IVAS Bitstream Headers for Lower-Complexity Immersive Audio Coding

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing IVAS codecs face challenges in efficiently encoding and decoding immersive audio data across diverse devices and environments, requiring complex implementations that are costly and inefficient.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of a customizable simplification stage prior to the IVAS codec, combined with a spatial analysis and downmix unit, quantization, and entropy coding, allows for efficient encoding and decoding of IVAS bitstreams, supporting a range of audio formats from mono to fully immersive audio.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a full-featured IVAS codec is implemented to support diverse audio formats and devices, then audio quality and versatility are improved, but device complexity and implementation cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesupport for diverse audio formats and devicesVSAvoidcodec implementation complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The codec is divided into distinct functional modules: a simplification stage that handles format conversion and a core IVAS codec stage that processes the simplified data. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining versatility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A simplification stage is introduced before the main IVAS codec processing to pre-process and standardize diverse audio formats into a unified representation. This preliminary action reduces the complexity of the subsequent coding stages by ensuring consistent input formats.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Device complexity

If a simplification stage is added before the IVAS codec to reduce complexity, then implementation cost is reduced, but processing time may increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecodec implementation complexityVSAvoidencoding and decoding time

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The simplification stage includes dynamic mode selection that adapts the processing path based on the input audio format and target application requirements. This dynamic approach optimizes processing time by selecting the most efficient coding path while maintaining reduced complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The codec supports configurable parameters including selectable simplification modes, bitrate options, and format conversion settings. By optimizing these parameters for specific use cases, the system achieves reduced complexity without excessive processing time penalties.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP4008000B1Encoding and decoding IVAS bitstreams

Publication Date: 2026.03.18 DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORP

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

AI summary

Encoding/decoding an immersive voice and audio services (IVAS) bitstream comprises: encoding/decoding a coding mode indicator in a common header (CH) section of an IVAS bitstream, encoding/decoding a mode header or tool header in the tool header (TH) section of the bitstream, the TH section following the CH section, encoding/decoding a metadata payload in a metadata payload (MDP) section of the bitstream, the MDP section following the CH section, encoding/decoding an enhanced voice services (EVS) payload in an EVS payload (EP) section of the bitstream, the EP section following the CH section, and on the encoder side, storing or streaming the encoded bitstream, and on the decoder side, controlling an audio decoder based on the coding mode, the tool header, the EVS payload, and the metadata payload or storing a representation of same.