NTT Research and Development 2009 Review of Activities

Overview

We developed wideband speech codec compliant with international standards ITU-T G.711.1 and quasi-wideband speech technology. The codec enables high-quality and high-fidelity speech communication on IP telephones, high-functionality voice terminals and "software phones". The quasi-wideband speech technology that widens voice bandwidth by simulation and reproduces a received voice in high sound quality even if the caller uses a conventional phone. The first product of these developments — namely a NGN-compatible wideband phone called the "Hikari Clear Phone HQ-100" — went on sale in February 2009. From now onwards, we plan to expand our line-up of products compatible with this phone.

Features

• ITU-T G.711.1 is adopted and clear communication by speech with a realistic sensation — across a wider speech bandwidth than the conventional telephony (namely, 7 kHz compared to 3.4 kHz) — is achieved
• Communication without the re-encoding associated with conventional telephony (G.711) is made possible
• Bandwidth can be widened in a simulated technique and voice calls can be listened to over a wide bandwidth even in the case that the caller is using a conventional phone
• QoS of NGNs is applied, and high-quality speech communication is attained
• Smooth migration from conventional telephone to high-quality ones is fostered

Application scenarios

• Communication within the family
• A wide range of applications other than households and businesses is supposed