3GPP, the worldwide partnership project among seven major regional telecommunications standard development organizations responsible for mobile communication standards, has recently completed the standardization of a new codec intended for Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS) in 5G systems. The new IVAS codec is a feature of 3GPP Release 18 (5G-Advanced) and enables completely new service scenarios by providing capabilities for interactive stereo and immersive audio communications, content sharing and distribution. The addressed service scenarios include conversational voice with stereo and immersive telephony/conferencing, XR (VR/AR/MR) communications, i.e., XR telephony and conferencing, and live and non-live streaming of user-generated immersive and XR content. The IVAS Codec is an extension of the 3GPP EVS codec. Beyond support for mono voice and audio content, IVAS also brings support for coding and rendering of stereo, multichannel-based audio, scene-based audio (Ambisonics), object-based audio and metadata-assisted spatial audio – a new parametric audio format designed for direct spatial audio pick-up from smartphones. The performance of the codec was evaluated in the course of the 3GPP standardization in 23 experiments carried out by two independent laboratories each. The workshop will introduce the IVAS Codec starting with a brief overview of standardization process and state of the art. The codec architecture, supported audio formats, and main technology blocks behind the supported coding and rendering options will be presented and discussed in detail together with test results and capabilities of the new codec in terms of compression efficiency and audio quality. In addition, the panelists will discuss new service scenarios for immersive audio communication and other mobile use-cases. If possible, immersive audio demonstrations will be carried out during the workshop. The panelists will collect and address questions and other input from the audience.
