miniDSP UMA-8-SP User manual

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UMA-8-SP
USB MICROPHONE ARRAY WITH EMBEDDED DSP
AND STEREO DIGITAL AMPLIFIER
User Manual
Compatible AI
assistants
Steady state noise is
attenuated by noise
reduction algorithm
Beamforming DSP
isolates voice vs
background noise
USB Audio
(7ch raw OR
2ch DSP mode)
2x15Wrms
Amplifier out

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Revision history
Revision
Description
Date
1.0
First public release
12 June 2018
1.1
Adding DOA USB API
14 September 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Important Information ...............................................................................................................................................4
System Requirements – Windows..........................................................................................................................4
System Requirements – Mac OS X..........................................................................................................................4
Disclaimer/Warning................................................................................................................................................4
Warranty Terms......................................................................................................................................................4
FCC Class B Statement ............................................................................................................................................4
CE Mark Statement.................................................................................................................................................5
Package Contents ...................................................................................................................................................5
A Note on this Manual............................................................................................................................................5
1 Product Overview ................................................................................................................................................6
2 Hardware connectivity.........................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Board overview...........................................................................................................................................7
2.2 DC power schemes .....................................................................................................................................8
2.3 I2S expansion header pinouts ....................................................................................................................8
2.4 Digital Audio Amplifier outputs..................................................................................................................8
2.5 Additional I2S usage notes .........................................................................................................................8
2.6 DSP settings parameters ............................................................................................................................9
3 Driver Installation and Configuration – Windows ............................................................................................ 12
3.1 Installation............................................................................................................................................... 12
3.1.1 Download the latest driver.............................................................................................................. 12
3.1.2 Connect your UMA-8-SP.................................................................................................................. 12
3.1.3 USB Driver installation..................................................................................................................... 12
3.2 Configuration........................................................................................................................................... 13
3.2.1 Format ............................................................................................................................................. 13
3.2.2 Buffer settings ................................................................................................................................. 13
4 Driver Installation and Configuration – Mac OS X ............................................................................................ 14
4.1 Installation............................................................................................................................................... 14
4.2 Configuration........................................................................................................................................... 14
5 Driver Installation and Configuration – LINUX.................................................................................................. 15
5.1 ALSA Installation...................................................................................................................................... 15
5.2 Raspberry Pi or Linux installations .......................................................................................................... 15
6 USB API / Customization................................................................................................................................... 16
6.1.1 Discovery of UMA-8......................................................................................................................... 16
6.1.2 Voice Activated Detection (VAD) + Direction Of Arrival (DOA) ....................................................... 16
7 Additional Information ..................................................................................................................................... 17
7.1 Specifications........................................................................................................................................... 17
7.2 Firmware Upgrade................................................................................................................................... 18
7.2.1 Windows.......................................................................................................................................... 18
7.3 Obtaining support.................................................................................................................................... 19

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Please read the following information before use. In case of any questions, please contact miniDSP via the
support portal at minidsp.desk.com.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS –WINDOWS
•1GHz or higher processor clock speed recommended / Intel® Pentium®/Celeron® family, or AMD K6®/AMD
Athlon®/AMD Duron® family, or compatible processor recommended.
•512 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended
•One free USB 2.0 port
•Microsoft• ® Windows® Win7/Win8/Win10
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS –MAC OS X
•Intel Core Duo processor or greater
•256 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended
•One free USB 2.0 port
DISCLAIMER/WARNING
miniDSP cannot be held responsible for any damage that may result from the improper use or incorrect
configuration of this product. Please read this manual carefully to ensure that you fully understand how to
operate and use this product, as incorrect use or use beyond the parameters and ways recommended in this
manual have the potential to cause damage to your audio system.
Please also note that many of the questions we receive at the technical support department are already
answered in this User Manual and in the online application notes on the miniDSP.com website. So please take
the time to carefully read this user manual and the online technical documentation. Thank you for your
understanding!
WARRANTY TERMS
miniDSP Ltd warrants this product to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one
year from the invoice date. Our warranty does not cover failure of the product due to incorrect connection or
installation, improper or undocumented use, unauthorized servicing, modification or alteration of the unit in any
way, or any usage outside of that recommended in this manual. If in doubt, contact miniDSP prior to use.
FCC CLASS BSTATEMENT
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
•This device may not cause harmful interference.

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•This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired
operation.
Warning: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device,
pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection. This
equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance
with the instructions, may cause interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that
interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio
or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to
try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
•Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
•Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
•Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
•Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Notice: Shielded interface cable must be used in order to comply with emission limits.
Notice: Changes or modification not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the
user’s authority to operate the equipment.
CE MARK STATEMENT
The UMA-8-SP has passed the test performed according to European Standard EN 55022 Class B.
PACKAGE CONTENTS
Your UMA-8-SP package includes:
•One UMA-8-SP USB far field microphone array module
•One USB cable for computer connectivity (1.5m)
ANOTE ON THIS MANUAL
This User Manual is designed for reading in both print and on the computer. If printing the manual, please print
double-sided. The embedded page size is 8 ½” x 11”. Printing on A4 paper will result in a slightly reduced size.
For reading on the computer, we have included hyperlinked cross-references throughout the manual. In
addition, a table of contents is embedded in the PDF file. Displaying this table of contents will make navigation
much easier:
•In Adobe Reader on Windows, click on the “bookmarks” icon at the left. The table of contents will appear on
the left and can be unfolded at each level by clicking on the “+” icons.
•In Preview on the Mac, click on the View menu and select Table of Contents. The table of contents will
appear on the left and can be unfolded at each level by clicking on the triangle icons.

