WARNING!
This page contains information about the previous version (4.0).
The current version (5.0) provides significantly improved speech quality.
We will update the information in the near future.
Provides high speech quality as in noiseless channel as well as in very noisy channel. Much better than any well-known vocoders.
A "joint source-channel coding" solution on TWELP 3600 bps vocoder base and FEC 1200 bps as UEP-RCPC (Unequal Error Protection Rate Compatible Punctured Convolution) code provides reliable protection of the bits strictly in accordance with their sensitivity to errors.
For Digital HF Radio, Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) and other markets.
TWELP Technology Features. The vocoder is based on newest technology of speech coding called "Tri-Wave Excited Linear Prediction" (TWELP) that was developed by experts of DSPINI.
TWELP technology is a new class of vocoders that differs from any other LPC-based vocoders by:
- advance reliable method of pitch estimation
- pitch-synchronous analysis
- advance tri-wave model of excitation
- newest quantization schemes
- pitch-synchronous synthesis
Thanks to these unique features, TWELP technology provides much better speech quality in comparison with any well-known technologies, including AMBE+2, MELPe, ACELP, etc. on the same bit rate in range from 300 bps up to 9600 bps and more. Moreover, in contrast to other LBR vocoders (like MELPe, etc.) TWELP provides much better quality for non-speech signals like sirens, background music, etc.
Superiority In Speech Quality. Here is the comparison with GSM AMR 4750 bps vocoder in noiseless channel. TWELP 4800 bps Robust vocoder and AMR 4750 bps vocoder were tested, using ITU-T P.50 speech base for 20 different languages. ITU-T P.862 utility was used for estimation of the speech quality in PESQ terms:
| Language | TWELP 4800 bps Robust | AMR 4750 bps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| American | 3.414 | 3.351 | |
| Arabic | 3.322 | 3.277 | |
| British | 3.283 | 3.272 | |
| Chinese | 3.377 | 3.267 | |
| Danish | 3.366 | 3.311 | |
| Dutch | 3.181 | 3.089 | |
| Finnich | 3.132 | 3.166 | |
| French | 3.395 | 3.277 | |
| German | 3.264 | 3.321 | |
| Greek | 3.344 | 3.206 | |
| Hindi | 3.349 | 3.286 | |
| Hungarian | 3.344 | 3.305 | |
| Italian | 3.442 | 3.462 | |
| Japanese | 3.467 | 3.369 | |
| Norwegian | 3.350 | 3.267 | |
| Polish | 3.343 | 3.263 | |
| Portuguese | 3.447 | 3.377 | |
| Russian | 3.276 | 3.186 | |
| Spanish | 3.380 | 3.343 | |
| Swedish | 3.338 | 3.391 | |
| Average | 3.341 | 3.289 | |
|
Superiority of the TWELP 4800 bps Robust vocoder over AMR 4750 bps is on average 0.052 PESQ | |||
Speech Samples (WAV-files). A few independent experts listened TWELP 4800 bps Robust vocoder in comparison with GSM AMR 4750 bps vocoder, using method of preferences. Majority of experts preferred TWELP to AMR, having noted more clear and natural human-sounding of voice in the TWELP vocoder.
You can play and listen short samples of the source speech as well as the speech processed by both vocoders for any of 20 languages, using links in the table below.
Also, you can download full set of the P.50 samples as zip-files for all languages simultaneously, using the links in the "Downloads" para in a bottom of the page.
Superiority In Quality Of The Non-speech Signals. In contrast to other LBR vocoders (MELPe, AMBE+2, etc.), TWELP vocoders provide high quality of non-speech signals, including police, ambulance, fire sirens, etc. This feature in conjunction with high quality natural human-sounding of voice makes TWELP vocoders well suitable for replacement of analog radio by digital radio and also for other applications where high quality transmitting of non-speech signals is relevant along with high quality transmitting of speech signals.
| Source type | Source signal | AMR 4750 bps | TWELP 4800 bps Robust |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siren only | |||
| With voice |
High Robustness To Acoustic Noise. In contrast to other LBR vocoders, TWELP vocoders are well robust to acoustic noise thanks to robust reliable method of pitch estimation and other features of TWELP technology.
Moreover, vocoder includes in-built Noise Cancellation—Speech Enhancement (NCSE) functionality that improves speech quality in noisy acoustic environment.
| NCSE Mode | Source signal | AMR 4750 bps | TWELP 4800 bps Robust |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disabled | |||
| Enabled |
High Robustness To The Channel Errors. The diagram and table below show a dependence of the averaged speech quality for AWGN-noisy channel for different BER in comparison with other vocoders.
