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A method and apparatus for determining what level of performance must be maintained by a second communication service so as to be perceived as being of equal quality to a first communication service, especially where the second communication service is subject to additional impairments not experienced by the first communication service. In one example embodiment, the present invention is applied to determining what combinations of packet loss rate and packet delay are tolerable where a packet switched telephony service is desired to be perceived to be substantially equivalent to a traditional toll-quality non-packet-switched telephone service. Empirically derived models are used to relate user perception to objectively measurable characteristics, such as packet loss rate.
1. A method for determining acceptability of quality of a second communications service, in comparison to a first communications service which is deemed to exhibit acceptable quality, comprising the steps of:
obtaining a first quality index pertaining to the first communications service;
obtaining a second quality index pertaining to the second communications service; and
determining that the second communication service is of unacceptable quality if the second quality index differs from the first quality index service by more than a selected amount.
2. The method of
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measuring performance characteristics of the second network; and
computing an expected quality index for the second communications service.
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6. A method for determining the quality performance required of a second communications service in comparison to a first communications service comprising the steps of:
obtaining a first quality index representing the quality of the first communication service;
determining the effect of at least one performance characteristic of the second communication service upon a second quality index pertaining to the second communication service; and
determining a value for the performance characteristic required to maintain the second quality index acceptably near the value of the first quality index.
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11. A method for determining the quality performance required of a second communications service in comparison to a first communications service comprising the steps of:
obtaining a first quality index representing the quality of the first communication service;
determining the effect of a first performance characteristic of the second communication service upon a second quality index pertaining to the second communication service;
determining the effect of a second performance characteristic of the second communication service upon the second quality index pertaining to the second communication service;
assuming a selected value for the first performance characteristic; and
in the context of the selected value for the first performance characteristic, determining a value for the second performance characteristic required to maintain the second quality index acceptably near the value of the first quality index.
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19. A method for determining the quality performance required of a second communications service in comparison to a first communications service comprising the steps of:
obtaining a first quality index representing the quality of the first communication service;
determining a second quality index representing the quality of the second communication service subject to at least one degraded performance characteristic;
determining an averaged composite quality index for communications occurring through the second communications network, said averaged composite quality index being an average value resulting from a mixture of first communications occurring without the degraded performance characteristic and second communications occurring with the degraded performance characteristic; and
expressing the required quality performance of the second communication service as a proportion between said first communications and said second communications required to maintain said averaged composite quality index acceptably near the value of the first quality index.
20. The method of
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22. A method for determining how a first performance characteristic having a given value affects the quality of a communication service, the method comprising:
obtaining an original data set pertaining to occurrences of various values of at least one second performance characteristic within the communication service;
determining the effect that the first performance characteristic has upon the occurrences of values of the second performance characteristic;
computing an altered data set by changing, in the original data set, the occurrences of values of the second performance characteristic assuming the first performance characteristic is set to said given value; and
computing a quality index for the communication service based upon the altered data set.
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26. A method for determining acceptable quality of a second communication service, in comparison to a first communication service which exhibits acceptable quality, comprising the steps of:
measuring at least one performance characteristic for the first communication service;
from the measured performance characteristic for the first communication service, determining a first mean opinion score pertaining to the first communication service;
measuring least one performance characteristic for the second communication service;
from the measured performance characteristic for the second communication service, determining a second mean opinion score pertaining to the second communication service; and
determining that the second communication service is of unacceptable quality if the second mean opinion score is less than the first mean opinion score by more than a perceptible difference threshold.
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32. A method for determining the performance required of a second communications service to achieve acceptable quality in comparison to a first communications service, comprising the steps of:
obtaining a permissible P(UDI) limit, where P(UDI) relates to a percentage (P) of calls or connections that elicit unusable (U), difficult (D), or irritating (I) responses;
obtaining a first mean opinion score representing the quality of the first communication service;
determining a value of packet delay for the second communications service;
determining a reduced P(UDI) margin by subtracting the effects of the value of packet delay from the permissible P(UDI) limit;
obtaining an original data set comprising occurrences of values for performance characteristics absent the effects of packet loss;
transforming the original data set into a transformed data set based upon a given packet loss rate;
applying an effects matrix to the transformed data set to compute a predicted second mean opinion score and second P(UDI) for the second communications service;
determining a first maximum proportion of communications that may exhibit said second mean opinion score while maintaining an averaged mean opinion score that is acceptably close to said first mean opinion score;
determining a second maximum proportion of communications that may exhibit said second P(UDI) such that the averaged P(UDI) remains less than the reduced P(UDI) margin; and
selecting the lesser of the first and second maximum proportions as the maximum proportion of communications in the second communications service that may experience the given packet delay and packet loss rate yet still allow the second communications service to be perceived as having the same quality as the first communications service.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/220,733 filed Dec. 24, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,120, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The following commonly assigned U.S. patent applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference:
This invention relates generally to telecommunications and specifically to a method and system for evaluating the quality of packet-switched voice signals.
Telephone connections have always been subject to impairments in the form of noise, attenuation, distortion, crosstalk, and echo. Such impairments are particularly common to analog portions of the connection, such as along subscriber loops and within frequency domain multiplexing equipment. Digital transmission alleviates many of these problems but introduces new impairments such as quantization noise or glitches. Even using perfect digital transmission for long-haul connections, a typical telephone connection includes many analog components, such as hybrids, where impairments can occur.
A poor connection or a malfunctioning piece of equipment can produce conditions that a telephone customer will find objectionable or intolerable, so that the connection is deemed to be of very poor quality. When there is a high incidence of such poor connections, customers may complain to the service provider or regulatory authorities, or simply change service providers. Perceived quality of telephone connections is therefore a major factor affecting the reputation and marketability of long distance telephone services.
To guard against poor quality, telephone service providers have developed methods to take objective quality measurements upon a telephone line, a piece of equipment, or even an end-to-end telephone connection. These measurements can help the service provider detect and gauge impairments, pinpoint weak elements and correct deficiencies that degrade user perception of quality.
Many such objective measurements are well known and standardized in the art. Empirically-derived thresholds enable analysts to infer the existence and severity of quality problems by comparing measurements to tables of acceptable values. For example, power levels of test signals and quiet channel noise can be measured electronically. It is well known that a certain range of signal levels must reach a telephone receiver to produce acceptable volume at the earpiece and that the C-weighted noise must be substantially less than the signal level to keep users from experiencing unacceptable noise at the earpiece. The combination of signal and noise measures for a particular connection may be used to determine the likelihood that a user would claim to have difficulty in hearing speech through the phone.
For any one of these objective measurements, the effect of extreme values on user perception of quality is clear, and there are coarse thresholds to define "no effect" and "substantial degradation" conditions. However, for intermediate values and combinations of impairments, there is generally no clear division between values representing acceptable and unacceptable connection quality. Speech clarity and perceived connection quality depend on many variables, including, for example, speech content, talker rhythms, subjective perception of the listener, and users' acclimation to their telephone service. As a result, the correlations between values of objective measures and user perception of connection quality are statistical, representing the combined effects of many different kinds of impairments and variations of sensitivity to them among the population.
Earlier work in this field by the present inventor has created mappings between objective measurements and perceived quality, so that, for example, when a given circuit is measured in terms of signal level, noise, distortion, cross-talk, and echo using electronic measurement equipment, the mapping predicts the percentage of conversations that would be reported as being significantly impaired or of poor quality as perceived by an average user population. Such mappings have proven to be a powerful tool for analyzing reported impairments and for gauging acceptable performance of a new line or piece of equipment before deployment.
The mapping was produced by creating or finding telephone circuits having various combinations of measurable characteristics and then having a population of callers conduct test calls through such telephone circuits to subjectively gauge the quality of each call. For each test call, the circuit under analysis was rated on a scale of None-Some-Much for each of the impairments manifested to users of the connection. These impairments included noise, volume, distortion, and echo. Each of the subjectively rated impairments was related to the selected objectively measurable characteristics. The statistics from a large number of such empirical trials with ratings of None-Some-Much for each characteristic may be referred to as Service Attribute Test (SAT) data which characterizes the quality of a communications service.
For each test call described above, each caller also provided an opinion score, which was an overall rating of the circuit quality on a numerical scale. Furthermore, each caller also determined whether the overall effect of the impairments was to render the connection as:
The percentage of calls or connections that elicit any one of the first three responses (unusable, difficult, or irritating) is called the P(UDI). The P(UDI) is of particular interest to service providers as a meter of customer satisfaction because it has been shown that overall satisfaction decreases as P(UDI) increases, regardless of average opinion score.
Analysis of empirical data including user reports of impairments and perception quality, together with user reports of impairments obtained in conjunction with objective measurements of connection characteristics, then supported a two step development of a means for predicting user perception of quality from objective measurements. First, a model was produced supporting prediction of P(UDI) and average opinion score as a function of percentages of calls with each of the possible combinations of "none," "some," and "much" (N, S, M) conditions reported for each of the impairments. Then, objective measurements were correlated with user reports of impairments to predict the proportion of N, S, M ratings likely to be reported by users as a function of the objective measurements. From these two elements, it was thereafter possible to take measurements of the objective characteristics for connections and translate the set of measures obtained into estimates of likely user perception of quality as revealed by the P(UDI) and an average opinion score.
While traditional circuit-switched telephone networks have been extensively characterized by such an approach, the recent trend toward packet-switched telephony (Internet telephony) has created a need to characterize a telephony channel that is subject to some new impairments. Packet switched networks are generally unsuited to ensuring that transmission delay is fixed or that data packets arrive in sequence, or even at all. This behavior is tolerable for transferring data files and messages, because packets arriving out of order can simply be arranged and lost packets can be retransmitted. However, in packet switched telephony, voice signals are digitized and encoded into a steady stream of discrete packets. Any interruptions or delay variations in transmitting voice data packets, even on the order of milliseconds, can affect the ability to reconstruct the voice signal at the receive end. This problem is further magnified when "codecs" are used to compress or encode the digitized voice signal for more efficient use of data transmission bandwidth. If a sophisticated codec is used and the data stream looses a crucial packet required for reconstructing the voice waveform, the result may be heard as a momentary drop-out, garbled speech, distortion, or a buzzing sound.
Voice over an Internet protocol, sometimes abbreviated as "VoIP", offers many potential technological and economic benefits. However, large-scale deployment of VoIP is hindered by the confusion over how much VoIP transport will affect the user's perception of voice channel quality. For the companies seeking to deploy and gain revenue from VoIP to compete with so-called "toll-quality" telephony service, there is a large risk that users will find the quality of service unacceptable and will revert to using traditional telephone networks.
There is a need to determine what incidences of packet delay and packet loss are tolerable in packet switched telephony without causing any perceptible degradation in service. The traditional telephone network is an established first communications service that has been well characterized by extensive experiments. The packet switched environment may be viewed as a second communications service with both similarities to and differences from the first communications service.
Therefore, where the quality of a first communications service is well characterized and deemed acceptable, there is a need to establish the requisite performance of a second communication service to be comparable to the first communications service. This is particularly important where the second communication service is subject to additional impairments not applicable to the first communications service and where such additional impairments vary in severity and frequency. Furthermore, because different codec schemes vary in their behavior and susceptibility to packet loss, there is a need to characterize the requisite performance of the second communications network in the context of a particular codec scheme.
A technique is required for taking into account multiple added impairments, apportioning the influences of each added impairment toward the composite quality requirements, and devising a useful way of expressing the required performance of a communications service subject to the combination of added impairments.
It is further desirable to, as much as possible, rely upon established statistics related to impairments common to both first and second communications services, so that knowledge of the first communications service may spare considerable time and effort in determining acceptable performance of the second communication service.
The present invention provides a technique for determining what level of performance must be maintained by a second communication service so as to be perceived as being of equal quality to a first communication service, especially where the second communication service is subject to additional impairments not experienced by the first communication service. The present invention is useful, for example, in determining what combinations of packet loss and packet delay are tolerable where a packet switched telephony service is desired to be perceived to be substantially equivalent to a traditional toll-quality non-packet-switched telephone service. The performance requirements for the second communication service are expressed in terms of objectively measurable characteristics. Furthermore, in the cases where codecs may be used in conjunction with the packet-switched transport, the present invention provides for characterizing the performance of the second communication service in the context of a particular codec scheme.
The quality of a communication service is determined by measurable performance characteristics which, by applying the appropriate models, may be used to predict quality indices. These quality indices, such as mean opinion score (MOS) and P(UDI), summarize the quality of the communication service as perceived by users of the service on average. The present invention provides a technique whereby a second communication service may be deemed to be perceptually equivalent to a first communications service if the mean opinion score of second service differs from that of the first service by less than a certain amount. For example, where the mean opinion scores are placed on a scale of 0.0 to 4.0, it has been found that if the MOS of the second service is within 0.2 units of the first service, then the second service is perceived as being of essentially the same quality as the first service. In other words, the difference of 0.2 in such a case is imperceptible. The present disclosure further teaches that the P(UDI) of a service must also be maintained at less than 0.06 in order for a service to be acceptable to users, regardless of any other factors. Thus, in one instance, it is found that the MOS of a second communication service must be maintained within 0.2 points of that of an accepted first communication service and that the P(UDI) of the second service must be maintained less than 0.06, taking all impairments into account.
Where a second communications service is to be assessed in relation to a first communication service, and where the second communication service is subject to additional impairment effects, the quality of the second communication service may be determined largely based upon the existing data for the first communication service. This is a substantial advantage as such original data may comprise useful data from thousands of test calls. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, much of the pre-existing data pertaining to the first communications service may be modified to reflect the influence of the additional impairments in the context of the second communications service. This aspect obviates the need to repeat large numbers of empirical experiments to characterize the second communications service.
The present invention provides a technique for taking into account the influences of packet transport phenomena upon the quality of a communications service. The present invention provides a technique for establishing required performance characteristics, in terms of packet loss and packet delay, for a packet-based communications service such that the service is perceived as being of substantially the same quality as a non-packet-based communication service.
In accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, packet loss in a packet-switched network is accounted for based upon its manifestation as a form of speech distortion. If a packetized voice signal is missing some packets, a listener may perceive speech distortion. The severity of speech distortion may depend on which, if any, codec scheme is employed. A technique is taught whereby the effects of packet loss upon perceived speech distortion are characterized and then this relationship is used to transform existing service attribute data to reflect the further effects of packet loss.
The present invention provides a technique for determining which of multiple impairments and which of the final criteria is the limiting factor in maintaining the performance of a communications service. In one exemplary embodiment, an iterative approach is taken with various combinations of packet delay and packet loss values to create an overall profile of required performance.
To address the random variation in the occurrence of impairments, a preferred embodiment of the present invention involves describing performance criteria in terms of what proportion of communications may succumb to a given worst case set of impairments while still meeting average quality requirements.
The present invention also provides a technique for regarding multiple impairments in conjunction with one another. For example, in the context of packet switched communications, it is found that packet delay affects P(UDI) in a non-linear fashion, but independently of other characteristics. An aspect of the present invention provides for assessing the impact of packet delay independently and then accordingly reducing the margin remaining for degradations caused by other performance characteristics.
The techniques of the present invention allow objective measurements to replace subjective measurements upon a channel. This yields an improvement, for example, in gauging performance of a channel or a communications element before it is put into service. The objective assessment of an Internet telephony channel is expressed in a way that is relevant to perceived quality.
The present invention can be used in a variety of ways. For example, a phone system or a portion of a phone system (e.g., a line or a piece of equipment) can be tested before being used commercially. In another application, a workstation stores and analyzes objective measurements. This workstation can be used by an engineer troubleshooting a network or a sales engineer comparing qualities of various options. The present invention could also be used in an automatic, real-time control system for a communications network.
The present invention, as well as additional features and advantages thereof, may be better understood by reading the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
The making and use of the various embodiments are discussed below in detail. However, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention.
In one aspect, the present invention allows for a correlation between objective measurements and perceived quality in the context of a packet-switched communications service.
Circuit switched network 14 routes the call to a gateway 16, sometimes referred to as an internet telephony gateway (ITG). Gateway 16 converts the circuit switched telephone signals into packets that are compatible with the packet-switched network 18. While many protocols can be utilized, most current networks carrying packet-switched voice use Internet Protocol (IP). Gateway 16 will also have access to a directory (not shown) of addresses (e.g. IP addresses for an IP-based network). Utilizing this directory, gateway 16 addresses the packets to an appropriate exit gateway 20.
The voice signals are then transported through packet-switched network 18 from gateway 16 to gateway 20. Packet-switched network 18, sometimes referred to as a converged network, combines various types of media, such as voice calls, data, and streams of video, onto a single line. All these different media are chopped into discrete blocks of data or packets. As mentioned above, packet-switched network 18 can be an IP-based network.
One example of an IP-based network is the public Internet. In this context, the "Internet" (uppercase "I") or public Internet is used to connote the worldwide collection of interconnected networks that uses Internet Protocol (IP) to link a large number of physical networks into a single logical network. Physically, the Internet is a huge, global network spanning nearly 100 countries and comprising a great number of academic, commercial, government, and military networks.
Packet-switched network 18 might also comprise other IP-based networks as well as other communication networks. For example, packet-switched network 18 could comprise an internet which is not connected to the public Internet. In this context, an "internet" (lowercase "i") is any collection of separate physical networks, interconnected by a common protocol, to form a single logical network. An internet would preferably, but not necessarily use Internet Protocol. An internet which is owned by a single entity is sometimes referred to as an intranet or virtual private network. Network 18 may comprise an intranet, which is or is not connected to the Internet.
For final delivery, gateway 20 converts the packets back into a format that is compatible with circuit switched network 22. As before, in the preferred embodiment circuit switched network 22 is the PSTN. In other words, circuit switched network 14 and circuit switched network 22 may be two portions of the same network, for example in two different parts of the country or the world. The telephone call can then be routed to receiving telephone 24.
The telecommunications network of
Further details on hybrid and end-to-end packet-switched networks are provided in commonly assigned patent applications Ser. No. 08/751,023 filed Nov. 18, 1996 and Ser. No. 08/798,350 filed Feb. 10, 1997, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
It should be noted that transform 214 maps objective measurements to impairments regardless of the actual mechanism of signal transport chosen. Any communications service exhibiting a particular combination of signal and noise levels and other characteristics will be similarly rated by listeners regardless of whether the signal is actually traversing radio signals, PCM codecs, long-haul TDM equipment, or a packet-switched data network.
Where the quality of a particular communications service is to be measured, many sets of objective measurements 212 may be recorded. Each such set of measurements is then converted using transform 214 into a set of impairments 216. A set of impairments 216 may comprise the four impairments LV, NS, EC, and SD each rated in terms of none, some or much. It is also possible to directly collect subjective measurements of impairments 216 from a communications service by conducting test calls, although this practice is tedious and disadvantageous where transform 214 is already well established.
A measurement set 210 may comprise objective measurements 212 transformed into a set of impairments 216 or may comprise a set of subjectively rated impairments 216 directly obtained from test calls through a communications service. A large number of measurement sets 210 pertaining to given communication service may be said to comprise the service attribute test (SAT) data 220 for the service. As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/220,733, the SAT data 220 for a given communication service may be convolved with an effects matrix 260 to yield an estimate of mean opinion score and P(UDI) for the service. In a similar fashion to transform 214, effects matrix 260 is a prediction model that may be constructed from large numbers of empirical observations to correlate reported impairments to overall MOS and P(UDI) values.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, SAT data 220 undergoes further processing before being convolved with effects matrix 260. A packet loss rate (PLR) transformation 222 is applied based upon a presumed packet loss rate 224. As will be described in greater detail below, transformation 222 redistributes, within SAT data 220, the proportions of reporting various combinations of impairments. In essence, the reporting of the speech distortion impairment is augmented in relation to how much packet loss is occurring. Transformation 222 draws upon a table 226 relating reports of speech distortion versus packet loss rate when all other impairments are negligible. The result of transformation 222 is transformed SAT data 230 which reflects the performance of a communication service suffering a level of packet loss rate in conjunction with whatever other impairments were present in SAT data 220 prior to PLR transformation 222.
Transformed SAT data 230 is then convolved with effects matrix 260 as represented by convolve process block 232. The result is an estimated set of MOS and P(UDI) values 240 taking into account the rate of packet loss 224 provided as input earlier.
