METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING AN AUDIO SIGNAL, AUDIO DECODER, AND AUDIO ENCODER

Abstract

A method is described that processes an audio signal. A discontinuity between a filtered past frame and a filtered current frame of the audio signal is removed using linear predictive filtering.

Claims

1. A method for processing an audio signal, the method comprising: removing a discontinuity between a filtered past frame and a filtered current frame of the audio signal using linear predictive filtering.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising filtering the current frame of the audio signal and removing the discontinuity by modifying a beginning portion of the filtered current frame by a signal acquired by linear predictive filtering a predefined signal with initial states of the linear predictive filter defined on the basis of a last part of the past frame.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the initial states of the linear predictive filter are defined on the basis of a last part of the unfiltered past frame filtered using the set of filter parameters for filtering the current frame.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising estimating the linear predictive filter on the filtered or non-filtered audio signal.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein estimating the linear predictive filter comprises estimating the filter based on the past and/or current frame of the audio signal or based on the past filtered frame of the audio signal using the Levinson-Durbin algorithm.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the linear predictive filter comprises a linear predictive filter of an audio codec.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the discontinuity comprises processing the beginning portion of the filtered current frame, wherein the beginning portion of the current frame comprises a predefined number of samples being less or equal than the total number of samples in the current frame, and wherein processing the beginning portion of the current frame comprises subtracting a beginning portion of a zero-input-response (ZIR) from the beginning portion of the filtered current frame.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising filtering the current frame of the audio signal using a non-recursive filter, like a FIR filter, for producing the filtered current frame.

9. The method of claim 7, comprising processing the unfiltered current frame of the audio signal on a sample-by-sample basis using a recursive filter, like an IIR filter, and wherein processing a sample of the beginning portion of the current frame comprises: filtering the sample with the recursive filter using the filter parameters of the current frame for producing a filtered sample, and subtracting a corresponding ZIR sample from the filtered sample for producing the corresponding sample of the filtered current frame.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein filtering and subtracting are repeated until the last sample in the beginning portion of the current frame is processed, and wherein the method further comprises filtering the remaining samples in the current frame with the recursive filter using the filter parameters of the current frame.

11. The method of claim 7, comprising generating the ZIR, wherein generating the ZIR comprises: filtering the M last samples of the unfiltered past frame with the filter and the filter parameters used for filtering the current frame for producing a first portion of filtered signal, wherein M is the order of the linear predictive filter, subtracting from the first portion of filtered signal the M last samples of the filtered past frame, filtered using the filter parameters of the past frame, for generating a second portion of filtered signal, and generating a ZIR of a linear predictive filter by filtering a frame of zero samples with the linear predictive filter and initial states equal to the second portion of filtered signal.

12. The method of claim 11, comprising windowing the ZIR such that its amplitude decreases faster to zero.

13. A non-transitory digital storage medium having stored thereon a computer program product for performing a method for processing an audio signal, the method comprising: removing a discontinuity between a filtered past frame and a filtered current frame of the audio signal using linear predictive filtering, when said computer program is run by a computer.

14. An apparatus for processing an audio signal, wherein the apparatus comprises a processor for removing a discontinuity between a filtered past frame and a filtered current frame of the audio signal using linear predictive filtering, or wherein the apparatus is configured to operate according to a method for processing an audio signal, the method comprising removing a discontinuity between a filtered past frame and a filtered current frame of the audio signal using linear predictive filtering.

