In the February 2003 issue of Internet Telephony Magazine, I wrote about Global IP Sound's excellent GIPS VoiceEngine codec, which can be integrated into VoIP applications. In August of this year, Nortel bought a 5% stake in Global IP Sound. Longboard also announced they would license the GIPS VoiceEngine which is being integrated into the LongBoard OnePhone Application. Now, Global IP Sound's GIPS iLBC First Speech Codec is to be standardized by the IETF for IP Telephony Solutions. In fact, in this release, they claim that GIPS iLBC is the first speech codec ever to receive standardization approval from the IETF. Well done, Global IP Sound!
Here's the release:
Global Internet Standardization Organization Endorses GIPS iLBC for Robust, High Quality Voice over IP Communications
San Francisco - December 6, 2004 - Global IP Sound (GIPS), a leading provider of embedded voice-processing solutions, has announced that the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has approved standardization of its iLBC codec. The IETF, comprised of network designers, operators, vendors and researchers, is responsible for defining standard Internet operating protocols. GIPS iLBC is the first speech codec ever to receive standardization approval from the IETF.
"This recognition from the IETF is profoundly important because it validates, from the independent body responsible for defining standard Internet operating protocols, iLBC's ability to take Voice over Internet Protocol technology to the next level," said Gary P. Hermansen, President and CEO of Global IP Sound. "In order to evolve to its fullest potential, VoIP must consistently deliver high quality voice. GIPS iLBC has been designed specifically for use over packet networks and provides superior voice quality, even in the event of packet loss."
GIPS iLBC (internet Low-Bitrate Codec) is a speech codec developed to support and enable robust IP communications. Designed for narrowband speech, iLBC supports a sampling rate of 8 kHz. The iLBC codec supports two basic frame lengths, giving a bit-rate of 13.3 kbps with an encoding frame length of 30 ms and 15.2 kbps with an encoding frame length of 20 ms.
Since its inception, iLBC has been rapidly adopted throughout the IP communications industry. In April 2004, the codec was specified as a mandatory codec in the released CableLabs PacketCable 1.1 Audio/Video Codec Specification for multimedia terminal adapters (MTAs) and media gateways.
In conjunction with its approval of iLBC, IETF has issued an experimental track RFC titled "Internet Low Bit Rate Codec (iLBC)," which describes the codec and also contains the iLBC source code in floating point C. Global IP Sound has developed a fixed-point C version of the code to support product development, testing and verification, as well as to guarantee high quality of systems adhering to the specification. The fixed point code is available for licensing by contacting Global IP Sound and is ported to common RISC architectures and DSP chip platforms.
IETF RFC 3951 describes the GIPS iLBC codec, and RFC 3952 describes the iLBC RTP payload format. Specifications of the floating-point iLBC and ANSI C code can be downloaded from the IETF site at
About Global IP Sound
Global IP Sound develops embedded voice processing technologies for real-time communications over packet networks. GIPS SoundWare™ provides better than PSTN voice quality and fidelity in end-to-end IP communications with robustness against packet loss. Global IP Sound's world-renowned speech processing and IP telephony experts deliver these solutions to applications developers, gateway and chip manufacturers. Companies using GIPS SoundWare™ products include Nortel Networks, Skype, WebEx, Marratech, and other key players in the VoIP market. Global IP Sound is a member of the Intel® PCA Developer Network, the Motorola Design Alliance, and Texas Instruments' third party developer network. Global IP Sound has headquarters in Stockholm and San Francisco. More information is available at www.globalipsound.com
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Global IP Sound, GIPS, SoundWare, VoiceEngine, NetEQ, iPCM-wb, Enhanced G.711, and associated design marks and logos are trademarks owned or used under license by Global IP Sound AB, and may be registered in the United States and other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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Global is a great company. Their sound products are enabling a host of companies the ability to provide high quality voice over the internet. Their ever-growing list of customers include Skype, Peerio, Telco, Webex, Mindspeed, Freescale, NewHeights, Hotsip, Inter-tel, Snom, and Nortel.