Next, the effects of packet delay are applied to the P(UDI). A packet delay 244 is provided as input and, as represented by processing block 242, the effects of packet delay upon P(UDI) are calculated and applied to the P(UDI). It may be generally said that the greater the packet delay, the more P(UDI) is increased. It has been determined experimentally by the present inventor that packet delay affects P(UDI) independently of other impairments. Therefore, it suffices to apply the effects of packet delay after all other impairments are accounted for and to do so without repeating the development of transform 214 or effects matrix 260.
After packet delay is taken into account in block 242, the result is the composite MOS and P(UDI) for the communication service with both a given packet delay and packet loss rate represented.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the SAT data pertains to a first communications service, namely a traditional toll-quality telephone connection. It is presumed that, in terms of the power, noise, echo and waveform distortion, the performance of a packet switched service will be comparable to or better than an optimum telephone connection. For purposes of conservatively estimating requisite performance for a second communication service, it is assumed that the second communication service will, at best, match the quality of the first communication service. In the case of packet-switched versus circuit-switched telephony, this a reasonable assumption because, as described earlier, a communication system based on packet-switched transport involves some analog equipment at some point and is subject to many of the same impairments as a traditional analog telephone connection.
It should be noted that
Each of the objectively measurable characteristics will lead to a manifestation in the perceived quality of the voice signal. Table 1 provides a listing of some manifestations corresponding to selected measurable characteristics. Other characteristics could also or alternatively be utilized.
The level for each objective characteristic is transformed into an expected percentage of the population that would categorize the manifestation into one of a number of subjective quantifications. Different manifestations (or quality characteristics) can have different numbers of subjective quantifications. For example, in the preferred embodiment three subjective quantification categories—none, some and much—are defined for each quality characteristic. Test subjects are then instructed to rate the presence of an impairment as "none" if it is absent, "much" if it is present and very noticeable, and "some" otherwise.
Subjective evaluators are used to determine the correlation between objective measurements and none-some-much ratings. Typically a large number of subjective evaluators (e.g., 44 people or more) are used to evaluate the system. These subjective evaluators listen to test messages and rate the effect of the objective characteristic on the manifestation. For example, the evaluator will listen to a test signal or series of test signals with varying signal noise (an objective characteristic) and then describe the signal as having "none", "some", or "much" noisiness (a quality characteristic). The same tests are performed for the other objective characteristics to determine the perceived effect on the voice signal. These tests can be performed by varying one characteristic at a time or by varying more than one objective characteristic. An evaluator is usually also asked to evaluate the effect on the voice signal and the overall quality of the message.
Evaluation voice messages are generated by varying selected ones of the objective characteristics. For example, a first evaluation message may have 35 dBrnc noise, −25 dB loss, packet loss at a rate of one packet per minute, echo path loss of −25 dB, and an echo path delay of 20 msec. Other evaluation messages would have a different set of values for these characteristics. To assure independence from message content, various messages may be used having the same combination of objective characteristics.
The evaluation voice messages can be generated prior to empirical testing or can be real-time telephone conversations. Prior generated messages are useful because parameters can be precisely varied in the laboratory before hand and the content can be held constant. Real-time conversations are useful because parties on either end can evaluate the call.
The empirical data from test calls is captured and summarized to map the combined effects of objective characteristics such as noise, signal level, distortion, and echo into a perceived quality level. Because this mapping is independent of the underlying transport, figures taken from, for example, common analog telephony may be applied here as well. However, if the circuit under test differs substantially from the circuit used to generate the data, such as by having a different bandwidth, then a new characterization is required.
The test data can also be used to develop a mean opinion score (MOS) for each of the combinations of subjective quantifications. A mean opinion score provides the average score for all (or most) subjective evaluators. For example, a system can be used where the B (bad), P (poor), F (fair), G (good), and E (excellent) are rated at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Accordingly, a perfect score would be 4.0 (e.g., all evaluators provide a rating of "E" or four points).
In the preferred embodiment, the BPFGE-rated MOS is used along with the probability P(UDI) that the line is acceptable. The combination provides valuable information because, for example, where a MOS of 3.6 is very good and might normally be considered to guarantee user satisfaction, studies have shown that users will nonetheless complain of poor quality when the P(UDI) is greater than six percent regardless of the MOS. Therefore, predictions of overall service acceptability are best made considering both MOS and P(UDI).
The present inventor has determined that when voice signals are transmitted via a packet-switched networks, light to moderate levels of packet loss in the packet-switched network can affect the voice speech signals in a manner that may be perceived as speech distortion.
Depending on what type of the codec is used, if any, packet loss may result in a incidence of short dropouts that cause distorted waveforms, or a so-called "warble" effect. This new form of distortion can be correlated with an objective measurement of the rate of loss of packets.
It is expected that, depending on many factors such as the severity of packet loss and the sensitivity of a given codec scheme to such loss, the incidence of packet loss rate may cause a mixture of speech distortion and drop-out effects. Severe drop-out effects may obliterate entire spoken syllables or words. Generally, when packet loss is so severe as to cause drop-outs affecting intelligibility, the packet loss problem clearly must be corrected before a toll-quality speech channel can be established. The main intent of the method taught herein is to characterize less severe forms of degradation, wherein the speech signal is at least intelligible. Therefore, drop-out effects are not measured or explicitly considered in the exemplary embodiment taught herein.
In many cases, a codec 906 is employed to accept the stream of digitized samples and convert them into an alternate representation. Codec 906 may implement the popular G.729A encoding, for example. The encoding function of codec 906 is typically used to transform the digitized samples into a compact digitally-encoded description that allows for substantially reproducing a waveform without explicitly conveying each digitized sample point. The encoded digital representation from codec 906 is output as a stream of data along connection 954. Packet interface 908 packetizes the data stream from connection 954 and delivers the packets into a data network 910 for transport to a destination packet interface 912. As best as possible, destination packet interface 912 collects the received packets and reassembles a data stream. Ideally, this data stream, present along connection 964, should be identical to the data stream at connection 954. However, due to packet loss within network 910, the data stream along 964 may not be a complete replica of the original data stream. The data stream along connection 964 is input to codec 914, the decoding function of which attempts to reconstruct a digital representation of audio input 901 along connection 962. If the codec and packet transport mechanisms are working properly, the digitized signal along connection 962 should be a fairly accurate reproduction of the signal present along connection 952. Finally, the data stream along connection 962 is provided to a digital-to-analog converter 916, which renders a reproduced analog signal along connection 960. This analog signal may be amplified and supplied to a speaker, telephone earpiece or other type of transducer 918 to create sound waves that may be heard by a listener 970 listening to the communicated audio.
Network 910 may be an actual packet network or a simulation thereof By applying control through a connection 968, a test controller 920 causes a rate of packet loss to occur in network 910. Test controller 920 then collects information about the perceived distortion from listener 970 in response to the packet loss rate imposed by test controller 920. After accumulating empirical distortion observations for many levels of packet loss rate, a report table is generated summarizing the average reportings of "None-Some-Much" distortion versus packet loss rate for the given codec scheme used. Using a method similar to that outlined in
Aside from using an actual transport network to inject packet loss, it is possible to simulate the packet environment without using a network. A digitized audio signal, as might be present along connection 952, may be stored in the form of a data file on a computer system. The processes of encoding and decoding the signal may be performed by software acting upon the data file. Packetization and loss of packets may likewise be simulated in software. The resulting signal data may then be analyzed or streamed to a D/A converter and loudspeaker so that any effects of packet loss may be determined. As a more real-time alternative, a digital signal processor (DSP) may be employed to emulate codec functions and may be used to inject artificial packet loss at various rates.
All of these techniques amount to characterizing distortion at various packet loss rates for a given codec scheme. This characterization is preferably performed for a large number of different listeners and the results are averaged and normalized. Table 2 represents an example form for expressing the characterization results.
For each value of packet loss rate in Table 2, the relative proportions of distortion being reported as "none", "some" and "much" are expressed and should add up to equal one. For example, a given codec arrangement subjected to an average packet loss rate of 1 packet per second might be reported as having no degradation in 45% of the empirical samples, as having some degradation in 35% of the samples, and having "much" degradation in 20% of the samples.
As described later in conjunction with
The present invention may be utilized in a variety of contexts. For example, in one embodiment, it is contemplated to repeat the empirical experiments to account for new effects in the packet-switched realm, for new spoken languages or coding schemes wherein some impairments may have a greater or lesser effect, or for new channel bandwidths.
For example, empirical test results may be different for voice signals spoken in English as opposed to Chinese. As a result, a network in the United States may be optimized differently than one in China. When setting up an international calling plan, the user could specify a language and calls could be routed to optimize the quality for this language. This specification can be for all calls or include different optimizations depending upon the telephone number on the other end.
In one aspect, the present invention solves the problem of how to measure and express the quality of a packet-switched connection and especially, how to predict the callers' responses to a prospective type of connection or component before it is actually released into use. This technique can be used in a variety of applications.
One embodiment is envisioned as a workstation, perhaps even coupled to a network of interest, wherein objective measurements are stored and analyzed according to the process of the present invention. An engineer looking for problems areas within the network, or a sales engineer comparing qualities of various options, may access the workstation to perform projections applicable to some or all of the network.
Another embodiment is envisioned as test equipment that performs measurements or receives data pertaining to a channel under test, including packet loss rate and packet delay, and then applies the above process to output a P(UDI) and MOS as quality indices for the channel under test. The test equipment might also perform a sensitivity analysis to identify which of the objective measurements should be adjusted to best improve the performance of the channel. Without the present invention, an engineer might be inclined to make a decision based upon a noise parameter whereas the more significant factor might be distortion due to dropouts.
As an example,
Measurement circuitry 520 is coupled to the receiver 510. The measurement circuitry 520 measures objective characteristics of the voice signal. Preferably, one of these objective characteristics is the rate of packet loss. As discussed above, each of the objective characteristics is related to a plurality of quality characteristics affecting the quality of the voice signal as perceived by users. Using techniques described above, measurements of the objective characteristics can be translated into subjective quantifications of each of the quality characteristics.
The system 500 also includes a database 530 that stores an effects matrix (see element 230 of
Computer apparatus 540 runs software that calculates the quality information for a given input voice signal. This software utilizes measurements of the objective characteristics, including packet loss and packet delay and the effects matrix to generate quality information for the voice signal. For example, the software would preferably translate the objective characteristics into a specific combination of subjective quantifications. It would then transform the subjective quantifications based on the measured packet loss rate, apply the effects matrix to the transformed subjective data and then apply the effects of packet delay to arrive at composite predicted P(UDI) and MOS values.
Once the quality information is calculated, it will be utilized by output circuitry 550. The output circuitry 550 will depend upon the specific application. In an engineering test set, for example, output circuitry 550 may comprise a visual display or a file (e.g., in system memory or on a disk). Output circuitry 550 could also comprise a port where the data is transported from computer 540.
In commercial network evaluation applications, as another example, output circuitry 550 could comprise a connection to real-time control circuitry (e.g., as could be used in the example of
Yet another application of the present invention is with the use of a real-time control system for a telephone network. Such a system is described with reference to
To begin, it is understood that the block diagram of
As discussed above, a phone call is routed between gateway 16 and gateway 20 (either 20 a or 20 b) so that users at telephones 12 and 24 may carry on a conversation. In particular, gateway 16 is coupled to a router 30. Router 30 reads the address on the packets and sends them to router 32 (via any of a number of pathways which may vary between packets). Router 32 is coupled to gateway 20 b which provides the signal to the circuit switched telephone network 22 and then to telephone 24.
Detection circuitry 36 is coupled to router 32 and is used to measure objective characteristics of the packet-switched signal at router 32. For example, detection circuitry 36 may be software running on a computer (e.g., the same computer which serves as router 32) to measure the number of packets lost at the router. Based on the packet loss, and possibly other objective characteristics such as real-time transport delay, the detection circuit calculates the P(UDI) of the signal. If the P(UDI) goes above a certain threshold, the detection circuit will cause a message to be sent to router 30 that will cause the signals to be rerouted away from the troublesome portion of the network. In the illustrated example, router 30 will re-route the voice traffic to router 34, which is coupled to gateway 20 a. Detection circuitry 36 may also calculate a MOS or other quality-related index and cause rerouting of signals accordingly.
Detection circuitry 30 can be incorporated in many different portions of the network. In this manner, the source of errors can be detected. With this information, calls can be re-routed and service personnel can be notified. For example, an automatic message, e.g., visual indication, pager, e-mail, can be initiated when an error is found. Using a system, such as the one described here, would lower the number of dissatisfied customers by predicting and correcting low quality voice connections.
As yet another example, the present invention may used to aid in the design of network components. Since the invention provides a mathematical model, an engineer can predict what would happen if the characteristics of one of the components were to change. For example, an engineer may wish to lower the performance requirements of an echo canceler, to lower cost. Before building new equipment, the effect of such a redesign could be predicted and any desirable design modifications made before finalizing the design.
After receiving input and initiating the process in step 602, step 604 is executed wherein the SAT measurements for the first communications service are obtained. Obtaining the SAT measurements usually amounts to merely retrieving the previously compiled data from a repository, but may also involve taking measurements to collect such data at the time of need. As described earlier, the SAT measurements are generally data compiled from many thousands of test phone calls, with each call being subjectively evaluated in terms of perceived effect of each type of impairment as well as an overall assessment of communications quality. Where each impairment is rated in terms of "none-some-much", each combination of impairment levels will be reported with some likelihood. For example, a combination of reported values such as "none-some-some-none" referring to the extent of low volume, noise, distortion and echo, respectively, may be reported in some proportion of the test calls. For the purposes of step 604, only this characteristic proportion for each combination of impairments is needed.
Next, in step 606, an effects model is applied to derive an expected mean opinion score, MOS1, based upon the SAT measurements obtained in step 604. MOS1 is a mean opinion score representing the quality typically provided by a first communication service, such as a toll-quality connection through a circuit-switched telephone network. A P(UDI)1 value is also obtained representing a "baseline" value associated with the first communication service.
Also in step 606 are obtained MOSREQ and P(UDI)REQ, which describe the quality measurements required of the second communications network to be perceptually equal to or better than the first communications service.
In accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment, the MOSREQ value is obtained by simply subtracting 0.2 from the MOS1 value. This is based upon the observation that differences of less than 0.2 units in the mean opinion score are imperceptible. A second communications service exhibiting a MOS within 0.2 points of that of the first communications network will be perceived as being of similar quality.
In step 606, P(UDI)REQ is arbitrarily set to 0.06 in accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment. This is based upon the empirical observation that any communications service becomes noticeably degraded when P(UDI) exceeds 0.06. In the case of P(UDI), this threshold is more important than adhering to the P(UDI)1 value of the first communications service.
Proceeding to step 608, the SAT data obtained in step 604 is combined with a table based on empirical observations of how packet loss rate affects perceived speech distortion. (See Table 2.) The result is a transformed version of the SAT data with the proportions of occurrences altered to reflect the influence of a particular packet loss rate. Given the ability to objectively measure speech distortion independently of other manifestations of packet loss, such as prolonged drop-outs, it is plausible to transform the speech distortion values in an existing body of SAT data in this manner. A process by which the SAT data is transformed is described later in conjunction with
In step 610, the transformed SAT data from step 608 is convolved with the TSAT model to determine the MOS and P(UDI) values expected for the second communications service being subject to the given packet loss rate. These values are denoted by MOS2 and P(UDI)2.
The process continues then to step 612, wherein the contribution of packet delay to P(UDI) is assessed and subtracted from the value of P(UDI)REQ. Experiments show that packet delay affects P(UDI) in an additive manner and is independent of the other forms of degradation. Therefore, it is valid to simply lower the P(UDI)REQ margin by subtracting the effects of packet delay.
The effect of packet delay upon P(UDI) may be approximated by a plot such as graph 800 depicted in
Transport delay causes mutual interruption, unexplained speaker hesitation, or confusion as to who is going to speak next due to unexpected pauses in the flow of conversation. The natural coordination among the communicating parties is objectionably impaired and may even render the communication service unusable.
Given an existing P(UDI) and a packet delay that will further impact system performance, a corrected P(UDI) may be calculated as follows:
where f(t) is a normalized function describing the empirically derived curve 810.
Returning to step 612 of
A communications service using a packet-switched transport will probably not experience a constant packet loss rate. The packet loss rate will vary from moment to moment and from session to session. The perceived quality of such a communications service will be an average of some instances degraded by a given packet loss rate, some instances that are unaffected and are comparable to toll-quality circuit-switched transport, and some instances that are of intermediate quality. Hence, the preferred manner for describing acceptable performance is to express, for a given packet delay, a maximum proportion of the time that the communications service may experience a given worst case packet loss rate and still maintain sufficient averaged values for high MOS and low P(UDI).
In step 614 then, the required proportion of degraded instances to non-degraded instances is determined by solving the following equation for Plmos:
This equation represents a linear mixture of communications instances wherein some instances exhibit no packet loss and are subjectively rated by MOS1 and other instances experience worst case packet loss and have a degraded value, MOS2. Plmos is the highest proportion of degraded instances whereby the mixture meets the limit set by MOSREQ.
In step 616, a similar determination is made based on the P(UDI) criterion, P(UDI)REQr. A proportion, Pludi, may be determined by solving the following equation:
Proceeding then to step 618, the lesser of the two proportions, Plmos and Pludi, is selected as being the limiting factor. Because both MOSREQ and P(UDI)REQr criteria must be met, the lesser of the two proportions determines the maximum permissible proportion of degraded communications satisfying both conditions.
In step 620, the lesser proportion selected in step 618 is output from the process to express the maximum allowable proportion of degraded communications such that the second communications service is perceived to be of substantially the same quality as the given first communications service. The output value may alternately be reported as one minus the proportion determined in step 618 to express the minimum proportion of communications that are required to be unaffected by the given packet loss rate.
Finally, the process of determining acceptable performance for a given packet delay and packet loss rate concludes in step 622. As those of skill in the art will appreciate, process 600 may be repeated for various combinations of packet delay and packet loss rate to generate a profile of acceptable performance for a communications service subject to these effects.
Referring now to
Process 700 commences with step 702 wherein a particular packet loss rate is provided as input. The remainder of process 700 takes place in the context of this given packet loss rate.
Next, in step 704, the SAT data is obtained for a communications service that is not subject to packet loss. In the context of this disclosure, this baseline performance data corresponds to the empirically tested characteristics of a first communications service, namely a traditional toll-quality connection.
Where four characteristics are recorded in the SAT data and each characteristic has three values (none, some, much), the SAT data comprises 81 combinations of values. Each combination of values may be referred to as a quadragram. Each quadragram in the SAT data will have an associated count or proportion of occurrence.
Step 706 refers to the step of selecting a subset of quadragrams in the SAT data wherein the reported speech distortion characteristic varies from "none" to "some" to "much" while other characteristics have a fixed pattern. This means that, in step 706, three quadragrams will be selected as a context for subsequent processing in steps 708–712.
Then, in step 708, the proportions of occurrence associated with each of the three quadragrams selected in step 706 are retrieved from the SAT data. These values are represented by Cn, Cs, and Cm.
Processing continues in step 710 where another table is consulted which maps packet loss rate into perceived speech distortion. One such table is exemplified by Table II, presented earlier. For the packet loss rate that was input in step 702, the table is used to find the relative proportions of speech distortion reported as "none-some-much" under otherwise optimal conditions. These values are represented by Pn, Ps, Pm.
In step 712, the proportions reported for the quadragrams selected in step 706 are altered to reflect the added degradation due to the given packet loss rate. In effect, the SAT data from step 704 is transformed to yield a new SAT data table as subject to packet loss. The proportions Pn, Ps, Pm act upon the original SAT proportions Cn, Cs, Cm to yield transformed SAT data Cn′, Cs′, Cm′ as follows:
In step 714, it is determined whether the entire SAT data, meaning all of the quadragrams therein, have been processed by steps 706–712 to yield a transformed version of the SAT data. If there are any remaining quadragrams that have not been so altered, then process 700 returns to step 706 to select further unprocessed quadragrams. As those of skill in the art will recognize, a systematic or a sequential approach may be implemented to systematically "step through" the quadragram patterns and assure that all the SAT data is transformed.
If, in step 714, it is determined that all quadragrams have been processed, then step 716 is executed to output the completely transformed SAT data table which has been altered in accordance with a particular packet loss rate. Process 700 then terminates at step 718.
While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description. It is therefore intended that the appended claims encompass any such modifications or embodiments.
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
Legal Events
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text:
Congressman confronts ranger at closed WWII memorial
The blame game was alive and well yet again in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
According to NBC News, Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tx.) was involved in an argument with a Park Service ranger because she was only allowing veterans to enter the World War II memorial that was fenced off as a result of the partial government shutdown.
Despite the memorial officially being closed, Park Service rangers have been permitting veterans to enter and claim they're exercising their First Amendment rights.
Neugebauer demanded to know why certain people were allowed to enter and asked "How do you look at them and deny them access?"
"It's difficult," responded the Park Service employee.
"Well, it should be difficult," replied the congressman, who was carrying a small American flag in his breast pocket.
"It is difficult," responded the Park Service employee. "I'm sorry, sir."
"The Park Service should be ashamed of themselves," the congressman said.
"I'm not ashamed," replied the ranger.
At this point, a federal worker became involved in a brief argument with Neugebauer and each placed blame elsewhere for the shutdown.
Related Links
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- Parties bicker over blame for parks shutdown
- Brewer: State will fund Grand Canyon again
- Ariz. House GOP: Easier to work with Clinton
- Canyon closure benefited other sites
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- Shutdown idles workers at bottom of Canyon
- Hope, skepticism linger about parks
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- Feds to let states pay to open parks
- St. James: Shut 'er down for good! Please!
- Dozer: Long shutdown will cost Boehner
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- Town OKs funds to try to reopen Canyon
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- Stanton: Gov't shutdown no time for politics
- Rep. Salmon requests suspended pay
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- Impasse leads to gov't shutdown (PICS)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Investigation: Private Residence - Staten Island, NY
Investigation Details: Staten Island, NY
This audio clip was captured in the youngest child's bedroom. The EPIC Team had a pretty good idea of what this voice is saying, and nobody on the team remembers hearing this voice at the time. You will hear a voice whisper an answer to the question "What's your name?". Our team members do not whisper on an investigation, so as not to contaminate EVP evidence. The response seems to come at the 3 second mark. As always, we recommend that you listen to this on high-quality headphones, with no other noise in the background. Make of this what you will.
Highlight the text to see what it says: "Michael"


