Circular Convolution Audio Processing With Active Sample Elimination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing audio processing technologies face challenges in efficiently modifying real-time audio signals due to high memory bandwidth and processing requirements, particularly when applying multiple effects or high-resolution audio formats, which can lead to increased latency and energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves selectively transferring only active samples in the frequency domain and omitting computations with zero or near-zero amplitude samples to reduce memory bandwidth and processing needs, optimizing the use of memory bandwidth and processing power by identifying patterns in audio signals to skip unnecessary operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all frequency samples are transferred from main memory to specialized hardware in real-time, then the audio processing can be performed, but the memory bandwidth requirements and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary frequency samples (those with non-zero amplitudes) from the complete frequency spectrum and transfers them to specialized hardware. This selective extraction eliminates redundant zero-amplitude samples, reducing memory bandwidth requirements and transfer latency while maintaining audio processing completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of transferring the complete set of frequency samples, the patent applies partial action by transferring only the subset of samples that actually contribute to the audio output (non-zero amplitude samples). This reduces the volume of data transferred without sacrificing processing quality.
2Manufacturing precision
If all frequency samples are processed including zero amplitude samples, then the processing is thorough, but the processing capacity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and identifies zero-amplitude samples, then excludes them from processing operations. By removing these redundant samples from the processing pipeline, the system maintains thoroughness for meaningful samples while eliminating wasteful energy consumption on zero-amplitude samples that contribute nothing to the output.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the processing approach by parameterizing the amplitude threshold for sample inclusion. Samples with amplitude below a certain threshold (zero or near-zero) are excluded from processing. This parameter-based filtering maintains processing thoroughness for significant samples while reducing energy consumption by excluding insignificant ones.
3Loss of information
If zero amplitude samples are transferred and processed, then no data is lost, but memory bandwidth and processing resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts zero-amplitude samples from the frequency data and excludes them from both transfer and processing operations. This extraction and exclusion mechanism ensures that no meaningful information is lost while eliminating wasteful use of memory bandwidth and processing resources on samples that contribute nothing to the audio output.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies a parameter-based filter (amplitude threshold) to determine which samples warrant transfer and processing. By changing the inclusion criterion from 'all samples' to 'samples above threshold amplitude,' the system maintains data completeness for meaningful samples while dramatically improving processing efficiency by excluding zero-amplitude samples.
Data Source
AI summary
Technologies are disclosed for improving the efficiency of real-time audio processing, and specifically for improving the efficiency of continuously modifying a real-time audio signal. Efficiency is improved by reducing memory bandwidth requirements and by reducing the amount of processing used to modify the real-time audio signal. In some configurations, memory bandwidth requirements are reduced by selectively transferring active samples in the frequency domain—e.g. avoiding the transfer samples with amplitudes of zero or near-zero. This has particular importance when the specialized hardware retrieves samples from main memory in real-time. In some configurations, the amount of processing needed to modify the audio signal is reduced by omitting operations that do not meaningfully affect the output audio signal. For example, a multiplication of samples may be avoided when at least one of the samples has an amplitude of zero or near-zero.