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A digital communication apparatus with improved echo suppression includes a circuit for detecting the gain of a far talker signal and a circuit for detecting the gain of a near talker signal. These gains are compared and echo suppression is accomplished by suppressing the lesser of the two gains.
1. A digital communication apparatus for transmitting and receiving a compressed digital representation of speech produced by a near talker and a far talker respectively, said compressed digital representation of speech including a coded gain parameter related to speech energy, said apparatus comprising:
transmission gain detection means for reading the gain parameter of said near talker's compressed digital representation of speech;
receiver gain detection means for reading the gain parameter of said far talker's compressed digital representation of speech;
means for detection which of said near talker and far talker gain parameters has a lesser value, and for reducing the gain parameter detected to have the lesser value.
2. A method of echo suppression in a digital communication link having near and far ends, said digital communication link communicating a compressed digital representation of speech produced by a near talker and a far talker, said compressed digital representation of speech including a coded gain parameter related to speech energy, the method comprising the steps of:
at said first end, determining which of said gain parameters has a first lesser value and reducing said gain parameter having said first lesser value; and
at said second end, determining which of said gain parameters has a second lesser value and reducing said gain parameter having said second lesser value.
This application is related to application Ser. No. 471,038, filed Mar. 1, 1983, for DIGITAL VOICE COMPRESSION HAVING A DIGITALLY CONTOLLED AGC CIRCUIT AND MEANS FOR INCLUDING THE TRUE GAIN IN THE COMPRESSED DATA; application Ser. No. 471,137, filed Mar. 1, 1983, for DIGITAL VOICE TRANSMISSION HAVING IMPROVED ECHO SUPRESSION; and application Ser. No. 471,139, filed Mar. 1, 1983, for DIGITAL VOICE COMPRESSION HAVING A DIGITALLY CONTROLLED AGC CIRCUIT AND MEANS FOR INCLUDING THE TRUE GAIN IN THE COMPRESSED DATA.
The present invention relates to digital voice transmission over telephone lines and is particularly useful in digital voice transmission in which a digitized voice signal of, e.g., 64,000 bits per second (bps) is compressed to, e.g., 2,400 bps for transmission over the telephone bandwidth, with improved echo suppression being used to improve system operation.
It is well known in the prior art to digitize the analog signal output of, e.g., a telephone microphone, representing a voice signal, in order to transmit the digital data over a telephone line. The digitized signal, which may be converted back to an analog representation of the digital data for the purpose of transmission over the telephone lines, as is also well known in the art, is less susceptible to noise on the telephone line, is capable of multiplexed channel operation in the telephone bandwidth, reduces crosstalk and enables relatively easy digital encryption for secure transmission.
The digitized voice signal, which typically is at, e.g., 64,000 bps, cannot be readily sent within the available approximately 3,000 Hz bandwidth of the telephone lines or be readily sent multichannel at that bit rate within the available telephone line bandwidth. To enable more convenient transmission and/or multiplexed transmission, compression of the 64,000 bps digitized voice signal is employed, as is known in the art. One method of compressing the 64,000 bps to, e.g., 2,400 bps is to use a linear predictive coding technique known in the art, a discussion of which is found, for example, in Markel, Gray, Jr. & Wakita, "Linear Prediction of Speech Theory and Practice," Speech Communication Research Laboratory, Inc. Monograph No. 10 (1978), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. With compression to 2,400 bps, four simultaneous channels of 2,400 bps each can be multiplexed via a modem onto a 9,600 bps data stream transmitted over the bandwidth of the analog telephone lines.
The linear predictive coding technique employs digital filtering of the 64,000 bps digitized voice in digital resonating filters. Only digits representative of fundamental frequencies within the analog voice signal are selected in the compression to 2,400 bps. Speech is made up of pitch (voiced and unvoiced) and amplitude components, with the pitch being derived from the action of the human vocal cords. Pitch ranges vary from adult males, 50-150 Hz, adult females, 90-450 Hz and children, 125-575 Hz. Thus, much of the fundamental frequencies in the voice of a telephone talker is eliminated from the approximately 300-3000 Hz telephone bandwidth. However, fundamental pitch frequencies can be determined from, e.g., second or third harmonics. Thus, e.g., 360 Hz is the second harmonic of 180 Hz and the third harmonic of 120 Hz. It is thus possible in the linear predictive compression technique to transmit a compressed form of digitized speech representing the fundamental pitch frequencies, the voiced speech component, and the unvoiced speech component to synthesize these at the receiver end to simulate actual speech, as is all well known in the art. In synthesizing speech at the receiver end, the unvoiced components are represented by white noise, i.e., random binary bits, which, when synthesized with the voiced components in the proper proportion, result in simulating actual speech, when the resulting synthesized digital signals at the receiver end, now expanded to 64,000 bps, are passed through a digital-to-analog converter, as is also known in the art. The linear predictive coding technique uses a linear prediction algorithm, e.g., LPC-10.
Fundamentally what the linear predictive coding does is to generate a set of, e.g., 10 numbers (envelope prediction factors) per frame at the transmitter, based upon the actual data taken from the analog-to-digital conversion of the analog speech signal, at 64,000 bps. These 10 numbers enable the receiver end to generate by use of the linear predictive algorithm a full set of, e.g., 180 points per frame, e.g., 64,000 bps digitized voice. The 10 numbers per frame, plus six bits representing pitch, six bits representing RMS gain and a sync bit are transmitted every frame, which amounts to 2400 bps. A frame in the example of the present invention is 22.5 milliseconds. The 10 numbers are generated in the transmitter from an analysis of the envelope of the digitized voice signal in the frequency domain, and enable the reconstruction of the envelope at the receiver end. Those skilled in the arts of speech synthesis and compression will recognize the terms "gain" and "RMS gain" as used herein refer to a digitally coded speech synthesis parameter used in LPC and other speech synthesis techniques. In the speech synthesis and compression arts, these terms generally relate to the energy, power or signal level averaged over a short sample of speech. A more precise mathematical definition of the term may be found in numerous references related to speech analysis and synthesis using Linear prediction techniques, e.g. "Digital Processing of Speech Signals, " by Radner and Schaefer, Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1978, pp. 396-455.
There are presently in use both two-wire and four-wire telephone transmission links. In the two-wire system, analog speech or data signals are transmitted in both directions with two wires. In the four-wire system there are two wires, each with an associated ground wire, e.g., one for transmitting and one for receiving.
Because of processing delays inherent in the compression/expansion of digitized voice, echo suppression is of crucial importance. The prior art has not adequately solved this problem.
The present invention relates to echo suppression, which includes software implementation in the present invention enabling suppression of the same echo signal at its originating end of the transmission link and at the receiver end, and also includes use of, e.g., an operational amplifier hybrid circuit.
The problems enumerated in the foregoing have not been intended to be exhaustive, but rather are representative of problems which have tended to impair the effectiveness of limited bandwidth, e.g., telephone bandwidth, digital voice transmission apparatus used in the prior art, particularly those using multichannel transmission within the telephone bandwidth. Other noteworthy problems may also exist; however, those presented above should be sufficient to demonstrate that limited bandwidth, e.g., telephone bandwidth digital voice transmission apparatus appearing in the prior art have not been altogether satisfactory.
Similarly, the foregoing examples of the more important features of the present invention have been given rather broadly in order that the detailed description thereof which follows may be better understood and the contribution to the art better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of this invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the appended claims.
These other features of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals have been applied to like elements, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an analog input/output circuit for digitized voice compression/expansion and employing the automatic gain control and echo suppression features of the present invention;
FIGS. 2 and 2A are a more detailed schematic diagram of the circuit of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a digital voice synthesizer employed in the receiver of a voice transmission link using the present invention;
FIG. 4 shows a flow chart for software implementation of automatic gain control in accordance with the present invention;
FIGS. 5 and 5A show a flow chart for software implementation of echo suppression in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows a further detail of the automatic gain control circuit according to the present invention; and,
FIG. 7 shows the timing of an analog-digital/digital-analog converter in accordance with the present invention.
Shown in FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an analog input/output circuit 10 for digitized voice compression and expansion in accordance with the present invention. The circuit 10 is adapted for connection either to a two-wire or four-wire telephone transmission link and thus has a two-wire to four-wire interface 12 and a four-wire interface 18. The two-wire to four-wire interface 12 is connected to two-wire telephone transmission lines 14 and 16. The four-wire interface 18 is connected to a telephone receive link 20, having an associated ground connection 22, and a telephone transmission link 24, having an associated ground connection 26.
