The proliferation of wireless earbuds, wearables, and smart speakers has made audio quality and user convenience non-negotiable. Consumers want studio-quality sound, low latency for gaming, and effortless connectivity—without sacrificing battery life or device form factor.
This demand is amplified by the rise of lossless streaming services, requiring devices to handle high-resolution audio efficiently while maintaining battery life and compact form factors. By enabling advanced codecs like LC3plus on efficient DSP architectures, Cadence and Fraunhofer are at the center of a new era in consumer audio. Their solutions empower device makers to deliver the quality, convenience, and innovation that today’s consumers demand—future-proofing the audio experience for years to come.
Bluetooth LE Audio, finalized in 2022, standardized the LC3 codec, which delivers higher audio quality at lower bitrates and is robust in challenging wireless environments. It was co-developed by Fraunhofer IIS, which continued to evolve it to LC3plus, pushing audio fidelity even further to support high-resolution, low-latency audio suitable for gaming, conferencing, and immersive applications. Thanks to a frame rate of 1.25 ms, LC3plus meets the requirements of even the most demanding ultra-low latency scenarios. Together with exceptional audio quality at low bitrates and robustness in challenging wireless environments, this makes LC3plus future-proof for next-generation applications.
The latest low-latency versions of LC3plus enable wireless audio that meets the demands of gaming and immersive sound. This means consumers can enjoy synchronized, 3D audio experiences with wireless surround and even immersive speaker setups—no more lag or compromise. LC3plus combined with Fraunhofer’s upHear Flexible Rendering, both available through Cadence, enables immersive audio experiences with flexible speaker placement and automatic spatial optimization—without complex wiring or fixed layouts. This synergy ensures synchronized, high-quality wireless sound for home entertainment and gaming.
Recent advancements in Bluetooth transmission bandwidth now support higher bit rates, making it possible to deliver lossless or near-lossless audio over wireless connections. This technical leap is essential for meeting the expectations set by high-fidelity streaming services. LC3plus leverages these improvements to deliver high-resolution audio wirelessly, even in multi-channel setups.
With Tidal, Amazon Music, Spotify, and others offering lossless streaming, the ecosystem is shifting. Devices must now be capable of decoding and rendering high-resolution audio streams, further raising the bar for SoC and device manufacturers. Manufacturers working with Cadence have easy access to LC3plus, which ensures that devices can meet these demands without compromising battery life or latency.
Fraunhofer IIS, the inventor of LC3plus, and Cadence, a leader in DSP IP, have partnered to bring LC3plus support to the entire Cadence Tensilica HiFi DSP portfolio. This collaboration ensures:
- Optimized, low-power, high-performance LC3plus implementations for mobile and embedded devices
- Ready-to-integrate solutions for OEMs and SoC designers, accelerating time to market and reducing development complexity
- Scalability for next-generation applications, from wearables and TWS earbuds to gaming and conferencing
DSP-based LC3plus implementations deliver deterministic performance and thermal stability compared to CPU-based solutions, ensuring consistent quality even under heavy workloads. This partnership also enables immersive audio scenarios, expanding beyond Bluetooth LE Audio into multi-channel home entertainment.
Visit the exclusive Fraunhofer suites 34-209 and 34-204 on Floor 34 of The Venetian Hotel at CES 2026 in Las Vegas from January 6–9, 2026, to learn more about LC3plus and Cadence. Make sure to book your meeting with the LC3plus team here.