15. An audio decoder, comprising an apparatus of claim 14.

16. An audio encoder, comprising an apparatus of claim 14.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] In the following, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram for processing consecutive frames of an audio signal in accordance with a conventional approach;

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of another conventional approach for processing consecutive audio frames for removing a discontinuity;

[0039] FIG. 3 shows a simplified block diagram of a system for transmitting audio signals implementing the inventive approach for removing a discontinuity between consecutive frames of an audio signal at the encoder side and/or at the decoder side;

[0040] FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram depicting the inventive approach for removing a discontinuity between consecutive frames of an audio signal in accordance with an embodiment;

[0041] FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram for processing a current audio frame in accordance with embodiments of the present invention avoiding undesired distortion in the output signal despite the removal of the discontinuities;

[0042] FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram representing the functionality of the block in FIG. 5 for generating the ZIR;

[0043] FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram representing the functionality of the block in FIG. 5 for processing the filtered current frame beginning portion in case the filter block comprises a recursive filter, like an IIR filter; and

[0044] FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram representing the functionality of the block in FIG. 5 for processing the filtered current frame beginning portion in case the filter block comprises a non-recursive filter, like a FIR filter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0045] In the following, embodiments of the inventive approach will be described in further detail and it is noted that in the accompanying drawing elements having the same or similar functionality are denoted by the same reference signs.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows a simplified block diagram of a system for transmitting audio signals implementing the inventive approach at the encoder side and/or at the decoder side. The system of FIG. 3 comprises an encoder 200 receiving at an input 202 an audio signal 204. The encoder includes an encoding processor 206 receiving the audio signal 204 and generating an encoded audio signal that is provided at an output 208 of the encoder. The encoding processor may be programmed or built to implement the inventive approach for processing consecutive audio frames of the audio signal received to avoid discontinuities. In other embodiments the encoder does not need to be part of a transmission system, however, it can be a standalone device generating encoded audio signals or it may be part of an audio signal transmitter. In accordance with an embodiment, the encoder 200 may comprise an antenna 210 to allow for a wireless transmission of the audio signal, as is indicated at 212. In other embodiments, the encoder 200 may output the encoded audio signal provided at the output 208 using a wired connection line, as it is for example indicated at reference sign 214.

[0047] The system of FIG. 3 further comprises a decoder 250 having an input 252 receiving an encoded audio signal to be processed by the encoder 250, e.g. via the wired line 214 or via an antenna 254. The encoder 250 comprises a decoding processor 256 operating on the encoded signal and providing a decoded audio signal 258 at an output 260. The decoding processor 256 may be implemented to operate in accordance with the inventive approach on consecutive frames that are filtered in such a way that discontinuities are avoided. In other embodiments the decoder does not need to be part of a transmission system, rather, it may be a standalone device for decoding encoded audio signals or it may be part of an audio signal receiver.

[0048] In the following, embodiments of the inventive approach that may be implemented in at least one of the encoding processor 206 and the decoding processor 256 will be described in further detail. FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram for processing a current frame of the audio signal in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive approach. The processing of the current frame will be described, and the past frame is assumed to be already processed with the same technique described below. In accordance with the present invention, in step S100 a current frame of the audio signal is received. The current frame is filtered in step S102, for example in a way as described above with regard to FIGS. 1 and 2 (see filter block 102). In accordance with the inventive approach, a discontinuity between the filtered past frame n-1 and the filtered current frame n (see FIG. 1 or 2) will be removed using linear predictive filtering as is indicated at step S104. In accordance an embodiment the linear predictive filter may be defined as

[00004]$A\left(z\right)=\frac{1}{{.Math.}_{m=0}^M{a}_m}$

with M the filter order and α.sub.m the filter coefficients (with α.sub.0=1). This kind of filter is also known as Linear Predictive Coding (LPC). In accordance with embodiments the filtered current frame is processed by applying linear predictive filtering to at least a part of the filtered current frame. The discontinuity may be removed by modifying a beginning portion of the filtered current frame by a signal obtained by linear predictive filtering a predefined signal with initial states of the linear predictive coding filter defined on the basis of a last part of the past frame. The initial states of the linear predictive coding filter may be defined on the basis of a last part of the past frame filtered using the set of filter parameters for the current frame. The inventive approach is advantageous as it does not require filtering the current frame of an audio signal with a filter coefficient that is used for the past frame and thereby avoids problems that arise due to the mismatch of the filter parameters for the current frame and for the past frame as they are experienced in the known approaches described above with reference to FIG. 2.