Each of the two-wire to four-wire interface 12 and four-wire interface 18 is connected to a spectrum shaping amplifier 32. The spectrum shaping amplifier 32 is connected through a suitcase strap or a selector switch 34 to an automatic gain control (AGC) section 36, with the switch 34 also having a position selecting an AGC 36 bypass through a 47 Kohm bypass resistor 38. The outputs of the AGC 36 section and the bypass resistor 38 are connected to the input filter half 46 of the bandpass filter 44 which passes only energy in the telephone line bandwidth from about 300-3000 Hz. The output filter half 48 of the same bandpass filter 44 is connected to the telephone handset speaker input 49 of the two-wire to four-wire interface 12 and to the telephone handset speaker input 51 of the four-wire interface 18.
The input filter 46 is connected to an analog-to-digital converter half 52 of an analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converter 50 (A/D/A converter), the output of which is serialized digital data at 64,000 bps, representative of the analog input to the analog-to-digital half 52. This serialized data at 64,000 bps is passed to a serial-to-parallel converter 58 which provides an 8-bit word on output line 62 to an RMS linear prediction analyzer portion of a linear prediction processor 41. The linear prediction analyzer portion of the processor 41 performs the compression of the 64,000 bps output of the serial-to-parallel converter 58 to 2,400 bps for transmission and a linear prediction synthesizer portion of the processor 41 performs an expanding conversion of 2,400 bps received data to eight-bit words at 64,000 bps, which is an input on line 64 to a parallel-to-serial converter 60. The 2,400 bits as compressed by the processor 41 is transmitted via output 43 to, e.g., a modem (not shown) to a remote location, and the 2,400 bps as expanded by the synthesizer portion of the processor 41 is that which has been received on input 45 from a remote location, e.g., through a modem, (not shown) and the expanded 64,000 bps is used locally to drive, e.g., a telephone handset speaker (not shown). The parallel-to-serial converter 60 is connected through a digital-to-analog converter 54 half of the A/D/A converter 50 and a suitcase strap 56 to the output filter half 48.
The RMS analyzer portion of the processor 41 has a PDI section which provides an eight-bit control signal on line 42 to the AGC section 36, depending upon the value of the root mean square (RMS) determined in the processor 41 during the compression function, as will be more fully explained below.
Shown in FIGS. 2 and 2A is a more detailed schematic view of the circuitry of FIG. 1. The two-wire to four-wire interface contained within phantom lines 12 is shown to have an off-hook detector amplifier 66, the negative input 68 of which is connected to RING line 16 through a 160 Kohm resistor 72. The RING line is connected to system ground, through a 47 ohm resistor 70. The negative input 68 of the amplifier 66 is connected to system ground through a 1 microfared capacitor 74.
The positive input 76 of the amplifier 66 is connected to system supply voltge Vcc through a 10 Kohm resistor 78 and is connected to system ground through the parallel connection of a 1.6 Kohm resistor 80 and a 0.01 microfarad capacitor 82. The output of amplifier 66 is connected to an OFF HOOK line, which gives an OFF HOOK enabling signal to the analyzer 41 software.
The two-wire to four-wire interface 12 is also shown to have a high voltage ringing circuit connected to 180 V through a diode 84. The diode 84 is a 1N4004 rectifier diode. The high voltage ringing circuit includes transistors 86, 88 and 90. Transistor 86 is a PNP transistor, e.g., a 2N5415, having its base connected through a 4.7 Kohm resistor 92 to the diode 84 and through a 27 Kohm resistor 94 to the collector of an NPN transistor 90, e.g., a 2N3439 the emitter of which is connected to ground. The emitter of the transistor 86 is connected to the diode 84 through a 47 ohm resistor 98 and the collector of the transistor 86 is connected through a 47 ohm resistor 100 to the collector of an NPN transistor 88, e.g., a 2N3439, the emitter of which is connected to ground.
The bases of transistors 88 and 90 are connected to TTL level signals Q1.0.NH and Q2.0.NH through, respectively, an 82 Kohm resistor 91 and a 360 ohm resistor 93.
A node 102 between the collector of the transistor 86 and the resistor 100 is connected to a node 104 between the anode of a diode 106 and cathode of a diode 108. The cathode of the diode 106 is connected to the cathode of the diode 84 and the anode of diode 108 is connected to ground. The node 104 is connected to the TIP line and to the cathode of a diode 110, the anode of which is connected to a node 112. Each of the diodes 106, 108 and 110 are IN4004 diodes.
Node 112 is connected to a +12 V bias supply through an 82 ohm resistor 114 and an 82 ohm resistor 116, a node 118 between which is connected to ground through a 0.01 micro-farad capacitor 120. Node 112 is connected to the positive input 122 of an impedance matching hybrid operational amplifier 124 (hereinafter "the hybrid operational amplifier"). The negative input 125 of the hybrid operational amplifier 124 is connected to node 112 through a 1.2 Kohm resistor 128 and a 1.2 Kohm resistor 126. The hybrid operational amplifier 124 has a negative feedback loop consisting of a 27 ohm resistor 130, a 100 ohm variable resistor 132, a second 100 ohm variable resistor 134 and a second 27 ohm resistor 136, with a 55 millihenry inductor 138 connected between the variable resistors 132, 134 and the output of the hybrid operational amplifier 124. The output of the hybrid operational amplifier 124 is connected to a node 144 through a 0.068 microfarad capacitor 146 and a 9.1 Kohm resistor 148. Node 144 is the output 28 of two-wire-to-four-wire interface 12 and is connected to the output 30 of the four-wire interface 18, described in further detail below, through a 0.033 microfarad capacitor 140 and an 18 Kohm resistor 142.
Node 144 is connected to the negative input 150 of the spectrum shaping operational amplifier 152 contained within section 32, the positive input 151 of amplifier 152 is connected to ground. The operational amplifier 152 has a negative feedback loop to the negative input 150 through a 39.2 Kohm resistor 154. The output of the operational amplifier 152 is connected to switch 34, shown in FIG. 2A, through a 0.068 microfarad capacitor 153.
One position of switch 34 directs the output of operational amplifier 152 to the AGC circuit 36 and a 47 Kohm AGC input resistor 156 connected to ground. The AGC circuit 36 is, e.g., an AD7524 made by Analog Devices of Norwood, Mass. The AGC circuit 36 has inputs D7-D0 from PDI pins PDI07-00 from the analyzer 41 (shown in FIG. 1) and CS and CW inputs from PDICS3 and PDI WRTL from the analyzer 41, with the CS and CW inputs also connected to VCC through 1 Kohm resistors 155 and 157, respectively.
The output, OUT 1, of the AGC circuit 36 is connected to the VFx I- input of an Intel 2912 filter 44, which VFx I- input is also connected to a second position of switch 34 through the 47 Kohm AGC bypass resistor 38. The output, OUT 1 of the AGC 36 is also connected to ground through a zener diode 158, e.g., a 1N5711 diode made by Hewlett-Packard. The VFx I+ input to the filter 44 is grounded. The GSx pin of the filter 44 is connected to RFB in the AGC circuit 36 through a 39 Kohm resistor 160. The Vcc pin of the filter 44 is connected to Vcc and also is connected to ground through a 0.01 microfarad capacitor 162. The CLKO pin of the filter 44 is connected to Vcc through a 1 Kohm resistor 166. The VFx output pin VFx 0 of the filter 44 is connected to the VFx input of the analog-to-digital half 52 of the A/D/A converter 50 through a 0.3 microfarad capacitor 164 and to the AUTO input pin of the A/D converter through voltage dividing resistors 170, a 150 Kohm resistor, and 172, a 332 ohm resistor, and through a 475 Kohm resistor 176, connected to the node 174 between the resistors 170 and 172. The A/D/A converter 50 is an Intel 2911.
The VFRI input pin of the output half 48 of the filter 44 is connected through a switchcase strap or a switch 56 to either the VFx pin or the VFR pin of the A/D/A converter 50. The C1X and C2X pins of the A/D/A converter are connected through a 2200 picofarad capacitor 178.
The CLKC pin of the filter 44 is connected to the IOCLK line. The CLKC pin on the A/D converter 50 is connected to Vcc through a 1 Kohm resistor 180. The TSx pin on the A/D/A converter 50 is connected to the RE pin on the serial-to-parallel converter 58 and the CI pin on the parallel-to-serial converter 60, and also is connected to a +5 v source through a 1 Kohm resistor 186.
The CLK.sub. x pin on the A/D/A converter 50 is connected through an inverter 182 to the CP pin on the serial-to-parallel converter 58 and to the CLK R pin of the A/D/A converter 50. The QH pin of the parallel-to-serial converter 60 is connected to the DR pin of the A/D/A converter 50. Vcc of the A/D/A converter 50 is connected to Vcc across a 0.01 microfarad capacitor 184. The Dx pin of the A/D/A converter 50 is connected to the DA pin of the serial-to-parallel converter 58.
