Speech and multimedia Transmission Quality (STQ) - Speech quality performance in the presence of background noise - Part 1: Background noise simulation technique and background noise database

RES/STQ-288

Kakovost prenosa govora in večpredstavnih vsebin (STQ) - Kakovost govora v prisotnosti šuma ozadja - 1. del: Simulacijska tehnika šuma ozadja in podatkovna zbirka šumov ozadja

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Status
Not Published
Current Stage
5020 - Formal vote (FV) (Adopted Project)
Start Date
17-Mar-2022
Due Date
05-May-2022

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ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03) - Speech and multimedia Transmission Quality (STQ); Speech quality performance in the presence of background noise; Part 1: Background noise simulation technique and background noise database
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Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)
ETSI STANDARD
Speech and multimedia Transmission Quality (STQ);
Speech quality performance
in the presence of background noise;
Part 1: Background noise simulation technique
and background noise database
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2 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)
Reference
RES/STQ-288
Keywords
noise, performance, quality, speech
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ETSI
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3 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)
Contents

Intellectual Property Rights ................................................................................................................................ 5

Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................. 5

Modal verbs terminology .................................................................................................................................... 5

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

1 Scope ........................................................................................................................................................ 7

2 References ................................................................................................................................................ 7

2.1 Normative references ......................................................................................................................................... 7

2.2 Informative references ........................................................................................................................................ 8

3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations ....................................................................................... 9

3.1 Terms .................................................................................................................................................................. 9

3.2 Symbols .............................................................................................................................................................. 9

3.2 Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................................... 9

4 Overview of existing methods for realistic sound reproduction............................................................... 9

4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 9

4.2 Surround Sound Techniques............................................................................................................................. 10

4.3 IOSONO ......................................................................................................................................................... 11

4.4 Eidophonie ....................................................................................................................................................... 11

4.5 Four-loudspeaker arrangement for playback of binaurally recorded signals .................................................... 12

4.6 NTT Background-Noise Database ................................................................................................................... 13

4.7 General conclusions ......................................................................................................................................... 13

5 Recording arrangement .......................................................................................................................... 14

5.1 Binaural equalization ........................................................................................................................................ 14

5.2 The equalization procedure .............................................................................................................................. 14

6 Loudspeaker Setup for Background Noise Simulation .......................................................................... 16

6.1 Test Room Requirements ................................................................................................................................. 16

6.2 Loudspeaker Positioning .................................................................................................................................. 17

6.3 Equalization and Calibration ............................................................................................................................ 18

6.4 Accuracy of the reproduction arrangement ...................................................................................................... 23

6.4.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 23

6.4.1 Comparison between original sound field and simulated sound field ......................................................... 23

6.4.2 Displacement of the test arrangement in the simulated sound field ............................................................ 24

6.4.3 Transmission of background noise: Comparison of terminal performance in the original sound field

and the simulated sound field ..................................................................................................................... 26

6.5 Simulation of additional acoustic conditions .................................................................................................... 30

7 Background Noise Simulation in cars .................................................................................................... 31

7.1 General setup .................................................................................................................................................... 31

7.2 Recording arrangement .................................................................................................................................... 32

7.2.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 32

7.2.1 Recording setup with the terminal's microphone ........................................................................................ 32

7.2.2 Recording setup with a pair of cardioid microphones................................................................................. 33

7.3 Equalization and Calibration with the terminal's microphone .......................................................................... 33

7.4 Equalization and Calibration with a pair of cardioid microphones .................................................................. 38

7.5 Accuracy of the reproduction arrangement ...................................................................................................... 43

7.5.1 Comparison between original sound field and simulated sound field ......................................................... 43

7.5.2 Transmission of background noise: Comparison of terminal performance in the original sound field

and the simulated sound field ..................................................................................................................... 44

8 Background Noise Database .................................................................................................................. 47

8.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 47

8.1 Binaural signals ................................................................................................................................................ 47

