Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE Workshop on Speech Coding for Telecommunications, pp. 83-84, Pocono Manor, PA, September 7-10, 1997.

Estimation of Perceived Speech Quality using Measuring Normalizing Blocks

doi: 10.1109/SCFT.1997.623907

Cite This Publication

Stephen D. Voran ORCID logo

Abstract: We describe a new approach to the estimation of perceived speech quality. The approach uses a simple, but effective, perceptual transformation to emulate hearing and a hierarchy of Measuring Normalizing Blocks (MNB's) to emulate auditory judgment. The resulting estimates were correlated with the results of seven subjective listening tests. Together, these seven tests include 182 4-kHz bandwidth speech codecs, transmission systems, and reference conditions, with bit-rates ranging from 2.4 to 64 kbps. When compared with six other estimators, the MNB approach offers significant improvements in many cases, particularly at lower bit-rates, and when bit errors or frame erasures are present.

Keywords: speech coding; bandwidth; Testing; auditory system; speech codecs; frequency estimation; frequency measurement; speech analysis; time measurement

For technical information concerning this report, contact:

Stephen D. Voran
Institute for Telecommunication Sciences
(303) 497-3839
svoran@ntia.gov

Disclaimer: Certain commercial equipment, components, and software may be identified in this report to specify adequately the technical aspects of the reported results. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, nor does it imply that the equipment or software identified is necessarily the best available for the particular application or uses.

For questions or information on this or any other NTIA scientific publication, contact the ITS Publications Office at ITSinfo@ntia.gov or 303-497-3572.

Back to Search Results