IP Telephony Audio Redundancy via Textual Backup

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Solution Overview

Problem

IP telephony systems face challenges in maintaining audio quality due to data packet loss and delay, particularly when high compression is used, leading to poor sound fidelity during communications.

Innovation Solution

Transmitting a textual representation of spoken audio input alongside the digital data created by a CODEC, allowing the receiving device to use this textual data as a backup to fill in missing or corrupted CODEC data and ensuring redundancy or error correction, thereby improving sound quality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of energy

If high compression is employed by CODECs to reduce data transmission size, then bandwidth efficiency is improved, but sound quality and fidelity deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebandwidth efficiencyVSAvoidsound quality

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs speech-to-text conversion on the outgoing audio stream before transmission, creating a textual representation that travels with the compressed audio data. This preliminary action enables the receiving end to reconstruct missing audio information without requiring higher compression ratios, thus maintaining both bandwidth efficiency and sound quality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Textual representation acts as an intermediary between the compressed audio data and the original speech content. When audio packets are lost or corrupted, the text provides a mediator through which the original speech can be reconstructed via text-to-speech conversion, bridging the gap between compression and fidelity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If data packets are transmitted over public data networks to enable IP telephony communication, then connectivity and versatility are improved, but data packet loss and delay increase

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveconnectivityVSAvoiddata packet delivery

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system converts speech to text before transmission and makes this textual representation available at the receiving end. This preliminary preparation of backup information ensures that even if data packets are lost or delayed during transmission over public networks, the audio can be reconstructed from the text, thereby maintaining reliability while preserving connectivity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

By transmitting textual representation alongside audio data, the system provides a cushion or backup mechanism against packet loss and delay. This beforehand preparation ensures that reliability issues arising from public network transmission do not directly impact audio quality, as the text serves as a protective buffer.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

3Ease of operation

If data buffers are used to reassemble data packets in proper order, then packet reordering capability is improved, but audio quality deteriorates when packets are delayed too long

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepacket reassemblyVSAvoidaudio fidelity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The textual representation serves as an intermediary that can replace delayed or lost audio packets. When the buffer cannot retrieve delayed packets in time, the text provides an alternative path for reconstructing the audio stream, maintaining fidelity despite the limitations of buffer-based reassembly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates a copy of the audio information in textual form. This copy can be used to reconstruct the original audio when the buffer fails to retrieve packets in time, providing a backup mechanism that preserves audio fidelity independent of buffer performance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

4Extent of automation

If CODECs convert analog signals to digital data packets for transmission, then signal processing capability is improved, but audio fidelity decreases due to compression

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesignal processingVSAvoidaudio fidelity

Core Design Contradiction:

Extent of automationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs speech-to-text conversion as a preliminary action before digital encoding and transmission. This creates a textual backup that can reconstruct the original audio signal with higher fidelity than compressed CODEC data alone, allowing automated signal processing while preserving audio quality through the text intermediary.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Textual representation acts as an intermediary between the analog speech signal and the compressed digital audio data. It provides a lossless representation that can reconstruct the original signal, bridging the fidelity gap created by automated CODEC processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS8914284B1Methods and apparatus for conducting internet protocol telephony communication

Publication Date: 2014.12.16 VONAGE BUSINESS INC

AI summary

IP telephony communications are conducted by sending both data produced by a CODEC that represents received spoken audio input, and a textual representation of the spoken audio input. A receiving device utilizes the textual representation of the spoken audio input to help recreate the spoken audio input when a portion of the CODEC data is missing. The textual representation can be generated by a speech-to-text function. Alternatively, the textual representation can be a notation of extracted phonemes.