text:
Johnson, Newtona A. Olayinka (1986) The use of English tense and aspect in the written English of Krio-speaking learners of English. Masters thesis, Concordia University.
Concordia University Libraries
Physical Address: 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Mailing Address: 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1M8
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text:
June 19-20, 2013
Hot Springs, Ark.
June 19-20, 2013
Hot Springs, Ark.
June 23-25, 2013
Washington, D.C.
September 24-27, 2013
Chicago, Ill.
Oswego Community Unit School District 308
Oswego, Ill.
Seventh and eighth graders in Oregon schools will get a welcome amenity next year when classes start. The board of education approved a technology lease with Apple Inc. that will put iPads in the hands of every middle school student.
June 23-26, 2013
San Antonio, Texas
The deadly tornado that swept through Moore, Okla., and flattened or severely damaged two elementary schools last week, hit especially close to home for the Lake Local School District.
The Clay County school system is beginning the 2013-14 budget process facing a projected $7.5 million loss of state revenue because of a drop in enrollment.
Yollis, who has been teaching for 26 years, was one of hundreds of deserving teachers nominated for the contest, but her focus on opening the classroom beyond the four walls through blogging made her contributions to education unique. As word about her winning spread, her class blog quickly filled with congratulatory notes.
Edgenuity's PD teams are comprised of masters-level educators who average 15 years of teaching experience complemented by extensive technical knowledge.
Don Markese, currently the director of technology at Freehold Regional High School in Englishtown, N.J., was appointed as the new supervisor of technology at the Caldwell-West Caldwell (N.J.) school district. Markese' one-year contract will begin on July 1 and he will make $110,000.
It's one thing to say tech geniuses don't need degrees. After all, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg all dropped out of college. But now we've got David Karp, who doesn't even have a high school diploma. Karp, 26, founded Tumblr, the online blogging forum, and sold it to Yahoo for $1.1 billion.
Ninety Apple computers are planned for computer/testing labs at two high schools in the Crookston (Minn.) school district. The computers are being purchased thanks to income received through a million-dollar annual tax levy, from which the board is investing as much as $200,000 in technology upgrades.
Based on interviews and research, the ideas in this white paper build upon lessons learned in analyzing information systems developed by competency education innovators, including best practices of systemic approaches to information management and emerging opportunities.
This white paper is designed to help teachers design and support technology-rich learning environments. It shows how combining coaching with information on communities of learning can create an effective professional development model and develop the technology skills necessary to improve student learning.


