The research group Assessment of IP-based Applications of Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, which is part of
Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), is offering a 2-year
PhD position
Evaluation of interactive audiovisual speech
communication
Description
Our goal is to investigate the impact of degradations of interactive IP-based applications such as VoIP that
can only be assessed in a conversational situation, or that affect a conversation in a specific way. One
prominent example is that of transmission delay, where the turn-taking of participants may be degraded,
although the transmitted speech and video signals can be of high quality. The addressed services are twoparty VoIP, multiparty audio-conferencing, video-telephony, and videoconferencing.
Goals
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Adapt and combine existing systems for VoIP & videotelephony simulation.
Identify transmission-related technological degradations of relevance for interactive multimedia
services.
Identify conversation-related perceptual cues that may be affected by these degradations.
Identify, adapt, and develop methods for the evaluation of interactive audiovisual speech
communication services with human subjects, reflecting identified cues.
Determine quantitative relations between human performance and quality perception during
conversations when using interactive multimedia applications, and develop corresponding prediction
models.
Requirements
The successful candidate holds a diploma or master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science,
Communication Sciences, Computer Linguistics, or a comparable field. For this position, genuine interest in
and knowledge of telecommunications, the willingness to work in an international and interdisciplinary team,
and the capability of independent work are a must. Solid knowledge of acoustics or of video technologies
and programming in C or C++, and interest in auditory and visual perception, as well as knowledge of the
English language are required. Prior knowledge of auditory or visual perception and experience with
MATLAB are a definite plus.
Environment
Deutsche Telekom Laboratories (T-Labs) is a joint scientific research institute of Deutsche Telekom AG and
Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin). We carry out pioneering research into innovative information
and telecommunication technologies, in particular addressing human perception and interaction, networking
and security issues. The Laboratories are located on the campus of Berlin University of Technology, with the
goal of promoting the interaction between science and business through physical proximity.
The Assessment of IP-based Applications Lab of Deutsche Telekom Laboratories (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander
Raake) is a newly founded research group, which carries out research on IP-based multimedia applications
and user perception. The work will be conducted in exchange with other researchers working, for example,
on parametric IPTV- and video-telephony quality models, multimedia transmission, audio-rendering and
speech quality assessment, together with the Quality and Usability Lab of Deutsche Telekom Laboratories
(www.qu.tlabs.tu-berlin.de).
How to apply
Applications including a CV, a motivation letter, copies of the most important certificates, and indication of
2 references should be sent, as soon as possible, to these two addresses:
Alexander Raake (alexander.raake (a) telekom.de), AND laboratories.researchscientist(a)telekom.de
TU Berlin seeks to increase the percentage of female employees and particularly encourages female
candidates to apply. In case of equal qualifications, female candidates will be preferred.
Handicapped candidates will be preferred in case of equal qualifications.