Sonova License and Deploy CEVA Bluetooth® IP in SWORD™ 3.0 Wireless Chip for Hearing Aids

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of signal processing platforms and artificial intelligence processors for smarter, connected devices, today announced that Sonova Holding AG, the world's leading provider of hearing solutions, has licensed and deployed CEVA's RivieraWaves Bluetooth IP in its latest SWORD™ 3.0 wireless chip for hearing aids and other smart hearing devices.

SWORD™ 3.0 is the world`s first and only hearing aid radio chip to fully support direct binaural streaming of audio content and phone calls from billions of Bluetooth enabled devices. Through data connection of SWORD™ 3.0 to a smartphone, internet access is achieved. This allows hearing aid wearers to have their devices adjusted virtually in real-time, in any situation, anywhere by the hearing care professional. Furthermore, voice-to-text phone call transcription is enabled, providing live visual captions as an additional help to the user.

 "Our latest generation SWORD™ chip reinforces our mission to continually introduce new and innovative technologies that greatly improve the user experience of hearing aids. The integration of CEVA's advanced Bluetooth Dual Mode IP into our wireless chip enables us to bring low power stereo audio streaming and data connectivity to our hearing aids, giving our customers an unparalleled user experience," said Marc Secall, Director Research & Development Wireless of Sonova.

Aviv Malinovitch, vice president and general manager of the Connectivity Business Unit at CEVA, stated: "We are delighted to formally announce our partnership with Sonova, for our RivieraWaves Bluetooth IP. It's a testament to the quality of our Bluetooth technology for even the most stringent use cases and we look forward to continuing our work together as Bluetooth looks set to become the wireless standard of choice for hearing aids and other smart hearing devices."

CEVA's RivieraWaves Bluetooth IP platforms provide comprehensive solutions for both Bluetooth LE and Bluetooth dual mode connectivity. Each platform consists of a hardware baseband controller, plus a feature-rich software protocol stack. A flexible radio interface allows the platforms to be deployed with either RivieraWaves RF or various partners' RF IP, enabling optimal selection of foundry and process node. All Bluetooth 5 features are supported, including LE 2Mbps data rate, Long Range and LE Advertising Extension. Widely adopted with different processor subsystems, CEVA also offers RISC-V based fully integrated platforms. With more than 1.5 billion devices shipped to date and dozens of licensees, the RivieraWaves Bluetooth IP is widely deployed in consumer and IoT devices with many of the world's leading semiconductors companies and OEMs, including smartphones, tablets, wireless speakers, wireless headsets and earbuds, hearing aids and other wearables. For more information on RivieraWaves Bluetooth IP platforms, go to https://www.ceva-dsp.com/product/rivierawaves-bluetooth-platforms/.  

About Sonova
Sonova, headquartered in Stäfa, Switzerland, is the leading provider of innovative hearing care solutions. The Group operates through its core business brands Phonak, Unitron, Hansaton, Advanced Bionics and AudioNova. Sonova offers its customers one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in the industry – from hearing instruments to cochlear implants to wireless communication solutions. Pursuing a unique vertically integrated business strategy, the Group operates through three core businesses – hearing instruments, retail and cochlear implants – along the entire value chain of the hearing care market. The Group's sales and distribution network, the widest in the industry, comprises over 50 own wholesale companies and more than 100 independent distributors. This is complemented by Sonova's retail business, which offers professional audiological services through a network of around 3,500 locations in 18 countries.

Founded in 1947, the Group has a workforce of over 14,000 dedicated employees and generated sales of CHF 2.65 billion in the financial year 2017/18 as well as a net profit of CHF 407 million. Across all businesses, and by supporting the Hear the World Foundation, Sonova pursues its vision of a world where everyone enjoys the delight of hearing and therefore lives a life without limitations.

For more information please visit www.sonova.com  and www.hear-the-world.com.

About CEVA, Inc.
CEVA is the leading licensor of signal processing platforms and artificial intelligence processors for a smarter, connected world. We partner with semiconductor companies and OEMs worldwide to create power-efficient, intelligent and connected devices for a range of end markets, including mobile, consumer, automotive, industrial and IoT. Our ultra-low-power IPs for vision, audio, communications and connectivity include comprehensive DSP-based platforms for LTE/LTE-A/5G baseband processing in handsets, infrastructure and cellular IoT (NB-IoT and Cat-M1) enabled devices, advanced imaging and computer vision for any camera-enabled device, audio/voice/speech and ultra-low power always-on/sensing applications for multiple IoT markets. For artificial intelligence, we offer a family of AI processors capable of handling the complete gamut of neural network workloads, on-device. For connectivity, we offer the industry's most widely adopted IPs for Bluetooth (low energy and dual mode) and Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) up to 4x4). Visit us at www.ceva-dsp.com and follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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SOURCE CEVA, Inc.

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