Post filter

• US 9,552,824 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2016
• Issued: 01/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dolby International AB (Dolby Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Dolby International AB (Dolby Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Resch, Barbara, Kjrling, Kristofer, Villemoes, Lars
• Primary Examiner(s): ABEBE, DANIEL DEMELASH
• Application Number:
  US15/097,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20160225384A1
• Time in Patent Office: 287 Days
• Field of Search: 704/228
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/02 using spectral analysis, e.g. transform vocoders or subband vocoders
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/0212 using orthogonal transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/032 Quantisation or dequantisation of spectral components
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/09 Long term prediction, i.e. removing periodical redundancies, e.g. by using adaptive codebook or pitch predictor
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/107 Sparse pulse excitation, e.g. by using algebraic codebook
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/12 the excitation function being a code excitation, e.g. in code excited linear prediction [CELP] vocoders
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/125 Pitch excitation, e.g. pitch synchronous innovation CELP [PSI-CELP]
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/20 using sound class specific coding, hybrid encoders or object based coding
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/22 Mode decision, i.e. based on audio signal content versus external parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/26 Pre-filtering or post-filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/265 Pre-filtering, e.g. high frequency emphasis prior to encoding
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/003 Changing voice quality, e.g. pitch or formants
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/007 characterised by the process used
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/013 Adapting to target pitch

Abstract

Disclosed is a method, apparatus and non-transitory computer readable storage medium, which is configured to examine an input audio signal to determine an estimated pitch period associated with a detection criterion, encode the filtered audio signal to generate a compressed audio bit stream, decode the compressed audio bit stream to generate a decoded audio signal and adaptively filtering the decoded audio signal to produce an output audio signal, wherein adaptively filtering the decoded audio signal comprises filtering each of a plurality of segments of the decoded audio signal in a manner that is dependent upon the estimated pitch period associated therewith, and wherein a pitch-based post-filter operates to shape noise components located between harmonics of the input audio signal.

Claims

1. An audio decoder for decoding an audio bitstream generated by an audio encoder, the audio decoder comprising:

a first decoding module adapted to operate in a first coding mode;

a second decoding module adapted to operate in a second coding mode, the second coding mode being different from the first coding mode; and

a pitch filter included in either the first coding mode or the second coding mode, the pitch filter adapted to filter a preliminary audio signal generated by the first decoding module or the second decoding module to obtain a filtered signal,

wherein the pitch filter is selectively enabled or disabled based on a value of a first parameter encoded in the audio bitstream, the first parameter being distinct from a second parameter encoded in the audio bitstream, the second parameter specifying a current coding mode of the audio decoder and the pitch filter further de-emphasizes spectral valleys.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio decoder receives one or more pitch parameters from a pitch parameter estimator that processes the input audio signal to determine pitch parameters that are used to configure the pitch filter for each segment of the input audio signal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the pitch parameters include an estimated pitch period associated with each segment of the input audio signal and one or more filter coefficients associated with each segment of the input audio signal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein a pitch parameter quantizer quantizes and encodes the pitch parameters to generate a compressed pitch parameters bit stream;

and

a pitch parameter decoder decodes the compressed pitch parameters bit stream to obtain decoded pitch parameters that are used to configure the pitch filter for each segment of the decoded audio signal.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the pitch filter is adapted to shape noise components located between harmonics of the preliminary audio signal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the pitch filter is selectively turned either on or off independent of a current operating mode of the decoder based on a value of a parameter that is contained in the encoded audio bitstream.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the pitch filter is capable of being selectively turned either on or off while the decoder is operating in either a first operating mode or a second operating mode based on a value of a parameter that is contained in the encoded audio bitstream.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the pitch filter amplifies pitch harmonics based upon information received from the encoder such that the lowest pitch harmonics are amplified more than the highest pitch harmonics.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the pitch filter is inactive in a transform coding mode.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the input audio signal is a time-domain audio signal processed by either a first decoding system or a second decoding system.

11. An apparatus comprising a processor and configured to perform the methods recited in claim 1.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising software instructions, which when executed by one or more processors cause performance of the methods recited in claim 1.