In September 1998, IMEC joined Flanders Language Valley (FLV), the regional cluster on speech processing and initiated by world-famous Lernout&Hauspie Speech Products (Ieper, Belgium; NASDAQ: LHSPF). In August 1999, IMEC has opened its office on the premises of FLV. This shall enable FLV companies to exploit IMEC’s expertise on Digital Signal Processing for their new product developments in the field of speech and language technologies.

DSP expertise at IMEC…

One of the fastest expanding segments in the electronics industry is with no doubt DSP. The digital signal processing market has been growing with an astonishing 39% over the past 10 years. Owing to the Very Large Scale Integration in micro-electronics, DSP has been able to invade almost any technology market in which traditional analog electronics where prevalent. To name some examples: image processing, multi-media, set-top boxes, GSM, PABXs, cable-TV modems, audio processing (CD, equalizers,...). It is widely believed that the impact of DSP shall increase in the 21st century.

In the development of speech and language technologies, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is of the utmost importance. With the ever increasing computational power of miniaturized electronics circuits, DSP has succeeded in boosting the field of speech technology.

Since its foundation in 1984 IMEC has built up a great tradition in DSP. IMEC has implemented DSP technologies in applications in the fields of telecommunication and multimedia. DSP is the cornerstone of the IMEC spin-off companies Sirius Communications, Target Compiler Technology, EASICS, Smartmove,…

On a broader scale Flanders stands out for its remarkable concentration of high-tech companies in the field of DSP, personified by the DSP Valley consortium.

IMEC will operate in FLV from its office amid the FLV companies. IMEC shall assist FLV companies to take core speech technologies up to the application level by filling in the indispensable DSP layer. The permanent presence in FLV shall also trigger co-operation with local SMEs in the region.

For more information:

IMEC office in FLV

Niek Van Dierdonck

Flanders Language Valley 44

B-8900 Ieper

+32 57 23 01 42