who, what, where, how? (actually what, how, who, where)
TRANSCRIPT
HD Voice- The Overdue Revolution
Who, what, where, how?(Actually what, how, who, where)
Following the ICT sector for over two decades
Writing for Boardwatch, The Inquirer, VON Magazine (Pulvermedia), TMC
Started HD voice coverage in May 2009 Launch of HD Voice News (HD Connect Now)
in August 2009
Doug Mohney - Background
Useless trivia picture
France Telecom deployments◦ Broadband: Over 500,000 G.722 VoIP endpoints◦ Mobile: AMR-WB deployed in Moldova
Global Crossing◦ Built HD conference bridge for customer◦ Working on open HD conferencing bridge
Verizon Business◦ Close to 5,000 phones at HQ◦ Expects early adopters in 2010, general availability in
2011 Cablevision (Optimum Lightwave)
◦ Deployed hosted HD voice service in 2H09
The 2009 HD voice wake-up call
Once again, the United States of America is being outclassed by the rest of the world in telecommunications technology….
Yes…
U.S. carriers will wait until the smoke clears and then get a deal because someone else has done the hard R&D…
Or…
What you get on nearly every POTS (wired or wireless) call today around the world◦ Ignoring ISDN and the mobile HD deployments…
PSTN grade call = captures3.4 kHz range◦ 300 Hz to 3400 Hz
Top “range” of human hearing clipped by 2/3
PSTN (POTS) acoustic standards set in 1937◦ Since then: FM radio, TV, CD, DVD, HDTV, HD
radio… VoIP equivalent is G.711, 64 kbp/s
bandwidth
First: What is narrowband voice?
User interface/hardware◦ Rotary dial to push buttons◦ Pulse to tone◦ Corded to cordless◦ Wired to 4 plug to RJ-11
Plug boards to direct dialing Network
◦ Crossbar switch to SS7 to IP
How the (landline) phone has otherwise changed since 1937
Also known as “wideband” voice Range of at least 7 kHz ; i.e. 2x of 3.4 kHz G.722 codec is the baseline for HD voice:
◦ 30 Hz to 7000 Hz◦ Still only need 64 kbit/s due to compression
Other HD voice codecs include AMR-WB, SILK, GIPS iSAC.
HD voice only operates on a digital/IP network; POTS can’t handle it!
What is HD voice?
Codec that samples at near full range of human speech◦ 8 kHz sampling for narrowband◦ 16 kHz for wideband◦ 24 kHz for superwideband
Marketing speak for “We’re better than G.722” in many cases
Comes close to delivering “true voice”
Sidebar: Superwideband
Your
voi
ce
Human
hea
ring
Narro
wba
nd cal
l
HD voi
ce -
G.722
"Sup
erwid
eban
d"0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
HD - Looking at Hertz
Time to try the audio demo…
First third: Narrowband (G.711) Middle: G.722 HD voice Finish: “superwideband” in G.722.1C Biggest clarity jump is from G.711 to G.722 Improvement from G.722 to G.722.1C Non-native English speaker provides clear
example of the benefits of HD voice
What you are hearing…
Another contrast example
Better compensation and clarity◦ Similar-sounding words like "sail" and "fail" garble
under narrowband◦ Acronyms are “notorious” for garbling
End up having to repeat and/or spell out◦ Narrowband big headache in multilingual setting
Reduction of fatigue - Why conference calls suck◦ Narrowband clipping means brain plays “fill in the
blanks” as a background task◦ More audio data = less brain strain
Benefits from HD voice
Codec, software, hardware, network, IP/SIP interoperability
An all-IP (SIP) application Requires capable speakers & microphones
◦ Analog PSTN can’t be backfitted Need good QoS, low latency on network
◦ If you can’t do vanilla VoIP, you aren’t going to do HD
For scaling, need agreements to interconnect via SIP for seamless HD calling & transcoding
How: HD Voice more than a codec!
G.722◦ Based on G.711, patents expired, now anyone can use it
AMR-WB / G.722.2◦ Cellular industry wanted codec based on AMR◦ Designed to conserve RF usage, 24 kbit/s for HD◦ Need to pay VoiceAge (and Nokia, FT, Ericsson) for patent use◦ Currently exclusively in cellular domain, but being pushed for wireline
iSAC◦ Google BOUGHT GIPS in May for $68 million◦ Licensed for use by AOL, Yahoo, QQ, Nimbuzz, WebEx, IBM Lotus, Citrix
Online◦ Will Google open source one or more GIPS HD voice & video codecs???