text:
A 1971 film that has the Monty Python crew updating their best sketches from the first two seasons of their show.< read all 1 reviews
What happens when you take five British comedians and one American cartoonist, and let them create a film that includes all of their favorite comedy sketches from their revolutionary television series? The answer is simple: mayhem… madness… and Monty Python's classic And Now for Something Completely Different!
The film stars the inimitable John Cleese, the unforgettable Graham Chapman, the impious Eric Idle, the jovial Michael Palin, the rotund Terry Jones, and features the uncanny animation of Terry Gilliam. The film also stars many other self-important, snotty, stuck-up adjectives that I won't bother to mention here.
If you're not already familiar with the absurd antics of the Python boys, then you're in for a nude sock… no, no. What I meant to say was, "If you're not already familiar with the absurd antics of the Python boys, then you're in for a rude shock." Ha, all of those lessons on how to not sound like an ass did pay off. Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes…
It's rather hard to explain the unique comic stylings of Monty Python, so I won't even try. But here's a taste of what you might find inside of the DVD box:
This film has not plot! It is plotless, without a story or narrative of any kind.
The film is nothing more, or less, than a series of skits and sketches taken from the first two seasons of Monty Python's Flying Circus. The sketches have been re-filmed, but not refined, and edited together in a perfectly ridiculous manner (yes, that's a compliment).
The numerous bits include How Not to Be Seen, Nudge Nudge, How to Defend Yourself Against a Man Armed with Fresh Fruit, Hell's Grannies, The World's Funniest Joke, Killer Cars, The Dead Parrot Sketch, The Lumberjack Song, Blackmail, Upper-class Twit of the Year, and many others sure to tickle your funny bone. Tee-hee-hee-hee.
This film has no point! It is pointless, without purpose or reason of any kind.
No, the film is not intended to enlighten the populace or provide philosophers and theologians with the answers to life's great mysteries. Instead, what this film provides viewers with is a jolly good raspberry (read: Phfffbt!) and a "Good day to you, sir."
It should be known that Monty Python is not for everyone. Generally it helps if you possess the intellect of Einstein and the emotional maturity of a pineapple.
In conclusion, I can recommend Monty Python to all of you silly nitwits looking to kill off some of those excess brain cells.
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text:
RECALL: 150K Baby Gates
By Jackie Burrell
Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 2:47 pm in Babies & Tots, Health & Safety.
You know those wooden baby gates you put at the top of the stairs to keep little ones from tumbling down? If you've got one made by Evenflo, read on, because the U.S. Consumer Product Safety folks just recalled 150,000 of them. Seems the slats on the gate break. Evenflo has received 142 reports of slats breaking – one child actually fell down the stairs, one fell down just one step, and 11 kids were hurt as they fell through the gate. The gates were sold at Toys R Us, Kmart, Burlington Baby Depot, Amazon and other retailer between October 2007 and now. Check the model number here, then contact Evenflo (the same link tells you how) for a replacement gate.
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]


