A wideband speech and audio codec at 16/24/32 kbit/s using hybrid ACELP/TCX techniques

A hybrid ACELP/TCX algorithm for coding speech and music signals at 16, 24, and 32 kbit/s is presented. The algorithm switches between algebraic code excited linear prediction (ACELP) and transform coded excitation (TCX) modes on a 20-ms frame basis. Applying TCX on 20 ms frames improved the quality for music signals. Special care was taken to alleviate the switching artifacts between the two modes resulting in a transparent switching process. Subjective test results showed that for speech signals, the performance at 16, 24, and 32 kbit/s, is equivalent to G.722 at 48, 56, and 64 kbit/s, respectively. For music signals, the quality at 24 kbit/s was found equivalent to G.722 at 56 kbit/s. However, at 16 kbit/s, the quality for music was slightly lower than G.722 at 48 kbit/s.