Codec 2 README

Codec 2 is an open source (LGPL 2.1) low bit rate speech codec: http://rowetel.com/codec2.html

Also included:

• The FreeDV API for digital voice over radio. FreeDV is an open source digital voice protocol that integrates modems, codecs, and FEC README_freedv
• APIs for raw and Ethernet packet data over radio README_data
• High performance coherent OFDM modem for HF channels README_ofdm
• High performance non-coherent FSK modem README_fsk
• An STM32 embedded version of FreeDV 1600/700D/700E for the SM1000
• Coherent PSK modem README_cohpsk for HF channels
• FDMDV DPSK modem README_fdmdv for HF channels
• 6000 baud mode README_mode6000 for VHF/UHF

Quickstart

1. Install packages (Debian/Ubuntu):

   sudo apt install git build-essential cmake
   

   Fedora/RH distros:

   sudo dnf groupinstall "Development Tools" "C Development Tools and Libraries"
   sudo dnf install cmake
   

2. Build Codec 2:

   git clone https://github.com/drowe67/codec2.git
   cd codec2
   mkdir build_linux
   cd build_linux
   cmake ..
   make
   

3. Listen to Codec 2:

   cd codec2/build_linux
   ./demo/c2demo ../raw/hts1a.raw hts1a_c2.raw
   aplay -f S16_LE ../raw/hts1a.raw
   aplay -f S16_LE hts1a_c2.raw
   

4. Compress, decompress and then play a file using Codec 2 at 2400 bit/s:

   ./src/c2enc 2400 ../raw/hts1a.raw hts1a_c2.bit
   ./src/c2dec 2400 hts1a_c2.bit hts1a_c2_2400.raw 
   

   which can be played with:

   aplay -f S16_LE hts1a_c2_2400.raw
   

   Or using Codec 2 using 700C (700 bits/s):

   ./src/c2enc 700C ../raw/hts1a.raw hts1a_c2.bit
   ./src/c2dec 700C hts1a_c2.bit hts1a_c2_700.raw
   aplay -f S16_LE hts1a_c2_700.raw
   

5. If you prefer a one-liner without saving to files:

   ./src/c2enc 1300 ../raw/hts1a.raw - | ./src/c2dec 1300 - - | aplay -f S16_LE
   

6. Or you can use your microphone and headphones to encode and listen to the result on the fly:

   br=1300; arecord -f S16_LE -c 1 -r 8000 | ./src/c2enc $br - - | ./src/c2dec $br - - | aplay -f S16_LE -
   

FreeDV 2020 support (building with LPCNet)

1. Build LPCNet:

   cd ~
   git clone https://github.com/drowe67/LPCNet
   cd LPCNet && mkdir build_linux && cd build_linux
   cmake .. 
   make
   

2. Build Codec 2 with LPCNet support:

   cd ~/codec2/build_linux && rm -Rf *
   cmake -DLPCNET_BUILD_DIR=~/LPCNet/build_linux ..
   make
   

Programs

• See demo directory for simple examples of using Codec and the FreeDV API.

• c2demo encodes a file of speech samples, then decodes them and saves the result.

• c2enc encodes a file of speech samples to a compressed file of encoded bits. c2dec decodes a compressed file of bits to a file of speech samples.

• c2sim is a simulation/development version of Codec 2. It allows selective use of the various Codec 2 algorithms. For example switching phase modelling or quantisation on and off.

• freedv_tx & freedv_rx are command line implementations of the FreeDV protocol, which combines Codec 2, modems, and Forward Error Correction (FEC).

• cohpsk_* are coherent PSK (COHPSK) HF modem command line programs.

• fdmdv_* are differential PSK HF modem command line programs (README_fdmdv).

• fsk_* are command line programs for a non-coherent FSK modem (README_fsk).

• ldpc_* are LDPC encoder/decoder command line programs, based on the CML library.

• ofdm_* are OFDM PSK HF modem command line programs (README_ofdm).

Building and Running Unit Tests

CTest is used as a test framework, with support from GNU Octave scripts.

1. Install GNU Octave and libraries on Ubuntu with:

   sudo apt install octave octave-common octave-signal liboctave-dev gnuplot python3-numpy sox valgrind
   

2. To build and run the tests:

   cd ~/codec2
   rm -Rf build_linux && mkdir build_linux
   cd build_linux
   cmake -DUNITTEST=1 ..
   make
   

3. To just run tests without rebuilding:

   ctest
   

4. To get a verbose run (e.g. for test debugging):

   ctest -V
   

5. To just run a single test:

   ctest -R test_OFDM_modem_octave_port
   

6. To list the available tests:

   ctest -N
   

7. Many Octave scripts rely on the CML LDPC library. To run these from the Octave CLI, you need to set the CML_PATH environment variable. A convenient way to do this is using a .octaverc file in your codec/octave directory. For example on a Linux machine, create a .octaverc file:

   setenv("CML_PATH","../build_linux/cml")
   

