多媒体格式专利费参考标准

MultimediaStandardsLicensingFeeIntroductionThisdocumentoutlineslicensingcostsandcontactinformationformajormultimediastandardsandtechnologyinuseandinfutureusethatisofinteresttocompaniesbuildingnextgenerationmultimediaproducts.Mostlicensingfactsarereferringtopatentpools.Additionalcostswouldbehighqualityencoderandpotentiallydecoderimplementations.Mostmultimediastandardsalgorithmsareasymmetrical.Inotherwords,theencodersrequiremuchmoreprocessingpowerandaremuchmorecomplexbothalgorithmicallyaswellascomputationally.Thisisduetotheconceptthatencoderwouldbeusedonservers,inprofessionalbroadcastsysteminprofessionalmoviestudioauthoringtools;applicationswherethecostsofencodingdidnotimpactthedeliverymechanismorcosttoconsumers.Finally,inmoststandards,exceptforAC-3,theencoderisnotnormative.Inotherwords,companiesandindividualsareallowedtodesigntheworseencodingtechnologypossibleaslongasthealgorithmgeneratesacompliantbitstream.ThehighestqualityencoderdesignsareoftencreatedbytheverycompanieswithpatentsinthevariousMPEGstandards.Themainpointofthisdiscussionistonotethehighvarianceinencodertechnologyqualityandtoalsobeawarethatindividualimplementationsofcoders,shouldtheybedeemednecessaryforthisproductwillhaveadditionallicensingandfeecosts.StandardsEachStandardisgivenabriefdescription,applicationswhereitisinuse,licensingtermsandcontactinformation.GnuPublicLicenseoranysortofalgorithmorapplicationthatdoesnotrequirepaymentisnotaddressedinthisdocument.AlsonotdiscussedareRealNetworksformatsorotherlesser“player”technologiesintheInternetMediaspace.AUDIOA.MPEG1/2,LayerIII(MP3):1.CompressionRatio12:1.128kb/sstereofor44.1or48kHzsamplingrateisatypicalbitrateinthistechnology.2.DescriptionUbiquitous,MP3is“TheInternetstandard”aswellasportableplayerstandard.Cons:verypoorperformanceonspeechsignals,qualityvariesgreatlydependinguponimplementation.MPEG1,LayerIIIperformspoorlyintandeming.MPEG1layerIIIisantiquatedtechnologythatisover10yearsoldinthefieldofaudiocompressionresearch.ManydifferentMPEG1-layerIIIencodersandcompressiontoolsareavailableviatheInternet,thusqualityvariesfromextremelygoodqualitytoencodersthatwillnotevenproduceaproperbitstream.3.ContentIllegalcopyingofcontentlaunchedMP3andtodayonecanfindalmostanythingavailableinfreedownloadusingpeer-to-peersoftwareKazaainMP3format.NOMediaservicethatdoesnotsupportMP3couldbelocatedinQ3/03.0.75USDdecode/unit2.50-5.00USDencode/unitB.MP3Pro:1.96kb/sstereofor44.1or48kHzsamplingrateisatypicalbitrateinthistechnology.Thompsonadvertises“half”thebitrateofMP3,yetinvestigationyieldsthisbitrateasatypicalsetting.2.DescriptionMP3Progivesverypoorperformanceonspeechsignalsyettherearefewimplementationversions,soqualityismoreconsistent.MP3Prodoesnottandem.TheSpectralBandReplicatechnology,whichSBRplusMP3makesupMP3Pro,isunderconsiderationinMPEG-4audiostandardsbodiesaswell.Thus,ifoneconsideredutilizingtheMPEG-4audiolicensepool,thisportionoftheMP3Proalgorithmispotentiallyavailableforuse.MP3ProconsistentlyranksaboveMP3inaudioqualityandofteniscompetitivewithAACdependingupontheencoderutilized,theprofilechosenwithinAACandthematerial.3.ContentDesignedtoreplaceMP3withsuperiorperformance,MP3Prohasnotachieveditsgoals.Verylittle,contentavailableontheInternet.MP3.comsupposedlysupportsit,yetthedatabaseisalmostexclusivelyMP3files.4.Licensing1.25USDdecode/unit5.00USDencode/unitC.MPEG2-AACToobtainthelicensingforpatentsonly::[e-mail]upportsupto48full-frequencyrangeaudiochannels.Asymmetricencodeanddecodeincomputationalcomplexity.Compressionratiois18:1.64kb/sstereofor44.1or48kHzsamplingrateisatypicalbitrateinthistechnology.128kb/s(aswellas96kb/s)stereo@44.1kHzwasdeterminedtobe“indistinguishable”fromCDqualityaudioinITUstandardizedlisteningtestresults.2.DescriptionAACperformsfairlywellwithspeechsignalsdownto24kb/sstereo.yet,whencomparedtostateoftheartspeechcompression,AACisinferiortoACELPbasedvocoders.AACisnotdesignedfortandemingyetperformsbetterthanMPEG1,LayerIII.MPEG2-AAChasconsistentlyrankedasthebestofshowforaudiocompressionalgorithms.Pleasenotethataudioqualityisdependentuponthedesignoftheencoder.AT&TandFhGaswellasDolbyencodersaretheonlyversionsthatshouldbeconsideredwhenevaluatingAACquality.(IntegratedServicesDi