G.726

What Does G.726 Mean?

G.726 is an ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) standard for speech compression and decompression introduced in 1990. G.726 is used in digital transmission systems to code analog signals into digital signals. It is an adaptive differential pulse code modulation for transmitting voice at rates of 16, 24, 32 and 40 Kbps.

G.726 has its roots in the public switched telephone network and is primarily used for international trunks to save bandwidth.

Techopedia Explains G.726

G.726 supersedes G.721 and G.723, including both standards and new standards for 16 Kbps data transfer rate. It was the standard code used in digital enhanced cordless telecommunication wireless phone systems. It is also used in some Canon systems. The four bit rates in G.726 are referred to by the bit size of the sample holding 2, 3, 4 and 5 bits respectively.

G.726 compresses data by converting between Linear A law used in Europe, or µ-law used in Japan, and the pulse-code modulation used in the U.S.