Mobile network voice transmission quality estimation based on radio path parameters

The article describes design, development and test results of a voice transmission quality estimating algorithm that offers results (MOS estimates) comparable to intrusive speech quality measurements but which employs different techniques-analyzing radio path parameters only. The goal of this approach is to achieve relevant results faster, easier and with a lower computational power. However, the obvious-disadvantage of an approach based on analysis of radio path features is the dependency on the transmission technology used and consequent need for retraining when the transmission mechanism changes. The parameter-based transmission quality estimations that are presented are based on a large database of transmission parameters from a mobile telecommunication network. The output speech samples were evaluated with the ITU-T P.862 (PESQ) algorithm. The correlation between single GSM parameters and the objective speech quality are analyzed. The measured results and the final estimating algorithm description are given. It is worth noting that the reliability of the final algorithm is fully comparable to PESQ itself.