Superwideband extension of g.718 and g.729.1 speech codecs.

This communication presents the recently standardized superwideband (SWB) extensions of ITU-T G.718 and G.729.1. These extensions were standardized as G.718 annex B and G.729.1 annex E. The SWB functionality is implemented using embedded scalable layers on top of the wideband (WB) core codecs, and it extends the bit rate of the codecs to 48 and 64 kbit/s for the G.718 and G.729.1, respectively. The main technology is a two-mode SWB coding method of the high frequencies. In addition, the G.729.1 SWB extension enhances the lower frequency range. The codec performance is illustrated with some listening test results extracted from the ITU-T Characterization phase.