The DE pin of the serial-to-parallel converter 58 is connected to the AD and NL line. The S/P, SE and CLR pins of the serial-to-parallel converter 58 are connected to the PULLUP 2 line. A pair of flip-flops 188 and 190 serve to generate an interrupt signal on the ADINT line and a reset signal on the ADRST line in response to a clock signal on the SRCLK line. This is a timing function to inform the analyzer 41 when data is ready to be sent from the serial-to-parallel converter 58 and data is ready to be received by the parallel-to-serial 60. Also the flip-flops 188 and 190 control the timing of transfer of data from the A/D/A converter 50 to or from the converters 58 and 60. The flip-flops 188 and 190 are connected to Vcc through a 1 Kohm resistor 191.
Negative voltage of -5 v is supplied to VBB of the filter 44 across a 1 microfarad capacitor 192, and to VBB of the A/D/A converter 50, from an A79M05 voltage regulator 194 (shown in FIG. 2) made, for example, by Fairchild of Mountain View, Calif., which is supplied with -12 v across a 2 microfarad capacitor 196.
As shown in FIG. 2 the output VFR 0 of filter 44 for driving the speaker in the telephone handset is connected through a 10 Kohm variable resistor 198 and a 10 Kohm resistor 200 to the negative input 202 of an operational amplifier 204, the positive input 206 of which is connected to ground through an 8.2 Kohm resistor 208. The operational amplifier 204 has a feedback loop to the negative input 202 thereof through a 27 Kohm resistor 210.
The output of the operational amplifier 202 is connected to a node 212, which is connected to a node 214 between the resistors 126 and 128, and forms the output for the signal to be passed through the two-wire to four-wire interface to the TIP line 14 for driving the telephone speaker in the full duplex system on the tip line 14. Node 212 is also connected to the four-wire interface 18 through an 18 Kohm resistor 216.
The telephone speaker drive line 24 is connected through a 619 ohm resistor 230 to the output of an operational amplifier 220, a negative input 218 of which is connected to the resistor 216 and a positive input 221 of which is connected to ground through a 13 Kohm resistor 222. The operational amplifier 220 has a feedback loop connected to the negative input 218, including the parallel connection of a 9.1 Kohm resistor 228.
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a synthesizer 249 contained in the processor 41 in the present invention. During each frame of 54 bits contained within the 2,400 bps received from the remote location via, e.g., a modem (not shown), the synthesizer portion of the processor 41 receives through a processor 240 six bits of decoded data representing pitch, six bits of data representing gain, 1 sync bit, and 10 words of variable bit length from 5 to 2, totalling 40 bits of data from which the synthesizer 249 contained in the processor 41 software, using the linear predictive algorithm, generates 180 points defining the frequency spectrum envelope of the analog speech to be synthesized. The pitch data is employed to drive an oscillator 250 at the proper pitch. If pitch for that frame is 0, then an electronic switch 252 in the synthesizer 249 is in the position to be supplied with random digital numbers, i.e., noise, from a random number generator 254. The oscillator 250 is connected to the switch 252 through a filter 256 which spreads the spectrum of the oscillator 250 about its oscillating frequency for better approximation of speech by the synthesizer 249. When the switch 252 is the position shown in FIG. 3, the voicing decision is a voiced decision and when it is in the position to receive noise, it is an unvoiced decision.
A filter 258 is an adjustable digital filter, the output of which is controlled by the 10 numbers defining the frequency spectrum envelope for that frame, as generated by the synthesizer portion of the processor 41. This results in an output of the filter 58 which corresponds quite closely to the analog speech signal in the time domain originally digitized and compressed for transmission. This signal is amplified in a gain amplifier 260 according to the value of the gain (RMS) for that frame. This value is equal to the measured RMS, which the analyzer 41 at a remote location computed in performing the linear prediction coding, adjusted for the gain or attenuation, if any, introduced in the AGC section 32 at the remote location to ensure proper operation of the analyzer 41 at the remote location in compressing the digitized voice at 64,000 bps to 2,400 bps by use of the linear prediction algorithm. Therefore it is the true gain necessary to duplicate the original analog speech in volume.
The software implementation of automatic gain control at the speaker's end of the transmission link provided by the analyzer 41 at that end during voice compression is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 4. Modification of the gain in the AGC 36 is dependent upon the RMS value in the analyzer 41. A programmed data processor or hard wired large scale integrated circuit, e.g., a microprocessor controller in the analyzer 41 starting at start 300 (AGAINC) first sets the values for VMAX=85, RANGE=0.63096, IDEAL=512 and VINC=4 in block 302. A decision is then made in block 304 between whether the voicing decision in a given frame is a voiced decision or unvoiced decision, i.e., is there a pitch value or is pitch=0. If it is unvoiced the count VCNT in an AGC accumulator within the microprocessor in the analyzer 41 is decremented by 1 in block 305. The count VCNT in the accumulator is then checked in block 306 to see if it is greater than or equal to zero. If it is not greater than or equal to zero the count VCNT is set at zero in block 308.
Returning to block 304, if the decision is a voiced decision the AGC1 loop is started at 310. The VCNT is incremented in block 312 by VINC which equals 4. The present value of RMS in the analyzer 41, ARMS, is then compared in block 314 to see if it is greater than the most recent peak value AVENG of ARMS. If it is greater, then AVENG is set to equal present ARMS in block 316 representing now the most recent peak. Regardless of whether AVENG needs to be reset, the accumulated value of the AGC accumulator VCNT is then compared in decision block 318 to see if it is less than the preselected value of VMAX, in this case 85. If it is, the no change NOCHNG instruction is initiated in block 320. The result of the unvoiced instructions in blocks 305, 306 and 308 is also to ultimately initiate NOCHNG, as shown in FIG. 4.
Returning now to block 318, if VCNT is not less than VMAX, VCNT is set to zero in block 320 and a decision is made whether to adjust the gain of the AGC 36. The most recent peak ARMS, AVENG, is compared in block 322 to see if it is greater than or equal to generally a midpoint selected value, IDEAL, in this case 512, and also if the difference between AVENG and IDEAL is less than or equal to some value, RANGE. If it is not ≧ to IDEAL and the difference is not ≦ RANGE then value GCNT in the gain accumulator is incremented in block 324 to GCNT +1. After this, or if the decision in block 322 is a yes decision, then the DNTST instruction is started in block 326. In block 328 IDEAL is compared to see if it is greater than or equal to AVENG and if the difference between the AVENG and IDEAL is less than or equal to RANGE. If IDEAL is not less than or equal to AVENG, and the difference is not less than RANGE, the count GCNT is decremented by 1 in block 330. Regardless of whether GCNT is decremented, the next instruction executed is to start NOCHNG at block 331. If the count in the gain accumulator GCNT is less than 0 it is reset to 0 by the combination of the steps in blocks 332 and 334. If GCNT is not less than 16 it is reset to 15 by the combination of the steps in blocks 336 and 338. The next instruction in block 339 provides for a look up in a memory table in the analyzer 41 of a gain control signal to be provided to the AGC 36 on lines PDI07-00 from the analyzer 41, based upon the value of GCNT.
Thus the AGC controller in the analyzer 41 microprocessor assigns a value of -1 to unvoiced decisions and +4 to voiced decisions. These are accumulated from frame to frame during the processing by the analyzer 41 for making gain adjustment decisions for use in the AGC 36 and correspond to whether there was data in the respective frame indicating that pitch was present in the frame, as transmitted to the remote location in the frame data. Only if VCNT exceeds VMAX is a gain change permitted. This ensures that a speech-like signal is present and that enough intervals have occurred on which to base a gain decision. Thus the AGC 36 in the apparatus of the present invention is adjusted only in response to speech signals and only to keep these signals within the range necessary for proper processing by the analyzer 41 in accordance with the linear predictive algorithm.
Once VCNT exceeds VMAX, an AGC 36 gain decision is made and VCNT is then set to zero to prevent rapid gain changes in the AGC 36. The parameter used during voiced intervals is the most recent peak ARMS in the analyzer 41 (AVENG) which is compared with the value representative of the desired RMS. The sign of the difference, as determined in the software, determines the direction of the gain change. No change is made if the magnitude of the difference is less than a preselected value, RANGE, since no change is needed if the magnitude of the difference is such that the measured ARMS energy is close to the selected IDEAL. If the difference is greater than the selected RANGE then a one-step change of �2 db is made in the AGC 36, and AVENG is reset to zero so that the next measured ARMS will become AVENG.
