The general purpose SoCs used by today’s cordless or IP phones, integrated access devices and wireless unified communications devices, fully support the software DSP (soft-DSP) required for VoIP by integrating a software voice engine within the system software. Voice engines fit within an embedded processor’s system performance capabilities using soft-DSP implementation techniques, and to guarantee telephony- quality voice performance for VoIP, the system software must meet the real-time requirements of the voice engine.

Next-generation soft-DSP products that incorporate both real-time processing and wideband (high definition) voice communication achieve greater end user satisfaction and market potential than current technology. These products set a new high definition standard for voice communication.

Figure 1. The use of a DMA peripheral to collect audio samples into a buffer for servicing by the voice engine is a more efficient approach than CPLD implementation.

This article discusses how to integrate a voice engine for soft-DSP processing in order to exceed telephony quality communication.

The softDSP approach also works for designs with more than eight channels, where heat, board space, and the need for additional power supplies can become an issue for external DSPs. Such designs typically employ multi-core SoCs. A single core of the SoC can be dedicated to running the softDSP, or the MHz-heavy voice components can be distributed across multiple cores.

Read more…

1. Ambient Noise–affected up to half of all calls in some regions.
2. Acoustic echo from headset or phone affected 11% of calls and results from calls being made in such small spaces as automobiles.
3. Voice level mismatch, where volume is set too high or too low causing one caller to shout while another is whispering, happens in 28% of all calls.

Ditech Networks, a provider of voice quality solutions globally, conducted an audit to measure the level of mobile phone voice quality that currently exists, and found a whopping 39% of all calls were deemed “unacceptable” or likely to cause churn to another carrier. In mature markets, 23% of all calls fell below industry minimums and in rapid growth markets, 59% of calls fell into the same category.
[…] The cost of the churn is estimated at $23.6 billion.

– “Why more than 182,420 mobile subscribers a day left service providers”, Carolyn Mathas, Mobile Handset DesignLine

Unified communications means different handheld devices will support voice. In this environment, each handheld guarantees optimal voice quality across all conditions. This means careful engineering for FMC products!

Much of this has to do with “open access,” or lack of open access. Cellular service providers use competitive practices to “lock out” application providers from allowing the phone to do what users want to do - this ensures the cellular provider makes more $ from the user.

The market is changing with the new rules from the FCC, which is opening up new frequencies (which will be used in next generation cellular handsets) with a special rule: companies who use the frequency must allow competing devices to also use the frequency. This is known as open access.

With open access, customers will have the ability to choose the device which does the things they want to do — unimpeded by a provider’s service-blocking. This ultimately forces providers to open up their own systems, under pressure of market competition — no one wants to buy a device that is “blocked from access” compared to a device which allows for “open access.”

The following article from Wired explains the technical details: FCC Auction Ensures Open Access — If in Name Only, By Bryan Gardiner

Open-access proponents let out a collective sigh of relief in late January when an anonymous bidder with a fat purse exceeded the $4.6 billion reserve price for the nationwide C-block of 700-MHz spectrum.

The still-sealed $4.71 billion bid, which came during the auction’s 17th round, means that the Federal Communications Commission’s open-access stipulations will be all but ensured when a future network based on C-block spectrum is built out. Google and other companies fought hard for these open-access requirements in the months leading up to the auction.

“I think this is ultimately a good sign,” said Gregory Attiyeh, managing director of FTI Consulting. “Even though we won’t see an open-access network for a while, it reinforces the fact that open access is the thing of the future: It gets the ball rolling.”

The open-access conditions attached to the national C-block of spectrum ostensibly mean that the eventual winner of the licenses must allow all compatible devices and applications to run on the network. That’s in marked contrast to the way most cellular networks work today, where the owners of the spectrum — the carriers — have virtually total control over the handsets and applications that use their networks.