SILK◦ Skype wanted “superwideband” codec with variable bit-rate adaptability
based on CPU and network availability◦ Royalty-free license, samples between 8 to 24 kHz, use 6 to 40 kbit/s
HD voice codecs – 4 that matter
G.722.1 / Polycom “Siren” ◦ Royalty-free usage, not open source. ◦ Bit-rates from 16 to 32 kbit/s◦ Billions of minutes of usage on Vivex.
Fraunhofer Audio Communication Engine (ACE) ◦ Include specifically designed MPEG codec “AAC Enhanced Low Delay”
“CD quality audio” at “very low coding delays and bitrates” ◦ Pitched for 4G/LTE usage, other parts of toolkit include echo control software,
IP streaming stack and error concealment tools.◦ Why yes, you do have to pay royalties
Speex◦ Open source patent-free◦ Sampling from narrowband (8 kHz) to wideband and ultrawideband◦ Can use bitrates from 2 to 44 kbit/s
Broadcom BroadVoice ◦ Offered royalty-free and open source under GNU (C, floating & fixed, GNU LGPL
2.1)◦ Wideband at 16 kHz sampling, 32 kbit/s, narrowband 8 kHz sampling, 16 kbit/s
And still more HD voice codecs…
Developers◦ Programmers all think they can write something better.
Hardware designers◦ Simpler is better, fewer codecs, less expense to test and support◦ On device side, less processing = longer battery life
Wireless crowd◦ Lean on the device CPU to compress (AMR-WB, SILK)◦ Old guard: Every little RF bandwidth is sacred
This goes out the door with 3G/4G!! 64 kbp/s is zippy! Said with a straight face as carriers intro streaming video, two-way
conferencing…yah, WTF Network core
◦ More codecs, more transcoding between formats◦ Service providers want to avoid transcoding as it costs $$ & has lose
some HD voice goodness in translation between HD codecs Cable companies, FT love CAT-iq for end-to-end G.722
Why people fight over codecs
Soft clients◦ Plenty floating around supporting G.722, iSAC.
One big one supporting SILK Hardware
◦ Desktop handsets Vast majority supporting G.722, some SILK, AMR-WB
creeping in Need good acoustics – speakers and microphones
◦ Mobile handsets/devices Need good acoustics Dual mics in vogue for echo/noise cancellation
Software clients and hardware
Simple case: Same codec type◦ On same LAN/network – No sweat◦ Beyond WAN/firewall - Interconnection via SIP
Different codec types – Transcoding◦ HD voice to PSTN/G.711/G.729
PSTN not going away; carriers understand But if you have to touch the PSTN, HD goodness goes
away as you downshift to narrowband◦ G.722 to AMR-WB, SILK, iSAC
Service providers annoyed, but accept eventual need to transcode between codecs (G.722/AMR-WB big one)
How do you get HD voice to talk to other HD voice users? To the PSTN?
To scale, everyone has to interconnect via SIP for seamless end-to-end HD calls calls
Service providers don’t do SIP peering/interconnect/federations out of the box-◦ Security considerations (SPIT, DDoS, you name it)◦ ENUM is overhead◦ Quality of Service◦ Settlements & least-cost routing (i.e. who gets cash)
As a result, there are many HD voice islands:◦ In enterprises◦ At service providers
HD voice and the island problem
Can peer (direct relationship)◦ Service provider to service provider
Interconnection (Federation) service◦ Spoke and hub network with hub service
managing ENUM, technical, business, and legal issues
Interconnect automagically via Cisco IME
Building HD voice bridges
Xconnect (www.xconnect.com) Global Alliance◦ HD voice trial 2Q10 (i.e. NOW)… still going on.◦ Needs to make a clear value proposition
Small universe, service providers don’t want to pay Sprint PIN (Partner Interexchange Network)
◦ Currently vanilla VoIP, but capable of bigger things
◦ Handles price on per-minute cost for now◦ Architecture can handle full range of rich media
(voice, HD, video), but managers still wrestling with concept beyond simple VoIP.
