Cisco TelePresence System Uses Fraunhofer IIS AAC-Low Delay Audio Coding to Deliver High Quality Meeting Experiences

Business Wire, April 12, 2007

ERLANGEN, Germany -- Cisco has selected the MPEG-4 AAC-Low Delay codec from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS to transmit audio in the Cisco TelePresence meeting solution, which transcends traditional video to provide a "face-to-face" meeting experience through a simple interface. The Fraunhofer codec provides a realistic sound image through several channels of full-bandwidth, music-quality audio, with the low-latency delay needed for interactive conversations.

"We chose Fraunhofer not only because it invented the technology, but because of its outstanding technical reputation, which was clear in the process of integration of the technology. When coupled with Cisco's hardware and echo control software, the quality of the audio experience was fantastic," said Philip Graham, senior director of engineering for Cisco's TelePresence Systems Business Unit.

"Fraunhofer is pleased to have a leader such as Cisco join the many companies using AAC-Low Delay for interactive conferencing. The Cisco TelePresence system offers a new level of realism in conferences that needs the super-wideband fidelity of our codec," said Harald Popp, head of the Multimedia Realtime Systems department at Fraunhofer IIS.

AAC-LD is a low-delay version of the MPEG AAC codec family, which includes the AAC-LC codec used by the iPod and ISDB television, as well as the HE-AAC codec used in XM Radio and 3G mobile music download services. Developed by Fraunhofer IIS, AAC-LD offers similar audio quality to music codecs with coding delays of only 20 ms instead of 100 ms or more.

An open international standard, MPEG-4 AAC-LD is the predominant codec for next-generation audio and video conferencing systems offering realistic audio fidelity. AAC-LD is also used in broadcasting and communication systems for music-quality audio transmission where delay is a factor. Further information on AAC-Low Delay can be found at

www.iis.fraunhofer.de/amm.> Founded in 1985, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen, with its 480 staff members, ranks first in employees and revenues among the Fraunhofer Institutes.

Fraunhofer IIS has achieved worldwide recognition for the development of the audio coding method mp3.

Fraunhofer IIS provides research services on a contract basis and licenses technology in the areas of audio and video source coding, multimedia realtime systems, digital radio broadcasting and digital cinema systems, integrated circuits and sensor systems, design automation, wireless, wired and optical networks, localization and navigation, imaging systems and nanofocus X-ray technology, high-speed cameras, medical sensor solutions, and communications technology in transport and logistics.

Its budget of 58 million Euro is financed primarily by projects from industry and public institutions, with less than 20 percent subsidized by state and federal funds.

For more information visit www.iis.fraunhofer.de/amm.>

COPYRIGHT 2007 Business Wire

COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning