AUDIO STREAM COMBINING APPARATUS, METHOD AND PROGRAM

• US 20120259642A1
• Filed: 08/20/2009
• Published: 10/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Grass Valley Canada (Belden Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Gvbb Holdings SARL (Vislink Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Takada, Yousuke
• Granted Patent: US 9,031,850 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/500
• 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

Abstract

A stream combining apparatus is provided, comprising an input unit that receives the input of group access units and group access units from two streams that are generated by overlap transform; a decoder that generates group frames by decoding the group access units and that generates group frames by decoding the group access units; and a combining unit that uses group frames and group frames as a frame of reference for the access units, that decodes the frames, that performs selective mixing to generate mixed frames, that encodes said mixed frames, that generates a prescribed number of group access units, and that joins two streams, using a prescribed number of group access units as a joint such that the access units adjacent to each other on the boundary between the two streams and a prescribed number of group access units are stitched so that the information for decoding the same common frames is distributed.

Claims

1. An audio stream combining apparatus that generates one audio stream by joining two audio streams composed of compressed data that is generated by overlap transform;

wherein the access units that serve as units of decoding of said two audio streams are designated as group 1 access units and group 2 access units, respectively;

wherein the frames that are produced by decoding said two audio streams are designated as group 1 frames and group 2 frames, respectively; and

wherein the access units that are produced by encoding the mixed frames that are generated by mixing said group 1 frames and group 2 frames are designated as group 3 access units;

wherein

said audio stream combining apparatus comprises;

an input unit that receives the input of group 1 access units and group 2 access units;

a decoding unit that generates group 1 frames by decoding the group 1 access units that are input by said input unit and group 2 frames by decoding said group 2 access units; and

a combining unit using the access units employed to decode the frames as a frame of reference, that selectively mixes the plurality of group 1 frames and the plurality of group 2 frames decoded by said decoding unit, that generates mixed frames, that generates prescribed number of group 3 access units by encoding said mixed frames, and that joins said plurality of group 1 frames and said plurality of group 2 frames, using said prescribed number of group 3 access units as a joint, such that the access units adjacent to one another at the boundary between said plurality of group 1 access units, said plurality of group 2 access units, and said prescribed number of group 3 access units share the invention for the decoding of the same common frames.

2. The audio stream combining apparatus of claim 1, wherein said combining unit comprises an encoding unit that mixes, of said plurality of group 1 frames, a prescribed number of group 1 frames including the end frame, and of said plurality of group 2 frames, a prescribed number of group 2 frames including the starting frame, so that the frames, exclusive of one or more frame from the beginning of said prescribed number of group 1 frames and one or more frame from the end of said prescribed number of group 2 frames, overlap one another;

that generates mixed frames greater in numbers than said prescribed number;

that encodes said mixed frames; and

that generates a prescribed number of group 3 access units.

3. The audio stream combining apparatus of claim 1, wherein said combining unit comprises a joining unit that joins said plurality of group 1 access units and said prescribed number of group 3 access units such that the starting access unit of the plurality of access units used to decode said prescribed number of group 1 frames and the starting access unit of said prescribed number of group 3 access units are adjacent to each other;

and

that joins said plurality of group 2 access units and said prescribed number of group 3 access units such that the end access unit of the plurality of access units used to decode said prescribed number of group 2 frames and the end access unit of said prescribed number of group 3 access units are adjacent to each other.

4. The audio stream combining apparatus of claim 3, wherein said encoding unit encodes said group 3 access units such that the initial buffer utilization amount and the final utilization amount of said prescribed number group 3 access units match, respectively, the buffer utilization amount of the leading access units of the plurality of access units employed to decode said prescribed number of group 1 frames and the buffer utilization amount of the end access units of said plurality of access units employed to decode said prescribed number of group 2 frames.

5. The audio stream combining apparatus of claim 1, wherein said combining unit comprises a mixing unit that mixes said group 1 frames and said group 2 frames by cross-fading them.

6. The audio stream combining apparatus of claim 1, wherein said group 1 access units and said group 2 access units are input at the same transmission rate and sampling frequency.

7. The audio stream combining apparatus of claim 1, wherein said group 1 access units and said group 2 access units are in the ADTS (Audio Data Transport Stream) frame format.

8. An audio stream combining method that generates one audio stream by joining two audio streams composed of compressed data that is generated by overlap transform;

wherein the access units that serve as units of decoding of said two audio streams are designated as group 1 access units and group 2 access units, respectively;

wherein the frames that are produced by decoding said two audio streams are designated as group 1 frames and group 2 frames, respectively; and

wherein the access units that are produced by encoding the mixed frames that are generated by mixing said group 1 frames and said group 2 frames are designated as group 3 access units;

wherein

said audio stream combining method comprises;

an input step that inputs group 1 access units and group 2 access units;

a decoding step that generates group 1 frames by decoding the group 1 access units that are input in said input step and that generates group 2 frames by decoding said group 2 access units; and

a combining step that selectively mixes said plurality of frames decoded in said decoding step and a plurality of group 2 frames, using the access units employed to decode the frames as a frame of reference, and that generates a prescribed number of group 3 access units;

and that joins said plurality of group 1 access units and said plurality of group 2 access units, such that, using said prescribed number of group 3 access units as a joint, the information for the decoding of the same common frames is shared by access units that are adjacent to one another across the boundary between said plurality of group 1 access units, said plurality of group 2 access units, and said prescribed number of group 3 access units.

9. An audio stream combining program that causes the computer to execute the processing of generating one audio stream by joining two audio streams composed of compressed data that is generated by overlap transform;

wherein the access units that serve as units of decoding of said two audio streams are designated as group 1 access units and group 2 access units, respectively;

wherein the frames that are produced by decoding said two audio streams are designated as group 1 frames and group 2 frames, respectively; and

wherein the access units that are produced by encoding the mixed frames that are generated by mixing said group 1 frames and group 2 frames are designated as group 3 access units;

wherein

said audio stream combining program comprises;

an input step that inputs group 1 access units and group 2 access units;

a decoding step that generates group 1 frames by decoding the group 1 access units that are input in said input step and that generates group 2 frames by decoding said group 2 access units; and

a combining step that selectively mixes said plurality of frames decoded in said decoding step and a plurality of group 2 frames, using the access units employed to decode the frames as a frame of reference, and that generates a prescribed number of group 3 access units;

and that joins said plurality of group 1 access units and said plurality of group 2 access units, such that, using said prescribed number of group 3 access units as a joint, the information for the decoding of the same common frames is shared by access units that are adjacent to one another across the boundary between said plurality of group 1 access units, said plurality of group 2 access units, and said prescribed number of group 3 access units.