text:
A few haunting showers but no snow this time
October 31, 2011 - 09:48 PM
Text size Decrease Increase
A ghostly picture in our Daily Eye Wonder: What is this?
Overnight: Few Showers South and East then Partly Cloudy Chilly
Lows: 38-43 | Wind: Light
Tuesday: Clouds Early Becoming Mostly Sunny Chilly Morning Pleasant Afternoon
Highs: 56-61 | Wind: N 5-10
Wednesday: Mostly Sunny Cool but Pleasant Highs: 58-63 | Wind: Light
A weak area of low pressure to our east has produced a few showers principally south and east of D.C. A chilly night high pressure and dry air will be with us for some quiet weather later in the week. Check out Doug's story on winter weather . We'll sure get a breather this week. I'll show some dramatic satellite images of the weekend snow storm and what was left behind.
Short URL: http://wj.la/vxrWag


text:
The following is an archive of a post made to our
'vox mailing list'
by one of its subscribers.
Well, it looks like this is the cheaper of the two broadband options for
my new midtown Sacramento apartment. Does anyone here use this service
under Linux and, if so, how's the setup?
Don Werve <firstname.lastname@example.com> (Unix System Administrator)
Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue,
Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn bork! bork! bork!
vox mailing list
Hosting provided by:
Sunset Systems
Sunset Systems offers preconfigured Linux
systems, remote system administration and
custom software development.
LUGOD: Linux Users' Group of Davis
PO Box 2082, Davis, CA 95617
Contact Us
LUGOD is a 501(c)7 non-profit organization
based in Davis, California
and serving the Sacramento area.
"Linux" is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.


