Winner of the Best Sensor Expo Awards

ams announced that it won the prestigious 'Gold Level Innovation Award' at the 2017 Best of Sensors Expo Awards, held at the Sensors Expo & Conference in San Jose, California, USA, from June 27 to 29.

The technology for which ams won the award is the Accessory Communications Interface (ACI), which enables an Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) headset to operate even without a battery in the earphones when connected to a host device, such as a smartphone, via a single wire.

This new ACI technology developed by ams uses the microphone wire, one of the four wires in a standard audio cable, to transmit not only digital audio signals but also power and bidirectional data at speeds up to 16 Mbps.

Smart ANC headphones can be developed using this technology. In addition, users can differentiate themselves from competitor products by utilizing numerous sensors, such as capacitive touch sensors, proximity sensors, temperature sensors, heart rate sensors, and gesture sensors, in addition to using the best-in-class ams ANC technology.

Christian Feierl, Head of Audio Sensor Marketing at ams, said, “Current smartphone computing power has advanced significantly enough to meet the ultra-low latency and resulting ultra-high speed characteristics required for smart data processing. This is precisely why ams’s ACI solution can be the most affordable and cost-effective solution with the lowest BOM currently available.” He added, “I am deeply impressed that ams’s technology enables connectivity with various sensors and the realization of smart ANC earphones, and I look forward to seeing our solution in the market soon.”