A Light Reading Webinar

The Potential of HD Voice (Wideband)The Potential of HD-Voice (Wideband)

Tuesday May 5, 2009

Hosted byHosted bySimon Sherrington

Independent ConsultantOn Behalf of Light Reading

Sponsored by: Guest speakers:Spo so ed by p

Jeff Pulver - EntrepreneurTobias Kemper - Nimbuzz

Speakersp

Jeff Pulver – Serial Entrepreneur

Joyce Kim - Chief Marketing OfficerGlobal IP SolutionsGlobal IP Solutions

Jan Linden - VP Engineering Global IP Solutions

Tobias Kemper Head of Communications Tobias Kemper – Head of Communications Nimbuzz

Agenda

• Market Overview and Evolution of HD-Voice

• The Importance of HD-Voice/Wideband in Voice Communications and Collaboration

• The Technical Challenges of Achieving HD-Voice

• Mobile HD Voice

• Q&A• Q&A

What is HD-Voice?

•HD-Voice is :

•Immersive experience, Life-like and natural

•High quality, high fidelity audio user experience

•Minimizes phone fatigue•Minimizes phone fatigue

Wideband Has a New Name: HD-voiceWideband Has a New Name: HD voice

Q&A with Jeff Pulver

•Why does HD represents such an important development for y p p pthe VoIP and larger telecom industries?

HDTV i ll k b h i d f •HDTV is well known but what signs do you see of momentum building for HD in telecom?

•How do you see developments playing out regarding HD in telecom? What should we look for as key milestones?

Poll question 1q

•What has been your experience with HD-Voice?

•A) Never tried it

B) H i d i i•B) Have tried it once or twice

•C) Use it all the time or whenever I can)

•D) Not sure if I’ve tried it

Joyce KimyChief Marketing Officer

Global IP SolutionsGlobal IP Solutions

How do we Define HD-Voice?

• Also known as “wideband”− Generally accepted technical definition: 7 kHz audio and above− Generally accepted technical definition: 7 kHz audio and above

• Extends bandwidth beyond what is available in traditional telephony (PSTN)telephony (PSTN)

• Results in greater intelligibility− Fricative sounds (e g s and f) and heavy accentsFricative sounds (e.g., s and f) and heavy accents

• Sounds more natural – “life like experience”

• Allows for greater user comfort and less fatigue

The HD-Voice Difference

•IP networks present opportunity to use more audio spectrum

Better than PSTN quality is achievable in VoIP−Better than PSTN quality is achievable in VoIP•Hardware, microphones, speakers can impact quality but

limited signal bandwidth is the main quality factor

Visit http://gipscorp.com/wp to hear examples

CD ‐Audio

Quality

GIPS Narrowband Speech

Std Wideband Speech(e.g. G.722.2)

GIPS Wideband Speech

Frequency

4 kHz 6.4‐7.0 kHz

Std Narrowband Speech Implementation (PSTN)

200 ‐ 3400 Hz

3,4 22.1 kHz8 kHz

Why HD Voice/Wideband?

•Well suited for multimedia, conferencing, distance learning, gaming, music

•Differentiating factor

•Softphone users get exposed to wideband and have raised the expectations

•Increased market demand

• Growing installed base of IP only applications such as soft phones, Wi-Fi/dual-mode phones, HW IP phones, conferencing applications

•Enables new market opportunities & features

HD Voice is Essential to Overall Experience

•Sound quality has a much greater impact on user experience when adding visuals like videop g− Telepresence and High Quality Desktop Video

Conferencing

The HD-Voice Market – Multiple Market Forces Coming TogetherCo g oget e

• Worldwide installed base of UC-capable and complete UC client base expected to grow from 29.3 Million in 2008 growing to 211.2 Million in 2014 (Frost & Sullivan)2014 (Frost & Sullivan)

CSP-based Videoconferencing Market: Revenue Forecasts (North America)

12

14

16

$400

$500

$600

))

6

8

10

$200

$300

$400

venu

e G

row

th (%

)

venu

e ($

mill

ions

)

