Adaptive Multi-Rate audio codec - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 5

Adaptive Multi-Rate audio codec

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR or AMR-NB)

audio codec is a patented audio data compression
Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)
scheme optimized for speech coding. AMR was Filename .amr
adopted as the standard speech codec by 3GPP in extension
October 1999 and is now widely used in GSM[3] and
UMTS. It uses link adaptation to select from one of Internet audio/amr, audio/3gpp,
eight different bit rates based on link conditions. media type audio/3gpp2
[1][2]
AMR is also a file format for storing spoken audio Initial release 23 June 1999
using the AMR codec. Many modern mobile Latest release 9.0.0 / 18 December 2009
telephone handsets can store short audio recordings in
the AMR format, and both free and proprietary Type of Audio compression format, audio
programs exist (see Software support) to convert format file format
between this and other formats, although it should be
remembered that AMR is a speech format and is
unlikely to give ideal results for other audio. The common filename extension is .amr. There also exists
another storage format for AMR that is suitable for applications with more advanced demands on the
storage format, like random access or synchronization with video. This format is the 3GPP-specified
3GP container format based on ISO base media file format.[4]

Contents
■ 1 Usage
■ 2 Features
■ 3 Licensing and patent issues
■ 4 Software support
■ 5 See also
■ 6 References
■ 7 External links

Usage
The frames contain 160 samples and are 20 milliseconds long.[1] AMR uses various techniques, such as
ACELP, DTX, VAD and CNG. The usage of AMR requires optimized link adaptation that selects the
best codec mode to meet the local radio channel and capacity requirements. If the radio conditions are
bad, source coding is reduced and channel coding is increased. This improves the quality and robustness
of the network connection while sacrificing some voice clarity. In the particular case of AMR this
improvement is somewhere around S/N = 4-6 dB for usable communication. The new intelligent system
allows the network operator to prioritize capacity or quality per base station.

There are a total of 14 modes of the AMR codec, 8 are available in a full rate channel (FR) and 6 on a
half rate channel (HR).

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Mode Bitrate (kbit/s) Channel Compatible with

AMR_12.20 12.20 FR ETSI GSM enhanced full rate
AMR_10.20 10.20 FR
AMR_7.95 7.95 FR/HR
AMR_7.40 7.40 FR/HR TIA/EIA IS-641 TDMA enhanced full rate
AMR_6.70 6.70 FR/HR ARIB 6.7 kbit/s enhanced full rate
AMR_5.90 5.90 FR/HR
AMR_5.15 5.15 FR/HR
AMR_4.75 4.75 FR/HR

AMR_SID 1.80 FR/HR

Features
■ Sampling frequency 8 kHz/13-bit (160 samples for 20 ms frames), filtered to 200–3400 Hz.
■ The AMR codec uses eight source codecs with bit-rates of 12.2, 10.2, 7.95, 7.40, 6.70, 5.90,
5.15 and 4.75 kbit/s.
■ Generates frame length of 95, 103, 118, 134, 148, 159, 204, or 244 samples for bit rates 4.75,
5.15, 5.90, 6.70, 7.40, 7.95, 10.2, or 12.2 kbit/s, respectively
■ AMR utilizes Discontinuous Transmission (DTX), with Voice Activity Detection (VAD) and
Comfort Noise Generation (CNG) to reduce bandwidth usage during silence periods
■ Algorithmic delay is 20 ms per frame. For bit-rates of 12.2, there is no 'algorithm' look-ahead
delay. For other rates, look-ahead delay is 5 ms. Note that there is 5 ms 'dummy' look-ahead
delay, to allow seamless frame-wise mode switching with the rest of rates.
■ AMR is a hybrid speech coder which uses Algebraic Code Excited Linear Prediction
(ACELP)
■ The complexity of the algorithm is rated at 5, using a relative scale where G.711 is 1 and
G.729a is 15.
■ PSQM testing under ideal conditions yields Mean Opinion Scores of 4.14 for AMR (12.2
kbit/s), compared to 4.45 for G.711 (u-law)
■ PSQM testing under network stress yields Mean Opinion Scores of 3.79 for AMR (12.2
kbit/s), compared to 4.13 for G.711 (u-law)

Licensing and patent issues

AMR codecs incorporate several patents of Nokia Corporation, Telefonaktiebolaget L. M. Ericsson,
VoiceAge Corporation and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation.[5][6] VoiceAge Corporation is
the License Administrator for the AMR and AMR-WB+ patent pools. VoiceAge also accepts submission
of patents for determination of their possible essentiality to these standards.[7][8]

The initial fee for professional content creation tools and "real-time channel" products is $6,500. The
minimum annual royalty shall be $10,000, excluding the initial fee in year 1 of the license agreement.
[5][6]

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AMR decoder in a category of personal computer products (e.g. media players) is licensed for free. The
license fee for a sold encoder is $0.40. The minimum annual royalty will not apply to licensed products
which fall under category of personal computer products and which contain only the free decoder.[5][6]

For more information about this, please refer to:

■ VoiceAge licensing information (http://www.voiceage.com/licensing.php) , including pricing

to license the AMR codecs
■ 3GPP legal issues (http://www.3gpp.org/legal/legal.htm)
■ The 3G Patent Platform and its licensing policy
(http://www.3gpp.org/faq/faq_2005_2.htm#A3.1)
■ AMR Codecs as Shared Libraries (http://www.penguin.cz/~utx/amr) - legal notices for usage
of amrnb and amrwb libraries based on the reference implementation

Software support
■ 3GPP TS 26.073 - AMR speech Codec (C source code) - reference implementation[9]
■ Audacity (beta version 1.3) via the FFmpeg integration libraries [10]
■ FFmpeg with OpenCORE AMR libraries [11]
■ Android [12]
■ AMR Codecs as Shared Libraries (http://www.penguin.cz/~utx/amr) - amrnb and amrwb
libraries development site. These libraries are based on the reference implementation and were
created to prevent embedding of possibly patented source code into many open source
projects.
■ Open source software to convert the .amr format: RetroCode
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/retrocode/) , Amr2Wav
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/amr2wav/) , both are in an early developmental stage
■ AMR Player (http://www.amrplayer.com/) is freeware to play AMR audio files, and can
convert AMR with MP3/WAV audio format.
■ MPlayer (SMPlayer, KMPlayer)
■ QuickTime player and multimedia framework
■ RealPlayer version 11 and later
■ VLC media player version 1.1.0 and later
■ ffdshow
■ Apple iPhone (can play back AMR files)
■ BlackBerry smartphones (uses for voice recorder file format)

See also
■ Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband (AMR-WB)
■ Extended Adaptive Multi-Rate - Wideband (AMR-WB+)
■ Half Rate
■ Full Rate
■ Enhanced Full Rate (EFR)
■ Sampling rate
■ IS-641
■ 3GP

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References
1. ^ a b 3GPP. "3GPP TS 26.090 - Mandatory Speech Codec speech processing functions; Adaptive Multi-Rate
(AMR) speech codec; Transcoding functions" (http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/26090.htm) .
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/26090.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
2. ^ 3GPP. "3GPP TS 26.090 - Mandatory Speech Codec speech processing functions; Adaptive Multi-Rate
(AMR) speech codec; Transcoding functions" (http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/26090.htm) .
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/26090.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
3. ^ http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4139026/Sorting-Through-GSM-Codecs-A-Tutorial
4. ^ RFC 4867 - RTP Payload Format and File Storage Format for the Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) and
Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband (AMR-WB) Audio Codecs (http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4867#page-35) Page
35
5. ^ a b c VoiceAge Corporation (2007-10-14). "AMR Licensing
Terms" (http://web.archive.org/web/20071014162046/http://www.voiceage.com/amr_licterms.php) .
VoiceAge Corporation. Archived from the original (http://www.voiceage.com/amr_licterms.php) on 2007-10
-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20071014162046/http://www.voiceage.com/amr_licterms.php. Retrieved
2009-09-12.
6. ^ a b c VoiceAge Corporation (2007-06). "AMR Licensing
Terms" (http://www.voiceage.com/amr_licterms.php) . VoiceAge Corporation.
http://www.voiceage.com/amr_licterms.php. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
7. ^ VoiceAge Corporation. "Licensing - Patent Calls" (http://www.voiceage.com/licpatentcalls.php) .
VoiceAge Corporation. http://www.voiceage.com/licpatentcalls.php. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
8. ^ VoiceAge Corporation (2007-10-14). "Licensing - Patent
Calls" (http://web.archive.org/web/20071014161420/http://www.voiceage.com/licpatentcalls.php) .
Archive.org. Archived from the original (http://www.voiceage.com/licpatentcalls.php) on 2007-10-14.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071014161420/http://www.voiceage.com/licpatentcalls.php. Retrieved 2009-
09-12.
9. ^ 3GPP (2008-12-11) 3GPP TS 26.073 - AMR speech Codec
(http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/26_series/26.073/26073-800.zip) , Retrieved 2009-09-08
10. ^ Retrieved on 2010-02-28
11. ^ FFmpeg General Documentation - AMR external library (http://www.ffmpeg.org/general.html) , Retrieved
on 2009-07-08
12. ^ Android AMR codecs (http://android.git.kernel.org/?
p=platform/external/opencore.git;a=tree;f=codecs_v2/audio/gsm_amr;hb=HEAD) , Retrieved on 2009-07-08

External links
■ http://amrplayer.com/
■ 3GPP TS 26.090 - Mandatory Speech Codec speech processing functions; Adaptive Multi-
Rate (AMR) speech codec; Transcoding functions (http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-
info/26090.htm)
■ 3GPP TS 26.071 - Mandatory Speech Codec speech processing functions; AMR Speech
Codec; General Description (http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/26071.htm)
■ 3GPP codecs specifications; 3G and beyond / GSM, 26 series
(http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/26-series.htm)
■ RFC 4867 - RTP Payload Format and File Storage Format for the Adaptive Multi-Rate
(AMR) and Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband (AMR-WB) Audio Codecs
■ RFC 4281 - The Codecs Parameter for "Bucket" Media Types

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