Low Power IC Keyword Detection for Audio Stream Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current computing devices consume excessive power and time when continuously monitoring for and processing audio instructions, leading to repetitive user interactions and battery drainage.
Innovation Solution
A low power integrated circuit continuously monitors for keywords in audio streams, sending a signal to increase processor power only when a keyword is detected, allowing for efficient digitization, analysis, and response determination, reducing the need for explicit user instructions and minimizing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the processor continuously monitors and processes audio streams, then the responsiveness to audio instructions is improved, but the power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The audio processing system is divided into two segments: a low-power integrated circuit that continuously monitors audio streams for keywords, and a full-power processor that is activated only when a keyword is detected. This segmentation allows continuous monitoring without keeping the entire processing system active, thus reducing overall power consumption while maintaining responsiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous full-power processing, the system uses periodic activation of the processor triggered by keyword detection. The integrated circuit continuously monitors audio, and upon detecting a keyword, triggers the processor to wake from idle state and process the audio stream. This periodic action reduces power consumption while maintaining system responsiveness.
2Measurement precision
If the processor continuously processes audio streams, then the accuracy of audio instruction recognition is improved, but the time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated circuit performs preliminary action by continuously monitoring audio streams and detecting keywords before full processor activation. This preliminary filtering ensures that when the processor is activated, it only needs to process relevant audio segments containing keywords, improving recognition accuracy while reducing the total time the processor needs to be active.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the relevant portions of audio streams that contain detected keywords for full processor analysis. Instead of continuously processing entire audio streams, the integrated circuit identifies and extracts keyword-containing segments, allowing the processor to focus computational resources on relevant data, thus improving accuracy efficiency.
3Productivity
If the processor is activated frequently to process audio streams, then the user interaction efficiency is improved, but the battery life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated circuit acts as an intermediary between the audio stream and the processor. It continuously monitors audio input and selectively triggers processor activation only when keywords are detected. This intermediary role ensures that the processor remains in low-power idle state most of the time, preserving battery life while maintaining efficient user interaction when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different quality levels to different processing components: the integrated circuit operates continuously at low power for monitoring, while the processor operates at high performance only when needed. This local differentiation of operational quality allows the system to maintain user interaction efficiency through the always-on monitor while conserving battery life by limiting high-power processing to necessary moments.
Data Source
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AI summary
Examples disclose a low power integrated circuit to receive and digitize an audio stream. Further, the examples provide the low power integrated circuit to compare the digitized audio stream to a keyword and store the digitized audio stream in a memory. Additionally, the examples also disclose upon recognition of the keyword in the digitized audio stream, the low power integrated circuit transmits a signal to a processor to increase power and analyze the digitized audio stream.