[0049] FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram for processing a current audio frame of the audio signal in accordance with embodiments of the present invention avoiding undesired distortion in the output signal despite the removal of the discontinuities. In FIG. 5, the same reference signs as in FIGS. 1 and 2 are used. A current frame n of the audio signal 100 is received, each frame of the audio signal 100 having a plurality of samples. The current frame n of the audio signal 100 is processed by the filter block 102. When compared to the known approaches of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance with embodiments as described with regard to FIG. 5, the filtered current frame is further processed on the basis of ZIR samples as is schematically shown by block 110. In accordance with an embodiment on the basis of the past frame n-1, and on the basis of an LPC filter the ZIR samples are produced as is schematically shown by block 112.

[0050] The functionality of the processing blocks 110 and 112 will now be described in further detail. FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram representing the functionality of the processing block 112 for generating the ZIR samples. As mentioned above, the frames of an audio signal 100 are filtered with a linear filter H(z) using filter parameters c selected or determined for the respective frame. The filter H(z) may be a recursive filer, e.g., an IIR filter, or it may be a non-recursive filter, e.g., a FIR filter. In the processing block 112 a LPC filter is used which may or may not be quantized. The LPC filter is of the order M and may be either estimated on the filtered or non-filtered audio signal or may be the LPC filter that is also used in an audio codec. In a first step S200, the M (M=the order of the LPC filter) last samples of the past frame n-1 are filtered with the filter H(z) using, however, the filter parameters or coefficients c.sub.1 of the current frame n. Step S200 thereby produces a first portion of filtered signal. In step S202 the M last samples of the filtered past frame n-1 (the M last samples of the past frame filtered using the filter parameters or coefficients c.sub.0 of the past frame n-1) are subtracted from the first portion of filtered signal provided by step S200, thereby producing a second portion of filtered signal. In step S204 the LPC filter having the order M is applied, more specifically a zero input response (ZIR) of the LPC filter is generated in step S204 by filtering a frame of zero samples, wherein the initial states of the filter are equal to the second portion of filtered signals, thereby generating the ZIR. In accordance with embodiments, the ZIR can be windowed such that its amplitude decreases faster to 0.

[0051] The ZIR, as described above with regard to FIG. 5, is applied in the processing block 110, the functionality of which is described with reference to the flow diagram of FIG. 7 for the case of using, as the linear filer H(z), a recursive filter, like an IIR filter. In accordance with the embodiment described with regard to FIG. 5, to remove discontinuities between the current frame and the past frame while avoiding undesired distortions, filtering the current frame n comprises processing (filtering) the current frame n on a sample-by-sample basis, wherein the samples of the beginning portion are treated in accordance with the inventive approach. To be more specific, M samples of a beginning portion of the current frame n are processed, and at a first step S300 the variables m is set to 0. In a next step S302, the sample m of the current frame n is filtered using the filter H(z) and the filter coefficients or parameters c.sub.1 for the current frame n. Thus, other than in conventional approaches, the current frame, in accordance with the inventive approach, is not filtered using coefficients from the past frame, but only coefficients from the current frame, which as a consequence avoids the undesired distortion which exist in conventional approaches despite the fact that discontinuities are removed. Step S302 yields a filtered sample m, and in step S304 the ZIR sample corresponding to sample m is subtracted from the filtered sample m yielding the corresponding sample of the filtered current frame n. In step S306 it is determined whether the last sample M of the beginning portion of the current frame n is processed. In case not all M samples of the beginning portions have been processed, the variable m is incremented and the method steps S302 to S306 are repeated for the next sample of the current frame n. Once all M samples of the beginning portions have been processed, at step S308 the remaining samples of the current frame n are filtered using the filter parameters of the current frame c.sub.1, thereby providing the filtered current frame n processed in accordance with the inventive approach avoiding undesired distortion upon removal of the discontinuities between consecutive frames.

