USER-CUSTOMIZED, LOW BIT-RATE SPEECH VOCODING METHOD AND COMMUNICATIONS FOR USE THEREWITH

A voice encoding method and apparatus initialize! initializes (160) transmit and receive vocoders operated within communication units (12, 42) with a user-unique speech characteristic model (SCM) table (320) and an input stimulus table (340). The SCM table (320) and input stimulus table (340) are created during a training task (120) and stored (144) in a user information card (360), within a communication unit (60), or at a control facility (90). During call setup, the tables are exchanged (180) between the transmit and receive vocoders and the user's speech is encoded (200) using the SCM table (320) and input stimulus table (340). During encoding (200), either compressed table entries that most closely match the input speech, or indexes that identify the closest table entries are sent (220) in a bitstream to the receive vocoder. The SCM table (320) and input stimulus table (340) can be updated (240) during or after the call.