In addition to the "study hegemony" background of the core personnel, GMEMS can achieve a leading position, and the experience of its founder Wang Yunlong is also inseparable. Dr. Wang Yunlong told Yiou that he is a serial entrepreneur. As early as 2003 when various domestic industries were relatively backward, Dr. Wang Yunlong began to research and develop MEMS-based acoustic micro-sensors. The products developed were eventually used by major brands of notebook computers (such as Lenovo, Dell, etc.) and mobile phones (such as Xiaomi, Lenovo, Meizu, Sony, etc.), Dr. Wang Yunlong did not stop because of his achievements. He continued to explore this industry as an entrepreneur and accumulated a lot of experience.
As an industry veteran, he did not choose to only engage in the production of a certain link in the industry chain like most acoustic front-end device manufacturers. General Micro, led by Wang Yunlong, cuts into the algorithm, involves in chips, sensors, microphone arrays and other links, adopts a business model of full-industry chain production, and provides a complete set of acoustic hardware solutions for intelligent voice portals.
When asked whether the adoption of such a model would increase the difficulty of research and development, Wang Yunlong said with a smile that the main reason for choosing this business model is that the upstream companies in the semiconductor industry are monopolized by foreign countries, and often have weaker bargaining powers, and the more they go to the industry. The less profit the upstream company can distribute. In the upstream of the acoustic front-end device industry, from wafer manufacturers and chip manufacturers, to MEMS microphone manufacturers and IC manufacturers, and then to microphone array manufacturers, the revenue and profits that can be obtained are often increasing.
In addition, because the overall market for MEMS microphones is relatively small, only about 1 billion U.S. dollars, the profit of MEMS microphones as a key link at this stage is not very impressive even if there are billions of units sold each year. Cutting into the downstream links of the MEMS microphone sensor is likely to be the only way for General Micro. This kind of development path has also been proven by many large companies in the field of audio devices.
Dr. Wang Yunlong also mentioned that the sound noise reduction and MEMS microphone industry is a relatively difficult industry. First, it is not as easy to generate profits as other industries, even if it generates relatively little profits. The second technique is extremely difficult, and there are many "pits".
"I just fumbled in these big pits, and I'm constantly filling in the pits." Dr. Wang Yunlong said with a smile.
Although the industry is difficult, with Dr. Wang's years of experience and persistence, General Micro has achieved good results. A few days ago, General Micro helped the world's largest home appliance chip supplier located in the United States to launch the world's first microcontroller (MCU)-based voice control solution. It is understood that the solution has passed Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service (AVS) certification before February 25, 2019, enabling original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to quickly, easily and cheaply add voice interaction functions to their products. End customers can easily use Alexa's rich voice experience.
According to the strategic cooperation agreement signed between General Micro and the home appliance chip manufacturer, General Micro Technology exclusively provides the entire acoustic front-end for the solution, including acoustic front-end functions such as noise suppression, echo cancellation, beam forming, and interrupt wake-up. In addition, according to customer needs, General Micro Technology can also provide AVS-certified Alexa wake-up words or customize other wake-up words.
Amazon's Alexa with universal micro voice interaction solution