SIP Federation prospects
BYPASSES hub/spoke & service provider mediation Appliance handles virtualized peer-to-peer connections Currently only works with Cisco products; hopes proposed
IETF standards proliferate to others Gen 1 box “manages” up to 10,000 or up to 40,000 phone
numbers/devices – designed for large enterprises Each IME publishes phone numbers to dynamic hash table
capable of handling up to 10 billion entries. After first “shared secret” PSTN call, IMEs conduct
authentication process and exchange security particulars Subsequent calls routed on “virtual SIP trunk” and can be
vanilla VoIP, HD voice, video or anything else SIP. One creator of ViPR & IME former Skype employee, so you
can see where the peer-to-peer comes through.
Cisco IME –Intercompany Media Engine
Layer 8 – Money◦ Voice providers used to termination, per-minute LD◦ Flat rate makes old telcos tilt a little◦ Service providers reluctant to pay $$$ for currently
small universe of HD calls◦ Verizon Business providing free SIP calls in VIPER
VoIP service to its customers Layer 9 – Politics
◦ Lot of jockeying by smaller players for peering◦ Larger players moving slowly to IP interconnect
Cable companies will likely do this next year
Biggest headaches for HD bridges are Layers 8 & 9
Conferencing the “Killer App”◦ Clarity, less stress, identify voices, accents less of
a barrier Multi-national conversations for bonus
dollars◦ Non-native speakers of language can
Be understood better Better understanding of what is being said
Transcription (i.e. voice to email)◦ Computer-based fewer errors◦ Human, same thing, easier, less replaying
Apps that love HD voice
Better IVR/anything processing voice Young and old
◦ Young (under 3) have squeaky voice, don’t understand on a phone call
◦ Old, don’t hear so well; HD adds back some clue Public safety/national defense
◦ Better 911 calling◦ Better translation/understanding of intercept
Yes, we want the enemy to have the latest tech…
Apps that should love HD voice
Major Telecom Carriers Mobile Carriers Cable/MSO Hosted VoIP/Business VoIP Consumer bypass play By region:
◦ Europe now◦ Asia beginning◦ North America “under the radar.”
Who is doing HD voice?
France Telecom◦ At least 500,000 users/end-points on broadband
Verizon◦ Internally - nearly 5,000 endpoints installed at NJ HQ◦ Verizon Business - “Early adopters 2010, general availability 2011”
VIPER (VoIP enterprise service) will support G.722 by end of 2010 BT
◦ BT Hub, around 2 million G.722 capable end points deployed Telstra
◦ Hosted HD service for businesses; up to 11,000 end-points internally Global Crossing
◦ Running HD conferencing bridge for top-tier customer◦ Public HD conferencing bridge coming
Others rumored: Telecom Italia, Nordic telcos, AT&T◦ Often repeated, but never verified
Major Telecom Carriers – Broadband HD solutions
France Telecom / Orange◦ Moldova, Armenia (!) running today◦ France “by end of July” NOW◦ UK trials done, rollout “later this summer”/3Q◦ Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain in 2010; bet on Tunisia
SFR◦ Testing in France now, service up by fall
3 UK ◦ Demo, teased media in 2010
Deutsche Telekom (DT)◦ Has trialed HD on LTE
“3G+”, VoLGA and 4G expected to be drivers
Mobile/Cellular HD voice
CableLabs has issued multiple standards relating to HD Voice◦ DECT CAT-iq in 2009, 2.0 standard in June
End-to-end G.722 call, with DECT 6.0 wireless at end-user CPE with embedded CAT-iq starting to come in pipeline
◦ IP Interconnection standard released in June has ENUM defined Cablevision/Optimum Lightpath hosted HD service now Cox -“2011” is latest word. Comcast
◦ The Cable Show 2010, CTO said “As we move to HD voice…” Time-Warner Cable - Has tested HD voice, coy on
deployment plans◦ Expects CPE to be capable “within 5 years…”
For all cable, enterprise drive HD◦ SIP trunking, Hosted
Cable/MSO HD voice plans
Many independent hosted providers◦ Differentiator against bigger players
8x8 biggest in North America◦ Aastra Hi-Q upgrade◦ 70,000+ end-points (Jan 2010)
Numerous players w/2,500 to 7,500 end-points. Lot of talk among smaller guys for direct
peering◦ IP Peering Alliance
Independent hosting business VoIP service providers◦ Cloud Communications Alliance
Smaller group 8 in IP Peering Alliance talk more formal
Business VoIP providers
Ooma -Hardware/service bundle◦ Second-generation Telo hardware can support G.722 & CAT-iq◦ 4Q 2009 shipped 25,000 units◦ Do the math, conservatively ship around 100K+ units in 2010◦ BUT, ooma took a left turn; now about narrowband VoIP quality
WorldGate◦ Guys who did the OjO phone◦ Two year, 300,000 unit deal to ship videophones to ACN; the phone
supports G.722 as well as video. Vivox
◦ Provides voice via Siren 14 (G.722.1C) to MMORPGs & Second Life◦ 16 million users, Over 2 billion minutes per month◦ Customers include CCP Games, Electronic Arts, Gaia Online, Icarus
Studios, Linden Lab, NCsoft, Realtime Worlds, Sony Online Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast.
