Nokia Demos 6G Immersive Voice Tech

The Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS) codec is officially part of 3GPP Release 18, also known as "5G-Advanced," establishing it as the next global standard for mobile communication. The standardization process was a significant international collaboration involving 13 companies, including Nokia, Fraunhofer IIS, Ericsson, Huawei, and Qualcomm, with a testing budget that exceeded one million euros. IVAS is a direct extension of the Enhanced Voice Services (EVS) codec that powers high-quality VoLTE calls today. While EVS delivered a leap in monophonic quality, IVAS is designed for spatial audio, supporting formats from stereo and multi-channel to scene-based Ambisonics and object-based audio, enabling a 3D listening experience for calls and XR applications. The interoperability demonstration with Fraunhofer IIS is a critical milestone, proving the technology works between different client setups and audio formats. This moves IVAS beyond a single-vendor prototype, signaling to network operators and device manufacturers that the standard is ready for real-world deployment within existing IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks. Fraunhofer IIS has a long and foundational history in audio compression, having co-invented the mp3 format and co-developed its successor, AAC. This deep expertise in psychoacoustics and codec development has been central to multiple generations of 3GPP audio standards, culminating in their contributions to IVAS. While standardized for 5G-Advanced, IVAS is a foundational building block for 6G. The broader 6G standardization process is now accelerating, with the ITU working toward initial global standards (IMT-2030) and 3GPP targeting the first 6G specifications in Release 21 around 2028 for commercial deployment by 2030.