Impairment / Calculated Planning Impairment Factor (ICPIF)
The ICPIF originated in the 1996 version of ITU-T recommendation G.113 "Transmission impairments," as part of the formula Icpif = Itot - A. ICPIF is actually an acronym for "(Impairment) Calculated Planning Impairment Factor," but should be taken to simply mean the "calculated planning impairment factor." The ICPIF attempts to quantify, for comparison and planning purposes, the key impairments to voice quality that are encountered in the network.
ICPIF Stands for “Impairment Calculated Planning Impairment Factor”. The ICPIF attempts to quantify, for comparison and planning purposes, the key impairments to voice quality that are encountered in the network. ICPIF values are expressed in a typical range of 5(very low impairment) to 55 (very high impairment). ICPIF values numerically less than 20 are generally considered “adequate”
Note: IP SLA uses a simplified formula which is also used by Cisco Gateways to calculate the ICPIF for received VoIP data streams.
The ICPIF is the sum of measured impairment factors (total impairments, or Itot) minus a user-defined access Advantage Factor (A) that is intended to represent the user's expectations, based on how the call was placed (for example, a mobile call versus a land-line call). In its expanded form, the full formula is expressed as:
Icpif = Io + Iq + Idte + Idd + Ie - A
where
•Io represents impairments caused by non-optimal loudness rating,
•Iq represents impairments caused by PCM quantizing distortion,
•Idte represents impairments caused by talker echo,
•Idd represents impairments caused by one-way transmission times (one-way delay),
•Ie represents impairments caused by equipment effects, such as the type of codec used for the call and packet loss, and
•A represents an access Advantage Factor (also called the user Expectation Factor) that compensates for the fact that users may accept some degradation in quality in return for ease of access.
ICPIF values are expressed in a typical range of 5 (very low impairment) to 55 (very high impairment). ICPIF values numerically less than 20 are generally considered "adequate." While intended to be an objective measure of voice quality, the ICPIF value is also used to predict the subjective effect of combinations of impairments. Table 1, taken from G.113 (02/96), shows how sample ICPIF values are expected to correspond to subjective quality judgement.
Table 1 Quality Levels as a Function of Total Impairment Factor ICPIF
Upper Limit for ICPIF Speech Communication Quality
5 Very good
10 Good
20 Adequate
30 Limiting case
45 Exceptional limiting case
55 Customers likely to react strongly
(complaints, change of network operator)
For further details on the ICPIF, see the 1996 version of the G.113 specification.
Note:The latest version of the ITU-T G.113 Recommendation (2001), no longer includes the ICPIF model. Instead, it refers implementers to G.107: "The Impairment Factor method, used by the E-model of ITU-T G.107, is now recommended. The earlier method that used Quantization Distortion Units is no longer recommended."
The full E-Model (also called the ITU-T Transmission Rating Model), expressed as R = Ro - Is - Id - Ie + A, provides the potential for more accurate measurements of call quality by refining the definitions of impairment factors (see the 2003 version of the G.107 for details). Though the ICPIF shares terms for impairments with the E-Model, the two models should not be confused.
The IP SLAs VoIP UDP Operation feature takes advantage of observed correspondences between the ICPIF, transmission rating factor R, and MOS values, but does not yet support the E-Model.
ICPIF Stands for “Impairment Calculated Planning Impairment Factor”. The ICPIF attempts to quantify, for comparison and planning purposes, the key impairments to voice quality that are encountered in the network. ICPIF values are expressed in a typical range of 5(very low impairment) to 55 (very high impairment). ICPIF values numerically less than 20 are generally considered “adequate”
Note: IP SLA uses a simplified formula which is also used by Cisco Gateways to calculate the ICPIF for received VoIP data streams.
The ICPIF is the sum of measured impairment factors (total impairments, or Itot) minus a user-defined access Advantage Factor (A) that is intended to represent the user's expectations, based on how the call was placed (for example, a mobile call versus a land-line call). In its expanded form, the full formula is expressed as:
Icpif = Io + Iq + Idte + Idd + Ie - A
where
•Io represents impairments caused by non-optimal loudness rating,
•Iq represents impairments caused by PCM quantizing distortion,
•Idte represents impairments caused by talker echo,
•Idd represents impairments caused by one-way transmission times (one-way delay),
•Ie represents impairments caused by equipment effects, such as the type of codec used for the call and packet loss, and
•A represents an access Advantage Factor (also called the user Expectation Factor) that compensates for the fact that users may accept some degradation in quality in return for ease of access.
ICPIF values are expressed in a typical range of 5 (very low impairment) to 55 (very high impairment). ICPIF values numerically less than 20 are generally considered "adequate." While intended to be an objective measure of voice quality, the ICPIF value is also used to predict the subjective effect of combinations of impairments. Table 1, taken from G.113 (02/96), shows how sample ICPIF values are expected to correspond to subjective quality judgement.
Table 1 Quality Levels as a Function of Total Impairment Factor ICPIF
Upper Limit for ICPIF Speech Communication Quality
5 Very good
10 Good
20 Adequate
30 Limiting case
45 Exceptional limiting case
55 Customers likely to react strongly
(complaints, change of network operator)
For further details on the ICPIF, see the 1996 version of the G.113 specification.
Note:The latest version of the ITU-T G.113 Recommendation (2001), no longer includes the ICPIF model. Instead, it refers implementers to G.107: "The Impairment Factor method, used by the E-model of ITU-T G.107, is now recommended. The earlier method that used Quantization Distortion Units is no longer recommended."
The full E-Model (also called the ITU-T Transmission Rating Model), expressed as R = Ro - Is - Id - Ie + A, provides the potential for more accurate measurements of call quality by refining the definitions of impairment factors (see the 2003 version of the G.107 for details). Though the ICPIF shares terms for impairments with the E-Model, the two models should not be confused.
The IP SLAs VoIP UDP Operation feature takes advantage of observed correspondences between the ICPIF, transmission rating factor R, and MOS values, but does not yet support the E-Model.
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