During the IFA 2020 international conference, Qualcomm made two major announcements at once. The first was the promise to integrate a 5G modem into the 4XX series of budget platforms next year. In addition, the company introduced its own Adaptive ANC headphone active noise canceling system with an original digital signal processing technique.
“According to our 2020 State of Play survey, user demand for Active Noise Cancellation is growing year after year. Today it ranks fourth in demand among other characteristics of in-ear headphones. Therefore, it has become one of the key differentiators for manufacturers. At the same time, it can be difficult for manufacturers to ensure the stability of the noise canceling characteristics, since the earphone is positioned in the ear a little differently each time, and both the mode of use and the environment can change at the same time. When developing adaptive noise canceling technology, we wanted to provide consistent sound quality for as many users as possible to enjoy their listening experience, ”said James Chapman, vice president and general manager, Voice, Music &
When developing Adaptive ANC technology, the company has tried to reduce the dependence of the fit of the earphone in the ear canal on the quality of filtering ambient noise. The chipmaker’s solution is aimed at ensuring that headphones with support for “noise reduction” of the new generation are able to dynamically adapt to the force of the fit of the body to the ear in real time.
Thus, the gadget will be able to adjust the strength of the suppression of ambient sounds regardless of the user’s head rotation and how deep the headphones are inserted into the ear canal. The technology is already available in the Qualcomm QCC514x chip introduced in March 2020.
As for the popularization of 5G, according to the estimates of Qualcomm analysts, expanding the range of chips on which the latest network standard will be available will bring potential up to 3.5 billion new users to the market. In this regard, the vendor announced the development of a Snapdragon 4XX chip for low-cost devices with a 5G modem. Its market entry will take place in the first quarter of 2021.