeak XG is speaker independent, meaning it can be operated by any user with no voice training of the device. It also adds a new voice feedback capability that gives users audio confirmation of spoken names, numbers, and other commands. This is done by "reading" from the phone's 500-name contact list using text-to-speech technology.

"By adding smARTspeak XG to our SC6600 chipsets, we can continue to offer our customers the most advanced GSM/GPRS solution available," said Dr. Ping Wu, President and CEO of Spreadtrum. "ART's advanced architecture is well suited to our fully validated chip designs enabling customers to quickly develop new products and hasten their time to market."

The features of the smARTspeak XG enables users to dial by speaking a person's name or phone number. In addition, the phone will recognize commands such as "contact" and "redial" and offers trainable digit dialing that can be adjusted to a user's accent. When more than one name is available, ART's "Best Match" function presents a short-list of options either as text or voice for extra convenience.