(Smile) Yes, Cortana has indeed been led off to look at that last sunset … too bad too, I really liked it in Halo! Maybe if they had “Clippy” pop up for the Cortana avatar that would have endeared it to the masses … … or not …
Regarding the HW KWS and “WakeOnAudio” though, I’m still going to gnaw on that bone a bit more … as I recall I can set Windows 10 to “wake” on various USB HID devices (keyboard and mouse), using the process documented here [https://www.intowindows.com/wake-pc-from-sleep-using-keyboard-and-mouse-in-windows-10/#:~:text=Wake%20Windows%2010%20computer%20from%20sleep%20with%20a%20keyboard&text=Step%202%3A%20In%20the%20Device,to%20wake%20the%20computer%20option.]
This seems to work on my laptop running Win10 20H1 … I set the USB keyboard to “wake” the computer in the properties, I put the OS to “sleep” with the laptop “sleep” button, I hit the keyboard, it “wakes” up. Same with the USB mouse … set the properties to “wake” the computer, put the OS to “sleep”, move the mouse, it “wakes” up …
The USB keyboard, and USB mouse, go through a USB host controller, an internal USB hub, and have fully alive USB drivers (and my laptop is definitely not an SoC design) … so all of that sleeping and waking seems to work under the “WakeOnX” paradigm (here WakeOnMouse or WakeOnKeyboard), so apparently “sleep” on a laptop running Win10 20H1 is “… but keep awake the USB host controller and internal hubs so I can respond to a USB mouse or USB keyboard activity” …
Suppose then I have a hardware device that is somehow capable of monitoring an audio stream with say a hardware tap to an existing always on digital microphone, Suppose further then that I have that hardware expose some USB endpoints, and then also suppose that I write a [custom] USB driver to connect to those endpoints … that USB connection will be using the same USB host controller and USB internal hub as my USB mouse and keyboard, which I’ve just shown are going to be “alive” although my laptop has been put to “sleep”.
It would stand to reason then that just as we have a “WakeOnKeyboard” functionality with a USB keyboard and a “WakeOnMouse” with a USB mouse we would also be able to have a “WakeOnSomeNoise” with a pure USB audio monitor … and if that USB audio monitor sitting on the audio stream also had a hardware keyword spotter (so it didn’t just wake when someone closed a door, but woke when someone said “WakeUp!” then we would apparently now have a “WakeOnAudio” functionality …
… which is what I believe the MS document I cited discusses. I think the references to “SoC” that are referring to is that you would need to have the hardware KWS chip, well, soldered onto the hardware and not just attached to a dongle … I happen to have sitting on my desk here a commercially available laptop with just such a hardware KWS chip mounted onto the laptop motherboard which is monitoring an “always on” digital microphone (it buffers up 2sec of audio) and which exposes some USB endpoints …
Hmm …