Open-access proponents see the change as necessary to encourage innovation and competition in a wireless-devices industry that has long been stifled by U.S. carriers’ unwillingness to relinquish control.

The end result is features like VCC, FMC, mCue, VoIP, can compete within the marketplace. The technology has an available spectrum for users to communicate with each other in the ways they want to communicate: anywhere, at any time, in any medium (video, voice, text, photos, files, VoIP..).

Next generation handset designs as proposed by the Open Handset Alliance and Google Android intend to take full advantage of the open access rules.

How open the environment is depends on the support they provide in the new release, as discussed in the Forbes article below:

Macworld may be over, but for a group of developers the most important Apple news has yet to be unveiled: the much-anticipated iPhone software development kit (SDK).
Developers say they can’t wait to get their hands on the SDK, which is expected to be released in late February and will allow third-party developers to create native applications for Apple’s (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) iPhone.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/01/26/iphone-apple-developers-tech-wire-cx_ew_0128iphone.html

This follows the trend of communication products allowing third-party applications and developers, sometimes with low barrier to entry to the third-parties. Google Android, Nokia, Symbian, and now Apple have available environments for creating new applications. This provides new opportunities for unified communications products like mCUE which have, in the era of Web 2.0, come from unlikely sources and small startup companies (such as digg.com, facebook.com, skype.com, and others).

(Paraphrased) “Applications are small, data is in the cloud, applications can run on any device, PC or mobile phone, applications are very fast, and customizable. Applications are distributed by social networks, email, forwarded between users, virally. This is a very different method than implemented previously… very different from the mainframe era.”

The hallmark of unified communications and fixed-mobile convergence is running communications applications on any device, in any location, and using services from any source. For this to occur, the user needs application frameworks smart enough to simplify the multiple protocol problem which now faces most application developers. There are many protocols involved in communicating between anyone and anywhere. Multi-session and Multi-protocol frameworks are a way to make this happen.

Small video cameras are mounted inside the race cars, and the video is steamed back to the main booth so the drivers can see where they are going. Control signals for the cars and the drivers videos are streamed back and forth across a WiMAX network.

read more | digg story

D2 Technologies Addresses Intersection of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) and Unified Communications

[…] D2’s mCUE pairs an innovative, patent pending communications user interface (CUI) with the company’s vPort MP VoIP software platform to address the needs of OEMs and service providers delivering integrated Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) and Unified Communications (UC) functionality. […]

mCUE is specifically designed for mobile embedded devices, making it an ideal platform for smartphones and mid-range “feature phone” class devices. Its user interface offers the latest advances in unified communications including presence-centric and push-to-X control over all types of sessions including voice, IM, SMS, and e-mail messaging. It includes an innovative presence-based converged contact list for all services and tools for managing multiple accounts, services and networks.

Three devices currently available in the market. Note that the Sony Mylo featured here is the second generation model, officially announced at the CES.

	iPod Touch	Nokia N810	Sony Mylo
Screen Size	3.5¿	4.13¿	3.5¿
Screen Resolution	480×320	800×480	800×480
Operating System	Mobile OS X	Linux	Linux
Multimedia Formats	AAC, MP3, H.264	3GP, AVI, WMV, MP4, H263, H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, RV (RealVideo) MP3, WMA, AAC, AMR, AWB, M4A, MP2, RA (RealAudio), WAV	WMA/WMA DRM, MP3, AAC, ATRAC and MPEG-4
Connectivity	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Wi-Fi
Storage	Internal - 8/16GB	2 GB Internal, expandable using mini SD upto 8GB	1 GB internal
Flash Support	No	Adobe Flash 9 - desktop version	Adobe Flashlite 3
Browser	Safari	Firefox based	Netfront
VoIP support	No	Skype/Gizmo	Skype
Input Interface	Virtual QWERTY	Virtual QWERTY/Slideout QWERTY	Slideout QWERTY
GPS	No	Yes	No
Third party software	No	Yes	No
FM Radio	No	Yes	No
Content Aggregator	No	RSS	RSS with podcast
Integrated speakers	No	Yes	Yes
Integrated camera for video call	No	VGA webcam	1.3 MP camera
Instant Mesaging	No	Yes	Yes

Highly usable mobile internet devices are now available!