The gain change is made by incrementing or decrementing by one a four-bit counter GCNT within the microprocessor in the analyzer 41. The count GCNT in this counter is used within the software in the analyzer 41, used for controlling the AGC 36, to address a corresponding memory location and the new gain setting contained therein is written to the AGC 36 on lines PDI07-00.
IDEAL is set at 512, which is half scale for the RMS parameter. RANGE is a multiplier 0.63096 which corresponds to 4 db (4=20 log (1/0.63096). VMAX is empirically set at 85.
The analyzer 41 receives data at 64,000 bps from the serial-to-parallel converter 58 and compresses this data according to the linear predictive algorithm. In the process it computes RMS on a frame-by-frame basis and performs the decision-making process of whether to adjust the gain of the AGC 36. The gain of the AGC 36 is thus available data for the analyzer 41, which transmits, via, e.g., a modem (not shown), the true gain (i.e., the ARMS adjusted by whatever value the AGC 36 gain has been adjusted to maintain the analyzer 41 in the proper range for accurately performing the linear prediction algorithm) as part of the frame data, to an analyzer 41 at a remote location. Using the actual data for a frame, the analyzer 41 computes the best set of, e.g., 10 linear prediction algorithm factors, from which the remote analyzer 41 can reconstruct the full 180 points of digital data representing the frequency domain spectrum envelope for synthesis by a synthesizer 249 contained in the remote analyzer 41 to simulate a voice signal which is an analog signal.
The analyzer 41 also receives compressed 2,400 bps data from a remote analyzer 41 via, e.g., a modem (not shown). Using this data, and the linear predictive algorithm, it generates a frequency domain spectrum envelope for each frame. It also receives pitch and gain data for each frame and from the pitch, gain and envelope data it synthesizes in its synthesizer portion 249 a 64,000 bps digital voice signal which is converted in the A/D/A converter 50 to drive the speaker in the local telephone handset.
Echo suppression of the present invention is partially software implemented and includes also circuitry within the two-wire-to-four-wire interface 12 which functions as an echo suppressor in the manner of balancing network couplers in the prior art. These employ transformers to accomplish echo suppression by balancing impedances. The echo suppressor of the present invention is particularly suited to the present system employing digitized voice. In the interface circuitry of the present invention the hybrid coupler of the prior art is replaced with a hybrid coupling operational amplifier 124.
The source of echo in the interface circuitry of the present invention is the two-wire to four-wire load balancing circuit including operational amplifier 124. As the impedance of the two-wire load, i.e., the telephone, varies from the impedance the balancing circuit expects to see, a larger amount of the synthesizer 249 output signal at node 214 is reflected into the analog input to the analyzer 41 through the spectrum shaping amplifier 32.
Because of the processing delay inherent in digital voice transmission, especially employing data compression and expansion, even small amounts of echo are annoying to the talker. The echo suppression employed in the present invention effectively eliminates this residual echo, and the flow chart for the software implementation is shown in FIG. 5.
Echo suppression is carried out by a combination of the use of the balancing hybrid operational amplifier 124 and software analysis of the near talker RMS in the analyzer 41, ARMS, and the far talker RMS in the synthesizer, 249, SRMS. This determines whether the user at the respective end of the transmission link is talking or listening during each frame and accordingly attenuates ARMS or SRMS. This process begins in software, e.g., in the analyzer 41, at START 350. In decision block 352 the ARMS is compared to see if it is greater than the most recent peak ARMS, i.e., ARMSP. If it is then the ARMSP value is set to the present ARMS value in block 354. Since decisions are made each frame regarding which signal to suppress in order to suppress echo effectively during pauses and at the end of talking, two delay functions are employed. The first is to hold ARMSP at its most recent value for a selected time. This is done in block 354 by setting the count CACNT in an accumulator in the analyzer 41 to DCNT, equal to 16, and which CACNT is decremented by 1 each frame for a total of 16 frames, as long as ARMS is less than or equal to ARMSP.
In decision block 356 SRMS is compared to SRMSP, the most recent peak SRMS. If it is greater, then SRMSP is set to equal the present SRMS in block 358. Also for the reasons explained above a delay counter accumulator count CSCNT in an accumulator in the analyzer 41 is set to equal DCNT and is decremented by 1 once each frame for 16 frames as long as SRMS is less than or equal to SRMSP.
In decision block 360 CACNT is compared to 0 and if less than or equal to 0 ARMSP is set at the present value of ARMS in block 362. This same function is performed in decision block 364 and block 366 with respect to CSCNT and SRMSP equal to the present SRMS.
A decision whether to attenuate SRMS is made in decision block 368 by comparing ARMSP to a value THRONE set at two-fifths scale, and also comparing to see if ARMSP is greater than or equal to SRMSP plus a fraction of the hybrid loss HLOSS. The first condition makes certain that a reasonable volume of speech is being transmitted/received and the second condition makes certain that the received energy is smaller, even when a correction is made for hybrid impedance mismatch. If these conditions are met an attenuating counter for the synthesizer CNTA is set in block 370 at MAXCNT, e.g., 16 and an attenuating counter for the analyzer CNTS is set to zero. This results in SRMS attenuation at, e.g., 12 db each frame for as long as CNTA is greater than 0.
Similarly if SRMSP is greater than THRONE and SRMSP is greater than ARMSP+HLOSS a decision is made in decision block 372 which results in block 374 in the setting of an attenuating counter CNTS for the analyzer at MAXCNT and the attenuating counter CNTA for the synthesizer at 0, to attenuate ARMS for a selected number of frames as CNTS decrements each frame from MAXCNT which may be, e.g., 16.
Moving on to FIG. 5A it is seen that ARMSP and SRMSP are then compared in decision blocks 376 and 380, respectively, with a second threshold value THRTWO, equal to four-fifths scale. If either is greater than this value then, respectively, the far talker or near talker is interrupting and attenuation must be accordingly removed. This is done in blocks 378 and 382 by setting, respectively, CNTS or CNTA equal to 0.
Decision blocks 384 and 386 control the actual attenuation so long as, respectively, CNTA is greater than 0 or CNTS is greater than 0. In the former event SRMS is set in block 386 to equal SRMS minus, e.g., 12 db and in the latter event ARMS is set in block 390 to equal ARMS minus, e.g., 12 db.
The decrementing function is performed in block 392 by setting CNTA, CNTS, CACNT and CSCNT each equal to their respective values minus 1. The program then returns to START from RETURN 394, to begin processing the data for the next frame.
Thus it can be seen that the software at each end of the transmission link functions to attenuate the proper value, either SRMS or ARMS depending on whether the near talker or far talker, as perceived by each respective end of the transmission link, is the actual talker, the other signal, either SRMS or ARMS, being thereby determined to be echo and being attenuated to suppress the echo.
Echo suppression also occurs in the four-wire interface section of the two-wire to four-wire converter. The voltage at node 112, V112 is given by equation 1. ##EQU1## where: VT =telephone MIC output voltage
ZT =telephone impedance
VS =voltage at the output of operational amplifier 204 (the synthesizer output).
Since the operational amplifier 124 is operating with negative feedback, its negative input will track the positive input. A second node equation at the output of the amplifier 124 yields: ##EQU2## where: V0 is the voltage at the output of the operational amplifier 124 (the analyzer input)
Rf is the equivalent resistance of the feedback resistance inductance network of the operation amplifier 124.
Substituting for V112 from equation 1 yields: ##EQU3##
For proper operation there should be no VS signal component in V0. For this to occur, the first term on the right side of equation 3 must equal zero. That term equals zero when: ##EQU4##
In the design of the present invention, this requirement is satisfied using Rf =ZT and R128 =R126. Substituting these values into equation 3 yields V0 as a function of the microphone signal:
In order to empirically match ZT, measurements were taken of the telephone impedance over the range of about 100 to 4000 Hz at a bias current of 16 ma. From this data a matching network according to the present invention was synthesized. Since telephone impedances vary from unit to unit, two adjustments are included in the network by way of the variable resistors 132 and 134 and 198 in order to improve the nominal matching.
The performance of the two-wire to four-wire converter 12 is more critical in the present invention than in a normal telephone channel since the processing delay inherent in the use of digitized voice will produce sufficient delay in the echo path of the converter 12 (synthesizer out to analyzer in) to disturb the normal cadence of the talker.
Once adjusted, the circuit yields approximately 40 dB of loss in the echo path across the 100 to 4000 Hz spectrum. To null the circuit a signal (1000 Hz, sinusoidal, 0.814 VRMS) is inserted at the center post of suitcase strap 56 (with the strap removed). Variable resistor 198 is adjusted (Rx Gain Pot) to produce 1.1�0.2 VRMS at the output of amplifier 204. This adjusts the receive gain and provides a reference signal for the two-wire to four-wire balance adjustment. The balance adjustment must be made with the telephone connected to the RING and TIP lines and with OFF HOOK activated. Monitoring the output of the amplifier 152, variable resistor 132 and 134 are adjusted to null the signal at that point. The signal level at that point should be at least 35 dB lower than at the output of amplifier 204.
