Dynamic bit allocation methods and devices for audio signal

• US 10,152,981 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2015
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Liu, Zexin, Miao, Lei, Hu, Chen
• Primary Examiner(s): Roberts, Shaun
• Application Number:
  US14/984,703
• Publication Number:
  US 20160111104A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,077 Days
• Field of Search: 7042001, 704205, 704500
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/002 Dynamic bit allocation for perceptual audio coders G10L19/032
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/0204 using subband decomposition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/032 Quantisation or dequantisation of spectral components

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide signal encoding and decoding methods and devices. The method includes: determining, a quantity k of subbands to be encoded, where i is a positive number, and k is a positive integer; selecting, according to quantized envelopes of all subbands, k subbands from all the subbands, or selecting k subbands from all subbands according to a psychoacoustic model; and performing a first-time encoding operation on spectral coefficients of the k subbands. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the quantity k of subbands to be encoded is determined according to the quantity of available bits and the first saturation threshold, and encoding is performed on the k subbands that are selected from all the subbands, instead of on an entire frequency band, which can reduce spectrum holes of a signal obtained through decoding, and therefore, can improve auditory quality of an output signal.

Claims

1. An encoding method for audio signal, comprising:

obtaining, according to a time-frequency transformation, a frequency domain signal corresponding to the audio signal;

determining, according to a quantity of available bits and a first saturation threshold i, a quantity k subbands, wherein i is a positive number and k is 4 when the quantity of available bits greater than the first saturation threshold i, and k is 3 when the quantity of available bits smaller than or equal to the first saturation threshold i;

selecting, according to a quantized envelopes of all subbands of the frequency domain signal, k subbands from all the subbands of the frequency domain signal; and

performing a first-time encoding operation on spectral coefficients of the k subbands.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the performing the first-time encoding operation on spectral coefficients of the k subbands comprises:

normalizing the spectral coefficients of the k subbands, to obtain normalized spectral coefficients of the k subbands; and

quantizing the normalized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, to obtain quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

if a quantity of remaining bits in the quantity of available bits is greater than or equal to a first bit quantity threshold after the first-time encoding operation, determining, according to the quantity of remaining bits, a second saturation threshold j, and the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, m vectors on which second-time encoding is to be performed, wherein j is a positive number, and m is a positive integer; and

performing a second-time encoding operation on spectral coefficients of the m vectors.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining, according to the quantity of remaining bits, a second saturation threshold j, and the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, m vectors on which second-time encoding is to be performed comprises:

determining, according to the quantity of remaining bits and the second saturation threshold j, a quantity m of vectors on which second-time encoding is to be performed;

determining candidate spectral coefficients according to the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, wherein the candidate spectral coefficients comprise spectral coefficients that are obtained by subtracting the corresponding quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands from the normalized spectral coefficients of the k subbands; and

selecting the m vectors from vectors to which the candidate spectral coefficients belong.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the selecting the m vectors from vectors to which the candidate spectral coefficients belong comprises:

sorting the vectors to which the candidate spectral coefficients belong, to obtain sorted vectors; and

selecting the first m vectors from the sorted vectors, wherein

the sorted vectors are divided into a first group of vectors and a second group of vectors, the first group of vectors are arranged before the second group of vectors, the first group of vectors correspond to vectors whose values are all 0s in vectors to which the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands belong, and the second group of vectors correspond to vectors whose values are not all 0s in the vectors to which the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands belong.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the performing a second-time encoding operation on spectral coefficients of the m vectors comprises:

determining global gains of the spectral coefficients of the m vectors;

normalizing the spectral coefficients of the m vectors by using the global gains of the spectral coefficients of the m vectors; and

quantizing normalized spectral coefficients of the m vectors.