Independent consumer plays
Europe◦ FT leading, others joining.
Asia◦ Australia/Telstra offering hosted service◦ Korea, Japan offering services; hard to tell what
North America◦ “Under the radar” with earlier adopters in
enterprise, consumer, cable, and hosted VoIP. Africa, South America
◦ Good potential in greenfield 3G/3G+ projects
HD Voice by region
Service provider attraction/retention Conferencing Multi-national As a part of a UC play Higher education
Drivers for HD voice today
Attraction◦ Better quality voice than narrowband, other carriers
Retention◦ Better quality product keeps people from switching
(i.e. keep churn down)◦ France Telecom not charging extra for bband HD
Differentiation◦ Set apart from everyone else… until everyone else
gets it Monetization
◦ Pay for better quality (?) Nobody knows Pre-pay vs post-pay interesting to watch
Service providers
Clearer communication◦ Don’t have to repeat acronyms
Less stressful◦ People focus on content, not figuring out what is
being said Can identify individual voices easier
Conferencing – HD voice’s killer app
BIG winner for Fortune 500/international businesses
Non-native speakers can understand what is being said better/easier◦ Clearer speech, no clipping of similar sounds,
don’t have to guess/interpret Can understand non-native speakers better
◦ Accents much less of a factor because there’s no clipping.
Multi-national/multi-lingual
Rolled in as “yet another feature” in a UC play
Better voice quality provides◦ Clearer voice mail messaging◦ More effective transcriptions
Voice to email Less human work/intervention in voice-
based work products (Health care, legal, financial)◦ Cablevision/Optimum Lightpath’s play in NY
Unified Communications
Desire to work with “leading edge” Large campus deployments Deployments of 5,000 (and more) end-
points ◦ Penn State◦ Texas Tech
Higher Education
Service Providers◦ BT, Cablevision, France Telecom, Verizon Business, 8x8
IP desktop handset manufacturers – ALL of them◦ Aastra, AudioCodes, Avaya, Cisco, Polycom
Mobile handset manufacturers◦ Nokia, Sony Ericsson declared, others in pipeline
Network coreAculab, Cisco, Dialogic,Ericsson
Applications◦ BroadSoft, CommuniGate, Unisys, WYDEVoice
Who: Companies in HD voice “ecosystem”
Macro picture of HD voice Mobile HD voice progression Broadband
How does HD progress?
Today◦ Technology available in abundance◦ Lots of HD islands
Near-term◦ IP interconnection is coming
Hurdle is getting past Layers 8 & 9 (money * politics) Longer-term
◦ Superwideband become a codec/CPE upgrade If people want it…
A Macro picture of HD voice
Mobile HD voice to happen faster◦ Typical handset lifecycle of 3 years◦ Arms race (more features) and Moore’s Law
(faster/cheaper silicon) aid process France Telecom taking lead role in Europe
◦ Bringing handset manufacturers in Expects full portfolio to be AMR-WB capable by end of 2011
Competitors (SFR) starting to match in Europe Asia – likely Japan, Korea
◦ Info hard to come by; anyone have a source? North America – Roll some dice…
◦ Qualcomm pushing CDMA-based solution with its non-standard codec
Mobile HD voice progression
Europe◦ Orange and BT biggest deployments◦ Virgin likely, Norway and Holland also cited as working
on it◦ Look for “superwideband” to happen first in Europe
U.S. – Verizon/AT&T vs. Cable Companies◦ Cable appears to be on a path for GA in 2011-2012
Approved DECT CAT-iq 2.0, ENUM in June 2010 CPE gear starting to come out in 2010
◦ Once one side comes in, others expected in “avalanche.”
Asia◦ Korea, Japan
Broadband
www.hdvoicenews.com TMC (www.tmcnet.com) has a HD voice
“Channel” with info www.mjgraves.org – Graves on SOHO
◦ The guy who provided the YouTube demo clips Phone.com also has some HD voice info,
demos
For more HD Voice information
Questions?