Serving some of the world’s most innovative companies, Cadence leverages their Intelligent System Design strategy and computational software expertise to help today’s electronic designers turn design concepts into reality.

Cadence worked closely with Fraunhofer, co-inventors of the Bluetooth LE Audio LC3 codec, to ensure that the codec could be implemented in a low-power, low-memory footprint. Gerard Andrews, director of audio/voice IP marketing for Cadence, discusses their involvement in the development of Bluetooth LE Audio and talks about some of the market challenges this new Bluetooth® wireless innovation will help Cadence address.

Q&A with Gerard Andrews

What’s been the biggest impact of Bluetooth audio on people’s lives?

Bluetooth® audio allowed users to cut the wire and enjoy audio content in new ways that weren’t achievable when tethered to their audio source. Handsfree calling is great, but I think enjoying music on the move or while exercising is, perhaps, the biggest impact of Bluetooth technology. Wireless Bluetooth listening really gave consumers a new freedom of movement to exercise, dance, or work while enjoying audio content. Of course, the battery life of Bluetooth enabled devices has been critical to their success along with the affordability of numerous Bluetooth products.

What has you most excited about Bluetooth LE Audio, and how will it change the role of audio in our lives?

There are a lot of great features in Bluetooth LE Audio, but I’m most excited about Auracast™ broadcast audio. We can tend to become isolated or absorbed in our own world when wearing headphones while listening to music or enjoying a movie. Auracast™ broadcast audio will allow us to interact and share our favorite content with those around us.

I’m sure that we all have had that you’ve got to check that out moment while enjoying content on our smartphone. With Bluetooth LE Audio, you will have a new way for someone around you to check out what you just experienced. I’m excited to see how innovative apps and streaming services take advantage of this new capability.

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What are some of the market challenges that Bluetooth LE Audio will enable you to address?

At Cadence, we focus on offering compelling, low-power performance across a broad spectrum of audio applications, including voice input processing, speech recognition, 3D audio playback, and active noise cancellation. In the case of Bluetooth® technology, we are focused on making sure our licensees can offer Bluetooth LE Audio at very low power while using the smallest amount of memory. We’re also committed to ensuring that we provide the best DSP instruction sets and most highly optimized codec implementations to deliver on this low-power promise to our semiconductor and system OEM customers.

How will Bluetooth LE Audio help further interoperability and enable scale in the audio market?

I think that the standard already has led to a strong ecosystem of devices that work together seamlessly. Bluetooth LE Audio will build upon this legacy and enable new devices that take advantage of the innovative features in Bluetooth LE Audio.

When do you expect to see Bluetooth LE Audio solutions hitting the market?

At this point, I can’t predict exactly when our customers will release Bluetooth LE Audio products, but they seem to be moving quickly. Hopefully, we won’t need to wait too long before we can enjoy exciting new consumer products enabled by Bluetooth LE Audio.

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