This paper describes both simulation and real time implementation of an 800 bits/s LP vocoder using vector quantization. A summary of the software algorithms is presented, including the codebook generation by a threshold algorithm and the fast nearest neighbour search algorithm. The hardware configuration using the DSP TMS 32010 is described. Informal listening tests and Diagnostic Rhyme Tests indicate that the speech quality at 800 bits/s is very close to that achieved at 2400 bits/s with LPC-10 standard vocoders.