8.2 Binaural signals identical to the background noise recordings provided in ETSI TS 103 224 ......................... 50

8.3 Stereophonic signals ......................................................................................................................................... 51

ETSI
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4 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)

Annex A (informative): Comparison of Tests in Sending Direction and D-Values Conducted

in Different Rooms ......................................................................................... 52

A.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 52

A.1 Test Setup ............................................................................................................................................... 52

A.2 Results of the Tests ................................................................................................................................ 53

A.2.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 53

A.2.1 Sending Frequency Response Characteristics and SLR ................................................................................... 53

A.2.2 D-Value with Pink Noise ................................................................................................................................. 53

A.2.3 D-Value with Cafeteria Noise .......................................................................................................................... 54

A.3 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ 54

Annex B (informative): Graphs ............................................................................................................ 55

History .............................................................................................................................................................. 63

ETSI
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5 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents

IPRs essential or potentially essential to normative deliverables may have been declared to ETSI. The declarations

pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, are publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be

found in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to

ETSI in respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the

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referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web server) which are, or may be, or may become,

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Foreword

This final draft ETSI Standard (ES) has been produced by ETSI Technical Committee Speech and multimedia

Transmission Quality (STQ), and is now submitted for the ETSI standards Membership Approval Procedure.

The present document is part 1 of a multi-part deliverable covering Speech and multimedia Transmission Quality

(STQ); Speech quality performance in the presence of background noise, as identified below:

ETSI ES 202 396-1: "Background noise simulation technique and background noise database";

ETSI EG 202 396-2: "Background noise transmission - Network simulation - Subjective test database and results";

ETSI EG 202 396-3: "Background noise transmission - Objective test methods".
Modal verbs terminology

In the present document "shall", "shall not", "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and

"cannot" are to be interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of

provisions).

"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.

Introduction

Background noise is present in most of the conversations today. Background noise may impact the speech

communication performance to terminal and network equipment significantly. Therefore testing and optimization of

such equipment is necessary using realistic background noises. Furthermore reproducible conditions for the tests are

required which can be guaranteed only under lab type condition.
ETSI
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6 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)

The present document addresses this issue by describing a methodology for recording and playback of background

noises under well-defined and calibratable conditions in a lab-type environment. Furthermore a database with real

background noises is included.
ETSI
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7 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)
1 Scope

The quality of background noise transmission is an important factor, which significantly contributes to the perceived

overall quality of speech. Existing and even more the new generation of terminals, networks and system configurations

including broadband services can be greatly improved with a proper design of terminals and systems in the presence of

background noise. The present document:

• describes a noise simulation environment using realistic background noise scenarios for laboratory use;

• contains a database including the relevant background noise samples for subjective and objective evaluation.

The present document provides information about the recording techniques needed for background noise recordings and

discusses the advantages and drawbacks of existing methods. The present document describes the requirements for

laboratory conditions. The loudspeaker setup and the loudspeaker calibration and equalization procedure are described.

The simulation environment specified can be used for the evaluation and optimization of terminals and of complex

configurations including terminals, networks and other configurations. The main application areas should be: office,

home and car environment.
The setup and database as described in the present document are applicable for:

• Objective performance evaluation of terminals in different (simulated) background noise environments.

• Speech processing evaluation by using the pre-processed speech signal in the presence of background noise,

recorded by a terminal.

• Subjective evaluation of terminals by performing conversational tests, specific double talk tests or talking and

listening tests in the presence of background noise.

• Subjective evaluation in third party listening tests by recording the speech samples of terminals in the presence

of background noise.
2 References
2.1 Normative references

References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or

non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the

referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

Referenced documents which are not found to be publicly available in the expected location might be found at

https://docbox.etsi.org/Reference.

NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee

their long term validity.

The following referenced documents are necessary for the application of the present document.

Not applicable.
ETSI
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8 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)
2.2 Informative references

References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or

non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the

referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee

their long term validity.

The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the

user with regard to a particular subject area.