Dual-mode devices are still yet to come, for 2008.

802.16d

The standard is correctly called 802.16-2004 and was developed by the IEEE 802.16 Task Group d. Therefore the project was called 802.16d, but the standard never was. However, since this standard is frequently called 802.16d.

802.16e

802.16e is an amendment to 802.16-2004, and the amendment is properly referred to as 802.16e-2005. 802.16e-2005 is not a standard in its own right — since it is only an amendment, the original document (802.16-2004) has to be read and then the amendments added to it.

Fixed WiMAX

This is a phrase frequently used to refer to systems built using 802.16-2004 (’802.16d’) and the OFDM PHY as the air interface technology.

Fixed WiMAX deployments do not cater for handoff between Base Stations, therefore the service provider cannot offer mobility.

Mobile WiMAX

A phrase frequently used to refer to systems built using 802.16e-2005 and the OFDMA PHY as the air interface technology. “Mobile WiMAX” implementations can be used to deliver both fixed and mobile services.

Uses

The bandwidth and reach of WiMAX make it suitable for the following potential applications:

• Connecting Wi-Fi hotspots with each other and to other parts of the Internet.
• Providing a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for last mile broadband access.
• Providing high-speed data and telecommunications services.
• Providing a diverse source of Internet connectivity as part of a business continuity plan. A wireless network can be “always connected”.
• Providing highly mobile connectivity.

With WiMax in a dual-mode cell phone, the WiMax connection acts as an additional voice connection using VoIP.
Hello soft

Using Voice Call Continuity (VCC), calls can be seamlessly transferred between the VoIP network and the cellular network. This allows true mobility of voice communication! Hello soft

The confluence of technological and market forces reshaping the US telecommunications scene today calls into question the future of the fixed line telephone, a fixture in 95 percent of US homes and businesses. In this study, INSIGHT examines fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), and fixed-mobile substitution, the tendency of telecommunications users to add wireless capability to landlines phones or, in the extreme case, drop their landline service entirely in favor of a cellular phone.

Telecommunications service and usage patterns have been shifting for some time as an increasing percentage of residential and business users switch voice calls to mobile networks: the number of fixed lines has been dropping at nearly a three percent rate for the past several years, even as adoption of mobile phones increases. Nearly 65 percent of Americans, or 195 million people, are expected to be mobile phone subscribers by the close of 2005.

The underlying dynamic of the shift in call volume from fixed to mobile is well documented. As users become more used to the convenience of cellular, long distance and local usage is shifting from wireline to cellular. The average wireline residential toll minutes of use (MOUs) have been dropping at a compounded rate of 15 percent since 2000, while wireless interstate MOUs per user grew at a compounded rate of nearly 40 percent during the same period. According to one FCC study, on the wireless side, the percentage of interstate residential minutes has increased from 16 percent to 26 percent of all wireless minutes. These changes in calling patterns are being reflected in ILEC line losses—a trend likely to continue.

Given such a dynamic, are Americans going to entirely abandon their fixed line phone for cellular calling? Can cellular carriers, using voice over the Internet protocol (VoIP) and leveraging wireless LAN technology, displace PBX manufacturers in the enterprise market?

The need for unified communications in our highly connected lifestyle drives Fixed-Mobile convergence towards the anywhere/anytime communication abilities.  VoIP continues to emerge as a new feature as wireless technologies such as WiFi and WiMax gain broader connectivity.

With mobile phones incorporating data features, Voice over IP (using Voice over WiFi or Voice over WiMax) becomes an available option.

