Zinitix, whose main focus is on electronic product touch controller chips, is promoting the development of artificial intelligence (AI) system-on-chip (SoC) specialized for voice recognition in cooperation with domestic companies and institutions.
On the 27th, Kang Hoi-sik, head of Zinitix (Executive Vice President), said, “The goal is to mass-produce the product within 3 years. After targeting the domestic market first, we will enter the Chinese market in the future.”
The semiconductor design development is in charge of Zinitix. The speech signal recognition algorithm is provided by Power Voice, and the AI Neural Network Engine is provided by the Korea Institute of Electronics Engineers. Already last April, it has begun development under the name of’ “Complex sensor-based intelligent mixed signal processing SoC’. A total of 47 researchers, including researchers from Soongsil University’s related departments, are employed. Zinitix and related parties have received 4.2 billion won funding from the government for this technology development. The project development period is until the end of 2023.
When the chip is completed, it will be expanded and developed as an embedded voice recognition module applied to smart homes, AI speakers, home network pads, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Power Voice Chief Technology Officer (CTO, Director) Jin Se-hoon said, “The size of the voice recognition component module to which the Power Voice technology was applied was at 30×20mm or 15×19mm.” Texas Instruments (TI) is the leader in the global voice recognition chip market. Most manufacturers of finished products, such as AI speakers, have made products from TI with modules that combine digital signal processing processors (DSP), power, audio, and other logic chips. Zinitix and PowerVoice aim to make the final product 50% smaller in size while still being cheaper than comparable modules.
Zinitix is a company focused on touch controller ICs. It accounts for 90% of total sales. Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy smartphone series has been equipped with a Zinitix touch chip. Recently, Zinitix sales to China’s Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo have been increasing. In addition to smartphones, sales of touch chips for wearable products such as watches became more substantial. Zinitix occupies about 70% of the global wearable touch IC market. It is increasing the number of touch chip applications such as air conditioners and induction air purifiers.
Power Voice is a company that possesses voice recognition, speaker recognition, and noise reduction technologies. It supplied products to Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics’ air conditioners, Xiaomi gas ranges, KT voice authentication app and audio video navigation (AVN) systems of Hyundai Motors and Toyotas.
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