terms of speech quality, intelligibility, and noise immunity), while reducing throughput requirements. The NATO testing also included interoperability tests, used over 200 hours of speech data, and was conducted by 3 test laboratories worldwide. Compandent Inc, as a part of MELPe-based projects performed for NSA and NATO, provided NSA and NATO with special test-bed platform known as MELCODER device that provided the golden reference for real-time implementation of MELPe. The low-cost FLEXI-232 Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) made by Compandent, which are based on the MELCODER golden reference, are very popular and widely used for evaluating and testing MELPe in real-time, various channels & networks, and field conditions. The NATO competition concluded that MELPe substantially improved performance (in terms of speech quality, intelligibility, and noise immunity), while reducing throughput requirements. The NATO testing also included interoperability tests, used over 200 hours of speech data, and was conducted by 3 test laboratories worldwide. In 2005, a new 600 bit/s rate MELPe variation by Thales Group (France) was added (without extensive competition and testing as performed for the 2400/1200 bit/s MELPe) to the NATO standard STANAG-4591, and there are more advanced efforts to lower the bitrates to 300 bit/s and even 150 bit/s. In 2010 Lincoln Labs., Compandent, BBN, and General Dynamics also developed for DARPA a 300 bit/s MELP device . Its quality was better than the 600 bit/s MELPe, but its delay was longer. Other In Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel First Circle the character Volodin's recorded phone call is traced to him since it is not properly encrypted. Its decipherment makes use of spectral analysis. See also Scrambler MELPe MELP Cryptography Pseudorandom noise SIGSALY SCIP Secure telephone Secure Terminal Equipment VINSON VoIP VPN NSA encryption systems ZRTP Fishbowl (secure phone) References Cryptography Secure communication Speech codecs