Audio quality and capacity issues in network design

Abstract

Data networks are an integral part of the professional audio environment. The emphasis in audio networking is moving towards the real-time transfer of audio data. This requires the timely and reliable delivery of audio data. This paper examines a number of quality and capacity issues surrounding the transfer of high quality audio data in real-time over data networks. Areas such as noise, jitter and other types of errors are examined in relation to audio transfer. The paper also includes an overview of the hearing process, compression schemes and a review of perceptual encoding techniques. Important network tools such as Quality of Service and Error Correction are also examined in the context of transferring audio data.