Audio Transmission Channel Quality Assessment

A device configured for evaluation of the quality of a transmission channel while the transmission channel is being used to transmit speech that was spoken by a human speaker, captured at a near end, and transmitted over the transmission channel for reproduction at a far end, the device comprising:

• a processor at one end of the transmission channel and configured to:
• determine one or more characteristics of the speech;
• receive over a backchannel of the transmission channel the same characteristics of the same speech that have been determined at the other end of the transmission channel;
• compare the determined speech characteristics and the received speech characteristics;
• and
• notify the speaker if the comparison does not meet a predetermined quality metric.

A system for the real-time evaluation of the quality of a transmission channel, wherein the transmission channel is used to transmit speech that is spoken by a human speaker, captured at a near end, and transmitted over the transmission channel for reproduction at a far end, the system comprising:

• a first processor configured to determine one or more characteristics of the speech at the near end;
• a second processor configured to determine the same characteristics of the same speech after it has been received at the far end;
• wherein at least one of the first and second processors are further configured to cause communication of determined characteristics between the near end and the far end over a backchannel of the transmission channel;
• wherein at least one of the first and second processors are still further configured to compare the speech characteristics determined by the first and second processors;
• and
• wherein at least one of the first and second processors are still further configured to cause notification to the speaker if the comparison does not meet a predetermined quality metric.