There are no copyright issues, but there are probably patents, though I dont know for sure.
Hank On 10/11/06, Alexandre LEGOUT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > A good idea, really! But what about the licensing issues? Is it allowed > to implement a copyrighted codec? > > LAlex > > Nico Gulden a écrit : > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Hash: SHA256 > > > > Hello everybody, > > > > first of all I want to excuse myself for crossposting. I can't estimate > > which mailinglist could be the right one for our concern. > > > > Struktur AG, member of the Linux Solutions Group e.V., wants to announce > > an Open Source tender for an implementation of an audio codec compatible > > with Nellymoser Asao Codec. Struktur wants to pay 6000 US$ for the > > project. Proposals can be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] until October, > > 31st 2006. Deadline for the project is January, 15th 2007. For > > questions, please contact me. > > > > The whole description can be found at > > http://www.lisog.org/projekte/supported_projects/bounty-programm/nellymoserasaocodec-bounty.pdf > > > > A description about the whole idea behind the bounty program can be > > found at > > http://www.lisog.org/projekte/supported_projects/bounty-programm/description-en. > > > > > > The idea is comparable with the Google Summer of Code. LiSoG wants to > > connect skill, ideas and money to support the development of certain > > features in Open Source Software. > > > > The Linux Solutions Group e.V. (LiSoG) is an association founded in > > March 2005 with the goal to promote linux based business. With its > > business orientation and its cross-national approach it has an unique > > position in the German-speaking area. Besides global players in the IT > > industry the initiative promotes small and medium business companies > > that deal with Open Source. Members are amongst others IBM, MySQL, > > Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Novell, Red Hat, Collax, Abraxas for IT > > providers, Stuttgarter Versicherung, Federal State of Bavaria, Schweizer > > Bundesverwaltung and Universities like Linz, Heilbronn, Nürnberg and > > Mannheim. Further information can be found at http://www.lisog.org/ > > > > - -- > > Greetings > > Nico Gulden > > > > Technical Lead > > Linux Solutions Group e.V. - LiSoG > > > > Breitscheidstr. 4 > > 70174 Stuttgart > > > > Phone: +49 711/90715-393 > > Fax: +49 711/90715-350 > > E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Jabber: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://www.lisog.org > > > > Vorstand: > > Dr. Karl-Heinz Strassemeyer (Vorsitzender), IBM > > Volker Smid (stellvertretender Vorsitzender), Novell > > Karl-Eugen Binder, Stuttgarter Lebensversicherung > > Heiko Erhardt, skynamics > > Dirk Haaga, Red Hat > > Niels Mache, struktur > > Dr. Jürg Römer, Bund ISB, Schweiz > > Richard Seibt (Berater des Vorstands) > > > > Geschäftsführer: Klaus Haasis > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > > Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (GNU/Linux) > > Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org > > > > iD8DBQFFLPRYLOWWwXQ1zqIRCEq8AKCQRlWYcgm5kwNF5+tSiUjqND495wCfaerK > > ShUSKVgBV2op1jcYvko7oYg= > > =3rrp > > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > Open Source Tender: Implementation of an Audio Codec Compatible with > > Nellymoser Asao Codec > > > > Project Description > > > > The project must produce: > > > > A open source cross-platform library or program for real-time voice data > > compression and decompression which is compatible to the Nellymoser Asao > > codec as used by the Adobe/Macromedia Flash plugin. > > We are looking for a open source implementation of a voice codec that a) > > encode voice audio in a binary format which can be read and decompressed to > > an audio stream by the Nellymoser Asao codec and b) can decompress data > > encoded by the Nellymoser Asao to voice audio. > > The decoding function of the codec must be capable to convert data streams > > produced by the Nellymoser Asao codec as used in the Adobe/Macromedia Flash > > Plugin into 16-bit audio streams in real-time. > > The only requirement is that the data formats must be compatible. The > > requirement is not that encoded voice/audio must produce an identical > > binary data stream. Decompressing of data streams produced by the > > Nellymoser codec should produce an audio stream with similar quality. It is > > not a requirement of the decoder to produce identical audio data. > > > > Tendering process > > struktur will pay 6000 US$ for this project. This is not a "lowest bidder" > > tender, Proposals will be judged on quality and risk analysis. Please send > > your proposal to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and we will contact you with questions. > > > > We will consider every proposal and everyone will be contacted. You will > > have a chance to clarify points in your proposal. We want an open > > communication channel with everyone. > > > > Project requirements > > The product is expected to support all features of the Nellymoser Asao > > codec that are used by the Macromedia Flash plugin. The product is not > > expected to support any other features that are possibly part of the > > proprietary version of the codec. > > > > The baseline proposal, on which the budget is based, is as follows: > > > > A cross-platform C library or program that can decode voice data that has > > been compressed by the Nellymoser Asao codec as used by the Macromedia > > Flash plugin. The library should encode real-time sampled voice (a data > > stream of voice samples in 8 or 16-bit resolution with a given sampling > > rate) in a manner that the encoded voice data can be played back by the > > Nellymoser Asao decoder which is built-in into the Flash plugin. It should > > be able to receive a Nellymoser Asao encoded stream encoded by the Flash > > plugin as input and generate raw audio data and vice versa. Sampling rates > > should be in the range from 8 to 22 kHz. The encoding and decoding > > operation should be computational (and energy) efficient. > > > > We are happy to consider other implementation proposals. Please keep in > > mind the following guidelines: > > > > We like cross platform: Linux, Windows, Mac, Unix. > > We like reusable components: