Audio Playback Rate Adjustment via Frame Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional algorithms for adjusting audio playback rates on portable media devices are computationally intensive and resource-consuming, making them unsuitable for low-performance devices like hand-held audio players.
Innovation Solution
A resource-efficient method for modifying audio playback rates, involving a user interface for selecting playback rates, a processing device to determine and apply rate adjustment parameters, and an overlap technique to compress or stretch audio streams, reducing processing requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional time-scaling algorithms are used to adjust playback rate, then playback rate adjustment capability is provided, but processing resource consumption increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The audio stream is divided into discrete frames that are processed independently. The method segments the audio data into manageable units, applying time-scaling operations to each frame separately rather than processing the entire audio stream as a single unit, thereby reducing computational complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The invention implements dynamic playback rate adjustment by varying the overlap between consecutive audio frames. By dynamically adjusting the overlap amount based on the desired playback rate, the system achieves flexible speed control without requiring complex global analysis of the entire audio stream
2Adaptability or versatility
If complicated time-scaling algorithms are used for playback rate adjustment, then playback rate modification is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential elements needed for time-scaling by working directly with individual audio frames and their overlap regions. Rather than implementing complex transformation-based analysis of the entire audio signal, the method isolates and processes only the necessary frame-level data, simplifying the overall algorithm
Solution Approach 2:
Audio frames are pre-prepared with overlap regions included in the original audio stream before playback. This preliminary preparation allows the playback engine to simply select and concatenate pre-prepared frames with appropriate overlap, eliminating the need for complex real-time audio analysis and transformation during playback
3Manufacturing precision
If transformation-based analysis approaches are used for high quality results, then audio quality is improved, but computational intensity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The method uses simple, computationally inexpensive frame-based processing operations rather than complex transformation algorithms. Each audio frame is processed independently using basic overlap-and-add techniques, sacrificing some of the sophistication of transformation-based methods while achieving sufficient audio quality for the target portable device application
Data Source
AI summary
Improved techniques for modifying a playback rate of an audio item (e.g., an audio stream) are disclosed. As a result, the audio item can be played back faster or slower than normal. The improved techniques are resource efficient and well suited for audio items containing speech. The resource efficiency of the improved techniques make them well suited for use with portable media devices, such as portable media players.