text:
SELLING an idea to the world is an art in itself. Let the seller beware: no matter how good or scientifically sound the notion, if it is not pitched right it may fall on stony ground. Worse still, it may provoke outright hostility.
One idea to arrive this week, in the form of a patent application, is a DNA chip from British company Genostic Pharma (see p 4). The application, while not a press release, gives clues to the company's thinking and it raises some important pointers for hopeful biotechnology companies about to launch a new product.
DNA chips are wafers to which are attached probes made of short fragments of selected genes. Squirt people's DNA over the chip and if they have one of those genes, it locks onto the relevant probe, which lights up in response. DNA chips are seen as critical for making sense of the ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.


text:
Next iPhone specced and dated
Nothing has been announced, hinted at or even suggested, but that hasn't stopped yet another rumour circulating about what a new iPhone may or may not feature in terms of specs.
Perhaps reading more like a wish list rather than anything else, website appleiphoneapps.com has posted a list of what it claims will be the specs of the new model ahead of any official announcements from the Cupertino based company in the US.
Top of the billing is an OLED screen, 3.2-megapixel camera and built-in FM transmitter, all firsts for the handset.
Of course there is also the supposed promise of a sleeker design, an Apple logo that glows on the back like the company's MacBook range and improved battery life. Oh and it will also get a doubling of memory from 16GB to 32GB.
To top off the rumour the site has even managed to get a date, the 17 July from its secret spy from within.
Pinch of salt or bang on the money only time will tell, but in the meantime, what would you like the new iPhone to feature? Tap us up in the comments below.


text:
Urban Designer – Houston: Job # 120911
Position available January 2012 with SWA Group in the Houston office.
• Assist senior designers with project design efforts within a collaborative team structure and contribute to the development of design concepts for planning and urban design projects or all types and scales.
• Oversee the design delivery process, including project management support and production of work products
• Participate in project design teams and understand the requirements of project agreements, budgets and schedules and deadlines
• Work in a creative, collaborative and focused way with other staff, Associates and Principals
• Assist in the preparation of proposals when necessary and participate in interviews and public presentations as needed
• Foster an environment of mutual respect and trust among team members through clear and consistent communication
• 2-5 years of professional urban design / physical planning / architectural experience
• Degree in Urban Design and / or Architecture / Landscape Architecture
• Experience and / or interest in traditional neighborhood design (New Urbanist) projects and one or more of the following: mixed-use urban projects, community planning, campus planning or transit-related projects
• Expertise in LEED-ND, sustainable design practices and / or LEED certification a plus
Required Skills:
• Exceptionally strong urban design / master planning skills
• Fluency in Mandarin and English is mandatory
• Excellent communication skills including graphics, presentations, writing and translation (verbal and written)
• Demonstrated ability to manage daily work flow of projects and maintain client relationships
• Proficiency in hand drawing / sketching, AutoCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, SketchUp and MS Office
• One page cover letter with statement of interest / qualifications; specifically referring to this job posting number
• Resume with interests and prior responsibilities clearly articulated
• Letter size examples of work in PDF or hardcopy format
• Three (3) professional references
Submit to Maribel Amador at email@example.com or via U.S. mail to:
SWA Group
1245 W. 18th Street
Houston, TX 77008
SWA is an equal employment opportunity employer.


text:
Dad Surprised With OSU-Michigan Tickets
A Michigan fan named Jason McDonald more than understands the value of filial piety and a practical joke.
During his dad's recent birthday celebration, McDonald got him "stickers for his nails" as a gag gift, much to the dad's visible disappointment. That was a prelude to the real gift: Two tickets to this year's Ohio State-Michigan game along with hotel reservations for the weekend of the game.
The dad's reaction wasn't quite as memorable as the Alabama grandpa getting BCS title game tickets for Christmas, but it was still pretty priceless.


