ams wins Innovation Gold Award at Sensors Expo for its single wire communication interface

ams (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide supplier of high performance sensor solutions, has won the prestigious Gold Level Innovation Award at the 2017 Best of Sensors Expo Awards (Sensors Expo & Conference, San Jose, California, 27-29 June 2017).

ams won the award for its novel Accessory Communications Interface (ACI), a technology, which enables Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) headsets to operate with no battery in the earphone when connected via a single wire to a host device like a smartphone. The new ACI developed by ams  uses the microphone wire – one of four wires in a standard audio cable – to carry power and bi-directional data at a rate of up to 16 Mbit/sec, as well as digital audio signals. Therefore, the ACI can be used through the widely used and mechanically robust 3.5mm analog jack as well as through the analog mode of USB-C.

The innovative development by ams means, that manufacturers can build the smallest, most cost effective and lowest power smart ANC headphones currently available. Beside implementing ams best-in-class ANC, customers can differentiate by implementing a number of sensors such as capacitive touch, proximity, temperature, heart rate, and gesture.

According to the organizers, the Best of Sensors Expo awards ‘recognize advances in sensor and sensor-related technologies, either in the form of novel technologies or as significant improvements in existing technologies’. The judges studied the distinctiveness, potential impact and application of numerous entries, whittling them down to a list of just seven finalists before selecting the ACI technology from ams for the Gold award.

“Due to the ultra low latency and hence the high speed, the smartphones computation power can be used for the required smart data processing. At its heart, this is why this ACI solution enables the slimmest BOM count and hence the probably most cost effective solution available today”, said Christian Feierl, Head of Marketing Audio Sensors at ams.

“We are excited to enable smart, sensor rich in-box ANC earphones and are looking forward to seeing our solutions in the market soon”, he said.