The principal features of the operation of the present invention will be now described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 2A. Bias current for the telephone is produced using a series resistor network 116 and 114 to +12 volts with a decoupling capacitor 120 to ground.
The ring driver 15 consists of a totem pole driver circuit which includes transistors 86, 88 and 90 and associated discrete components. The circuit uses the TTL level signals Q10NH and Q20NH to alternately switch the TIP line between 180 V and ground. The design of the TTL drive signals includes a "dead time" between state changes in which both transistor 88 and transistor 86 are off.
Diodes 108 and 106 limit the spiking which occurs when the current in the bell coil of the telephone (not shown) tries to change rapidly. Diode 110 isolates the ringing voltage from the two-wire to four-wire converter 12. When the ring driver 15 is active the voltage at node 112 will swing from 0 to +12 V, at which point diode 110 turns off, while the cathode side of diode 110 continues toward 180 V.
When the ring driver 15 is inactive both halves of the totem pole driver circuit are off, thereby presenting a very high impedance to the TIP line and having no effect on the two-wire to four-wire converter 12 balance.
The hookswitch status detection is accomplished by the amplifier 66 and its associated discrete components. Resistor 70 is a DC current sense resistor. The voltage across resistor 70 is low pass filtered at 1 Hz by resistor 72 and capacitor 74 and compared (via amplifier 66) to a fixed threshold at the junction of resistors 78 and 80. In operation there are four combinations of ring state and hookswitch status which the status detection circuitry must recognize. Each combination is described below.
1. Ring Active, ON HOOK--for this state (which occurs when a call is received) the TIP and RING leads are AC coupled through the telephone bell circuit. The voltage across the sense resistor 70 is therefore an AC signal (f approximately 20 Hz). The 1 Hz LPF (resistor 72 and capacitor 74) prevents excursions of this signal from exceeding the threshold and the ONHOOK status does not change.
2. Ring Active, OFF HOOK--in this state (which occurs when a call is answered) the TIP and RING lines are DC coupled through the telephone. The LPF capacitor 82 charges to the average value of the ring signal, which exceeds the preselected threshold and generates the OFFHOOK status, which should then be sensed by software to turn off the ring signal.
3. Ring Inactive ON HOOK--in this state (which occurs when the telephone is no longer being used) the TIP and RING lines are again AC coupled. No bias current can flow through the TIP and RING lines and the voltage across resistor 70 drops below the threshold (to 0 V) producing the ON HOOK indication.
4. Ring Inactive, OFF HOOK--in this state (which occurs when a call is initiated or in-progress) the TIP and RING lines are DC coupled. Bias current flows through resistor 70 producing a voltage approximately twice the threshold voltage at the LPF capacitor 82 output which produces the OFF HOOK status.
The spectrum shaping amplifier 32 provides any analog pre/de-emphasis which may be desirable for the transmit audio. It also sums the transmit analog signals from both the two-wire and four-wire inputs. The circuit is AC coupled, via capacitors 146 and 140 to, respectively, the interfaces 12 and 18 to remove the DC voltage resulting from the telephone bias currents. The gains of the two-wire and four-wire transmit paths can be set independently using resistor 148 and resistor 142 respectively. The nominal gain of the interfaces are 14.3 dB for the two-wire path in interface 12 and 3 dB for the four-wire path in interface 18. The gains are set so that the signal peaks between capacitor 153 and switch 34 reach approximately 3 volts when speaking at a normal level. The output of the spectrum shaping amplifier 152 is AC coupled through capacitor 153 to the AGC circuit 36 to prevent a DC offset voltage from causing unnecessary transitions in the AGC 36 output signal as the gain is changed.
The AGC circuit 36 and input filter 46 portion of the filter 44 are described together in further detail here, as shown in FIG. 6, because a ladder network contained in the AGC 36 circuit and an input operational amplifier 375 contained in the filter 44 are interconnected to form a composite gain block. The equivalent circuit for the AGC 36 and a portion of the input filter 46 circuit within the filter 44 is shown in FIG. 6.
Within the AGC circuit 36 is a feedback resistor 376 which, together with feedback resistor 160 acts as a negative feedback loop for operational amplifier 375. The AGC circuit 36 and the operational amplifier 375 also have an input resistor 378.
The gain of this AGC 36 and filter 44 circuit from EIN at switch 34 to EO at VFx at the output of the operational amplifier 375 in the filter circuit 44 VFx 0 is ##EQU5## where D is the digital code loaded into the AGC 36 (0≦D≦255) on pins PDI07-00 and resistors 376 and 378 are nominally 10 Kohms. A digital-to-analog converter 380 in the AGC 36 circuit is connected to a precision reference voltage Vref and provides a current output representative of the value D/256-1 where D is the digital input to the AGC 36 on PDI07-00 from the analyzer 41.
In operation the AGC 36 and input filter 46 circuits cover a gain range of 30 dB (+14 dB to -16 dB), in 2 dB steps, although the hardware is capable of greater range and finer resolution. Table 1 lists the values of D stored in the memory in the analyzer 41 corresponding to respective four-bit counts (0-15 decimal) from the AGC controller accumulator GCNT in the analyzer 41, along with the corresponding gains based on the component values used in the AGC 36 and the input filter 46 circuits.
The remainder of the input filter 46 integrated circuit actually performs the low pass filter function in filter 380 and introduces +3 dB gain in the passband. The input filter 46 output on pin 16 (VFx 0) of filter 44 is therefore 3 dB higher than the values shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1______________________________________AGC/Filter Gain SettingsGCNT D Gain in dB______________________________________0 255. +13.81 203. +11.72 162. +9.83 129. +7.84 102. +5.85 81. +3.16 64. +1.757 51. -.218 40. -2.39 32. -4.310 26. -6.111 20. -8.312 16. -10.213 13. -12.014 10. -14.315 8. -16.3______________________________________
The AGC circuit 36 bypass strap 34 permits the AGC 36 to be bypassed for specific applications or for test purposes. When the strap 34 is in the bypass position, the gain from the strap to the input (transmit) filter 46 portion of filter 44 output VFx 0 is +3.36 dB, which is close to mid-range AGC 36 setting.
The A/D-D/A function is performed using the INTEL 2911A A-Law CODEC 50. The CODEC 50 and an INTEL 2912 filter 44 form a functional block which is interconnected as is well known in the art.
A suitcase strap is provided on the VFRI input of the output (receive) filter 48 portion of the filter 44 at 56 to allow the audio input to be looped back to the output for test purposes.
The serial output of the A/D converter 50 which is at 64,000 bps and represents the digitized voice is converted to 8 bit parallel word in serial-to-parallel converter 58. The TSx output of the CODEC 50 is used for several functions in the A/D-D/A operation. During its active time the TSx output enables the shift clocks on serial-to-parallel converter 58 and parallel-to-serial converter 60 so that the CODEC 50 can output its A/D word. It also enables inputing a new D/A word from the parallel-to-serial converter 60, which is the synthesized digital voice from the synthesizer 249 in the analyzer 41 at 64,000 bps. The trailing edge of TSx (data transfer is complete) is used to generate an interrupt request for the A/D and D/A portions of the A/D/A converter 50 (ADINT) in flip-flop 88. The actual A/D and D/A conversions are started when the FS(X,R) signal is generated for the CODEC A/D/A converter 50. FS signal is generated using retimed SRCLK from flip-flop 190 on pin Q . The timing sequence for the CODEC 50 is shown in FIG. 7. When an ADINT pulse is generated, e.g., every eight bits in time the data (eight bits) in the serial-to-parallel converter 58 is loaded to the processor 41 and the data (eight bits) in the parallel-to-serial converter 60 is loaded to the A/D/A converter 50.
The Rx low pass filter output VFRO drives the inverting amplifier 204. The gain of this amplifier 204 is adjustable via variable resistor 198 to set the receive signal level. The output of amplifier 204 drives both the two-wire and four-wire audio output circuits, which drive the speaker in the telephone handset (not shown).
It will be seen that the present invention provides for echo suppression at both the talker end and the receiver end, in accordance with detection, at each end of the transmission link, of which signal (talk or listen) is stronger. This dual echo suppression is incorporated along with a hybrid operational amplifier echo suppression circuit at each end, which particularly is suited for echo suppression in a transmission and receiver system employing digitized voice data and especially compressed digitized voice data.