[0052] In accordance with another embodiment, the linear filer H(z) is a non-recursive filter, like a FIR filter, and the ZIR, as described above with regard to FIG. 5, is applied in the processing block 110. The functionality of this embodiment is described with reference to the flow diagram of FIG. 8. The current frame n, at step S400, is filtered with the filter H(z) using the filter coefficients or parameters c.sub.1 for the current frame. Thus, other than in conventional approaches, the current frame, in accordance with the inventive approach, is not filtered using coefficients from the past frame, but only coefficients from the current frame, which as a consequence avoids the undesired distortion which exist in conventional approaches despite the fact that discontinuities are removed. In step S402 a beginning portion of the ZIR is subtracted from a corresponding beginning portion of the filtered current frame, thereby providing the filtered current frame n having the beginning portion filtered/processed in accordance with the inventive approach and the remaining part only filtered using filter coefficients or parameters c.sub.1 for the current frame, thereby avoiding undesired distortion upon removal of the discontinuities between consecutive frames.

[0053] The inventive approach may be applied in situations as described above when the audio signal is filtered. In accordance with embodiments, the inventive approach may also be applied at the decoder side, for example, when using an audio codec postfilter for reducing the level of coding noise between signal harmonics. For processing the audio frames at the decoder the postfilter, in accordance with an embodiment, may be as follows:

[00005]$H\left(z\right)=\left(1-B\left(z\right)\right)/\left(1-A\left(z\right)z^{-T}\right)$

where B(z) and A(z) are two FIR filters and the H(z) filter parameters are the coefficients of the FIR filters B(z) and A(z), and T indicates the pitch lag. In such a scenario, the filter may also introduce a discontinuity between the two filtered frames, for example when the past filter frame parameters c.sub.0 are different from the current frame filter parameters c.sub.1, and such a discontinuity may produce an artifact in the filtered audio signal 104, for example a “click”. This discontinuity is removed by processing the filtered current frame as described above in detail.

[0054] Although some aspects of the described concept have been described in the context of an apparatus, it is clear that these aspects also represent a description of the corresponding method, where a block or device corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Analogously, aspects described in the context of a method step also represent a description of a corresponding block or item or feature of a corresponding apparatus.

[0055] Depending on certain implementation requirements, embodiments of the invention can be implemented in hardware or in software. The implementation can be performed using a digital storage medium, for example a floppy disk, a DVD, a Blue-Ray, a CD, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory, having electronically readable control signals stored thereon, which cooperate (or are capable of cooperating) with a programmable computer system such that the respective method is performed. Therefore, the digital storage medium may be computer readable.

[0056] Some embodiments according to the invention comprise a data carrier having electronically readable control signals, which are capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system, such that one of the methods described herein is performed.

[0057] Generally, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented as a computer program product with a program code, the program code being operative for performing one of the methods when the computer program product runs on a computer. The program code may for example be stored on a machine readable carrier.

[0058] Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein, stored on a machine readable carrier.

[0059] In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a computer program having a program code for performing one of the methods described herein, when the computer program runs on a computer.

[0060] A further embodiment of the inventive methods is, therefore, a data carrier (or a digital storage medium, or a computer-readable medium) comprising, recorded thereon, the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

[0061] A further embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a data stream or a sequence of signals representing the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein. The data stream or the sequence of signals may for example be configured to be transferred via a data communication connection, for example via the Internet.

[0062] A further embodiment comprises a processing means, for example a computer, or a programmable logic device, configured to or adapted to perform one of the methods described herein.

[0063] A further embodiment comprises a computer having installed thereon the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

[0064] In some embodiments, a programmable logic device (for example a field programmable gate array) may be used to perform some or all of the functionalities of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, a field programmable gate array may cooperate with a microprocessor in order to perform one of the methods described herein. Generally, the methods may be performed by any hardware apparatus.

[0065] While this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents which will be apparent to others skilled in the art and which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and compositions of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.