0

2

4

$0

$100

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

RevRev

Codec Comparison

MUSHRA test results for different codecs

708090

100

30405060

01020

A Good Illustration of HD-Voice Benefits

• Ability to distinguish between speakers incredibly important

• Long conference calls require more attention, as callers get fatigued more easily E

A• Video conferencing requires HD-Voice to

compliment the experience

• Intelligent server technology can support both D

A

g gy pptraditional telephony and HD-Voice

• Traditional phone participants will hear everything in narrowband – lower quality

BC

• HD-Voice participants hear others in narrowband or high definition

Why Bandwidth Estimation is Important

• When properly utilized, bandwidth estimation can ensure consistent, high quality experience

− Fixed bit rate solutions estimate bandwidth once at the beginning of the call (or not at all) – no flexibility

− Variable bit rate HD codecs adapt to the networkVariable bit rate HD codecs adapt to the network

2) Then Determines Bit Rate1) Fixed Codec Detects Bandwidth 3) Begins Sending Media

32 kbps?32 kbps it is!

…but bottleneck appearance during the call can cause delays if bit rate is not adjusted

Jan LindenVP of Engineering

Global IP SolutionsGlobal IP Solutions

Codec Design Considerations

QualityD l

• Speech Quality

• Bit-rate

• Complexity

• Device issuesDelay• Packet Loss

• Delay

• Processing Power

• Echo• Ease of Use

• Network Environment

• Echo

• Audio Bandwidth

HD-Voice Codec Selection

•Not one codec fits all scenarios

•Packet loss robustness important for VoIP•Packet loss robustness important for VoIP

•Variable bit rate attractive for IP networks− Automatic adaption to available rate attractivep

•Packet overhead significant (5 – 32 kb/s)− Makes low bit rate codecs less attractive

•Low delay very important

•Standard versus proprietary− Standards usually come at a higher cost

•Complexity an important issue in Mobile VoIP

Advancements in Speech Processing Design

More Than Just a Codec

Design

Hardware Issues (Processor, OS, Acoustics, etc.)

Speech Codec Codec

VoIP Design

Coping with Network Degredation Power Consumption

Acoustics, etc.)Network Hardware

VoIP DesignChallenges

Echo CancellationEnvironment –

EchoPower

Additional Voice Processing Components

Background Noise, Room Acoustics, etc.Voice Environment

Example of Challenges – Echo Cancellationp g

•High delay in VoIP makes echo problem more prominentA ti h ll ti•Acoustic echo cancellation• Handsfree/speakerphone• Small mobile devices

•Challenges in HD-Voice scenarios• More processing power required• More background noise picked up due to the extended audio band • More background noise picked up due to the extended audio band

Mobile Leading HD-Voice?

•HD-Voice in cellular•Standards exist•Very limited deployment

•Mobile VoIP •HD-Voice prevalent•iPhone VoIP phenomenon•iPhone VoIP phenomenon•High quality, easy to use applications•VoIP calling, IM, Messaging

Nimbuzz is Pioneering the Way

Poll question 2q

•Where do you think HD-Voice can have the greatest benefit f th k l ? for the workplace?

• A) Overall Productivity

• B) Conference Calls

• C) International Calls

• D) Sales Calls• D) Sales Calls

Tobias KemperTobias KemperHead of Communications

Ni bNimbuzz

Mobile social messenger: calls, chats, messaging and more!

for everyoney

User base

over 600k new users per month,1 joins every 3.5 seconds

Nimbuzz Value:  Interoperability

IMNetworksNetworks

Operators

MNO

i iWiFi / VoIP

Operator

Social N t kNetworks

Consumer:  One access point for everything; no learning curve

Industry: Interoperability, community, customer ownership, increased engagement, value add 

HD‐Voice Enabled Mobile PhonesInstant Messaging (geo) Presence

Dial‐Up VoIP

Local Dial‐In provides VoIP on 2G networks

Internet/VoIP

2.5G, 3G, WIFI. VoIP on 2G networks.

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Nimbuzz poweredNimbuzz powered

Poll question 3

•Where do you think HD-Voice will make the biggest impact?

• A) Call Centers

• B) Conference calls

• C) Video conferencing

• D) International placed phone calls• D) International-placed phone calls

Q&AQ&A