Speech Coding - Sample Companding Viewed As A Form of Speech Coding

Sample Companding Viewed As A Form of Speech Coding

From this viewpoint, the A-law and μ-law algorithms (G.711) used in traditional PCM digital telephony can be seen as a very early precursor of speech encoding, requiring only 8 bits per sample but giving effectively 12 bits of resolution. The logarithmic companding laws are consistent with human hearing perception in that a low-amplitude noise is heard along a low-amplitude speech signal but is masked by a high-amplitude one. Although this would generate unacceptable distortion in a music signal, the peaky nature of speech waveforms, combined with the simple frequency structure of speech as a periodic waveform having a single fundamental frequency with occasional added noise bursts, make these very simple instantaneous compression algorithms acceptable for speech.

A wide variety of other algorithms were tried at the time, mostly variants on delta modulation, but after careful consideration, the A-law/μ-law algorithms were chosen by the designers of the early digital telephony systems. At the time of their design, their 33% bandwidth reduction for a very low complexity made them an excellent engineering compromise. Their audio performance remains acceptable, and there has been no need to replace them in the stationary phone network.

In 2008, G.711.1 codec, which has a scalable structure, was standardized by ITU-T. The input sampling rate is 16 kHz.

Read more about this topic:  Speech Coding

Famous quotes containing the words sample, viewed, form and/or speech:

    The present war having so long cut off all communication with Great-Britain, we are not able to make a fair estimate of the state of science in that country. The spirit in which she wages war is the only sample before our eyes, and that does not seem the legitimate offspring either of science or of civilization.
    Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

    All the satires of the stage should be viewed without discomfort. They are public mirrors, where we are never to admit that we see ourselves; one admits to a fault when one is scandalized by its censure.
    Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)

    ... the novel is called upon like no other art form to incorporate the intellectual content of an age.
    Robert Musil (1880–1942)

    So hills and valleys into singing break;
    And though poor stones have neither speech nor tongue,
    While active winds and streams both run and speak,
    Yet stones are deep in admiration.
    Thus praise and prayer here beneath the Sun
    Make lesser mornings when the great are done.
    Henry Vaughan (1622–1695)