Method and apparatus for concealing jitter buffer expansion and contraction

• US 7,099,820 B1
• Filed: 02/15/2002
• Issued: 08/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Connelly, Jeffrey A., Surazski, Luke K., Huart, Pascal H., Dunlap, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dorvil, Richemond
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shortledge, Thomas E.
• Application Number:
  US10/076,931
• Time in Patent Office: 1,656 Days
• Field of Search: 370200-916, 704/270.1, 704/501, 704503- 4, 704/201, 704/207, 704/270, 704/275, 379/211, 455/403
• US Class Current: 704/207
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/005 Correction of errors induced by the transmission channel, if related to the coding algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0697 Synchronisation in a packet node
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass networks security protocols H04L9/40; wireless communication networks H04W

Abstract

Methods for concealing audible distortions resulting from changes in jitter buffer size include receiving an audio stream, storing the audio stream in a jitter buffer, and determining a pitch period associated with the audio stream. To expand the jitter buffer, a method includes inserting additional audio data that has a duration corresponding to an integer multiple of the pitch period into the audio stream. To contract the jitter buffer, a method includes removing a portion of the audio stream having a duration corresponding to an integer multiple of the pitch period.

Claims

1. A method for concealing audible distortions resulting from jitter buffer expansion, comprising:

receiving an audio stream;

determining a pitch period associated with the audio stream;

storing the audio stream in a jitter buffer comprising a capacity;

increasing the capacity of the jitter buffer by an integer multiple of the pitch period;

inserting additional audio data in the audio stream, the additional audio data having a duration corresponding to the integer multiple of the pitch period;

determining if the increase in the capacity of the jitter buffer exceeds a selected number of pitch periods;

if the increase exceeds the selected number of pitch periods, inserting the additional audio data in more than one step, each step comprising inserting a portion of additional audio data having a duration no more than the selected number of pitch periods; and

communicating the audio stream for presentation to a user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises receiving a voice parameter calculated at a remote location, and the pitch period is determined from the voice parameter.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

calculating a minimum increase in the capacity of the jitter buffer based on network parameters; and

increasing the capacity of the jitter buffer by a least integer multiple of the pitch period greater than the minimum increase.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional audio data is attenuated in amplitude as the duration of the additional audio data increases.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps are performed by logic embodied in a computer readable medium.

6. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a network interface operable to receive from a source an audio stream;

a memory operable to store the audio stream in a jitter buffer comprising a capacity;

a processor operable to determine a pitch period associated with the audio stream, to increase the capacity of the jitter buffer by an integer multiple of the pitch period, to determine if the increase in the capacity of the jitter buffer exceeds a selected number of pitch periods, and if the increase exceeds the selected number of pitch periods, to insert additional audio data in more than one step, each step comprising inserting a portion the additional audio data having a duration no more than the selected number of pitch periods;

a packet loss concealment module operable to add the additional audio data to the audio stream for a duration corresponding to the integer multiple of the pitch period; and

a user interface operable to communicate the audio stream for presentation to the user.

7. The communication apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further operable to apply an autocorrelation calculation to the voice samples to determine the pitch period.

8. The communication apparatus of claim 6, wherein the network interface is further operable to receive a voice parameter from the source and the processor is further operable to determine the pitch period from the voice parameter.

9. The communication apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further operable to determine a minimum increase in the capacity of the jitter buffer and to increase the capacity of the jitter buffer by a least integer multiple of the pitch period greater than the minimum increase.

10. A method for concealing audible distortions resulting from jitter buffer contraction, comprising:

receiving an audio stream;

determining a pitch period associated with the audio stream;

storing the audio stream in a jitter buffer comprising a capacity;

removing a portion of the audio stream having a duration corresponding to an integer multiple of the pitch period;

decreasing the capacity of the jitter buffer by the integer multiple of the pitch period;

determining if the decrease in the capacity of the jitter buffer exceeds a selected number of pitch periods;

if the decrease in the capacity exceeds the selected number of pitch periods, removing the portion of the audio stream in a series of steps, each step comprising removing a duration no greater than the selected number of pitch periods; and

communicating the audio stream for presentation to a user.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises receiving a voice parameter calculated at a remote location, and the pitch period is determined from the voice parameter.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises determining a maximum decrease in the capacity of the jitter buffer based on a change in network parameters, and the duration of the removed portion of the audio stream is a greatest integer multiple of the pitch period that is less than the maximum decrease.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the steps are performed by logic embodied in a computer readable medium.

14. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a network interface operable to receive an audio stream;

a memory operable to store the audio stream in a jitter buffer comprising a capacity;

a processor operable to determine a pitch period for the audio stream, to remove a portion of the audio stream having a duration corresponding to an integer multiple of the pitch period, to decrease the capacity of the jitter buffer by the integer multiple of the pitch period, to determine if the decrease in the capacity of the jitter buffer exceeds a selected number of pitch periods, and if the decrease in the capacity exceeds the selected number of pitch periods, to remove the portion of the audio stream in a series of steps, each step comprising removing a duration no greater than the selected number of pitch periods; and

a user interface operable to communicate the audio stream for presentation to a user.

15. The communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further operable to apply an autocorrelation calculation to the voice samples to determine the pitch period.

16. The communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the network interface is further operable to receive a voice parameter calculated at a remote location and the processor is further operable to determine the pitch period from the voice parameter.

17. The communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further operable to remove the portion of the audio stream in a series of steps, each step comprising removing a portion of the audio stream having a duration less than a selected number of pitch periods.

18. The communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further operable to determine a maximum decrease in the capacity of the jitter buffer based on network parameters, and the duration of the removed portion of the audio stream is a greatest integer multiple of the pitch period less than the maximum decrease.

19. A voice communication system, comprising:

means for receiving, from a source at a network endpoint, an audio stream comprising a plurality of voice samples stored in electronic form;

means for determining a pitch period associated with the audio stream;

means for storing the audio stream in a jitter buffer comprising a capacity;

means for increasing the capacity of the jitter buffer by an integer multiple of the pitch period;

means for inserting additional audio data based on the voice samples in the audio stream, the additional audio data having a duration equal to the integer multiple of the pitch period;

means for determining if the increase in the capacity of the jitter buffer exceeds a selected number of pitch periods;

if the increase exceeds the selected number of pitch periods, means for inserting the additional audio data in more than one step, each step comprising inserting a portion of additional audio data having a duration no more than the selected number of pitch periods; and

means for communicating the audio stream for presentation to a user.

20. A method for concealing audible distortions resulting from jitter buffer expansion, comprising:

receiving an audio stream;

determining a pitch period associated with the audio stream;

storing the audio stream in a jitter buffer comprising a capacity;

calculating a minimum increase in the capacity of the jitter buffer based on network parameters;

increasing the capacity of the jitter buffer by a least integer multiple of the pitch period greater than the minimum increase;

inserting additional audio data in the audio stream, the additional audio data having a duration corresponding to the least integer multiple of the pitch period; and

communicating the audio stream for presentation to a user.

21. A method for concealing audible distortions resulting from jitter buffer contraction, comprising:

receiving an audio stream;

determining a pitch period associated with the audio stream;

storing the audio stream in a jitter buffer comprising a capacity;

determining a maximum decrease in the capacity of the jitter buffer based on a change in network parameters;

removing a portion of the audio stream having a duration corresponding to an integer multiple of the pitch period, the duration of the removed portion of the audio stream is a greatest integer multiple of the pitch period that is less than the maximum decrease;

decreasing the capacity of the jitter buffer by the integer multiple of the pitch period; and

communicating the audio stream for presentation to a user.

22. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a network interface operable to receive an audio stream;

a memory operable to store the audio stream in a jitter buffer comprising a capacity;

a processor operable to determine a pitch period for the audio stream, to remove a portion of the audio stream having a duration corresponding to an integer multiple of the pitch period, to decrease the capacity of the jitter buffer by the integer multiple of the pitch period, and to determine a maximum decrease in the capacity of the jitter buffer based on network parameters, the duration of the removed portion of the audio stream is a greatest integer multiple of the pitch period less than the maximum decrease; and

a user interface operable to communicate the audio stream for presentation to a user.