Initiative Supports DSP Group's TrueSpeech G.723 as Part of Internet Communications Standard; Microsoft, Intel and Numerous Other Companies Support ITU's H.323 Audio and Video Conferencing/Telephony Standard That Uses TrueSpeech.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 1996--DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG) today announced that it supports the Microsoft and Intel initiative for a standards-based implementation for communications over the Internet.

This implementation specifies the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) H.323 standard for audio and video conferencing/telephony, which includes the ITU G.723 standard for low bit rate speech compression. ITU G.723 is based on DSP Group's TrueSpeech compression technology. The Microsoft and Intel initiative helps establish TrueSpeech G.723 as a standard for high quality, low bit rate, audio on the Internet.

H.323 is an ITU standard for video and voice communications over networks, and is now being endorsed as a standard for the Internet. Within ITU H.323, TrueSpeech G.723 is the only speech coder that will operate on a 14.4 kbps modem. Therefore, it is suitable for Internet videoconferencing, telephony, on-demand audio/video, and other Internet and communications applications. TrueSpeech G.723 is based on an advanced algorithm that results in excellent voice quality despite the high compression rate, and operates at 6.3 kilo bits per second (kbps) and 5.3 kbps with compression ratios of 20:1 and 24:1, respectively. It also includes silence compression which can bring the effective rate down to less than 3.7 kbps.

"We are delighted that Microsoft, Intel and other major companies have endorsed ITU's H.323, which includes TrueSpeech G.723, as a standard for high quality communications on the Internet," said Yuval Cohen, Vice President of Business Development at DSP Group. "As a result, TrueSpeech G.723 will enable interoperability of audio communications products both on, and off, the Net."

The G.723 speech technology was jointly developed by DSP Group, Audiocodes Ltd, France Telecom, and the University of Sherbrooke and was selected by the ITU as the standard after extensive quality tests and evaluations.

TrueSpeech G.723 is available for licensing from DSP Group. DSP Group also offers the G.723 speech coder fully integrated on the CT8020 G.723 Co-processor. This chip contains additional functionality including Acoustic Echo Cancellation, full duplex speaker phone, PC telephony/messaging, and audio support for Digital Simultaneous Voice and Data (DSVD) modems.

About TrueSpeech

DSP Group's TrueSpeech is a family of high quality, low bit rate, compression algorithms with compression ratios of up to 40:1. In addition to the ITU H.323 standard, TrueSpeech G.723 is also part of the ITU H.324 standard for videoconferencing/telephony over regular public telephone lines.

Several different versions of TrueSpeech at different compression rates are available for licensing. In addition to TrueSpeech G.723 (6.3/5.3 kbps), DSP Group also offers TrueSpeech 8.5 kbps. The TrueSpeech family of algorithms have been licensed by such industry leaders as Microsoft, Intel, Siemens, Creative Labs, Prodigy, U.S. Robotics, and Cirrus Logic. TrueSpeech 8.5 is built into Microsoft Windows 95 and NT operating systems, allowing users to record, playback, store, email, and post audio files on the internet using TrueSpeech.

About DSP Group, Inc.

Founded in 1986, DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSPG), is a leader in the development and marketing of high-performance, cost-effective digital signal processing (DSP) solutions for the consumer telephone, computer telephony and personal computer industries. By combining three key technologies -- speech processing algorithms, telephony algorithms and digital signal processors -- the company has delivered a wide range of enabling application-specific DSPs to these markets.

DSP Group is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. For more information about DSP Group, contact http://www.dpsg.com or [phone].

CONTACT: DSP Group, Inc.

John Shea, 408/986-4425

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Miller/Shandwick Technologies

Peter Ross/Richard Burger, 415/962-9550

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