Slot position coding of syntax of spatial audio application

• US 20070071247A1
• Filed: 08/30/2006
• Published: 03/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Jung, Yang, Kim, Dong, Oh, Hyen, Pang, Hee, Lim, Jae
• Granted Patent: US 7,783,493 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/20
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/008 Multichannel audio signal coding or decoding using interchannel correlation to reduce redundancy, e.g. joint-stereo, intensity-coding or matrixing
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/167 Audio streaming, i.e. formatting and decoding of an encoded audio signal representation into a data stream for transmission or storage purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 1/007 in which the audio signals are in digital form data reduction aspects thereof based on psychoacoustics G10L19/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2420/03 Application of parametric coding in stereophonic audio systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 3/002 Non-adaptive circuits, e.g. manually adjustable or static, for enhancing the sound image or the spatial distribution control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field H04S7/30

Abstract

Spatial information associated with an audio signal is encoded into a bitstream, which can be transmitted to a decoder or recorded to a storage media. The bitstream can include different syntax related to time, frequency and spatial domains. In some embodiments, the bitstream includes one or more data structures (e.g., frames) that contain ordered sets of slots for which parameters can be applied. The data structures can be fixed or variable. The data structure can include position information that can be used by a decoder to identify the correct slot for which a given parameter set is applied. The slot position information can be encoded with either a fixed number of bits or a variable number of bits based on the data structure type.

Claims

1. A method of encoding an audio signal, comprising:

generating a parameter set corresponding to first or second information of an audio signal; and

inserting the parameter set and corresponding first or second information in a bitstream representing the audio signal, wherein the first or second information is represented by a variable number of bits.

2. A method of decoding an audio signal, comprising:

receiving a bitstream representing an audio signal, the bitstream including a parameter set and first or second information corresponding to the parameter set, where the first or second information is represented in the bitstream by a variable number of bits; and

decoding the audio signal based on the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first information is position information of a time domain or a time slot to which the parameter set is applied, and the second information is position information of a frequency domain, a sub-band or a parameter band to which the parameter set is applied.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first or second information indicates a fixed position or a variable position.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first information is represented by a variable number of bits, the variable number of bits being determined by using number information of the time domain or the time slot, and the second information is represented by a variable number of bits, the variable number of bits being determined by using number information of the frequency domain, the sub-band or the parameter band.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, when the number information is equal to or greater than 2ˆ

(n−

1) and less than 2ˆ

(n), the variable number of bits is decided as n bits.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein, when the number information is greater than 2ˆ

(n−

1) and equal to or less than 2ˆ

(n), the variable number of bits is decided as n bits.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the first information is represented as a previous value and a difference value, wherein the previous value indicates position information to which a first parameter set is applied and the difference value indicates position information to which a second parameter set is applied.

9. An apparatus for encoding an audio signal, comprising an encoder configured for:

generating a parameter set corresponding to first or second information of an audio signal; and

inserting the parameter set and corresponding first or second information in a bitstream representing the audio signal, wherein the first or second information is represented by a variable number of bits.

10. An apparatus for decoding an audio signal comprising a decoder configured for:

determining a parameter set corresponding to first information or second information of an audio signal, where the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information is included in a bitstream representing an audio signal, and wherein the first or second information is represented in the bitstream by a variable number of bits; and

decoding the audio signal based on the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information.

11. A data structure for inclusion in a bitstream representing an audio signal, the data structure comprising:

a first field including first or second information; and

a second field including a parameter set corresponding to the first or second information, wherein the first or second information is represented by a variable number of bits.

12. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

determining a parameter set corresponding to first information or second information of an audio signal, where the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information is included in a bitstream representing an audio signal, and wherein the first or second information is represented in the bitstream by a variable number of bits; and

decoding the audio signal based on the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information.

13. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium coupled to the processor and having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of;

determining a parameter set corresponding to first information or second information of an audio signal, where the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information is included in a bitstream representing an audio signal, and wherein the first or second information is represented in the bitstream by a variable number of bits; and

decoding the audio signal based on the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information.

14. A system, comprising:

means for determining a parameter set corresponding to first information or second information of an audio signal, where the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information is included in a bitstream representing an audio signal, and wherein the first or second information is represented in the bitstream by a variable number of bits; and

means for decoding the audio signal based on the parameter set and the corresponding first or second information.