The foregoing description of the present invention has been directed to a particular embodiment of the invention in accordance with the requirements of the patent statutes and for purposes of illustrating and explaining the invention. It will be apparent, however, to those skilled in this art that many modifications and changes in both the method and apparatus of the present invention may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. For example, the analyzer/synthesizer can be microprocessor implemented or implemented by, e.g., a minicomputer or by suitable hard-wired large-scale integrated circuitry dedicated to performance of the functions described herein. The particular values for the logic decisions deseribed herein may be varied as desired from the preferred embodiment described herein. Further, the echo suppression technique described herein is not limited to transmission and receipt of compressed digital voice, and can be useful in any system which transmits and receives digital voice data, especially wherein processing delays heighten the echo problem. It will be further apparent that the invention may also be utilized, with suitable modifications within the state of the art which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is the applicants' intention in the following claims to cover all such equivalent modifications and variations as fall within the true scope and spirit of the invention.
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Greenfield - The first quarter made all the difference for the Whitnall boys basketball team in its 69-48 victory over Wauwatosa West on Friday night.
Whitnall jumped out to an early 24-4 lead after that period, and the Trojans were never able to recover.
The Falcons, who also beat South Milwaukee, 68-52, on Feb. 7, improved to 13-2 in the Woodland Conference Black Division, one game ahead of New Berlin Eisenhower (12-3).
Those two squads square off at Whitnall at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17, with the division title in the balance. The Falcons can clinch the crown outright with a victory, while the Lions can move into a first-place tie if they win.
Avenging earlier loss
Whitnall will try to avenge an earlier 60-58 loss to Eisenhower on a shot in the final seconds.
The Falcons (17-2 overall) visit Waterford (12-6) in a non-conference game at 2:45 p.m. Feb. 18, then close out the Woodland slate for the season at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at Greenfield (3-12, 4-15).
"We're in the hunt here," said head coach Kent Kroupa, "but every game is going to be a challenge for us."
They maintained their narrow lead over Eisenhower with their easy victory over Tosa West on Friday, a triumph built on the explosive 24-4 start.
"We've been starting strong in most of the games we've played this year," Kroupa said. "We do come out very well in the first quarter. We try to get the other team down and make it more difficult for them to come back and play."
The first points of the game were scored when Whitnall's Stephen Pelkofer intercepted a pass and scored a dunk, igniting his team. The Falcons proceeded to score the first nine points of the game before West got on the board with a 3-point shot from JJ Belknapp.
"It definitely gave us a spark to start the game," said Pelkofer, who finished with 16 points. "You always want to start out like that."
Kroupa said of Pelkofer, "He's been a leader for us. He's a complete team player, which means he's got everyone else involved."
Pelkofer said, "We don't care who scores, we just want to distribute the ball. They had a smaller guy guarding me, so I got a good matchup."
Trojans never recovered
The Trojans were able to play with Whitnall for the rest of the game, but were never able to recover from that first-quarter onslaught, as the Falcons' fast pace, agility and excellent passing proved too difficult for the Trojans to defend.
The second half began much the same as the first, with Whitnall dunking the ball to open the scoring, this time from Bryan Nagy, who finished with a game-high 18 points.
Ian Ray added 11 points with a trio of 3-point field goals for the Falcons.
"I was pleased with our play," said Kroupa. "Any win you can get on the road is a good one."
In the earlier victory over South Milwaukee, Luke Mentkowski tallied 21 points with a trio of 3-pointers, while Pelkofer and Ray each added 14 points. The Falcons used a 22-10 second quarter to go up, 40-20.
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The End is Near-Motley Crue Reveal Official Retirement Shows
In a new interview with Vince Neil, the singer reveals where and when Motley Crue will end their touring life.
In a new interview with Vince Neil, the singer reveals where and when Motley Crue will end their touring life.
Don't even bother trying to induct Motley Crue into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because Nikki Sixx will decline the honor.
John Corabi, lead singer on a lone 1994 Motley Crue album, stands by a $4 million lawsuit he filed after their ugly breakup.
From a career standpoint, Motley Crue has had nine lives.
Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle (left in above photo) was killed on Dec. 8, 1984, in a tragic car accident.
The Motley Crue / Sixx: A.M. bassist is rallying artists and the media to investigate their Spotify and YouTube streaming returns and to help new artists.
Low streaming royalties have been in the news a lot lately, with Taylor Swift sparking a fresh wave of debate after pulling her catalog from Spotify in a dispute over fair payment for artists.
Under ordinary circumstances, if Motley Crue ended up playing to an audience of fewer than 1,000 people, at least one promoter would end up looking for work the next morning.
Gene Simmons may think rock is dead, but his former touring mate Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue begs to differ.
The next time you're in your local record store and you see a guy who looks like Nikki Sixx filing the Bon Jovi albums under "EZ Listening," you might want to ask him for his autograph.
The bassist took advantage of a break in the schedule to undergo a painful double hernia surgery.
Now that Motley Crue are saying goodbye to several decades of decadence with their farewell tour, the search is on for someone to pick up where the self-styled bad boys of rock are leaving off.


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page per minutePPM or Page Per Minute, is a common method of measuring the output of a printer, as it determines the speed a printer is capable of printing. PPM between different printers cannot be compared on a one-to-one ratio, as you can expect a different PPM number between different types of printers (lasers or inkjets) as well as different PPM numbers between color and black & white print jobs, and the resolution of the image or text being printed. Most printer manufactures will specify the maximum page per minute you can expect to achieve with a specific printer model.
Perceptual computing is the ability for a computer to recognize what is going on around it. More specifically, the computer can perceive the... Read More »Apple Pay Promises to Strengthen Payment Security
Experts believe that Apple Pay and other competitive payment systems will be far more secure than cards, even cards equipped with EMV chips. Read More »The Great Data Storage Debate: Is Tape Dead?
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2013 Mopar Nationals: the Dodge Dart19August
The Dodge Dart is known by most American consumers as a super efficient yet adequately sporty compact sedan but before the Dart was the Fiat-inspired compact that we know today – it was one of the original low-cost muscle cars. Those who couldn't foot the bill for the likes of the Charger or Challenger back …
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There is no back story to this week's Muddy Monday feature but with a title like "Death of a Plymouth Acclaim" and the setting of an offroading area – you know that it has to be good. Oddly, this isnt just a couple guys out destroying a car as the Acclaim has obviously been prepped …
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Vinnie Pestano's elbow troubles traced back to the World Baseball Classic
Jan 26, 2014, 9:00 AM EDT
Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano started out well enough last season, but by late April he had lingerng elbow soreness, hit the disabled list and never was truly right all season. He finished with an ERA of 4.08 and dramatically increased walk and hit rates while pitching in only 37 games.
Yesterday Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said Pestano's troubles began when he suffered an injury to his elbow during last year's World Baseball Classic. From Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer:
"I think some of that WBC injury really trained his arm to do something different than he's done in the past," said Callaway. "The reason Vinnie was so good in the past, is that he has unorthodox mechanics. When he had a little bit of an injury in the WBC, he started throwing like a normal person, which isn't good. I told him at the end of the year, I've never told anybody to have bad mechanics."
No one with the team had previously linked Pestano's injury or troubles with the WBC before yesterday.
- dirtyharry1971 - Jan 26, 2014 at 12:58 PM
If I was writing out checks for these players there is no way I would allow any of them to participate in this thing that doesn't even count towards anything.
- jj19871 - Jan 26, 2014 at 2:15 PM
Craig Calcaterra blows dick!
- louhudson23 - Jan 26, 2014 at 4:29 PM
It's baseball.And the team on the other side says they can kick your ass. So you go and play them,because you are a baseball player. You can't play forever and you can't walk around scared. If you are healthy and you are a ball player,why the hell not?. Not to ring the bell of the past,but players used to play year round barnstorming and Winter/Latin/Mexican league rosters were full of major league players…Considering players get hurt putting on boots and closing doors and walking down the stairs….
- dirtyharry1971 - Jan 26, 2014 at 7:30 PM
sorry but if im paying you 10 or 15MIL to play for my team you are NOT going to be playing baseball for something else and risk injury! You ain't sky diving, you aint driving in nascar, you aint doing high risk activities if I pay you that much you play for me and I want my 10-15MIL worth. Otherwise go sign with another team, just my opinion and as you know I don't always post on this board but when I do read closely and stay thirsty my friends! Cheers!
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If you search "Trillium Falls," you are bound to discover a number of beautiful photographs of this and other falls. Surely they are all named after the beautiful flowers that, at the right time of year, grow along their banks. This Trillium Falls is located in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The State and National Redwoods Parks are contiguous, but span such a large north-south transect that I think it is worth mentioning in which park a given feature is located for those of you interested in seeing these places for yourselves. Though I like the photographs I took here, the primary visual experience of these falls and trees will suffer no substitute.
