VOCAL Technologies Introduces Complete DSP-based Voice Over IP Solution

Buffalo, NY  May 21, 1998 - VOCAL Technologies today announced a software suite that comprises a complete solution for voice over IP networks, including the Internet and corporate Intranets and LANs.  The VoVoIP software, which includes components for proprietary and industry standard (H.323) voice over public or private IP networks, is comprised of a fully integrated speech/audio processing system that includes routines for voice coding, line echo cancellation,  DTMF detection and generation, call progress detection/generation, and more..  VoVoIP reflects VOCAL's deep background in circuit-switched telephony and optimized DSP coding and is targeted at equipment OEMs in the telephony, ISP, LAN/WAN networking, and corporate remote access markets.

"Our solution is distinctive on three counts," claims company spokesman David Jamieson.  "The package integrates all the functions needed to implement a corporate or enterprise voice over IP system; the software is not just a voice coding system.  Second, we support all the major ITU voice coders.  This gives the user a choice of voice quality vs. bandwidth vs. compute complexity.  And third, the entire library is designed to operate on a dedicated DSP, making multiline systems and enterprise gateways low-cost and very manageable.  Our software is unique; it can even support multiple ports on a single DSP chip."

· Voice over IP equipment designers quickly discover that the challenge involves much more than speech  compression and framing.  Users expect an IP telephony system to handle all the elements found in the switched circuit world, including DTMF tone detection and generation for North American and international systems, call progress detection, dial tone generation, echo cancellation, caller ID, etc.  VoVoIP is the most comprehensive  library available, reflecting VOCAL's many years of experience designing equipment for the telephone industry.  For example, VoVoIP synchronizes DTMF to speech frames, enabling IVR systems over IP networks.  The system also supports G.729B "silence detection and comfort noise generation" to maximize bandwidth utilization.

· In addition to G.729B, VoVoIP includes support for eight different speech coders - G.723.1 (5 1/3 and 6.4 kbps), G.729 and G.729A (8 kbps), GSM (13 kbps), G.728 (16 kbps), G.726 (16-40 kbps), G.721 (32 kbps), and G.711 (64kbps).  Speech coders differ in the amount of delay they inject into the system, their resultant speech fidelity, the amount of processing power they require, and the bandwidth consumed by the output stream.  VoVoIP gives users a range of quality vs. bandwidth options.   The particular speech coder used can be selected at run time, a feature especially useful in multiple line systems.

· VoVoIP executes all the voice and telephony algorithms on a dedicated DSP.  This is an optimum design for hardware configurations supporting multiple circuit switched lines.  For example, a single controller chip could control multiple DSPs, each of which could be supporting one or two channels (time slots) of a T1/E1 connection.  By doing all the "heavy lifting" on the DSP, VOCAL takes advantage of the superior real-time number crunching performance of today's specialized silicon.  VoVoIP is also very efficient.  A single executable image supports two channels of G.729A encoder and decoder, DTMF detection, DTMF generation, call progress generation, and G.165-compliant echo canceller, all operating on a single ADSP-2181 at 40 MHz.

VoVoIP is available directly from VOCAL Technologies.  Available immediately is a  version of the software which has been optimized to run on Analog Devices' ADSP-218X family of fixed point digital signal processor chips.  Versions running on other DSPs are under development.  Pricing and licensing are designed to meet a variety of OEM needs.  VOCAL also provides hardware reference designs, custom software services, integration services, and full warranty support.

VOCAL Technologies is a technology house providing OEM accounts with custom software development and hardware/software integration expertise.  The company has over 500 man-years of experience in the telephony and computer telephony industry and is a worldwide leader in DSP software solutions.  VOCAL offers a wide range of fax, voice, video, data, and telephony functions for analog and digital communications networks.   VOCAL is a key technology partner with Analog Devices and offers a full range of communications-oriented software modules for Analog Devices' DSP product line.