text:
See studies by R. P. Carroll (1986) and R. E. Clements (1988); see also bibliography under Old Testament.
See study by M. Middleton (1953).
See H. F. Clarke and H. W. Foote, Jeremiah Dummer, Colonial Craftsman and Merchant (1935).
Jeremiah ; Septuagint Greek: Ἰερεμίας) was one of the 'greater prophets' of the Hebrew Bible. He was the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth.
His writings are collected in the Book of Jeremiah and, according to tradition, the Book of Lamentations. Jeremiah is also famous as "the broken-hearted prophet" (who wrote or dictated a "broken-hearted book", which has been difficult for scholars to put into chronological order), whose heart-rending life, and true prophecies of dire warning went largely unheeded by the people of Israel. God told Jeremiah, "You will go to them; but for their part, they will not listen to you".
Jeremiah was a Kohen (member of the priestly family) called to the prophetical office when still young; in the thirteenth year of Josiah (628 BC). He left his native place, Anathoth, to reside in Jerusalem, where he assisted Josiah in his work of reformation. Jeremiah wrote a lamentation upon the death of this pious king (2 Chr. 35:25).
There is no reference to Jeremiah during the six month reign of Jehoahaz. But in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the enmity of the people against the prophet was expressed with persecution.
In his various exhortations, Jeremiah made extensive use of performance art, using props or demonstrations to illustrate points and engage the public. He walked around wearing a wooden yoke about his neck. He served wine to a family with a vow of temperance. He bought his family estate in Anathoth while in prison and while the Babylonians were occupying it.
He remained in Jerusalem, uttering from time to time his words of warning, but without much effect. He was there when Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon besieged the city (Jer. 37:4, 5), 588 BC, as Jeremiah had prophesied beforehand. The rumour of the approach of the Egyptians to aid the Jews in this crisis induced the Babylonians to withdraw, and to return to their own land. However, this siege was raised for only a short time. The prophet, in answer to his prayer, received a message from God, stating that "the Babylonians would come again, and take the city, and burn it with fire" (37:7, 8). The princes, in their anger at such a message by Jeremiah, cast him into prison (37:15-38:13). He was still in confinement when the city was taken (586 BC). The Babylonians released him, and showed him great kindness, allowing Jeremiah to choose the place of his residence, according to a Babylonian edict. Jeremiah accordingly went to Mizpah in Benjamin with Gedaliah, who had been made governor of Judea.
Johanan succeeded Gedaliah, who had been assassinated by an Israelite prince in the pay of Ammon "for working with the Babylonians". Refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsels, Johanan fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah's faithful scribe and servant with him (Jer. 43:6). There, the prophet probably spent the remainder of his life, still seeking in vain to turn the people to the Lord, from whom they had so long revolted (44). Some believe he was murdered in Egypt by those angered by his prophecies. It is known that he lived into the reign of Evil-merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and may have been about ninety years of age at his death. There is no authentic record of his death. He may have died at Tahpanhes, or, according to a tradition, may have gone to Babylon with the army of Nebuchadnezzar.
The Christian thought (pseudo-Epiphanius, "De Vitis Prophetarum"; Basset, "Apocryphen Ethiopiens," i. 25-29), according to which Jeremiah was stoned by his compatriots in Egypt because he reproached them with their evil deeds, became known to the Jews through Ibn Yaḥyà ("Šalšelet ha-qabbālāh," ed. princeps, p. 99b.)
This account of Jeremiah's martyrdom, however, may have come originally from Jewish sources. Another Christian story narrates that Jeremiah by prayer freed Egypt from a plague of crocodiles and mice; for which reason his name was for a long time honored by the Egyptians (pseudo-Epiphanius and Yaḥya, l.c.). He is commemorated as a prophet in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod on June 26. On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is May 1. He is also commemorated as a saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church, where his feast falls on 5 Pashons.
Consider the one who passed by a ghost town and wondered, "How can GOD revive this after it had died?" GOD then put him to death for a hundred years, then resurrected him. He said, "How long have you stayed here?" He said, "I have been here a day, or part of the day." He said, "No! You have been here a hundred years. Yet, look at your food and drink; they did not spoil. Look at your donkey - we thus render you a lesson for the people. Now, note how we construct the bones, then cover them with flesh." When he realized what had happened, he said, "Now I know that GOD is Omnipotent."
It is told that the town is Jerusalem after destruction and Ezra or Jeremiah is the person that asked God how this town will be alive according to promises.
was a clue as to how difficult the overwhelming, personality-shattering experience of being a vehicle for Divine revelation was, on one of the most difficult task ever assigned, and how difficult it was to be able to see, in advance, ones own failure.
Jeremiah has periodically been a popular first name in the United States, beginning with the early Puritan settlers, who often took the names of Biblical prophets and apostles.
Austrian author Stefan Zweig wrote a pacifist play called Jeremiah during World War I.
Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 is also known as "Jeremiah." Its three movements are Prophecy, Profanation, and Lamentation.
Bertold Hummel named his Symphony No. 3 "Jeremiah". Its four movements are I. Anathot II. Babylon III. Lamentationes Jeremiae and IV. Hymnus-Lakén Jeremiah
Sting made a reference to the prophet on his album The Soul Cages with his song Jeremiah Blues (Part 1).


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PSY 1001 course has been an interesting class so far and we studied numerous intriguing theories throughout the semester. We studied research methods, memory, intelligence and so on in pursuit of how our minds work. However, out of all the things we learned what I will remember five years from now might be the Nature and Nurture debate.
The nature-nurture debate casts a question whether our behaviors attributable mostly our genes or to our rearing environments. Up until the 20th century, it was believed that all human behaviors were produced by learning (nurture). However, after conducting twin and adoption studies, researchers found out that the most important psychological traits such as personality, intelligence and mental illnesses are influenced by genes. Modern psychologists have concluded that human behavior is attributable not only to our environments but to our genes (Lilienfeld 34).
The reason why I think I will remember this debate is because it personally means something to me. Since my husband was adopted, after learning about the nature-nurture debate, I naturally became interest in it. I've had a chance to observe this debate in person and have concluded that nurture plays a bigger role when it comes to personality, especially when you make a decision at times. I'm certain that I will keep my interest and carry on my own research in the future. I was glad that I got to learn about this debate through this course.


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Media Found Elsewhere
DudeYouCrazy and its contributors are always available for outside media opportunities. If you are interested in a contribution from any of the writers please email Andrew Hall at firstname.lastname@example.com or get in touch with the contributors directly on Twitter.
Chad Floyd: @Chad_Floyd
Daniel Palmer: @DPalm66
Andrew Hall: @DudeYouCrazy
Below is a sampling of contributors' work found elsewhere.
Bleacher Report
For a comprehensive look at Andrew Hall's work as the Lead Georgia Football Writer for Bleacher Report, click here.
Gwinnett Daily Post
For the 2013 season, Andrew Hall contributed to the Gwinnett Daily Post as a staff correspondent covering SEC football. His articles can be found here.
Hog Sports Radio
During the season, Andrew Hall appears weekly on ESPN's Hog Sports Radio in Arkansas. A few of his appearances can be found here.
Other Contributors' Outside Content:
- Chad Floyd on 960 The Ref's Roundtable (September 12, 2013)
- Chad Floyd on Yahoo! Sports' ThePostFame Discussing his Hatred for South Carolina (September 6, 2013)
- Johnathan Barnes on the SEC's Most Undervalued Player for Yahoo! Voices (July 13, 2013)


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Aaron Hernandez Moved To New Prison After Murder Conviction
A state prisons official says Hernandez was moved Wednesday to the maximum-security Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley.
Blizzard Baby: Mom In Labor Gets Lift From Troopers
Plow drivers and Massachusetts State Police helped ensure a special delivery during the Blizzard of 2015 for a mother in need.
Corrections Officer Stabbed In Neck By Inmate In Shirley
One corrections officer was stabbed in the neck and seven others were also hospitalized after an inmate attack at the Souza Baranowski correctional center in Shirley on Monday.
7 Correction Officers Taken To Hospital After Attack In Shirley
Seven correction officers were taken to the hospital after a prisoner went on the attack.
Pit Bull That Rescued Owner From Oncoming Train Released From Hospital
Lilly the Pit Bull, the dog that lost its leg while saving its owner from an oncoming train, was released from Angell Animal Medical Center on Saturday.
Pit Bull Pulls Unconscious Owner From Path Of Oncoming Train
A pit bull hit by a freight train last week is being credited with saving its owner's life.
Driver Rescued From Submerged SUV In Shirley
Rescue crews in Shirley pulled a driver out of an SUV that flipped over and crashed into a pond on Tuesday.
Shirley Airman Killed During World War II Buried At Arlington
The family of a local airman killed during World War II waited decades.
The Parent Report: The Name Game
It's always a tough choice for new parents…what to name their newborn child.
Report: Staff Misconduct Led To Escape From Shirley Prison
A new report by state prison officials says staff misconduct and mistakes led to the escape of an inmate who was later charged with killing a man in Springfield.


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Political Advisor» search for more Jobs
Political Advisors are responsible for researching, analysing and writing reports on a wide range of political and governmental subjects and areas. They often act as a critic or commentator on politics and political events, write articles for the media and policy papers for government departments, ministries or Cabinet, write reports on research findings, analyse and comment on the behaviour of the media, advise community groups, governments, political groups, non-governmental organisations, financial markets and the media on political issues, act as an expert witness in court cases, and liaise with governmental departments, embassies and high commissions.
Political Advisors need to have knowledge of political theories, current local, national and world affairs, human behaviour and thought, and have good research, communication, organisational, time management, interpersonal, and statistical skills. Employment is more likely to be found in local or state government departments.