7. A decoding method for audio signal, comprising:

determining, according to a quantity of available bits and a first saturation threshold i, a quantity k of subbands, wherein i is a positive number, and k is 4 when the quantity of available bits greater than the first saturation threshold i, and k is 3 when he quantity of available bits smaller than or equal to the first saturation threshold i;

selecting, according to decoded envelopes of all subbands, k subbands from all the subbands, and

performing a first-time decoding operation, to obtain quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands;

obtaining, according to the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, a frequency domain signal corresponding to the audio signal.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

if a quantity of remaining bits in the quantity of available bits is greater than or equal to a first bit quantity threshold after the first-time decoding operation, determining, according to the quantity of remaining bits and a second saturation threshold j, a quantity m of vectors on which second-time decoding is to be performed, wherein j is a positive number, and m is a positive integer; and

performing a second-time decoding operation, to obtain normalized spectral coefficients of the m vectors.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

determining a correspondence between the normalized spectral coefficients of the m vectors and the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands.

10. An encoding device for encoding audio signal, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to;

obtain, according to a time-frequency transformation, a frequency domain signal corresponding to the audio signal;

determine, according to a quantity of available bits and a first saturation threshold i, a quantity k of subbands, wherein i is a positive number, and k is 4 when the quantity of available bits greater than the first saturation threshold i, and k is 3 when he quantity of available bits smaller than or equal to the first saturation threshold i;

select, according to a quantized envelopes of all subbands of the frequency domain signal, k subbands from all the subbands of the frequency domain signal; and

perform a first-time encoding operation on spectral coefficients of the k subbands.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the processor coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to:

normalize the spectral coefficients of the k subbands, to obtain normalized spectral coefficients of the k subbands; and

quantize the normalized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, to obtain quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein the processor coupled to the memory further to execute the instructions to:

if a quantity of remaining bits in the quantity of available bits is greater than or equal to a first bit quantity threshold after the first-time encoding operation, determine, according to the quantity of remaining bits, a second saturation threshold j, and the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, m vectors on which second-time encoding is to be performed, wherein j is a positive number, and m is a positive integer; and

perform a second-time encoding operation on spectral coefficients of the m vectors.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein the processor coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to:

determine, according to the quantity of remaining bits and the second saturation threshold j, a quantity m of vectors to be encoded;

determine candidate spectral coefficients according to the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, wherein the candidate spectral coefficients comprise spectral coefficients that are obtained by subtracting the corresponding quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands from the normalized spectral coefficients of the k subbands; and

select the m vectors from vectors to which the candidate spectral coefficients belong.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the processor coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to:

sort the vectors to which the candidate spectral coefficients belong, to obtain sorted vectors; and

select the first m vectors from the sorted vectors, wherein the sorted vectors are divided into a first group of vectors and a second group of vectors, the first group of vectors are arranged before the second group of vectors, the first group of vectors correspond to vectors whose values are all 0s in vectors to which the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands belong, and the second group of vectors correspond to vectors whose values are not all 0s in the vectors to which the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands belong.

15. The device according to claim 10, wherein the processor coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to:

determine global gains of the spectral coefficients of the m vectors;

normalize the spectral coefficients of the m vectors by using the global gains of the spectral coefficients of the m vectors; and

quantize normalized spectral coefficients of the m vectors.

16. A decoding device for decoding audio signal, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to;

determine, according to a quantity of available bits and a first saturation threshold i, a quantity k of subbands, wherein i is a positive number, and k is 4 when the quantity of available bits greater than the first saturation threshold i, and k is 3 when he quantity of available bits smaller than or equal to the first saturation threshold i;

select, according to decoded envelopes of all subbands, k subbands from all the subbands; and

perform a first-time decoding operation, to obtain quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands;

obtain, according to the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands, a frequency domain signal corresponding to the audio signal.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the processor coupled to the memory further to execute the instructions to:

if a quantity of remaining bits in the quantity of available bits is greater than or equal to a first bit quantity threshold after the first-time decoding, determine, according to the quantity of remaining bits, the second saturation threshold j, and the first group of decoded spectral coefficients, a quantity m of vectors on which second-time decoding is to be performed, wherein j is a positive number, and m is a positive integer; and

perform a second-time decoding operation, to obtain normalized spectral coefficients of the m vectors.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the processor coupled to the memory further to execute the instructions to:

determine a correspondence between the normalized spectral coefficients of the m vectors and the quantized spectral coefficients of the k subbands.