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| Case Study |
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Patni enables leading provider of audio solutions develop revolutionary next generation Audio visual tour guide system |
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By providing an end to end solution from product design to development, Patni helped a leading provider of audio solutions create a new revenue stream by developing an innovative digital audio information system.
The Client
The client is one of the world's leading providers of complete audio solutions with a product range that includes headphones, microphones and wireless audio information systems.
The Challenge
Aiming to create a new experience in the field of guided tours, the client saw a huge opportunity in creating self directed tour systems that would assist visitors through information transmitted to headsets or speakers. The objective was to provide the visitor with a user friendly device that would at the click of a button, stream relevant audio content about exhibits or artifacts to a headset.
While the concept was revolutionary, creating such an intelligent device within the defined budgets and extremely short timeframe was a challenging task. Besides being cost effective, the device also had to be optimized for power usage, with the ability to upgrade firmware. Additionally, the product also had to meet RoHS compliance norms. Lacking in-house capability and resources to develop the system, the client decided to leverage Patni's expertise.
The Solution
For developing the audio visual system, Patni adopted a phased approach. In the first phase, Patni did a detailed requirement specifications gathering, and came up with a high level concept of the hardware required. This was followed by selection of components according to the hardware type, which were further refined according to the budget. Based on the components selected, Patni assisted the client in the development of prototype boards using the Design for Test Methodology.
An iterative three stage process was followed for testing the hardware design. After device drivers were written for different interfaces such as Infrared, UART, FM, NAND Flash and colour LCD, the board was fully tested for different functionalities. Firmware development was done using the code generation facility of Rhapsody, which enabled tight control and compliance with quality requirements. Integration testing was done using an in-house developed automated test tool. This was followed by testing the product for compliance with respect to RoHS & FCC norms. Finally, a GUI was developed for helping a visitor use the device effectively.
The final product developed consists of a handheld device and a set of earphones at the visitor's end, and a transponder that is part of an exhibit. By just pressing a key that corresponds to the number on an exhibit, a visitor can listen to pre-recorded audio. Museum owners even have the flexibility of changing content according to the language and knowledge of the audience.
The Technology
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Expedition PCB and PADs for PCB design |
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Real View development tools for ARM based platform |
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Rhapsody in C. |
The Benefits
By leveraging Patni's domain expertise in the consumer electronics market, the client developed a next generation audio system that enabled it to create a new revenue stream.
Other significant benefits include:
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Reduced time to market: The association with Patni has given the client resources and technological expertise to reduce its time-to-market and broaden its market reach |
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Scalable product architecture: Patni developed a product architecture that made future product enhancement easy
to manage due to a scalable architecture |
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Increased IT capability: Patni’s technological capabilities in the consumer electronics domain provided the client with
a highly qualified and experienced talent base. |
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