What CODEC is used in Phase 2 P25 radios?

Phase 2 P25 radios utilize the AMBE (Advanced Multi-Band Excitation) CODEC for voice compression and transmission. This particular codec is designed specifically for low-bit-rate voice encoding, making it well-suited for digital radio communications, especially in public safety scenarios where bandwidth efficiency is crucial.

AMBE is capable of producing high-quality voice clarity at lower data rates compared to traditional audio codecs, which makes it ideal for the narrowband operation found in P25 systems. Its implementation ensures that clear and intelligible communication is maintained even in challenging conditions or limited bandwidth situations that are common in emergency services.

Other choices like vocoder are more generic terms and do not refer to a specific codec used in Phase 2, while G.721 and PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) are alternative coding schemes that might be relevant in other contexts but are not the standard for P25 Phase 2.