[i.1] Surround Sound Past, Present, and Future: "A history of multichannel audio from mag stripe to

Dolby Digital", Joseph Hull - Dolby Laboratories Inc.

[i.2] AES preprint 3332 (1992): "Improved Possibilities of Binaural Recording and Playback

Techniques", K. Genuit, H.W. Gierlich; U. Künzli.
NOTE: Available at http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=6801.

[i.3] AES preprint 3732 (1993): "A System for the Reproduction Technique for Playback of Binaural

Recordings", N. Xiang, K. Genuit, H.W. Gierlich.
NOTE: Available at http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=6501.
[i.4] NTTAT Database: "Ambient Noise Database CD-ROM".
NOTE: Available at http://www.ntt-at.com/product/noise-DB.

[i.5] ISO 11904-1: "Acoustics - Determination of sound imission from sound sources placed close to

the ear - Part 1: Technique using a microphone in a real ear (MIRE technique)".

[i.6] J. Blauert: "The psychophysics of human sound localization", Spatial Hearing.

[i.7] Recommendation ITU-T P.57: "Artificial ears".
[i.8] Recommendation ITU-T P.58: "Head and torso simulator for telephonometry".

[i.9] Recommendation ITU-T P.340: "Transmission characteristics and speech quality parameters of

hands-free terminals".

[i.10] Recommendation ITU-T P.64: "Determination of sensitivity/frequency characteristics of local

telephone systems".
[i.11] Recommendation ITU-T G.722: "7 kHz audio-coding within 64 kbit/s".

[i.12] Genuit, K.: "A Description of the Human Outer Ear Transfer Function by Elements of

Communication Theory (No. B6-8)".
International Congress on Acoustics. Toronto published on behalf of the
NOTE: Proceedings of the 12

Technical Program Committee by the Executive Committee of the 12 International Congress on

Acoustics.

[i.13] IEC 60050-722: "International Electrotechnical Vocabulary - Chapter 722: Telephony".

[i.14] "Wellenfeldsynthese - Eine neue Dimension der 3D-Audiowiedergabe"; Fernseh- und Kino-

Technik, Nr. 11/2002, pp. 735-738.
[i.15] N.Lee: "IOSONO" Computers in Entertainment, volume 2, issue 3 (2004).

[i.16] P. Scherer: "Ein neues Verfahren der raumbezogenen Stereophonie mit verbesserter Übertragung

der Rauminformation"; Rundfunktechnische Mitteilungen, 1977, pp. 196-204.
[i.17] Void.
ETSI
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9 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)

[i.18] ETSI TS 151 010-1: "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+) (GSM); Mobile

Station (MS) conformance specification; Part 1: Conformance specification (3GPP TS 51.010-1)".

[i.19] ETSI TS 103 224: "Speech and multimedia Transmission Quality (STQ); A sound field

reproduction method for terminal testing including a background noise database".
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Terms
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms apply:

crosstalk: appearance of undesired energy in a channel, owing to the presence of a signal in another channel, caused

by, for example induction, conduction or non-linearity
NOTE: See IEC 60050-722 [i.13].
3.2 Symbols
Void.
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
CD Compact Disc
EQ Equalization
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
FIR Finite Impulse Response
HATS Head And Torso Simulator
IIR Infinite Impulse Response
MIRE Microphone In Real Ear
MRP Mouth Reference Point
NTT Nippon Telegraph and Telephone corporation
SLR Send Loudness Rating
VHF Very High Frequency
4 Overview of existing methods for realistic sound
reproduction
4.1 Introduction

In general the existing methods for close to original sound recording and reproduction aimed for different applications:

• Techniques intending to reproduce the actual sound field.

• Techniques providing hearing adequate (ear related) signals in the human ear canal.