The Trillium Falls Trail is an easy hike that takes you from a parking area to the falls and then over the ridge and back again. Even in the height of summer, lugging tripod and camera, this is a pleasant walk amongst beautiful forest. My wife and I have a hypothesis that the density of visitors drops exponentially from the location of a parking lot outward and that the value of the exponent is positively correlated with the difficulty of the trail. If you are headed to the park, this is an easy and beautiful hike not to be missed!
Lyle58, navejo, Dan Anderson., and 4 other people added this photo to their favorites.
wow. spectacular image.
a fascinating image, nicely composed and shot, terrific job.
very very nice work..
What an amazing lush scene
Nice greenery.
Wow, lush!
Nice image
Good mathematical hypothesis. Factor in season fluctuation of autum and winter, and the sum gets better all the time.
MDV Coast Redwoods
It's beautiful - great shot and wonderful edit - nice work
Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
Lush greens... nuff said ;-)
Ahhhh ..... feel your cares float away..... wonderful!
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Migration Policy Institute - Education
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A webinar examining the shifting pattern of Central American migration between 2011 and 2014 and expectations for 2015, why inflows in this period present a particularly acute policy challenge, and how states, localities, the U.S. government, and other countries in the region are responding to the crisis.
Part of a series exploring issues likely to be addressed by the new National Integration Plan, this webinar, with perspectives from the cities of New York and Seattle and others examines possible recommendations on federal coordination of local government immigrant integration initiatives, including language access.
This webinar, with perspectives from MPI, the WE Global Network, and Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service, examines the role of economic development initiatives and refugee resettlement programs/infrastructure in immigrant integration.
Amid aging populations and the growth of chronic diseases, the demand for skilled health-care professionals is on the rise in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This report explores the policy implications, benefits, and challenges of harmonizing nursing qualifications in the region, suggesting that a more collaborative approach could result in greater supply and quality of nurses.
This webinar, with perspectives from MPI, the National Partnership for New Americans, and the National Skills Coalition, looks at the role of adult education and English language and skills training in the immigrant integration process.
In 2013 the Houston metro area was home to 1.4 million immigrants—with the nearly 60 percent growth in its immigrant population since 2000 nearly twice the national rate. This report provides an overview of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Houston's immigrants, along with their naturalization rates, legal status, and potential eligibility for immigration benefits such as citizenship or deferred action programs.
Part of a series exploring issues likely to be addressed by the new National Integration Plan, this webinar, with perspectives from MPI, the National Partnership for New Americans, and the National Skills Coalition, looks at the role of adult education and English language and skills training in the immigrant integration process.
An estimated 41.3 million immigrants lived in the United States in 2013, about 13 percent of the total U.S. population, constituting the world's largest foreign-born population. This Spotlight from MPI's Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova offers the most current and sought-after data on immigrants in the United States—including origin, educational attainment, the unauthorized, deportations, and more—in one easy-to-use resource.
While there is growing consensus on the value of immigrant integration support prior to departure, such initiatives generally have not fully realized their potential. This policy brief reviews promising examples of predeparture measures for labor market integration in Europe that are jointly designed and/or run by origin- and destination-country actors, illustrating their potential to help effectively address some of the most stubborn obstacles to successful integration.
Youth of a migrant background are over-represented among those who leave school early in the European Union. This policy brief discusses empirical findings, theoretical insights, and promising measures that may inform further policy action to address the disproportionately high level of early school leaving among students with a migrant background, which results from socioeconomic and other factors.
A number of actors outside the formal educational context, including parents, peers, and other community members, can play an important role in the social and educational development of migrant children. This policy brief reviews current measures to promote the integration of migrant students around Europe, focusing on those initiatives that include the family and community as part of the educational process.
A report release examining PIAAC data on the skills of U.S. immigrant adults and whether there is a gap with native-born adults, and discussion of how these skills relate to key immigrant integration outcomes such as employment, income, access to training, and health.
Immigrant adults in the United States lag their native-born peers in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills, with resulting effects on their income, employment, education, and health, according to MPI analysis of U.S. scores on the 2012 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The findings, which reveal wide ethnic and racial gaps in scoring, underscore deep U.S. social inequalities.
A report release examining PIAAC data on the skills of U.S. immigrant adults and how these skills are related to key immigrant integration outcomes such as employment, income, access to training, and health.
In Moldova, 100,000 children have been left behind by migrant parents; in Ukraine, there are 200,000 such children. The scale of labor migration and impact of remittances on both economies have prompted Moldova and Ukraine to work with the European Union and international organizations to develop policies addressing the welfare of left-behind children. This article examines research on the effects of parental migration on children and the policy environment.
Employment-oriented mentoring is increasingly recognized in Europe as a tool for advancing the labor market integration of disadvantaged individuals, including immigrants. This report highlights a number of relevant one-on-one mentoring practices in Europe and North America, focusing on the role of different initiators and stakeholders, forms of collaboration, methods, and target groups.
A discussion in Brussels examining how useful existing predeparture measures are in facilitating migrants' labor market insertion, examples of structural cooperation between origin and EU destination countries, and successful private-sector practices.
A webinar showcasing MPI's data profiles of unauthorized immigrants in the 94 U.S. counties with the largest such populations, as well as the implications of the data for implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) programs.
A webinar showcasing MPI's profiles of unauthorized immigrants in the 94 U.S. counties with the largest populations potentially eligible for DACA or DAPA, and the implications of the data for implementation of the DACA and DAPA programs.
A webinar examining the outreach and initiatives by educational institutions and other community stakeholders seeking to support the education and training success of grantees of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.


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U.S. Court of Appeals
Teva, district court judges find support at Supreme Court
The case related to Teva's conflict with generic drug makers over patents on Copaxone, a medication for treating multiple sclerosis.
D.C. Circuit to revisit previous ruling on SEC conflict mineral guidelines
The court announced that it would revisit the case in light of a separate July 29 ruling in American Meat Institute v. United States Dept. of Agriculture.
Nautilus v. Biosig Instruments case illustrates tension between Supreme Court, Federal Circuit
"I think the Supreme Court is trying to make things more consistent between different appellate courts," says Felicia Boyd, an IP partner at Barnes & Thornburg.
Developments in social media evidence: To authenticate or not to authenticate
While some courts seem to be looking at social media evidence as similar to other evidence garnered from Internet (such as other website printouts), others have latched on to the ease with which social media accounts can be fabricated.
Federal Circuit judges consider patent test
This week, a panel of Federal Circuit judges addressed patent-related issues during oral arguments on Nautilus v. Biosig.
Questions in Teva case divides Supreme Court justices in oral arguments
One of the key issues is whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit needs to give deference to lower federal courts when it hears appeals on patents, and considers patent claim construction.
U.S. Supreme Court hears Teva case regarding patent protection on prescription drug
Some justices appear to have grown frustrated with the power that the appeals court has developed, and they could send a clear sign to that court in a forthcoming decision on the Teva case.
Oral arguments take place at Supreme Court about paying employees for time spent waiting for security checks
The case is Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Jesse Busk et al, and is being watched carefully by the retail sector and other business fields.
Spoliation: The ramifications of the failure to preserve evidence
Proposed amended Rule 37(e) may benefit general counsel by offering some clarity and uniformity about the potential sanctions that await companies for the failure to properly preserve ESI.
Amicus briefs shape intellectual property law
Friend-of-the-court briefs offer an important, even an irreplaceable, means of shaping judicial decisions that will determine how many businesses establish and defend their intellectual property rights


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I am building an application in HTML5 and I need a file uploader that is able to filter the various files.
Say I got a folder with 1000 files and 5 of those have the
.xls format. I want the upload window to filter those files once that file type is selected in the upload window its MIME type chooser.
I know that HTML5 has a way to do this with
<input type=file accept=jpg/images> but due to its lack of support (none in IE and Safari) it is just not an option.
I have been looking around the web and found a jQuery file uploader but from what I can see, it is only able to check for file types once you hit the upload button which does not help filter the files available.
Is there any way to do this using Flash or HTML5 technology?


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It's an early fall Sunday afternoon as it was meant to be in Manteca.
Surface treated water, the installation of park irrigation wells, and reduced pipeline construction costs could bring about a rarity these days – lower water rates.
The Ripon Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary No. 1051 hosted a luau party on Saturday.
You can end up being king of the road on a customized motorcycle at this year's Night of Kings and Queens.