We recomend to use the TWELP 4800 Robust vocoder in "Soft Decisions" mode from a modem. You can see a difference between "Hard Decisions" (HD) and "Soft Decisions" (SD) modes on the diagramm below.
| BER % | AMR 4750 | TWELP 4800 Robust (HD) | TWELP 4800 Robust (SD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 3.287 | 3.341 | 3.341 |
| 1 | 2.175 | 3.265 | 3.292 |
| 2 | 1.769 | 3.162 | 3.262 |
| 3 | 1.503 | 3.033 | 3.222 |
| 4 | 1.340 | 2.855 | 3.147 |
| 5 | 1.194 | 2.663 | 3.074 |
You can play and listen short samples of the source speech as well as the speech processed by both vocoders in AWGN channel with BER = 5% for any of 20 languages, using links in the table below.
Additional Functionalities. The following additional functionalities are developed by DSPINI and integrated into TWELP vocoders:
- Automatic Gain Control (AGC),
- Noise Cancellation for Speech Enhancement (NCSE)
- Voice Activity Detector (VAD),
- Tone Detection/Generation (Single tones and Dual tones). The tones are transmitted by the vocoder facilities.
Each functionality has unique features, performance and characteristics, providing significant superiority over any well-known implementations on the market.
Technical Characteristics And Resource Requirements:
| Bit Rate (bps) | Algorithm | Frame size (ms) | Algorithmic delay (including frame size) (ms) | Sampling rate (kHz) | Signal format | Bit stream format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4800 | TWELP | 20 | 40 | 8 | Linear 16-bit PCM |
96 |
| Name | Functionality | Technical characteristics | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Value | ||
| AGC | Automatic Gain Control |
Control range: | 0 ... +20 dB |
| NCSE | Noise Canceller - Speech Enhancer |
SNR increasing | > 6 dB |
| Speech quality improvement |
> 0.1 PESQ | ||
| Tone Detector |
Single/Dual tones detection |
In accordance with international standards | |
| Tone Generator |
Single/Dual tones generation |
Special generator, kept continuity of signal (phase and amplitude of signal of previous frame) |
|
| VAD | Voice Activity Detection |
Reliable detection speech in background noise |
|
| CNG | Comfort Noise Generation |
Type of noise | "white" |
| Level | - 60 dB | ||
| Module | MIPS* peak | Memory (KBytes) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program | Data | |||||
| Constants | Channel | Heap | Stack | |||
| Encoder | 59.1 | 63 | 73 | 4.8 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| NCSE | 5.8 | |||||
| AGC | 0.4 | |||||
| Decoder | 33.8 | |||||
| Encoder + Decoder |
92.9 | |||||
| Total | 99.1 | |||||
| Module | MIPS* peak | Memory (KBytes) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program | Data | |||||
| Constants | Channel | Heap | Stack | |||
| Encoder | 20.0 | 75 | 73 | 4.8 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| NCSE | 2.7 | |||||
| AGC | 0.2 | |||||
| Decoder | 8.9 | |||||
| Encoder + Decoder |
28.9 | |||||
| Total | 31.8 | |||||
| Module | MIPS* peak | Memory (KBytes) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program | Data | |||||
| Constants | Channel | Heap | Stack | |||
| Encoder | 34.0 | 24 | 73 | 4.8 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| NCSE | 7.0 | |||||
| AGC | 0.2 | |||||
| Decoder | 22.0 | |||||
| Encoder + Decoder |
56.0 | |||||
| Total | 63.2 | |||||
* DSPINI continues optimization of the TWELP algorithm and code in order to minimize computational complexity of the vocoder.
Vulnerability / Security. DSPINI guarantees ABSOLUTE cleanliness of the software from any undocumented features, undeclared capabilities, etc. All our customers can be sure that any our software/ code doesn't contain any secret functions and features hidden from user. We are ready to provide source codes of our software products for an appropriate certification if need.
Guarantee And Support. DSPINI guarantees a quality and accordance of all technical characteristics of the product to requirement of current specifications. Testing and other method of quality control are used for guarantee support.
Any Platforms. DSPINI can port this vocoder software into any other DSP, RISC or general- purposes platform inshort time: 1-2 months.
Licensing Terms. To use the vocoder software, customer should obtain a license from DSPINI only.
Customization. The vocoder can be customized under any specific requirements- other bit rate, frame size, any other robustness to channel errors, etc. Please contact with us for details.
Prospects. DSPINI is impoving and developing continuously a set of new vocoders with range from 300 bps up to 9600 bps, based on TWELP technology.
Related Software. This vocoder may be effectively used in a bundle with other DSPINI's products:
- Linear and acoustic echo cancellers,
- Multichannel noise cancellers (including two-microphone adaptive array),
- Wired or radiomodems for any types of channels and bitrates,
- Other products.
- Datasheet (pdf)
- ITU-T P.50 source speech samples (zip)
- AMR 4750 bps speech samples (zip)
- TWELP 4800 bps Robust speech samples (zip)
- PC-evaluation package (zip) — on request
- User's Guide document (pdf) — on request