Epson Introduces Multilingual Text to Speech Synthesis Chip

Epson today announced availability of its multilingual text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis chip for embedded applications. The S1V30100 is a highly integrated companion chip that provides a complete decode path from text input to analog output via headphones or audio line level output signals. The chip can be easily integrated with a wide range of host devices and microcontrollers using a message protocol that runs over either a UART or an SPI link.

The S1V30100 contains Fonix DECtalk v5.0 as its TTS engine, and the chip supports five languages: US English, French, German, Castilian Spanish, and Latin American Spanish. Further languages, such as Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, are currently under development. The chip also supports G.726 ADPCM encoding and decoding for pre-recorded speech at sampling rates of 24, 32, or 40 kbits/s, and has the option to support MP3 and/or AAC decoding of music data if required.

Target applications for the S1V30100 include speech-enabled portable devices, assistive devices for speech or visually impaired users, educational toys, automotive navigation systems, etc. The on-chip A/D and D/A converters can also be accessed directly by the host processor via an I2S interface, thereby allowing general audio data to be input or output to/from the host processor system.

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