Several companies are already offering development kits for Amazon AVS (Alexa Voice Service), but as we’ve seen in the past, those are rather expensive with far-field kits such starting at $349 with kits such as Synaptics AudioSmart 4-Mic Development Kit, or Intel Speech Enabling Developer Kit, and hands-free kits being barely cheaper at $299 and up.
But there will soon be a cheaper solution, as Allwinner and SinoVoIP (aka Banana Pi) are working on “SoC-Only 3-Mic Far-Field Dev Kit for Amazon AVS” that includes 3 microphones, and works without special DSP, relying instead on Allwinner R18 processor’s audio codec and capabilities.
Allwinner SoC-Only 3-Mic Far-Field Dev Kit for Amazon AVS (aka R18-AVS-EVK) specifications:
- SoC – Allwinner R18 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.15GHz with Mali400MP2 GPU
- System Memory – 1GB DDR3
- Storage – 8GB eMMC flash
- Video Output – HDMI
- Audio – 6x Microphones, 2x AEC, AUX and headphone output; GMEMS voice recognition algorithm
- Connectivity – Dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0
- USB – 1x USB type A port, 1x micro USB OTG port
- Power Supply – 12V DC input
- Dimensions – Mainboard: 100 x 100mm; microphone array board: 90 mm ∅
The board will support Linux operating systems at first, but Android is also being worked on. A ribbon cable is also included in the kit to connect the mic array to the main board. Now you may wonder why a 3-mic development kit comes with 6 microphones. Allwinner explains:
6 microphones are included on the board, while only three are used and qualified, providing flexibility to tune for 6/4/3/2 mic solutions and freely match with different product designs
I’m not 100% sure what that means, but I guess the kit only works for three for now, but in the future algorithms may support a combination of up to 6 microphones. We’ll have to see how the solution works compared to DSP based systems.
Documentation can be found on Amazon Developer website, but the development kit is not sold through Amazon, and instead directly on SinoVoiP/ Banana Pi Aliexpress store for $129 plus shipping.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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