Voice over Wi-Fi offers potentially free service but is only available within the coverage area of a Wi-Fi Access Point. High speed services from mobile operators using EVDO rev A or HSDPA may have better audio quality and capabilities for metropolitan-wide coverage including fast handoffs among mobile base stations, yet it will cost more than the typical Wi-Fi-based VoIP service. The emerging solution is Voice over WiMax (see: WiMax Standards for Mobile Communications) which has much larger range than Wi-Fi and allows Voice with high quality of service.

VoIP Mobile industry is estimated to grow to 12 Billion Dollars by 2010 in Europe.

One implementation of Fixed mobile convergence enables seamless roaming between WIFI and GSM or CDMA networks. Standards and alliances have been developed and technologies have been demonstrated as early as December 2005. This allows VoIP calls to seamlessly transfer to/from the cellular network, ideally without the user being aware of the handoff.

D2 Technologies’ newly enhanced vPort embedded software with Voice Call Continuity (VCC) and NewStep Networks’ award-winning mobility applications to deliver a completely integrated approach for accelerated FMC deployments in today’s most popular multi-mode mobile environments, including WiFi, WiMAX and GSM. — “VoIP Software Adds Fixed Mobile Convergence Capabilities for Dual-mode Mobile Phones”

At the Fixed-Mobile Convergence Conference you will hear from Enterprises, Carriers, Solution Providers, Analysts and thought leaders on how you can take the next steps, evaluate product offerings and avoid the pitfalls. Come to Santa Clara and develop a strategy to…

• Deploy fixed and mobile telephony through a consolidated and centralized service
• Leverage existing PBX technology or future fixed-line investments while delivering cost-effective and seamless mobility
• Achieve ROI through greater employee productivity
• Gain control of mobile costs through PBX-routing capability

Google is leading the way with mobile initiatives, like the Google mobile phone platform (”android“). The vision is to allow accessibility, anywhere, to Google’s services. Using voice communications technology, such as FMC technology, becomes seamless (the network is always connected) for other application providers.

Technology insiders call this technology “IMS-SIP/VCC for Seamless Mobility Between VoWiFi and Cellular Networks“. More easily said, it means: voice, video, text, email, and more, accessible from anywhere.What other technologies also pave the way? Add a comment, let us know.

How has unified communications changed your business?

“Avaya began rolling out unified communications to our most mobile employees – executives and sales – in 2003. The solutions enabled a single interface from which staff members could access voice and email, check calendars, launch calls and conference calls and more through voice commands from any device. They were also equipped with our ground-breaking Extension to Cellular application that simultaneously bridged calls made to their business extensions to their cell phones. This provided “single number access” to the user, with greater security and privacy for those who regularly used cell phones for business. We found the time saved on an average amounted to 15 days per year per user. Since then, we have continued to lead the market in innovative, unified communications applications that enable seamless access to converged real-time and non-real-time communications delivered over any device, any network to users in any location.” — Stuart Wells, President, Global Communications Solutions at Avaya

Unified communications technologies such as Voice Call Continuity in mobile handsets allows dual-mode phones to take advantage of local data networks. This allows convergence between cellular networks and local data networks and is the primary first step for FMC.

Texas Instruments Licenses Next-Generation ARM11 Cores for Future OMAP Processors and Wireless Chipsets

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Microsoft Business Division President Jeff Raikes announced the launch of Microsoft’s next wave of business communications software. “Unified communications software will transform business communications as fundamentally as e-mail did in the 1990s,” Raikes said. “Today, Microsoft is in the VoIP game, and our customers and partners are already winning with better economics and new business opportunities.”

For large communication infrastructures, such as large companies or metropolitan cities, equipment upgrades can take time, so new products, features, and services reach the users slowly. Software products accelerate this curve because software can be easier to replace than the mainframe-sized telecommunications equipment of 20 years ago.