Libraries are great. > > We don't like dependencies: Especially ones that are not standard in Linux > > servers. Dependency on X, Java or Mono will count against your proposal > > > > Note that the development work must be a "clean room" implementation. The > > development must not include code which is based on reverse engineering, > > decompiling or disassembling of proprietary software. The development work > > must not be based on any information released under non-disclosure or > > proprietary license, i.e. a license incompatible with open source licenses. > > > > For your convenience we will provide sample data and streams that have been > > encoded with the Nellymoser Asao codec as used by the Adobe/Macromedia > > Flash plugin. > > > > Copyright > > The copyright of the code will remain with the project author (unless you > > wish to donate it to the open source community). However, you must make > > your work available under the Apache 2.0 and the LGPL license. > > > > Evaluation and Payment > > The payment schedule will be negotiated with the selected project's > > representatives. Note however that our agreement with the donor involves > > the following constraints: > > > > We will receive the first half of the donation on November 15. > > We will receive the second half of the donation when all projects are > > completed. > > > > As a result, we can only offer an initial payment in early November and we > > can provide no more than half the funds prior to completion of all > > projects. We will make an effort to tailor the payment schedule to your > > needs within these constraints. > > > > The final payment will be contingent on completion of the project to the > > satisfaction of review committee of struktur. > > > > Timeline > > We expect that this project will take in the order of 1-month. The project > > should be completed by January 15, 2007. If you can't meet that deadline > > please don't let that deter you from sending a proposal, but we will > > generally prefer proposals that do meet the deadline. > > > > Sending your proposal > > Deadline: October 31 > > Length: Approximately one side of A4/letter. > > Format: Plain text or OpenDocument Format. > > Style: Informal. Please include your name (or that of your > > company) and the email address where you wish to be contacted. > > Send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > You must explain in clear terms how your proposal works. How you plan to > > achieve the project objectives. You are encouraged to point to previous > > work you've done that can serve as a track record. > > > > More information > > The Nellymoser Asao voice codec produces a lossy single-channel (mono) > > format optimized for low-bitrate transmission of speech. The codec was > > developed by Nellymoser Inc. > > > > The Nellymoser codec is an integral part of the Flash-plugin since Flash > > version 6. The codec uses frequency-domain characteristics of speech for > > compression. The voice is ADC sampled and grouped into frames of 256 > > samples. Each frame is then converted into the frequency domain (by Fourier > > transformation) and the most significant (highest-amplitude, most > > energetic) frequencies are identified. A number of frequency bands are > > selected for encoding and the least significant bands are discarded. The > > bitstream for each frame encodes which frequency bands are in use and what > > their amplitudes are. > > The encoding/decoding method is similar to standard compression techniques > > like MP3 or Vorbis. The main difference is that Nellymoser ASAO is > > optimized for voice and real-time, low bitrate, low latency > > encoding/decoding. > > > > Nellymoser ASAO packets are compressed in a fixed 1 to 8 ratio. > > > > The voice encoding steps of the Nellymoser encoder can be described in 4 > > steps: > > > > 1.Transformation: > > the original 256 audio samples are transformed in the frequency domain. > > 2.Masking: > > the masking is applied on the frequency domain to reduce the number of the > > significant coefficients. > > 3.Quantisation: > > a number of the most significant frequency coefficients are quantized. > > 4.Compression: > > the coefficients are Huffman (or similar) encoded to reduce redundancies > > and to take advantage of low entropy. The binary data represented as stream > > or vectors (refer to MPEG-1 encoding) usually contain many consecutive > > zeros bits as a result of masking frequency domains and coefficient > > quantization. > > > > The optimal encoding quality will be reached when masking (which is > > probably constant) and quantization (likely to be dynamic) parameters are > > adjusted in a way that the resulting compressed binary stream reduces the > > sampled input data by a factor of 8. > > > > Nellymoser ASAO stream data format: > > The final compressed ASAO packet is always 64 bytes long. FLV audio Tags > > may contain 1,2 or 4 ASAO packets. Typically there are 20-40 audio tags per > > second. The FLV audio tag header is 13 bytes long. > > > > Contact > > struktur AG > > c/o Niels Mache > > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Postal address: > > Kronenstr. 22A > > D-70173 Stuttgart > > Germany > > > > Internet: www.struktur.de > > > > Resources > > Audio and voice codecs: > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3 > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis > > > > Speex free software codec for speech: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speex > > http://www.speex.org/ > > > > Scientific Paper: > > Improved Noise Weighting in CELP Coding of Speech - Applying the Vorbis > > Psychoacoustic Model To Speex > > http://people.xiph.org/~jm/papers/aes120_speex_vorbis.pdf > > > > Nellymoser Voice Codec: > > http://www.actionscript.org/forums/showthread.php3?t=20430 > > http://www.nellymoser.com/ > > http://www.progettosinergia.com/flashvideo/flashvideoblog.htm > > > > Flash: > > http://osflash.org > > http://www.flashcomguru.com > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > osflash mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > osflash mailing list > [email protected] > http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > > > > _______________________________________________ osflash mailing list [email protected] http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
