Introduction to IP Audio; Digitization, Compression and Transmission

This book explains the fundamentals of audio, how it is digitized and compressed and the basics of audio streaming. You will learn why IP digital audio has replaced many analog and digital audio systems. Industry standard IP audio systems can be more cost effective and flexible than dedicated and/or proprietary audio systems. Using IP audio allows for equipment and software cost reduction, increased ability to control audio services, and provides new media capabilities. The popular analog and digital audio formats are described along with how audio signals are captured and converted from analog to digital form (audio digitization). Because the amount of digital information that is needed to represent high-quality raw digital audio requires require several Megabits per second, digital audio is compressed to allow transmission through data networks such as the Internet. You will learn that audio compression is the process of reducing the amount of transmission bandwidth or data transmission rate using waveform coding, perceptual coding or voice compression techniques. When compressed, an audio signal can be transmitted on circuits with relatively narrow channel bandwidth or using data rates 4 to 16 times lower than their original uncompressed form. There are several different IP Audio compression methods and protocols that are available such as MP3 and AAC. Explained are complexity and quality tradeoffs along with common problem areas and risks with sending IP Audio. You will discover how audio streaming systems allow for the efficient sending of packet audio through data networks that may delay or loose packets. Also, you will learn how audio capturing is used to receive, code and to storing audio media. Find out about different types of streaming protocols and how they are used to deliver and control the real-time delivery of media (such as audio and or audio streaming). Digital audio quality measurements and monitoring is explained including MOS, SNR, THD, FR and dynamic range. Some of the most important topics featured are: . Analog Audio Formats . Digital Audio Formats . Capturing Audio . Audio Digitization . Audio Compression . Converting Audio Formats . Multimedia File Formats . Streaming Digital Audio . Audio Control Protocols . Digital Audio Quality