AMBE - Advanced Multi-Band Excitation is the technology that is used in D-STAR to compress the voice for transmission. AMBE is implemented in the AMBE-2000 or AMBE-2020 chips which are implemented inside of a D-STAR radio. The AMBE chips are manufactured by Digital Voice Systems, Inc.(DVSI).
DVSI began with the goal of developing a new, robust speech compression system that would outperform the methods that existed at that time. DVSI based its efforts on the innovative, Multi-Band Excitation (MBE) speech model developed by Griffin and Lim at MIT in the mid 1980's. DVSI's MBE based technology possesses many advantages over traditional linear prediction-based techniques, allowings DVSI's vocoders to deliver higher voice quality at lower bit rates as compared to CELP, MELP, VSELP, LPC-10, etc.
The AMBE-2000™ Vocoder Chip implements DVSI’s patented and award winning AMBE® Voice Compression Algorithm. The field-proven success of this technology has resulted in its recognition as the standard for voice quality in communication systems around the globe. Satellite systems such as ACeS, AMSC/TMI, ICO, Inmarsat, Iridium, Optus and Thuraya use this technology because of its superior voice quality at low bit rates.