Lucent Technologies Introduces Wideband Speech Coder That Enhances Sound Quality Over the Internet and Voice and Video Networks - ClearPresence Audio Coder - Product Announcement

Cambridge Telcom Report, August 23, 1999

Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) has announced a family of wideband speech coders that offer significantly higher sound quality at transmission rates three times lower than the current industry standard. The coders are designed to enhance sound quality over the Internet, voice, video and wireless networks.

Developed by Bell Labs, the ClearPresence Audio Coder is a new class of coders that deliver fuller sound at lower bit rates, putting the capabilities of wideband (7 kilohertz, kHz) speech quality into technologies and applications that were originally limited to using only simple narrowband (3.7 kHz) frequencies. The coders are now available for licensing from Lucent. The first manufacturer to use the coder is Polycom, Inc., which incorporated it into its ViewStation videoconferencing systems under the name Acoustic Plus. "ClearPresence creates full-bodied, realistic sound for listeners that will make them feel as if they're sitting in the same room with the person they're talking to whether by video conferencing, on the Internet, or on a digital line," said Sean Ramprashad, a member of the Bell Labs Multimedia Communication Research Lab, who developed the technology behind ClearPresence. "The coder takes us into a new realm of speech quality that offers a high degree of design flexibility for interactive applications."

With its more efficient transmission rates, ClearPresence is geared as an alternative for the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) G.722 wideband speech coding standard. ClearPresence operates on 7 kHz bandwidth audio at three main bit rates: 16 kilobits per second (kbps), 24 kbps, and 32 kbps. Based on testing in accordance with ITU guidelines, the ClearPresence audio coders at 16, 24, and 32 kbps, exceed or equal the quality of the G.722 standard at bit rates of 48, 56, and 64 kbps respectively for a wide range of sound, including clean speech, speech in noisy environments, and music. The ClearPresence coders also can be configured for use at any bit rate between 14 kbps and 35 kbps, and can be implemented on a single digital signal processor (DSP) for use in many devices such as Internet Protocol (IP) phones, PCs with audio capabilities, video conferencing hardware, and next-generation wireless or cellular products.

"Acoustic Plus is a key ingredient in the high-quality audio that we offer our customers as a competitive advantage for the ViewStation videoconferencing product line," said Craig Malloy, general manager of Polycom's videoconferencing division.

Bell Labs has been a leader in speech coding for more than seven decades, and holds more essential patents in speech coding than any other institution. For more information or licensing opportunities, contact Bruce Tillinger, Lucent's business development manager, IP applications, at 908-953-6173 or btillinger@lucent.com. Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit the company's web site at www.lucent.com.