Chip Enhances Cellular Calls' Clarity

Using Voice Intelligibility Processor (VIP) technology from SRS Labs Inc. in tandem with Lucent Technologies's Enhanced Variable-Rate Codec (EVRC) technology, the EVRC+ chip is said to make cellular phone callers more understandable when calling from noisy environments such as airports, restaurants and automobiles. In addition to incorporating standard EVRC technology, the chip also integrates the firm's ClearEVRC technology, which helps suppress noisy tones that are possible under low signal conditions in EVRC-equipped cellular phones. VIP technology operates on the voice signal by processing those portions that the brain uses for cognition. As a result, cellular phone manufacturers can avoid adding complex noise-management schemes to their phones. Samples of the EVRC+ chip will be available in the second quarter.