Audinor - a company dealing with innovative hearing aid solutions, specializes in creating and supplying devices supporting hard of hearing children in schools and kindergartens. Every day, Audinor tries to improve access to education for all students, and for this purpose it constantly strives to implement the latest technologies to break down communication barriers as efficiently as possible.
The documentation and sample applications provided as part of the nRF Connect SDK enable easy understanding and implementation of the system. They offer the function of updating the device software via DFU, which increases its usability and security.
An open-source real-time operating system that provides support for many processor architectures, which allows its flexible use in a variety of technological projects.
LC3
An audio codec designed specifically for BLE Audio, available under the open-source Apache 2.0 license and offering support for LC3 Plus extensions, which increases its adaptability and functionality in modern audio systems.
A company supporting the education of hard of hearing children has encountered significant technological barriers with their current product. The proprietary communication protocol used so far not only limited the possibilities of integration with other systems, but also became obsolete in the face of new standards such as BLE Audio (Auracast) technology. The effects of this situation were:
Optimizing application code to minimize audio latency to ensure user comfort. Minimizing delays in sound transmission is key to avoiding the annoying echo effect.
Maintaining and improving high levels of reliability and coverage, even when both protocols are used simultaneously. Coexistence of proprietary protocol with BLE Audio.
Integration with the new BLE Audio technology (Auracast) and maintaining compatibility with existing systems with the possibility of future expansions. Adaptation of the existing communication protocol to the requirements imposed by the BLE Audio specification.
The project was aimed not only at integration with Auracast, but also at maintaining and even improving high sound quality, minimizing delays and also increasing the range and transmission reliability.
The customer decided to use the Nordic nRF5340 microcontroller, which offers support for BLE Audio technology and is similar to the previously used nRF52840. An important aspect of the project was verifying the correctness of the hardware provided by the client. The project required good time and resource management to deliver the finished solution within the agreed deadline.
One of the requirements was to update the communication protocol of the existing solution to enable better integration with the new technology.
An important element of the project was testing the solution in terms of operation with other BLE Audio solutions available on the market. This required collaboration with other solution providers and a solid understanding of technical specifications.
Bluetooth Auracast™, formerly known as Bluetooth LE Audio Broadcast, is a new technology whose application in technologies supporting the hard of hearing is a revolution in the way hearing aid users can experience sound in their surroundings. Auracast allows you to wirelessly share audio from one device to multiple receivers. For example, in public spaces such as cinemas, theaters or lecture halls, sound from the audio system can be transmitted directly to the hearing aids, eliminating interference and improving the clarity of the received signal. This means that Auracast can significantly improve the quality of life of people with hearing loss, enabling them to participate more comfortably and fully in everyday and cultural life.
Due to the decision to use the nRF5340 microcontroller, we decided to use the C language and tools (SDK) provided by the manufacturer. The project was based on nRF Connect SDK provided by the microcontroller manufacturer and the open source Zephyr RTOS. Extensive documentation and a multitude of sample applications allowed us to quickly start working on the project.
In order to update the existing communication protocol, we decided to use a 10 millisecond packet size to make the existing protocol as similar to BLE Audio as possible. The previously used Opus audio codec has been replaced with LC3 to ensure compatibility with the new technology. At the same time, we have improved the sound quality. Among the many available options, we chose LC3 because it is an audio codec designed specifically for BLE Audio.
We used the implementation of the LC3 codec provided by Google - liblc3. Its advantages are:
Audio latency has been minimized to ~15ms using proprietary protocol and to ~30ms using BLE Audio. Low latency is crucial to our system because it avoids the tiring echo effect.
The final application supports DFU (Device Firmware Update), which allows for remote software updates of the device. Thanks to this, the customer can easily update the software of their devices in the future using the mobile application. This limits the risk associated with system maintenance and allows for quick response to possible software errors.
At Blues Brackets we solve real business challenges with the latest and proven technology.
