Bluetooth Alliance to showcase Bluetooth low energy audio standard at CES

The Bluetooth Alliance will be at CES with new Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) audio and True Wireless Stereo (TWS) solutions, with low-power audio being the most noteworthy, expanding the breadth of the audio experience, including broadcast and multi-source streaming, shared listening, and the ability to get sources from nearby TVs and monitors.

True Wireless Stereo

Bluetooth Classic is a single-channel wireless protocol, so both audio channels are transmitted to only one earbud, one channel is played in the first earbud, and the other channel is forwarded and played in the second earbud. Vendors have solved the problem of forwarding or compensating delays between left and right channels in a variety of proprietary ways (usually locked in a specific chipset or phone brand), and the quality of this reconstructed stereo stream is not ideal - the forwarding earbud consumes power in the transmission, which reduces battery life. The

Bluetooth 5.2 standard introduces support for Bluetooth Low Energy synchronization channels between the source (such as your phone) and the receiver (such as the earbuds). The left and right audio channels are transmitted and picked up simultaneously: the quality of the earbuds is as good as the quality of the source. In addition, an additional channel can be supported for voice control, returning from the earbud microphone pickup. You can have TWS and voice at the same time, and when you answer the call, your music can still play in the background, but the volume is reduced.

Low Energy Audio

Low Energy Audio is a new audio architecture built on isochronous channels that makes Bluetooth audio an accessible tool. Audio quality can be further improved by using the new LC3 codec. Supports multi-source, which means you can connect to audio sources from multiple music playback mechanisms, can instantly switch from one source to another, and allow any of them to dominate, that is, turn down but not mute other channels. Low

Energy Audio supports audio sharing, which means that one device can broadcast the same high-quality isochronous stream to multiple sets of earbuds or other devices.

This is not only for personal audio sharing; it is also used for location audio sharing. With multi-source and broadcasting, you can connect with pop-ups to listen to audio sources that may be muted in a venue, such as a bar, a movie theater, or a flight status monitor at an airport.

This can be crucial for people with hearing impairments. These features will enhance hearing aids to hear presenters, entertainment venues, and other sources more clearly in noisy environments. The

Bluetooth 5.2 standard has been approved, and the low-energy audio software framework is expected to be approved later this year. Products supporting low-power audio should be available in early 2021.

The future of Bluetooth dual-mode and low-power audio

As with all new features, future products will transition from supporting the Bluetooth Classic protocol to supporting the Bluetooth Low Energy Audio protocol, and both audio sources and audio-visual equipment manufacturers will develop new standards.

CEVA provides Bluetooth connectivity solutions for LE and dual-mode (supporting classic audio and low-power audio). The company also provides voice pickup solutions, low-power voice activity detection, multi-microphone input and beamforming, AEC, ANC and automatic speech recognition, etc.