{"id":1103,"date":"2024-12-10T18:07:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T18:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/?p=1103"},"modified":"2024-12-11T14:59:45","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T14:59:45","slug":"via-la-launches-new-voice-codec-pool-dolby-etri-huawei-jvckenwood-and-ntt-already-on-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/via-la-launches-new-voice-codec-pool-dolby-etri-huawei-jvckenwood-and-ntt-already-on-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Via LA launches new voice codec pool: Dolby, ETRI, Huawei, JVCKenwood and NTT already on board"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Context:<\/strong> Via LA has been deepening its focus in China as far back as 2019 \u2013 when home appliances maker Haier acquired a licence for its Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) pool. In the last couple of years, the pool operator has announced buy-ins from Chinese TV manufacturer Skyworth Group, TCL, Oppo, Xiaomi and Lenovo, too. Additionally, the operator has been adopting what it calls an \u201cevergreen\u201d model for its pools, expanding its High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) patent pool in April, for example, to include patents for the next iteration of video codec technology, Versatile Video Coding (VVC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s new: <\/strong>Today, Via LA\u2019s focus is extending further into Asia with the launch of its new Voice Codec pool<\/a> with players such as ETRI, Huawei, NTT and JVCKenwood already involved as licensors, as well as Dolby in the U.S. The pool, which covers voice technologies including Enhanced Voice Services (EVS) and Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS), has also received buy-in from Huawei as its first licensee. The standard rate for the pool is set at 60 U.S. cents per unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct impact:<\/strong> With four of five licensors on board from Asia, Via LA\u2019s pool confirms the inroads it has made into the continent over the past few years. The operator\u2019s head of programs Willy Chang notes that China, Japan and South Korea may be Via LA\u2019s \u201cstrongest geographies\u201d, and with Huawei signed up it is expected that there will be significant buy-in from that part of the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wider ramifications: <\/strong>This pool is a novelty for the video and audio codec market, as it groups together EVS and the very nascent technology standard of IVAS. While the latter technology is yet to see any adoption, the pool operator is confident that this will occur because of the value it will bring to new technologies. The EVS market has also historically seen a lot of litigation. According to Chang, the new pool seeks to help with that by facilitating licensing in a more transparent way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Via LA<\/a>\u2019s new pool will license out EVS technology, a core voice standard that enables high-quality voice communication service through 4G and 5G cellular network stations. It will also eventually fold in IVAS, which essentially expands EVS and makes possible the transmission of stereo and immersive audio via mobile networks. The standard will also be applicable for devices beyond mobile handsets, including laptops and set-top boxes. However, we are still a couple of years out from seeing strong penetration of this technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a conversation with ip fray<\/strong>, Via LA\u2019s VP of Program Management Willy Chang<\/a> said the company is \u201cvery confident\u201d that this adoption will happen. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense for it not to take off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to MPEG LA\u2019s merger with Via Licensing, the company already had an EVS pool. But it was shut down so it could be restructured to have the \u201cevergreen model\u201d by folding in IVAS. \u201cWe really felt that structure with an updated royalty was really necessary for that pool to take off,\u201d Chang said. The pool operator states that, with over one billion mobile phones shipped globally each year, these evolving voice technologies represent a significant market opportunity in the coming decades. <\/strong>And, Chang added, the expectation is that this pool will be very \u201cfast-moving\u201d because the conditions are ripe, there is a lot of usage and a well-defined set of licensors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur new Voice Codec pool is one example of the promising new licensing offerings that Via LA is focused on bringing to the market,\u201d Heath Hoglund, President of Via LA stated today. In April, Via LA announced that it had expanded its High Efficiency Video Coding patent pool to include patents for Versatile Video Coding. Though its VVC pool still operates separately, Mr. Hoglund said folding AAC into the pool was received well by the market so doing the same with VVC made sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asian uptake<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Via LA\u2019s Chang also told ip fray<\/strong> that over the last couple of years it has really been focusing on its growth in Asia. In the EVS field, he said, you have the key holders of cellular technologies such as Qualcomm, Nokia and Ericsson \u2013 but where there is a lot of opportunity with respect to the Asian companies is they don\u2019t have this long history of doing bilateral agreements. \u201cThere is a lot more opportunity for us to work with them and launch pools with them and bring them in as both licensors and licensees,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked whether market penetration has been difficult in Asia, Chang said that this perspective has almost been \u201cflipped on its head\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cAsian companies are as willing and as approachable as entities outside of Asia. They understand how pools can help them and I think overall those relationships we\u2019ve created have become so strong \u2013 particularly in China, Korea and Japan \u2013 that those are our strongest geographies, full-stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Chang believes that there will be a big uptake in Asia, particularly with Huawei as an \u201canchor\u201d licensor and licensee. EVS is basically limited to mobile and the largest mobile makers outside of Apple are now generally in China and Korea, he noted, adding: \u201cWe really do feel Via is uniquely positioned to do well in this precisely because of our relationships in Asia, which accounts for the majority of mobile sales nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Fan, Global Head of IP at Huawei \u2013 which has also joined as a licensee \u2013 said in a statement today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cHuawei is a significant contributor to advanced audio technologies such as EVS and IVAS. As both a patent holder and implementer, Huawei supports a balanced approach to patent licensing that aligns two key objectives: incentivizing innovation and promoting widespread adoption. The Voice Codec pool reflects this balanced position and provides an efficient licensing solution for the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The company is also working with other major patent pool owners, such as Sisvel as a licensor in its cellular IoT and Wi-Fi 6 pools, Avanci as a licensor in its EV charger pool and Access Advance as a licensor and licensee in its HEVC pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andy Sherman, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Dolby also stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cDolby has a rich history of innovation in the audio technology space. As new voice technologies increasingly shape the digital communications landscape of today and tomorrow, Dolby is excited to join Via LA\u2019s Voice Codec Pool as we continue to evolve our voice offerings.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Dolby is also a member of Via LA’s AVC pool, as well as several other multimedia codec pools, including Access Advance’s HEVC and VVC pools, Sisvel’s VP9 and AV1 programmes, and the Vectis IP Opus pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another statement, NTT\u2019s Director of Licensing Shunsuke Sakai said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNTT\u2019s history of innovation in voice communications has allowed us to deliver consistently better experiences for consumers and has helped drive rapid growth in digital data use. We are pleased to join Via LA\u2019s Voice Codec Pool as an efficient and effective means of continuing to make the results of our long-standing R&D in voice codec technology available to the global marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The company publicly departed from MPEG LA\u2019s HEVC pool in 2020 but its director of licensing expressed that pools still remained a key part of its patent strategy. It is also currently a member of MPEG-2, H.264AVC, Unified AAC, Access Advance’s HEVC and VVC pools and Avanci Vehicle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Huawei has also taken a license from Via LA\u2019s new pool, which covers voice technologies such as EVS and IVAS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,51,28,20,14,15,1,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dolby","category-huawei","category-l-icensors-licensees","category-patent-pools","category-patents","category-standard-essential-patents","category-uncategorized","category-via-la-patent-pools"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1103"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1161,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1103\/revisions\/1161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}