It's going to be all about Tillie Lewis, "Tomato Queen" of the 20th century, at a Haggin Museum symposium in Stockton set for Oct. 25 with a hosted lunch included – focusing on a woman who went above and beyond in a man's world.
RIPON - Ripon teachers and parents had a lot to celebrate with the release of the STAR test scores that placed all of the public elementary schools above the state's target of 800.
LATHROP – Lathrop is a city in need of a sales agent. Someone who will not only devote his full time to sell the city's potential as a good location for business but, more importantly, to aggressively pursue that goal.
Farming continues to be San Joaquin County's $2 billion baby.
LATHROP – Second chances do happen. Even for chili cooks whose dishes did not quite make it to the top three winners in the recent cook-off in Manteca to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank.
The Highway 120 Bypass and Union Road interchange will soon become ground zero for retail in the South County.
People who drive or walk around railroad crossing gates are going to be the focus of "Operation Lifesaver" Wednesday morning when Union Pacific Railroad and the Manteca Police Department join forces to make a difference and hopefully save lives.
It took less than a week for a jury to convict Michael Roessler in the murder of 51-year-old rural Manteca Michael Lawrence.
The Manteca Kindred Arts has been bringing top-notch musicians of national and international caliber to Manteca for nearly three decades. Perhaps less known is the fact the non-profit organization has been offering other entertainment options every year for the public's gastronomical pleasure, among other things.


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Spring has finally arrived!
How nice to see temperatures on the rise (despite the chilly next couple of days we will be experiencing) and that grass continue to green up.
As the soil temperatures also warm up, planting season is definitely on its way.
Do you know what that means?
Farmers' market season will be opening soon.
The Lady Panthers softball team is experiencing growing pains early this season, suffering back-to-back double-digit losses. Carroll County opened the season with a 15-1 loss at Henry County Monday, and took on Williamstown at Lady Panthers Field Tuesday, falling 13-3.
Motorists traveling through Carroll County Tuesday morning faced backups and long waits as accidents snarled traffic on Interstate 71 and Hwy. 55.
A 6:15 a.m. accident involving three tractor-trailers on the interstate near the 40-mile-marker caused the southbound lane to be closed for extended periods and limited traffic to one lane on the northbound side.
After spending his entire coaching career in Madison, Ind., Lee Downey has finally made it to the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, taking the reins as the new head football coach for Carroll County High School. Downey was formally introduced to players and community members Tuesday, after being officially hired March 18.
Downey replaces Mike Weedman, who coached the Panthers for eight seasons, posting an overall 44-45 record, 3-8 last year.
What would happen if you were a student caught selling beer outside the gym during a basketball game? Or you were a baseball player who used dip and developed a sore in your mouth? Or you were at a party and a friend overdosed?
Carroll County High School drama performed "Pirates of Penzance" March 20-21.
The environment has been front and center in recent weeks. Water shortages occurring in multiple states are making headline news. States not normally affected by snow are reporting record snowfall totals. Mother Nature is making her presence known.
In 1999, Kentucky introduced a problem-solving event, the Envirothon Program, to high school students. With the support of natural resource professionals, students are trained in the ways that real life environmental problems are solved. The Envirothon is an example of the practical use of STEM initiatives.
Copyright © 2015
The News-Democrat is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Carroll County, KY and the surrounding area.


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Sea turtle navigation: Using Earth's magnetic field to return home
Tropical glacier monitoring: Low-latitude glaciers can inform us about climate change.
Ali Nayfeh, Franklin Institute Laureate, finds order and predictability amid chaos.
Electronic cigarettes: What we know and don't know about their safety
Antigen-antibody reaction
Adaptations of the Joshua tree
Dispersal versus vicariance
Argillaceous rocks
D'Alembert's principle


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Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. —Isaiah 51:6 read more
Charisma Magazine
Page 3 of 37
{ Day 23 }
He has sent me ... to bestow on them a crown of beauty. ... They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. —Isaiah 61:1, 3 read more
{ Day 24 }
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. —Romans 6:12-14 read more
{ Day 25 }
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. —Romans 3:25-26 read more
{ Day 26 }
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." —Luke 7:44-47 read more
{ Day 27 }
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. —Psalm 27:13-14 read more
{ Day 28 }
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world —Psalm 19:1-4 read more
{ Day 29 }
I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. —Psalm 89:1-2 read more
{ Day 30 }
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw ... someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. —Revelation 1:12-17 read more
{ Day 31 }
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. —2 Corinthians 3:18, NAS read more
Bring Healing to the Suffering Women Across the World
When Charisma editor Lee Grady was confronting with the abuse of women & girls in India, he chose to get involved and make a change.
Television History Made On Easter Sunday
Watch the NBC premiere of A.D. The Bible Continues, network television's first primetime series focused on the most powerful and global movement in history - the rise of the Church.
10 Signs of a Bitter Woman
Beware of this woman in your church who's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Prophecy: A Tsunami of Perversion Will Rise
When you think of perversion you probably immediately think of sexual perversion. That's part ...
Still Single? Ask These Questions Before You Say 'I Do'
Before I perform a wedding, I encourage couples to answer these 10 questions honestly.
Pastors Rebuke Franklin Graham for Sins Against Christian Community
The open letter claims they are approaching him in love.
WATCH: What This Pastor Says in 2 Minutes May Shock You
Do you agree with him?
A Generation of Simon the Sorcerers Is Rising
We are witnessing a mass production of parrots, echoes and mimics in the prophetic and supernatural ...
God's Power at Work in the Church Today
Charisma's founder, Steve Strang writes about today's hottest topics affecting the Christian faith.
Spiritual Warfare Technologies That Take Down Strongholds
We may discern what's operating against us, but we don't always tap into the right ...
WATCH: Denzel Washington Has This to Say About the Bible and Marriage
And some in Hollywood don't like it one bit.
Bring Healing to the Suffering Women Across the World
When Charisma editor Lee Grady was confronting with the abuse of women & girls in India, he chose to get involved and make a change.
Benny Hinn Released From California Medical Center
Here's what the worldwide evangelist had to say about his condition after being treated this ...
Cindy Jacobs' Prophetic Vision Reveals Key That Unlocks Wisdom
"If you could get everything in your natural knowledge you would not seek Me, you would not ...
Dutch Sheets Shares Prophetic 'Mega Grace' Revelation
"There is a new level of apostolic grace being distributed that will take the gifting to a new ...
Chuck Pierce Mantles Glenn Beck in Church Ceremony
"I look forward to him, like all of us, experiencing a new dimension of God's Spirit and ...
Overcoming Spiritual Opposition to Your God-Given Dream
Do this and you won't be overtaken during the time when you need to contend for your ...
'Words From the Lord' Cannot Supersede the Bible
How do we "test every spirit" and avoid false teachers?
'American Idol's' Clark Beckham Talks Spiritual Battles in Hollywood
He's using his music as a platform to honor God. Could he be part of an awakening?
Satan, Keep Away From My Bloodline!
Here's how the power of the cross can break the strongholds and curses the enemy tries to put ...
5 Reasons Creflo Dollar Shouldn't Buy a New Jet
Why is a preacher insisting on being treated like the king of a small country?
Millennial Revivalist Tore Down Idols, Raised the Dead
"She has the gift of prophecy, too, and is able to tell people to their faces what sins they ...
God's Power at Work in the Church Today
Charisma's founder, Steve Strang writes about today's hottest topics affecting the Christian faith.
3 Birthmarks of a Real Move of God
There are always certain birthmarks of a real move of God in a church or a city. Here are the ones ...


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My Comments
Europe's Neuron Demonstrator Completes Flight Trials In France Commented on: 2 weeks ago (March 10, 2015)
Congrats to DS and the others partners for not over running the budget and conducting the test with flying colors!!!
Airbus Removes Veil From H160 Project Commented on: 3 weeks ago (March 8, 2015)
Damn sexy design congrats!!
Emirates Would Order Up To 200 A380neos Commented on: 3 weeks ago (March 6, 2015)
The standard A380 is damn good plane, and the Neo would even be better, Carriers will have to replace their entire 747 fleet, so they are going to purchase a lot of those big fat whales!!!!!
1969: The Concorde's Hopeful First Flight Commented on: 3 weeks ago (March 2, 2015)
At that time aircraft manufacturers were good at that and they had guts to push the envelope, now it is boring boring, annoying and nothing interesting. It is time to simplify that industry and to...
Late Software Not Expected To Jeopardize U.S. Marine Corps F-35 IOC Commented on: 3 weeks ago (March 2, 2015)
This JSF program has more bugs than the dirtiest animal in the world. There are too much people, lobbies and politics involved, With this program NASA could have been to mars 2 times!!!!! And fund...