scope:

The present document specifies the subjective and objective methodologies developed in cooperation between TC STQ and TC DECT for the characterization of the Low Complexity Communication Codec Plus (LC3plus) speech codec. It describes experimental tests and conditions used for subjective and objective testing. Based on these methodologies the performance requirements for this codec are specified.

The requirements in the present document are specified to characterize a high-quality codec for use in modern telecommunication networks, including but not limited to DECT and VoIP. A special focus is placed on the fact that end-to-end connections are often of hybrid nature concatenating different technologies and thus tandeming (i.e. transcoding) different codecs.

In addition to its speech capabilities, the LC3plus codec has the option for high quality music streaming. This is out of scope of the present document.

The 2021 revision of the present document adds the test plan for the auditory test, see annex B, the results of the subjective characterization test for the ETSI LC3plus codec, see annex C as well as the related electronic attachment(s).