Vocoder Development
Introduction
In the 1950s, Lincoln Laboratory conducted research on detecting pitch in speech, which subsequently influenced the development of voice coders, commonly known as vocoders. The term "vocoder" is derived from "voice" and "coder." These devices are designed to decrease the amount of bandwidth required for transmitting speech. This reduction in bandwidth offers two advantages: it reduces the cost of transmitting and receiving speech, while also enhancing the potential for maintaining privacy.[1]
Initially, it described a device designed to compress speech for efficient transmission over telephone lines. The idea involved splitting speech into parts using filters and then reconstructing it on the other end. The goal was to save bandwidth, but in practice, it fell short due to the need for numerous filters to maintain speech quality. Additionally, the original vocoder only transmitted loudness, not sound quality.
Subsequently, the "phase vocoder" emerged as an enhanced version, preserving both loudness and sound quality. Further refinements by various researchers improved the method's efficiency without compromising audio fidelity. [2]
Historical Context
Chenyi
Key Innovations
Amber
Impact
Wenjun
Future Research
Alice
LLM Review
Erin
References
Team Members
Alice Vanni, Amber, Chenyi, Erin Shi, Wenjun