Pawpaw Electronics – Case Study

Pawpaw Electronics is an audio chip and solutions supplier based in China. Their primary business activities include providing audio and voice solutions, and distributing product lines that include DSP and analog audio chips, microphones, and audio connectors. Pawpaw began working with XMOS in 2015 and has been a partner ever since.


Back in 2015, Pawpaw was seeking a more flexible, cost-effective, and high performing USB Audio (UAC2.0) solution for their wide range of customer requirements. They specifically wanted audio and voice solutions for RISC-V and HIFI-4 architectures. Having vetted a number of other solution providers, Pawpaw selected XMOS to work with, recognising the range of inherent advantages.

Pawpaw was impressed by the XMOS high-resolution, multi-channel and bit-perfect USB audio solution, and realised that by using XMOS, they could support customers through customised development, achieving consistent logic control and DSP operation on a single silicon platform.

Using the XMOS open USB audio reference design source code, Pawpaw has been able to meet more customer application requirements by combining the unique features of the xcore architecture with the USB protocol and flexible, multi-channel audio I/O. When XMOS subsequently released a 4-microphone array solution for voice and conferencing applications, Pawpaw found that the adaptive AEC of XMOS voice interfaces provided a valuable solution for manufacturers.

By supporting customers to implement an XMOS solution, Pawpaw can improve the performance and parameters of the end product. As an example, they were able to support a customer in the application of UAC2.0 using a reference design from XMOS, providing 768kHz decoding and a low-jitter solution. Using the XMOS platform also enables Pawpaw to quickly implement multi-channel and multiple digital audio interfaces, while embedding logic control/DSP.

When exploring customer pain points, Pawpaw always communicates the reliability and stability of the XMOS-based solutions, with a particular focus on the strong performance. They emphasise the ease of implementation through simple step-by-step instructions alongside development documentation. Pawpaw has also been fully supported by the XMOS Field Application Engineering team when delivering new customer requirements.

Since introducing XMOS solutions, the Pawpaw team associated with the XMOS product line has grown from 4 people to over 20, with future expansions likely due to the volume of customers with varying needs.

Pawpaw look forward to working further with XMOS in the future, expanding into new markets to support cost-effective, low power applications.

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