NXP and Widex Launch the industry's best energy efficiency wireless audio hearing aid

     NXP Semiconductors and Widex, one of the world's leading hearing aid manufacturers, announced a collaboration to jointly develop and test the NXP NxH2003 Bluetooth Low Power (BLE) audio SoC and integrate it into the Widex BEYOND hearing aid. The two companies worked closely together throughout the product development cycle to combine best-in-class hearing aid engineering and wireless audio semiconductor technology to create a hearing aid that can transmit wireless audio from iOS devices with only 2.8 mA of current consumption at 1.2V, the best power consumption in the industry, and extend the time that end users can enjoy music directly from their personal devices.

     Jørgen Jensen, CEO of Widex, said: "Widex has always been known for its low power consumption. The integration of NXP's NxH2003 technology means we can support power-hungry Bluetooth transmission applications while still achieving low power consumption. Compared to competing hearing aid devices, our transmission time is only a quarter, and we consume less power. Our competitors cannot match this level of power consumption even without transmission."

     Chae Lee, senior vice president and general manager of NXP's Safety Interface and Power business, said: "This partnership strengthens our leading position as a trusted supplier and innovator in the hearing aid industry. Our customers require hearing AIDS that consume the least energy and are the smallest in size, while at the same time increasing wireless transmission and processing power. NXP NxH2003 is able to meet these conflicting requirements simultaneously. "With NXP's near Field Magnetic induction (NFMI) technology mature and its MiGLO solution supporting true wireless stereo audio, NXP also looks forward to deploying industry-leading low-power BLE audio technology in adjacent hearing aid markets."

     NXP's advanced BLE 4.1 certified solution measures just 7.25mm² and has the industry's lowest receiving and transmitting power levels of 4mW and 7mW, respectively. The NxH2003 incorporates an M0 microcontroller (running the protocol stack and applications) and an embedded CoolFluxTM DSP(running all required audio processing, including sample rate conversion and audio [decompression] compression) to form a comprehensive ultra-low power wireless audio solution. Furthermore, this advanced IC is highly integrated and, since it is commonly used in hearing AIDS, can be operated directly on a zinc-air battery, minimizing the number of external components and thus the volume of the end product.

     Technologies and solutions for hearing aid and hearing aid consumer electronics devices are converging as the two markets share closely linked use cases while facing similar end-user requirements and technical barriers. Both markets strive to design smaller, more comfortable end devices that offer longer battery life. In addition, hearing aid and hearing aid consumer electronic device companies are realizing that users are demanding more device functions, ranging from phone syncing for making calls, listening to music and playing games to biometric measurement for health monitoring.

     NXP provides solutions for both markets. NXP has provided proprietary NFMI(Near Field Magnetic Induction) technology to the hearing aid industry for nearly a decade. And, at CES earlier this year, the company, together with several Oems (original equipment manufacturers) in the field of intelligent hearing consumer electronics devices, launched the NFMI-based MiGLO solution for the first time. The NXP MiGLO platform is designed to support long battery life, best-in-class sound quality and a reliable wireless experience. It also supports the deployment of smarter, smaller and more comfortable truly wireless earplugs and hearing AIDS