Audio Decoding Device Separating Channel and Object Signals

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing object-based audio systems compress background sound into one or two channels, leading to audio quality degradation and high computational requirements during decoding.

Innovation Solution

An audio encoding device and decoding device that separate and encode channel-based and object-based audio signals, using an audio scene analysis unit to determine perceptual importance and allocate encoding bits, and a decoding device that demultiplexes and decodes these signals to reduce computational load and maintain high audio quality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Device complexity

If background sound is compressed into one or two channels using MPS encoder, then the audio signal can be handled as a single object, but audio quality degrades and cannot be completely restored at decoding side

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecomplexity of handling background soundVSAvoidaudio quality
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The audio signal is segmented into discrete audio objects (foreground and background) that are independently encoded and transmitted. This allows the background sound to be preserved as separate objects rather than compressed into mixed channels, enabling high-quality reconstruction at the decoder while maintaining manageable system complexity through object-based processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Quantity of substance

If background sound is compressed into one or two channels, then the number of channels is reduced, but the decoding process requires an enormous amount of computation

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenumber of channelsVSAvoiddecoding speed
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

Audio scene analysis and object separation are performed in advance during the encoding phase. The encoder pre-processes the multi-channel audio into identified audio objects with associated metadata (position, type, etc.), so that the decoder only needs to perform straightforward object rendering and mixing rather than complex separation computations, thereby reducing decoding computational load.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Manufacturing precision

If audio objects are encoded separately with individual channel signals, then audio quality is maintained, but the system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaudio qualityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The audio encoding system uses a universal object-based framework that can handle both foreground and background sounds as audio objects with common attributes (position, type, channel signals). This multi-functional approach allows flexible processing of different audio types through a single unified system, maintaining audio quality while avoiding the need for separate specialized processing paths that would increase overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP3059732B1Audio decoding device
Publication Date: 2018.10.10 SOCIONEXT INC
  • EP3059732B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3059732B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3059732B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An input signal includes a channel-based audio signal and an object-based audio signal, and an audio encoding device includes an audio scene analysis unit (100) configured to determine an audio scene from the input signal and detect audio scene information; a channel-based encoder (101) that encodes the channel-based audio signal output from the audio scene analysis unit; an object-based encoder (102) that encodes the object-based audio signal output from the audio scene analysis unit; and an audio scene encoding unit (103) configured to encode the audio scene information.