Developed an ADC that detects glass breaking sound with power-saving 34μA for smart security sensors

Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation (AKM) has developed the AK5707, a low-power monaural 16-bit A/D converter (ADC) equipped with the Acoustic Activity Analyzer (AAA), a specific sound detection function.

Operating at only 34µA, the AAA outputs an interrupt signal to activate the built-in ADC or external SoC when it detects an anticipated sound with adjustable parameter settings.

This allows the system to sleep, significantly reducing the standby power of the equipment.

In addition, by immediately storing the data that has been recorded by the ADC in an internal buffer, the SoC can reference audio data retroactively before waking from sleep.

Assuming applications such as battery-operated smart sensors for security, we have developed a unique algorithm for detecting glass breakage sounds and improved the rejection performance of sounds other than glass breakage, thereby realizing power saving.

The ADC operates at only 200µA, a 70% reduction from our conventional products, while maintaining a dynamic range of 95dB when operating at a sampling frequency of 16kHz.

Samples are currently being provided, with mass production shipments scheduled to begin in September 2024.