Directories

cmake       - cmake support files
demo        - Simple Codec 2 and FreeDv API demo applications
misc        - misc C programs that have been useful in development,
              not reqd for Codec 2 release. Part of Debug build.
octave      - Octave scripts used to support development
script      - shell scripts for playing and converting raw files
src         - C source code for Codec 2, FDMDV modem, COHPSK modem, FreeDV API
raw         - speech files in raw format (16 bits signed linear 8 kHz)
stm32       - STM32F4 microcontroller and SM1000 FreeDV Adaptor support
unittest    - Code to perform and support testing. Part of Debug build.
wav         - speech files in wave file format

GDB and Dump Files

1. To compile with debug symbols for using gdb:

   cd ~/codec2
   rm -Rf build_linux && mkdir build_linux
   cd build_linux
   CFLAGS=-g cmake ..
   make
   

2. For dump file support (dump data from c2sim for input to Octave development scripts):

   cd ~/codec2
   rm -Rf build_linux && mkdir build_linux
   cd build_linux
   CFLAGS=-DDUMP cmake ..
   make
   

Building for Windows on a Linux machine

We recommend using Linux to cross compile for Windows.

On Ubuntu Linux:

sudo apt-get install mingw-w64
mkdir build_windows && cd build_windows
cmake .. -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/home/david/freedv-dev/cmake/Toolchain-Ubuntu-mingw32.cmake -DUNITTEST=FALSE -DGENERATE_CODEBOOK=/home/david/codec2/build_linux/src/generate_codebook 
make

This will create a working libcodec2.dll file for use with other applications (e.g. FreeDV GUI which is in wide spread use on Windows). Please note the utility/development command line applications (e.g. freedv_rx.exe) may not work exactly the same on the Windows CLI compared to running on a Unix machine/shell. For example pipes may not function as expected, and ctests are not supported. Our primary development and test environment is Unix, and we lack the resources to support and maintain these applications for other operating systems.

Including Codec 2 in an Android project

In an Android Studio 'NDK' project (a project that uses 'native' code) Codec 2 can be added to the project in the following way.

1. Add the Codec 2 source tree to your app (e.g. in app/src/main/codec2) (e.g. as a git sub-module).

2. Add Codec 2 to the CMakeList.txt (app/src/main/cpp/CMakeLists.txt):

   # Sets lib_src_DIR to the path of the target CMake project.
   set( codec2_src_DIR ../codec2/ )
   # Sets lib_build_DIR to the path of the desired output directory.
   set( codec2_build_DIR ../codec2/ )
   file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${codec2_build_DIR})
   
   add_subdirectory( ${codec2_src_DIR} ${codec2_build_DIR} )
   
   include_directories(
       ${codec2_src_DIR}/src
       ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/../codec2
   )
   

3. Add Codec 2 to the target_link_libraries in the same file.

Building Codec 2 for Microcontrollers

Codec 2 requires a hardware Floating Point Unit (FPU) to run in real time.

Two build options have been added to support building on microcontrollers:

1. Setting the cmake variable MICROCONTROLLER_BUILD disables position independent code (-fPIC is not used). This was required for the IMRT1052 used in Teensy 4/4.1).

2. On ARM machines, setting the C Flag __EMBEDDED__ and linking with the ARM CMSIS library will improve performance on ARM-based microcontrollers. __REAL__ and FDV_ARM_MATH are additional ARM-specific options that can be set to improve performance if required, especially with OFDM modes.

A CMakeLists.txt example for a microcontroller is below:

set(CMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE STATIC_LIBRARY)
set(MICROCONTROLLER_BUILD 1)

set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -mlittle-endian -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -g -O3")
set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS} -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections")

add_definitions(-DCORTEX_M7 -D__EMBEDDED__)
add_definitions(-DFREEDV_MODE_EN_DEFAULT=0 -DFREEDV_MODE_1600_EN=1 -DFREEDV_MODE_700D_EN=1 -DFREEDV_MODE_700E_EN=1 -DCODEC2_MODE_EN_DEFAULT=0 -DCODEC2_MODE_1300_EN=1 -DCODEC2_MODE_700C_EN=1)
                    
FetchContent_Declare(codec2
    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/drowe67/codec2.git
    GIT_TAG origin/master
    GIT_SHALLOW ON
    GIT_PROGRESS ON
)
FetchContent_GetProperties(codec2)
if(NOT ${codec2_POPULATED})
    FetchContent_Populate(codec2)
endif()
set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "")

set(LPCNET OFF CACHE BOOL "")
add_subdirectory(${codec2_SOURCE_DIR} ${codec2_BINARY_DIR} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)

Building Debian packages

To build Debian packages, simply run the "cpack" command after running "make". This will generate the following packages:

• codec2: Contains the .so and .a files for linking/executing applications dependent on Codec2.

• codec2-dev: Contains the header files for development using Codec2.

Once generated, they can be installed with "dpkg -i" (once LPCNet is installed). If LPCNet is not desired, CMakeLists.txt can be modified to remove that dependency.