CEVA Bluetooth 5.3 Platform IP Enables New Auracast™ Broadcast Audio to Revolutionize Shared Audio Experiences

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has released the Auracast™ Broadcast Audio Specification , which enables a single audio source Auracast transmitter device to broadcast one or more audio streams to multiple Auracast receiver devices.

CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), a market leader in wireless connectivity, smart sensing technologies and integrated IP solutions, announced that its latest RivieraWaves Bluetooth 5.3 IP family now supports Auracast™, a new audio sharing standard. Auracast is the Bluetooth LE Audio broadcast specification announced today by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Auracast broadcast audio is designed to revolutionize the shared audio experience, enabling an unlimited number of Auracast receiver-compatible devices (such as TWS earbuds, headphones, hearing aids and wireless speakers) to simultaneously receive audio broadcasts from one or more Auracast transmitter devices.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) recently released its latest market forecast for 2022, predicting that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of Bluetooth audio streaming device shipments will reach 7%, reaching 1.8 billion units per year by 2026, when shipments of headphone products will triple. The new Auracast broadcast audio is part of the Bluetooth LE Audio specification and will bring important new innovation opportunities, including enabling personal and location-based audio sharing. Potential use cases include audio broadcasts for specific flights at airports, multilingual options in cinemas or museums, and broadcasting audio content directly to hearing aids to provide a variety of accessibility features for the hearing impaired in public places.

Tal Shalev, Vice President and General Manager of the Wireless IoT Business Unit at CEVA, commented: "We welcome the launch of the Auracast Broadcast Audio specification, which will transform the way people share audio content in both private and public spaces. CEVA has made outstanding contributions to the evolution of the Bluetooth standard and is proud to license Bluetooth LE and dual-mode technologies, including Auracast solutions, to major semiconductor companies and OEMs for a wide variety of applications including wireless headsets, TWS earbuds, hearing aids, smartwatches, speakers and microphones."

CEVA is a leading provider of Bluetooth platform IP solutions integrated into SoCs, enabling billions of Bluetooth devices to date. CEVA also offers Bluetooth LE and dual-mode IP platforms, including baseband controllers, radios and complete software stacks, compliant with Bluetooth 5.3, LE Audio and Auracast specifications. To further simplify the development of wireless audio devices, CEVA's Bluebud Bluetooth Audio Turnkey Platform provides a complete wireless audio development experience, targeting TWS earbuds, smartwatches, wireless microphones and speaker products. The Bluebud platform combines Bluetooth, audio and sensing IP in a single integrated solution and offers a complete audio codec lineup including LC3, (m)SBC, CVSD, AAC, MP3, as well as voice processing algorithms including ClearVox for noise reduction and echo cancellation, WhisPro for speech recognition and MotionEngine Hear for spatial audio and motion sensing. To learn more about how CEVA is working with customers to help them create the next generation of wireless audio SoC products with best-in-class IP and chip design expertise, please contact info@ceva-dsp.com.