Channel and source considerations of a bit-rate reduction technique for a possible wireless communications system´s performance enhancement

In wireless commercial and military communications systems, where bandwidth is at a premium, robust low-bit-rate speech coders are essential. They operate at fix bit rates and those bit rates cannot be altered without major modifications in the vocoder design. A novel approach to vocoders, in order to reduce the bit rate required to transmit speech signal, is proposed. While traditional low-bit-rate vocoders code original input speech, the proposed procedure operates on the time-scale modified signal. The proposed method offers any bit rate from 2400 b/s to downwards without modifying the principle vocoder structure, which is the new NATO standard, Stanag 4591, Mixed Excitation Linear Prediction (MELP) vocoder. We consider the application of transmitting MELP-encoded speech over noisy communication channels by applying different modulation techniques, after time-scale compression is applied. Three different time-scale modification algorithms have been evaluated and waveform similarity overlap and add (WSOLA) algorithm has been selected for time-scale modification purposes. Computer simulation results, both source and channel, are presented in terms of objective speech quality metrics and informal subjective listening tests. Design parameters such as codec complexity and delay are also investigated. Simulation results lead to a possible wireless communications system, whose performance might be enhanced by using the spared bits offered by the procedure.