Qualcomm simplifies development of Mesh Wi-Fi networks featuring Amazon Alexa

Feb 20, 2019, SAN DIEGO: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), today announced the industry’s first development kit for mesh Wi-Fi networks, qualified by Amazon, to integrate the Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS). The Qualcomm® Mesh Networking Development Kit offers manufacturers the necessary building blocks to quickly and cost-effectively create mesh Wi-Fi systems with Alexa built-in, bringing the convenience of voice control to connected devices throughout the home.

Voice control is becoming a new way for consumers to be able to more easily manage their smart home devices. The addition of Alexa, integrated via the ClearVoice far-field voice enhancement software solution from Meeami Technologies, makes it easy for mesh networking manufacturers to provide leading voice capabilities to their customers layered on the Qualcomm® Wi-Fi mesh platforms. With Alexa built-in, customers can manage, automate and monitor smart home devices, as well as control music, ask questions, access tens of thousands of skills, and more – hands-free. These voice capabilities perfectly complement mesh Wi-Fi networks, which are designed to deliver robust and consistent connectivity to nearly every corner of the home, provide unprecedented simplicity of use, and incorporate powerful security and device-management features. 

“Mesh networks have become the new standard to support the best possible connected experience in the home. By adding Amazon’s advanced voice capabilities through the Alexa Voice Service, we are unlocking new opportunities for customers to enable exciting new smart home experiences controlled with the simplicity of voice,” said Nick Kucharewski, vice president and general manager, Wireless Infrastructure and Networking, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “By integrating our mesh platform with Alexa, we create a powerful development kit that is designed to enable device manufacturers to quickly and economically bring innovative new products to market and meet the development speed of this fast-growing market.

“Qualcomm Technologies’ development kit enables device makers to build voice-first mesh Wi- Fi systems with minimal time and financial investment,” said Priya Abani, Director of the Alexa Voice Service for Amazon. “We’re thrilled that Qualcomm Technologies continues to provide solutions that make it even easier for companies to bring Alexa built-in products to their customers.”

“With the popularity of Amazon's Alexa, voice has gained significant momentum in the smart home market,” noted Doug Makishima, chief operating officer for Meeami Technologies.

“ClearVoice far-field voice enhancement algorithms enable voice commands to be understood from distances of several meters in noisy conditions typically found in homes. This enables OEMs to add high-quality automatic speech recognition and other key features quickly and cost effectively to their products.”

The Qualcomm Mesh Networking Development Kit for Amazon AVS integrates all previously announced features available in the Qualcomm Mesh Networking Platform reference design, with defining kit elements now including:

• IPQ4019 integrated network processor
• Integrated audio decoding and post-processing
• Multi-microphone FFV (far field voice) and WWD (wake word detection)
• Support for various I/O technologies
• Full software stack of the Qualcomm Mesh Networking Platform.

For more information and to get started, please visit the Qualcomm Mesh Networking Development Kit webpage.