• Techniques generating artificial acoustical environments.
ETSI
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10 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)

Within this clause the different methods are briefly described and their applicability for close to original sound-filed

reproduction is discussed. A variety of methods have been studied, in the following a summary of the most important

ones relevant to the present document is given. The different methods were analysed on the basis of the following

requirements:
• The background noise recording technique should be:
- easy to use;
- easy to calibrate;
- capable of wideband recording;
- available at reasonable costs;

- mostly compatible to existing standards and procedures used in telecommunications testing;

- applicable to different environments (at least office, home and car).
• The background noise simulation arrangement should:
- be easy to setup;
- not require any specific acoustical treatment for the simulation requirement;

- provide a mostly realistic background noise simulation for all typical background noises faced with in

telecommunication applications;
- be easy to calibrate;

- be mostly insensitive against the positioning of (test)-objects in the simulated sound field;

- be applicable to all typical terminals used in telecommunication;
- be available at reasonable costs.
4.2 Surround Sound Techniques

The basics of surround techniques are found in cinema applications. The virtual image provided by stereophonic

presentation of sounds seemed not to be sufficient for the large screen display in cinema. In the 1950s 4-channel and

6-channel sound tracks recorded on magnetic stripes associated to the films were developed, 4-channel and 6-channel

loudspeaker systems were installed in cinemas to reproduce the multichannel sounds. The newer techniques were

mostly developed and marketed by Dolby [i.1]: Dolby Surround, Dolby Surround Pro Logic, Dolby Digital and Dolby

Digital Surround are examples for the techniques introduced more recently. The most common configuration is the

"5.1-configuration" used in cinema but in home applications as well. The reproduction system consists of left and right

channel, a centre speaker, two surround channels (left and right, arranged in the back of the listener) and a low

frequency channel for low frequency effects.

The aim of all surround system is to create an artificial acoustical image in the recording studio rather than recording a

real acoustical scenario and providing true to original playback possibilities.

On the recording side special surround encoders are used allowing the 5-channel signal to be encoded from a special

mixing console to the 5.1 digital data stream. The playback system consists of a special decoder allowing to separate the

5 channels again and distribute them on the 5.1 loudspeaker playback system. The systems are mono and stereo

compatible and can handle the older 4-channel surround techniques by a specific decoder.

Applications:

Typical applications for surround systems are cinemas and home theatres. The source material is produced by

professional recording studios using multi-channel mixing consoles and specific 5.1 decoding techniques. In mostly all

cases virtual environments are created which support the visual image by an appropriate acoustical image.

ETSI
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11 Final draft ETSI ES 202 396-1 V1.8.1 (2022-03)
Conclusion:

Surround techniques are designed for creating acoustical images rather than for close to original recording and

reproduction. Although the spatial impression provided by surround techniques is sometimes remarkable the acoustical

image created is always artificial. Due to the lack of easy to use recording techniques allowing a spatial recording of a

sound field surround sound techniques are not suitable for creation of a background noise database with realistic

background noises and calibrated background noise simulation in a lab.
4.3 IOSONO

The IOSONO sound system (see [i.14], [i.15] and [i.16]) is based on the Wave-Field Synthesis. It employs Huygens

principle of wave theory. Applied to acoustics this principle means that it is possible to reproduce any form of wave

front with an array of loudspeakers, so that virtual sound sources can be placed anywhere within a listening area. For

practical use it is necessary to position loudspeakers all-round the playback room. In order to generate realistic sound

fields the input signal for each loudspeaker has to be calculated separately. For this purpose each single sound source

(e.g. voices) has to be recorded individually. If the recordings are done in a room, the characteristics (like reverberation)

of the recording room also have to be recorded separately. All resulting sound tracks are then mixed and manipulated

during the post-editing process and the reproduction.

The natural and realistic spatial sound reproduction is then achieved in a wide area of the play back room. Common 5.1

stereo systems achieve a "realistic" sound reproduction only in a small area of the reproduction room.

Applications:

Typical applications are sound systems for home use, cinemas and other entertainment events. The IOSONO sound

system is also able to play back recordings made in common stereo or 5.1 stereo techniques.

Conclusion:
The drawbacks of this m
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