Misunderstood When it Matters Most – Spirent Finds LTE Devices for Public Safety Have Room for Improvement
25 Septiembre 2019 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Testing in Spirent’s Performance Center found
noisy environments can thwart first responder communication nearly
50% of the time
Spirent Communications plc (LSE:SPT), a leading provider of
test, assurance, and analytics solutions for next-generation
devices and networks, today announced critical findings from its
LTE Device Speech Intelligibility Benchmark Analysis. The findings
in the report show that phrase misunderstandings can occur in
mission-critical communications scenarios up to almost 50 percent
of the time, even when using devices that are marketed specifically
for use by the public safety community.
As public safety networks transition to PS-LTE (Public Safety
LTE), more handsets are entering the market. Spirent conducted
testing of a representative sample of these handsets in its
Maryland-based Performance Center - a world-class testing facility
that specializes in evaluating the communications performance of
voice, video and data devices. As part of the test process, the
company evaluated speech intelligibility in four
commercially-available devices. Testing emulated use within a quiet
environment, followed by six emulated first-responder noise
environments including a nightclub, emergency siren and a
fire-rescue situation utilizing a saw.
Spirent’s whitepaper, “Speech Intelligibility Evaluation
Highlights Differences Between LTE Public Safety Devices”, offers a
look into anonymized results of the benchmark testing, which
revealed:
- The top-performing device outperformed the others tested by at
least a six-to-one margin in certain emulated environments;
- No device proved perfect – intelligibility failure rates ranged
from 1% to 49%, depending on the environment;
- Great performance in one environment did not necessarily
correlate with similar performance in other emulations; and
- In some cases, consumer-grade devices outperformed devices
purpose-built for PS-LTE use.
“Our testing looked at certain devices through the lens of how
well they were able to transmit the essentials of speech while
suppressing most background noise, because that’s where the largest
performance gaps emerge in public safety applications,” said
Vice-President of Product Marketing at Spirent, Saul Einbinder.
“The significant performance discrepancies we uncovered indicate
that device makers must further re-evaluate designs and components
to assure performance on the mission-critical LTE networks being
rolled out around the world.”
Previous testing of speech intelligibility was largely
subjective and based on human responses, but Spirent applied a new
algorithm designed by the U.S. National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA). The ABC-MRT16 algorithm models
the human auditory system and, in conjunction with a head and torso
simulator in a 3D sound reproduction lab with automated testing,
was used to assess over 80,000 distinct speech points to determine
the quality of speech intelligibility. Spirent is the first testing
and assurance provider to offer a speech intelligibility service
designed to help mobile operators determine which devices will work
best on mission-critical networks, while giving device developers
and manufacturers guidance on how they can improve performance in
noisy real-world environments.
"Assuring high-quality speech intelligibility during
mission-critical operations is essential," said Ken Rehbehn,
Directing Analyst at IHS Markit, and himself a former 911
dispatcher and current firefighter/EMT in Montgomery County, MD.
"Distorted communications reduces incident command effectiveness
and, in the extreme, can lead to career-ending injury or
line-of-duty death. Device vendors serving the public safety market
have a profound duty to do everything possible to maximize speech
intelligibility.”
Achieving a higher bar for device performance in public safety
environments begins in the development process. Software algorithms
determine which parts of the audio are actually speech, and yet
still allow some background sounds to be transmitted to help the
listener better understand situational context. Spirent has found
that independently testing elements of the handset voice path,
together with fine-tuning of microphone circuitry and audio
processing software, are some of the ways device designs can be
enhanced to better accommodate grueling first responder scenarios.
Testing for a range of common public safety scenarios is critical
to establishing that a device will perform every time a first
responder relies on it.
“While our testing found substantial room for improvement in
some cases, the good news is that there is a pathway to better
performance,” said Einbinder. “This is absolutely a solvable
problem. First responders need to trust that the devices they use
for lifesaving measures will perform when it matters most, and we
believe pinpointing performance challenges that exist early in the
development process will help the entire industry take a major step
toward that goal.”
About Spirent
Spirent Communications plc. (LSE:SPT) offers test, measurement,
analytics and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and
networks. The company provides products, services and information
for high-speed Ethernet, positioning and mobile network
infrastructure markets, with expanding focus on service assurance,
cybersecurity and 5G. Spirent is accelerating the transition of
connected devices, network equipment and applications from
development labs to the operational network, as it continues to
innovate toward fully-automated testing and autonomous service
assurance solutions.
For more information, please visit www.spirent.com and follow us
on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Note to News Editor: Images are available upon
request.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190925005513/en/
MEDIA:
Americas: Brian Baumley BLB Communications T:
+1-609-759-0252 brianb@blbcomm.com
Asia Pacific: Janet Peng Spirent Communications T: +86
(10) 823 30055 (x160) janet.peng@spirent.com
Europe: Mark Price Spirent Communications T:
+44-7725-724834 mark.price@spirent.com
Spirent Communications (LSE:SPT)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Mar 2024 a Abr 2024
Spirent Communications (LSE:SPT)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Abr 2023 a Abr 2024