Audio and Embedded Electronics Application Engineer

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CONTEXT:

GreenWaves Technologies is a fabless semiconductor start-up with headquarters in Grenoble, France and offices in Bologna (Italy) and Shanghai (China). We design powerful, highly efficient and easy to program ultra-low-power AI+DSP processors based on RISC-V. GreenWaves’ mission is to enable the sensing edge wherever it might get to. We started from AIoT, we are getting into hearables. We will move on to medical wearables and will move on to automotive.

Our first product GAP8 has been the first AI MCU in the market and among the very first openly programmable RISC-V processors. It enables battery powered devices for people counting, people detection, face identification, spoken language understanding, analogue meters reading and more.

Our second product GAP9  is leading the industry to deliver the best audio experience for hearables with features like clear voice, AI-driven ANC and 3D sound among others. Hearables is on its way to taking over smartphones in terms of innovation and volumes.

As a growing, talented and highly multicultural team with sharp personalities, we are proud of what we do and how we do it. Our non-hierarchical culture means living our core values: ownership, collaboration, agility, dedication to customers and engagement. We believe that work is more than just a to-do list. You are empowered to build a leading company and to share its success!

We are looking for talented, enthusiastic, and committed people to be a part of our GreenWaves family.

One of the key markets for our GAP9 chip and its successors is audio, in particular battery-powered personal audio systems. In this context, we need to characterize, optimize and benchmark the performance of GAP9 itself and that of our evaluation kits, proofs of concept or full demo sets based on GAP9.  We are looking for a talented individual to take a key role in this domain. Her/his contribution would include the following : 

• Characterization and, where applicable, optimization of different audio-centric systems, from simple Evaluation Kits to complete demonstrators such as TWS (True Wireless Stereo) earbuds or headphones – either ours of from third parties. Assessment vs. customers’ expectations, state-of-the-art and competition.
  • Areas to be addressed would include, for instance :
    • audio performance in terms of spectral response, THD, and other classic metrics
    • energy efficiency of complete systems, or of specific algorithms or specific sequences (which would typically involve some engineering of the firmware)
    • acoustic measurements such as room response and required corrections, etc.
  • You will be expected to define measurement campaigns (specifying and sharing a test plan) and implement them thoroughly. On top of standard electronics lab equipment, you will have at your disposal an Audio Precision test equipment as well as a Head and Torso Simulator (HATS).
  • The hardware you will act upon is always driven by some underlying software or firmware. Therefore, to do your job, you will have to write or modify C code to flash into GAP9 (using our SDK), as well as scripts to drive some test equipment.
  • You will be encouraged to take initiatives to improve and widen GreenWaves’ skills and relevance in the field of acoustics and audio, to help us become even more autonomous in this domain and be a credible interlocutor in front of our audio specialist customers.
• Preparation and delivery of complete kits for demonstrations at trade shows and on customers’ premises, taking into account ergonomics and scriptwriting, working from basic bricks: firmware modules for GAP9, boards and miscellaneous hardware, 3D printing and so on. 
• Set-up of repeatable and productive procedures for standard needs such as power consumption measurements
• Validation and test of new boards, again with a focus on – but not restricted to – audio aspects. Definition and implementation of efficient test suites for kits that need to be delivered in more significant quantities.
• Depending on background and interest, you may also be required to perform other types of characterizations or optimizations – as random examples: optimizing power consumption in ultra-low power modes or validating a MIPI camera interface.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Sound understanding of the concepts used in audio processing and acoustics
• Basic skills in signal processing (filters, spectrum analysis, FFT, etc.)
• Knowledge of MCU architectures and embedded electronics concepts
• Complete familiarity with classic lab equipment 
• Good command of the C and Python languages – Working knowledge of embedded OS
• Ability to read a circuit schematic
• Ability to work autonomously, while always taking care to share information
• Willingness to formalize and clearly document expectations and results obtained
• Open mind and ability to sometimes get out of one’s comfort zone
• Good level of English (for all documents and as working language with on-site or remote colleagues and with customers/suppliers/partners).

BONUS SKILLS:

• Knowledge of Git
• Familiarity with FPGA programming

To fit this job, you are likely a graduate from an engineering school oriented towards embedded hardware and firmware,  signal processing,  etc. with a keen interest in audio and a few years’ professional experience. Or, you might have started as a technician and enhanced your skills in these domains along a rich professional life. You love to learn new things, you like diversity in your job and you are at ease with fast changing situations. 

Note: This job being very hands-on with frequent access to boards and lab equipment, it requires to be present on-site most of the time.