“It’s apparent that in order for FMC to really take off, there needs to exist a reasonable variety of handsets that provide the functionality and user experience that we’ve all come to know and love.” — FMC technologist

FMC requires only a few items to hit the marketplace in force:

• An open mobile handset platform, for third party application development
• A service provider which supports open access to the third party applications or integrated applications, with an upgraded network
• Users who request– or, demand– the convergent features (such as, the freedom to roam seamlessly between service platforms such as the ability to send voice instant messages to corporate-level coworkers from a personal mobile phone while laying on a beach in Santa Barbara)

“Soon” depends on only these factors.

Keep the calls up, on any network.

Primary reasons for providers to adopt VoIP are reducing operating costs and overhead, growing revenue, and adding more profitable services. These features are enabled by increasing broadband penetration and the latest generation of voice technology.

The latest generation of voice technology includes softDSP voice engines for VoIP and VCC such as those found in currently shipping products by D2 Technologies and others. Offering FMC means enabling mobile phones to communicate seamlessly according to the goals of unified communications.

The goal for the long term evolution of both WiMAX and LTE is to achieve 100 Mbit/s mobile and 1 Gbit/s fixed-nomadic bandwidth as set by ITU for 4G NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Network) systems through the adaptive use of MIMO-AAS and smart, granular network topologies. 3GPP LTE and WiMAX-m are concentrating much effort on MIMO-AAS, mobile multi-hop relay networking and related developments needed to deliver 10X and higher Co-Channel reuse multiples.

Mobile to mobile convergence differs from conventional FMC in that the technology uses the WLAN to route calls via the internet as a primary function, and uses the wireless carrier network if the WLAN is not present as a secondary function. It is significant since it is viewed as a means to compete with carrier companies since the calls are routed around the cellular network. This is viewed as a more efficient use of networking technology than standard FMC solutions that are available as well, since most of the latter use the carrier network as the primary means of communication and do not leverage the lower cost and controls of internet protocol-based networks that are generally installed at most modern businesses. In theory, it also provides the capability of providing a greater voice coverage area than either carrier or WLAN technology alone since some areas do not have cellular service coverage and others do not have WiFi.

The “mobile service provisions” aspect refers not only to the ability of subscribers to be able to purchase mobile phone like services as is often seen in co-marketing efforts between providers of land-line services. Rather it is one major ambition of wireless - the ability to have access to all of the above including voice, internet, and content/video while on the go and requiring no tethering to the network via cables.

Report Author, Basharat Hamid Ashai, says that “the dual mode handset market will pick up much faster in the coming years than the single mode Wi-Fi handset sector. The handset market is moving to a stage where no one wants to carry two or three devices in their pocket, so the ability to have a single device for all calls is a compelling proposition. Most single mode VoIP over Wi-Fi handset manufactures are actively either designing or planning to ship dual mode phones”.

Further details from the report include:

1.      Dual Mode Mobile Handsets (Cellular/VoIP over Wi-Fi ) will dominate this market generating almost $68bn in revenues by 2012 out of a total market of $82bn.   Note: These handsets will be driven by technology such as Voice Call Continuity (VCC) and IMS-SIP/VCC for Seamless Mobility Between VoWiFi and Cellular Networks.

2.      Single Mode VoIP over Wi-Fi Handsets will continue to see a conservative uptake primarily due to high pricing – resulting in revenues of only $1.5bn by 2012.

3.      Enterprise Access Points (supporting VoIP) will generate over $5bn by 2012.  Note: These devices will be powered by software and hardware similar to the Integrated Designs for VoIP-Enabled Quadruple Play Devices.

4.      Enterprise WLAN Switch/Mobility Controllers (supporting VoIP) to reach almost $8bn by 2012.  Note: High bandwidth switch designs incorporate VoIP often by using softDSP technology in multiprocessor designs.

The technology notes above illustate the ready-to-design availability of technologies to fit the FMC feature set.  VoIP over WiFi and VoIP over WiMax will continue to make news in 2007 and will reach market in 2008.