ENCODING DEVICE, DECODING DEVICE, AND METHODS THEREFOR

• US 20120245931A1
• Filed: 10/13/2010
• Published: 09/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: III Holdings 12, LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamanashi, Tomofumi, Morii, Toshiyuki
• Granted Patent: US 9,009,037 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/230
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/0204 using subband decomposition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/0212 using orthogonal transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/24 Variable rate codecs, e.g. for generating different qualities using a scalable representation such as hierarchical encoding or layered encoding

Abstract

Disclosed is an encoding device that improves the quality of a decoded signal in a hierarchical coding (scalable coding) method, wherein a band to be quantized is selected for every level (layer). The encoding device (101) is equipped with a second layer encoding unit (205) that selects a first band to be quantized of a first input signal from among a plurality of sub-bands, and that generates second layer encoding information containing first band information of said band; a second layer decoding unit (206) that generates a first decoded signal using the second layer encoding information; an addition unit (207) that generates a second input signal using the first input signal and the first decoded signal; and a third layer encoding unit (208) that selects a second band to be quantized of the second input signal using the first decoded signal, and that generates third layer encoding information.

Claims

1. A coding apparatus that includes at least two coding layers, the coding apparatus comprising:

a first layer coding section that inputs a first input signal of a frequency domain thereto, selects a first quantization target band of the first input signal from a plurality of sub-bands into which the frequency domain is divided, encodes the first input signal of the first quantization target band to generate first coded information including first band information on the first quantization target band, generates a first decoded signal using the first coded information, and generates a second input signal using the first input signal and the first decoded signal; and

a second layer coding section that inputs the second input signal and the first decoded signal or the first coded information thereto, selects a second quantization target band of the second input signal from the plurality of sub-bands using the first decoded signal or the first coded information, encodes the second input signal of the second quantization target band, and generates second coded information including second band information on the second quantization target band.

2. The coding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second layer coding section includes:

a band selecting section that selects the second quantization target band of the second input signal from the plurality of sub-bands to generate the second band information using the first decoded signal or the first coded information, and outputs the second input signal of the second quantization target band; and

a shape/gain coding section that encodes a shape and a gain of the second input signal of the second quantization target band to generate shape coded information and gain coded information.

3. The coding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second layer coding section further includes a determination section that selects a method of quantizing the gain using the second band information, and

the shape/gain coding section encodes the gain using the quantization method selected by the determination section.

4. The coding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second layer coding section selects the second quantization target band by utilizing a masking effect of the first decoded signal when the first decoded signal is input.

5. The coding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second layer coding section selects the second quantization target band by relatively undervaluing weighting related to a degree of importance to the first quantization target band with respect to a first quantization target band included in the first coded information and a band except the first quantization target band.

6. A communication terminal apparatus comprising the coding apparatus according to claim 1.

7. A base station apparatus comprising the coding apparatus according to claim 1.

8. A decoding apparatus that receives and decodes information generated by a coding apparatus including at least two coding layers, the decoding apparatus comprising:

a receiving section that receives the information including first coded information and second coded information, the first coded information being obtained by encoding a first layer of the coding apparatus, the first coded information including first band information generated by selecting a first quantization target band of the first layer from a plurality of sub-bands into which a frequency domain is divided, the second coded information being obtained by encoding a second layer of the coding apparatus using a first layer decoded signal that is generated using the first coded information, the second coded information including second band information generated by selecting a second quantization target band of the second layer from the plurality of sub-bands;

a first layer decoding section that inputs the first coded information obtained from the information thereto, and generates a first decoded signal with respect to the first quantization target band set based on the first band information included in the first coded information; and

a second layer decoding section that inputs the second coded information obtained from the information, and generates a second decoded signal with respect to the second quantization target band set based on the second band information included in the second coded information.

9. The decoding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the first layer decoding section includes:

a first shape decoding section that obtains a shape of the first decoded signal with respect to the first quantization target band using the first shape coded information and the first band information which are included in the first coded information; and

a first gain decoding section that obtains a gain of the first decoded signal using first gain coded information included in the first coded information, and generates the first decoded signal using the shape of the first decoded signal with respect to the first quantization target band and the gain of the first decoded signal.

10. The decoding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second layer decoding section includes:

a second shape decoding section that obtains a shape of the second decoded signal with respect to the second quantization target band using the second shape coded information and the second band information which are included in the second coded information; and

a second gain decoding section that obtains a gain of the second decoded signal using second gain coded information included in the second coded information, and generates the second decoded signal using the shape of the second decoded signal with respect to the second quantization target band and the gain of the second decoded signal.

11. A communication terminal apparatus comprising the decoding apparatus according to claim 8.

12. A base station apparatus comprising the decoding apparatus according to claim 8.

13. A coding method of performing encoding in at least two coding layers, comprising:

a first layer encoding step of inputting a first input signal of a frequency domain thereto, selecting a first quantization target band of the first input signal from a plurality of sub-bands into which the frequency domain is divided, encoding the first input signal of the first quantization target band to generate first coded information including first band information on the first quantization target band, generating a first decoded signal using the first coded information, and generating a second input signal using the first input signal and the first decoded signal; and

a second layer encoding step of inputting the second input signal and the first decoded signal or the first coded information thereto, selecting a second quantization target band of the second input signal from the plurality of sub-bands using the first decoded signal or the first coded information, encoding the second input signal of the second quantization target band, and generating second coded information including second band information on the second quantization target band.

14. A decoding method of receiving and decoding information generated by a coding apparatus including at least two coding layers, comprising:

a receiving step of receiving the information including first coded information and second coded information, the first coded information being obtained by encoding a first layer of the coding apparatus, the first coded information including first band information generated by selecting a first quantization target band of the first layer from a plurality of sub-bands into which a frequency domain is divided, the second coded information being obtained by encoding a second layer of the coding apparatus using a first layer decoded signal that is generated using the first coded information, the second coded information including second band information generated by selecting a second quantization target band of the second layer from the plurality of sub-bands;

a first layer decoding step of inputting the first coded information obtained from the information thereto, and generating a first decoded signal with respect to the first quantization target band set based on the first band information included in the first coded information; and

a second layer decoding step of inputting the second coded information obtained from the information, and generating a second decoded signal with respect to the second quantization target band set based on the second band information included in the second coded information.