口译与听力-00602-2001.docVIP

2001 Science and Technology Lesson One p283 p227 In early 1998, America’s authoritative Information Week magazine predicted that the Internet phone would be one of the hottest technologies of the year. According to a recent research report, while total revenues for the Internet phone industry in the US were zero in 1994, figures for 1996 reached US$20 million, with projection of US$200 million for 1999. Although Internet phone technology has only been with us for 3 years, it shows vast potential for future development. For normal home use, whether making a domestic or international Internet phone call, the cost is just the same as surfing the net, requiring no additional long-distance phone charges. For large companies, if this technology becomes fully feasible, it will make possible huge savings in long-distance charges. Does it sound too good to be true? Internet use is based on the TCP/IP format, and IP (Internet Protocol) was originally designed only to transmit packages of information. The limit of this format have thus created a number of hurtles to the success of Internet phones. For the typical home user, the biggest problem is the limited bandwidth. Even using the best 56k modem, the fastest rate of transmission is only 7,000 bps. And yet a minimum of 8,000 bps is needed to attain a normal level telephone sound quality. In order to solve the problem limited bandwidth, it will thus be necessary to raise the bandwidth and further improve voice compression technology. Generally speaking, sound quality on an Internet phone call is clear, but still inferior to the quality of a normal phone call. One particular problem is that because sound is transmitted in packets on an Internet call, delays often occur, greatly reducing call quality. When a good Internet connection is made, the delay time may be only 0.01 to 0.05 seconds. Yet because instantaneous transmission and continuity are basic requirements for telephone conversations, the delay problem is still majo