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1PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Thank you for purchasing a miniDSP UMA-8-SP USB microphone array. The UMA-8-SP is a high-performance USB
microphone array paired with a digital audio amplifier. Seven high-performance MEMS microphones are
configured in a circular arrangement to provide high-quality voice capture in farfield microphone applications
such as AI assistants, conferencing, robotics…
Leveraging the onboard DSP processing from XMOS XVSM3000, the UMA-8-SP supports voice algorithms
including beamforming, noise reduction, acoustic echo cancellation and de-reverb. The UMA-8-SP is a fully
compliant UAC2 audio interface with driverless support for Mac/Linux and ASIO drivers for Windows. An
onboard 2x15Wrms digital amplifier provides an all-in-one microphone array + amplifier integration. The perfect
fit to build your own AI assistant or conferencing unit.
From DIYers to OEM, this pocket-size platform is engineered for flexibility in firmware, software and hardware.
Feel free to contact miniDSP on how we can help kickstart your new project!
The UMA-8-SP is a fully compliant UAC2 audio interface with driverless support for Mac/Linux and ASIO drivers
for Windows. Depending on the loaded firmware, the UMA-8-SP has different modes of operation.
DSP mode: the interface is running as a 2xIN (2ch Beamforming), Mono audio output on stereo audio amplifier.
Note that the embedded XMOS library can only output mono signal. Both outputs of the onboard amplifier will
therefore carry the same mono signal.
RAW audio mode: the unit is streaming all raw audio from the MEMS (7 x MEMS + 1 x spare PDM input), 2 x
OUTPUTS on digital audio amplifier. Note that in RAW mode, no processing is enabled and signal may be small
as it’s the RAW audio from the MEMS microphones. You may need to perform a bit shift to increase the
sensitivity of your signal.
The below sections will hopefully clarify how to install and configure the UMA-8-SP. If any doubt/questions, feel
free to contact our technical support team.

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2HARDWARE CONNECTIVITY
2.1 BOARD OVERVIEW
The UMA-8-SP has few exposed headers to help for customization of the product.
Note that MEMS are up-firing( through the board) and SW1/2/3/4 must be at the top for correct microphone
pickup.
J3.1 - I2S_OUT_0
J3.2 - I2S_IN_0
J3.3 - I2S_OUT_1
J3.4 - I2S_IN_1
J3.5 - I2S_OUT_2
J3.6 - I2S_IN_2
J3.7 - I2S_OUT_3
J3.8 - I2S_OUT_4
J3.9 - MCLK
J3.10 - I2S_BCLK
J3.11 - GND
J3.12 -
I2S_LRCLK
J2.1 - GND
J2.2 - 3.3V
J2.3 - GND
J2.4 - 3.3V
J2.5 - N/A
J2.6 - UART_TX
J2.7 - UART_RX
J2.8 -
XMOS_RST
J2.9 - I2C_SDATA
J2.10 - I2C_SCLK
J2.11 - N/A
J2.12 - N/A
J3 / Audio data & clocks (Future)
J2 / Control IO pins (Future)
Bottom VIEW

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2.2 DC POWER SCHEMES
The UMA-8-SP has 2 modes of operations when it comes to powering schemes:
USB self-powered: A single USB connection to your PC/Mac suffices to provide power to the unit and stream
bidirectional audio simultaneously. In this mode, the UMA-8-SP will disable the amplifier due to the limited
current capabilities of USB power.
External 12V power supply: In this mode, the UMA-8-SP will have the digital audio amplifier for up to
2x15Wrms.
2.3 I2S EXPANSION HEADER PINOUTS
Headers J3 is provided for connection of I/O circuitry via I2S. The pinouts are shown in Table 1.
In the current firmware, none of the I2S in/out are enabled.
2.4 DIGITAL AUDIO AMPLIFIER OUTPUTS
The onboard stereo digital audio amplifier outputs are available on a 3.81mm pitch removable Phoenix terminal
block. The below diagram shows the typical configuration (OUT 1 +, OUT1-, OUT2-, OUT2+)
2.5 ADDITIONAL I2S USAGE NOTES
Note that I2S is not a “plug and play” protocol. It requires attention to technical details such as clocking and wire
layout. It is a solution for OEMs and advanced DIYers (or professionals) with suitable knowledge, skills and
measurement equipment.
Be sure to take the following precautions when designing your I2S interface and wiring:
General I2S usage notes
•Unbuffered I2S lines must be kept short to ensure clock and data integrity.
OUT 2 OUT 1

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•If driving longer lines, buffers may be required for the clock signals (MCLK, LRCLK, and BLCK).
•Observe correct grounding and shielding, and keep analog and digital grounds separated.
•Ensure that the clock ratios (as listed in Table 2) are compatible with connected circuits.
3.3V logic level
All lines use a 3.3V logic level. Ensure that connected circuits use a compatible level (1.8V, for example, will
not work).
2.6 DSP SETTINGS PARAMETERS
The below settings are the default parameters of the internal DSP library. We hope in the near future to provide
an easy to use GUI to control these parameters. Stay tuned.

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