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Iowa All-American guard Devyn Marble showed his skills in front of NBA scouts at the draft combine in Chicago on Thursday.
Marble is looking to become the first Iowa basketball player drafted since 2007.
He can play a number of different positions, Coach Fran McCaffery told ESPN at the combine. Particulary the point guard position at his size, and that's something that's excited a lot of NBA people. He can score the ball, he's a very underrated defender, tough kid, a great late-game player, and incredibly cerebral. I think when you put it all together, he's going to be in the league for a long time.


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NARS Orgasm-Laguna Blush-Bronzer Duo
279 reviews
79% would repurchase
Package Quality: 4.3
Price: $$$$
Package Quality: 4.3
Price: $$$$
on 6/17/2013 11:00:00 PM
Age: 18 & Under
Skin: Dry, Tan, Warm
Hair: Brunette, Curly, Medium
Eyes: Hazel
I received the Orgasm Laguna Duo for Christmas from my sister. I have pale skin, with a warm olivey tone. As far as orgasm & laguna being universally flattering shades, I do agree both are flattering to my skin tone and make me look more awake and less dead especially in the winter! My only complaints are that neither one lasts for more than 5-7 hours and in certain lights the glitter in orgasm can be a bit obnoxious. Other wise I really like both products and would repurchase!
on 6/12/2013 5:34:00 AM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Olive, Warm
Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine
Eyes: Green
Laguna is an excellent shade for me. I have that particular shade of olive skin that most bronzers look muddy on, or else they just won't show up. Laguna shows up but is natural looking. I'm not a fan of obvious 'glam' looking bronzers, I like the subtlety of this.
Orgasm is not a disaster on me, but I am disappointed in it. None of the supposed peachiness shows on me - just pinkness. It's a pretty colour, but pinker than I would like. I am going to try Gina or Taj next probably.
Packaging is fine. I will definitely buy Laguna again, but not Orgasm.
on 6/8/2013 5:48:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Combination, Tan, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
This is my HG blush/bronzer. It's a bit pricey but I absolutely love it! Both shades really compliment a lot of skin tones, including mine. I use Laguna to contour my cheeks, jawline, and nose. It does the job while looking natural. Orgasm, despite the odd name, is a gorgeous shimmery peachy pink color! It's so pretty and gives me sort of a glow because of the shimmer. The duo has lasted me forever! It costs around $45 I believe but it will last you a lifetime! This duo is my favorite blush and bronzer ever! Definitely recommend this
on 6/6/2013 10:56:00 PM
Age: 36-43
Skin: Combination, Medium, Warm
Hair: Black, Straight, Medium
Eyes: Brown
I got this with the Nars Wicked Attraction set. I, too caved in on this cult classic. The set duo is a mini size so I have to use smaller blush brush that fits the pan. But it`s nice for travels. Orgasm is a micro gold specked peach color which I really love. (For reference I`m NC37). Its not very pigmented but buildable. I go very light handed on my cheek bone. It provides a nice healthy glow and sheen, like a flush of color. But too much product makes my pores look enlarged. The blush lasted me all day while driving under the sun and heat. Layering with a lil Orgasm illuminator also helps accentuate the sheen (but careful! might look oily). I would wear Orgasm as day/night blush since the gold flecks are micro mini and reflect light nicely. I dun find this a glitter bomb/disco ball at all. Orgasm also reminds me of Mary Kay`s shy blush, a good dupe.
Laguna seems sheer but u can build color. I use this on the hollows of my cheeks. This technique gives me this "slimming effect" on my face. I kinda like it. I`m a Smashbox bronzer fan but I`m starting to love Laguna.
This is nothing like the Elf duo. The colors, texture and pigment differ entirely. The bronzer in ELF appears muddy on me and is highly pigmented. The blush, on other hand, is pinker.
Overall, I like the classy Nars logo. I also like the rubberized packaging designed for better grip/handling and the sleek matte black finish.
on 5/22/2013 10:16:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Combination, Fair, Neutral
Hair: Blond, Wavy, Fine
Eyes: Blue
The bronzer & blush are both beautiful colors. I bought this on a limb because of the priced but I ended up liking it. Here lately tho I find the blush is getting hard to blend and comes off as really shimmery which I'm not a big fan of.! They are both hard to blend. I much rather buy elfs than spend the money of this when I could get Better quality from something cheaper
on 5/17/2013 2:02:00 AM
Age: 18 & Under
Skin: Combination, Fair, Not Sure
Hair: Blond, Relaxed, Medium
Eyes: Brown
I am an avid buyer of the NARS laguna bronzer for awhile and I love. It's expensive and runs out quickly but is the perfect find for contouring and seems to match even my fair skin tone though it comes in one color.
As for the Orgasm blush, I love the color. However, I prefer buying it in the stick version because of it's dewier finish and also stays on better through out the day.
Either way got lots of compliments while wearing both!
on 5/16/2013 10:00:00 AM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
Those people who think the elf one is exactly the same are so wrong! The elf bronzer is more pigmented, and kinda muddy looking. The elf blush is also more peachy as opposed to orgasm which is pink- gold.
on 4/19/2013 8:25:00 PM
Age: 18 & Under
Skin: Oily, Tan, Not Sure
Hair: Blond, Other, Other
Eyes: Blue
Why pay 40 dollars when u can go get a 3 dollar one from elf. Same exact products no difference guys ur paying for the name not the use, dont buy it!!!
on 4/8/2013 7:15:00 AM
Age: 30-35
Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Not Sure
Hair: Brown, Wavy, Coarse
Eyes: Brown
Just getting into using the more expensive makeup, I'm used to drugstore makeup anything by physicans formula. Well imagine my surprise after deciding to try this as a first step in my new makeup kit. I absolutely love the way it looks on me! I love the Laguna bronzed being a dark bronzed with no orange. And the orgasm making my skin look pleasantly blushed. I'm definitely sold to this. I ordered albatross and I'm awaiting it,
on 2/5/2013 10:36:00 PM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral
Hair: Brunette, Curly, Fine
Eyes: Green
I am an NC30 (or Light 4/Deauville in Nars foundation) and this duo is great for my skin tone. Laguna's a perfect bronzer or contour for a light, neutral skin tone but it's probably not dark enough for anyone with medium or darker skin. Orgasm is a lovely, flattering shade, but I did have some problems. When I first started using Orgasm, I found that it made my cheeks look like they had tiny pimples all over them. I don't have perfect skin, but I NEVER break out on my cheeks. I ditched a rather old, rather mediocre cheek brush and I bought a high quality real hair cheek brush. Now when I apply the blush, I work the product into my skin with small, buffing circles. Not only has that eliminated the appearance of those unsightly bumps, but the blush looks even better when it's really worked into the skin! It gives a really natural "from within" flush to the skin and it looks FLAWLESS.
Popular Bronzers


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Friendly Badminton Club
was established in Elmhurst, Queens, NY by
Yuliani Sentosa
(World Ranked #7 in the 90's),
Bang Soo Hyun
(Gold medal Olympic Games in 1996) and Jongky Sukotjo/Nila Karta. We had the grand opening on March 4, 2000 at the First Presbyterian Church.
e have 2 locations, at Jamaica HS, Queens NY and
new location
at Jersey City, NJ
with international standard courts.
Please do not hesitate to join us. We have all levels of players from beginners to International Champions. You do not have to bring your partner to play because you will find people who will match your level. Just bring your racket, shuttlecocks and badminton spirits and you will meet old and new friends from all over the world. There is a good chance that some of them even speak your native language.
IN NEW YORK and NEW JERSEY AREA
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Below are the pictures from our 2010 Tournament
Click here for the complete pictures taken in the Tournament
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The state of Linux
As LinuxCon Europe starts today in Barcelona, we present an infographic about the state of Linux. It has details about distributions, the Linux kernel, the Linux job market, drivers for adoption, and much more.
In addition to taking a look at the state of Linux, we want to give everyone attending LinuxCon Europe a really cool gift: a 1-year FREE Pingdom Business Account.


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National CF Summer Jubilee Garden Party
Saturday, June 23, 2012 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (BST)
Event Details
National Conservative Future are delighted to invite members to attend our first Summer Garden Party with a host of invited VIPs. We will be hosting you at an exclusive Central London Garden so bring along your picnic blanket and your picnics and we will be happy to provide all the refreshments from Pimms to a selection of wine and soft drinks. For only £10 please do come along and join the National Executive for a fantastic afternoon of relaxation and fun with friends.
Why stop the Jubilee celebrations at the beginning of June, come along to celebrate Her Majesty's 60 years on the throne with a fantastic afternoon of fun with friends.
As the British weather can be typically unpredictable, if it is raining, we will all head to a local pub and use the money collected in advance for an afternoon of frivolity and fun.
Have questions about National CF Summer Jubilee Garden Party? Contact the organizer
Saturday, June 23, 2012 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (BST)
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