React Development Services
Custom Embedded Software Development Services
Mobile App Development Services
Professional Arduino Development
Expert RTOS Development Services
MVP Development Services | Custom MVP Development Company
Agile Software Development Services
Flutter App Development Services
Proof of Concept & Proof of Principle Services
Cross-Platform Mobile Development
Software House Poland | Custom Web & Embedded Solutions
IT Staff Augmentation Services in Poland
PWA Development Services | iOS & Android
Animated Website Services. Design and Implementation
UX/UI Design Services. Project and Implementation
Expert Hardware Design Company | Custom Electronic Hardware
Remote IT Support & App Maintenance – bluesBrackets
EAA Accessibility & Compliance Software Development
Software Maintenance & Legacy Services | bluesBrackets
Hire Dedicated Development Teams in Poland – bluesBrackets
Business Intelligence Solutions | bluesBrackets
Data Engineering & Data Visualization Services
IoT Development Services | Custom IoT Devices & Solutions
AI Chatbot Development Services
Next.js & WordPress Services
Custom Web App Development Services
DevOps Consulting Company | bluesBrackets
DevOps as a Service | AWS Cloud Consulting
SaaS Software Development Company: GDPR-Compliant Cloud
NB-IoT Solutions & Agile Development
Microservices vs Monolithic: Expert Software Architecture
IoT & Smart City Software Development | bluesBrackets
IoT Product Development & Custom Software Solutions
SLA-Driven Software & Managed Services Poland
Industrial IoT & Industry 4.0 Software Solutions
Outsource Python Development | Offshore Company
Energy Storage & IoT Software Solutions
IoT Device Management Platform & Custom IoT Solutions
Backend Services & JavaScript Development | bluesBrackets
Travel Software Development Company | Custom Travel Apps
IoT & Wearable Tech Development | bluesBrackets
Expert Software Migration Services | bluesBrackets
Data Center Migration & IT Migration Services
Expert Software Prototyping Services | Mobile, Embedded & Fullstack Prototyping
Mobile App Development Languages & Services
Expert IoT & Embedded Software Development | bluesBrackets
Quality Assurance Testing Services | bluesBrackets
End-to-End IT System Testing & Integration Services
Polish Software House: Agile Delivery & UI/UX
Medical Device Software Development Services
Healthcare IT Outsourcing & AI Software for Medical Innovators
Machine Learning for Predictive Analytics
Machine Learning Supply Chain Solutions
IT Nearshoring & Software Development Poland
Fixed Price vs. Time & Materials
Legacy Application Modernization Services
Legacy IT Systems Modernization & Custom Software Development
CTO as a Service - Future-Ready Software House: CTO, DevOps & UX/UI
Application Scaling for Startups | Scalable Solutions
Embedded Software Engineering Services | bluesBrackets
ReactJS Web Development Company
Build Scalable Desktop & Embedded Apps – bluesBrackets
Node.js, React & Next.js Development Poland – bluesBrackets
Flutter App Development Services | bluesBrackets
Poland’s Leading Java Software House | Hire Expert Java Developers
Machine Learning Consulting & Software Development Company Poland | UI/UX, Fullstack, Mobile, Embedded
Custom Software Development Services — bluesBrackets
Embedded & IoT Software Services | bluesBrackets
Software Development Companies | Custom Solutions
Expert Hardware Development Services | bluesBrackets
Custom AI Chatbot Solutions & Services
iOS PWA Development Services | Cross-Platform Mobile Apps
Expert iOS App Development Company in Poland
Expert Embedded Android & Bluetooth App Development
Software Engineering Outsourcing Poland
Specialized Software Engineering Services | bluesBrackets
Custom Web App Development Services | bluesBrackets
Progressive Web App Development Company | bluesBrackets Poland
Web Apps vs Desktop Apps: Expert Software
Web App vs Mobile App Development | Fullstack & UX/UI
Agile Software Development Company Poland
Software Development Outsourcing Company in Poland
Polish Software Development Outsourcing Company
Trusted Offshore Software Development Company in Poland
Industrial IoT Software Development Company
Polish Software House | Custom IoT & Embedded Solutions
IoT Software for Retail, Wearables, Property | bluesBrackets
Software Product Development Services | bluesBrackets
IoT Product Development Company | Embedded & Fullstack Software House
Enterprise Mobile App Development Company | bluesBrackets
IoT MQTT Dashboard & Custom Embedded Solutions
Bespoke MVP & Custom Software Development Company
Bespoke Software Development Company
Node.js Development Company | Trusted Node.js Services
Embedded Systems & Bare Metal Programming Experts | bluesBrackets
Custom Web App & AI Development Services
Custom CMS Solutions & Software Development
Custom Software Development Services in Poland
White Label Mobile & Embedded App Experts
Bespoke Software Solutions for Startups & Enterprises
Cloud Adoption & Digital Transformation Services
Cloud Application Development Services | Polish Cloud Development
Cloud Migration Consulting Services Company | bluesBrackets
Hire a Dedicated Development Team in Poland
Dedicated Software Development Teams in Europe
Integration & System Testing Experts
Software Integration & ChatGPT Integration Services
System to System Integration Services
Embedded Software Development Outsourcing
Embedded Software Staff Augmentation