Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. today unveiled the Qualcomm® QCC305x SoCs, designed specifically to help its customers differentiate across a range of tiers in the very fast-moving truly wireless earbud category. The QCC305x SoCs are designed to provide more flexible and cost-sensitive options for implementing rich wireless audio use cases, by bringing our powerful support for many of its premium audio technologies to the industry-leading, mid-tier Qualcomm® QCC30xx series of platforms. Additionally, the QCC305x will look to support the forthcoming Bluetooth Low Energy Audio standard, so that early-adopting OEMs can begin to develop an end-to-end implementation with smartphones and truly wireless earbuds supporting the exciting new audio sharing use case.

"We are entering a new era for the expanding truly wireless earbud category, which is diversifying at a terrific rate bringing new use-cases and feature enrichment to products in virtually all tiers," said James Chapman, vice president, and general manager, Voice, Music, and Wearables, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.. "Not only do our QCC305x SoCs bring many of our latest-and-greatest audio features to our mid-range truly wireless earbud portfolio, they are also designed to be developer-ready for the upcoming Bluetooth LE Audio standard. We believe this combination gives our customers great flexibility to innovate at a range of price points and helps them meet the needs of today's audio consumers, many of whom now rely on their truly wireless earbuds for all sorts of entertainment and productivity activities."

The 2020 Qualcomm State of Play Report shows that noise cancellation, making hands-free voice calls and mobile video watching or gaming are among the most popular end-use cases for truly wireless earbuds today, with usage in a range of environments outside as well as inside the home. The QCC305x offers more robust connectivity, low-power optimization, and rich feature integration necessary compared to our previous offerings, to support these applications, as well as providing access to a wide choice of differentiating audio technologies for this new era of truly wireless audio.

Premium audio technologies available with the Qualcomm QCC305x include:

• Audio sharing use case - sharing from one smartphone to multiple wireless listeners at the same time - looking to meet the forthcoming Bluetooth LE Audio standard.
• Voice service support with always-on wake word activation or button press activation to assist with total hands-free earbud control
• Qualcomm® Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation for superior sound quality while mitigating for differences in fit and activity of the user
• Qualcomm® aptX Adaptive at up to 96Khz audio resolution, for high quality listening and low latency streaming while watching videos or gaming
• Qualcomm® aptX Voice and Qualcomm® cVc Echo Cancellation and Noise Suppression for top voice clarity on calls

Bluetooth LE Audio is a new industry standard that will extend the capabilities of classic Bluetooth and offer up new possibilities for wireless audio use cases, with capabilities such as broadcast, multicast, and audio sharing. We work closely with the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and are helping to further the evolution of the wireless audio ecosystem. This includes innovating integrated technology platforms that support the current Bluetooth standard alongside LE Audio, which is critical for ensuring end-products are fit for purpose in the real world.

"The Bluetooth community continues to drive the technology forward to meet evolving market needs and create new opportunities," said Mark Powell, CEO of Bluetooth SIG. "LE Audio is a prime example. Not only will it enhance the performance of existing Bluetooth audio products, it introduces Audio Sharing, a new audio use case poised to transform the way we experience audio and connect with the world around us."

The QCC305x SoCs are designed to support superior end-to-end operability from a Qualcomm^® Snapdragon powered smartphone to Qualcomm-Technologies powered earbuds. To help deliver this true end-to-end experience, the recently announced Qualcomm® Snapdragon 888 Mobile Platform, with the Qualcomm® FastConnect 6900 connectivity system, brings mobile-side support for Bluetooth 5.2, LE Audio, aptX audio and other features providing further interoperability benefits for sound quality, wireless audio robustness and responsiveness.

Qualcomm Technologies is inventing the technologies that will help define this new era for wireless audio. By offering OEMs a broad selection of cutting-edge audio features and experiences to choose from on the QCC305x SoCs, we aim to help further drive use case innovation in the truly wireless earbud category.

Read more:

• Qualcomm Announces New QCC305x SoC Series Helping to Bring Premium True Wireless Earbud Features to a Broad Range of Tiers | Qualcomm
• The next era of truly wireless audio: Qualcomm QCC305x SoCs

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Posted By: Brink
16 Dec 2020