ALCWI, a new class of speech codecs developed by SPIRIT, opens up a new
level of quality, providing Near-Toll Quality speech at low bit rates in the range
of 2000 to 3000 bps and even lower.
The speech quality of ALCWI-class codecs, as estimated by independent
listeners, is similar to that provided by standard codecs running at bit rates
above 4000 bps, while the computational complexity is only slightly increased
in comparison with the complexity of other widely used codecs running at
similar bit rates.
