A single-chip speech recognition system with embedded flash memory and configurable data path

The design of a single-chip, processor-based system with embedded built-in speech recognition capabilities is presented. The proposed system-on-chip is intended to be used for the implementation of autonomous embedded systems featuring voice control capabilities and command-oriented user interface. To allow a good flexibility of the recognition system and to achieve a single-chip system implementation, the main processing functionalities have been organized as co-processors and integrated around a 32-bit processor and a 2Mb embedded flash memory. The architecture of the system that features a recognition engine with a configurable data path is discussed. The silicon area required by the system is 25 mm²in a 0.18µm CMOS embedded flash technology.