Time Scaler Quality Control for Audio Artifact Reduction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing audio technologies face challenges in maintaining continuous playback and avoiding audible artifacts during storage and transmission, particularly due to interruptions and varying internet conditions, which affect the quality of audio content.

Innovation Solution

A time scaler is introduced that computes the quality of a time-scaled audio signal and adjusts the time scaling process based on this estimation, using a quality control mechanism to avoid audible distortions by performing overlap-and-add operations with optimized time shifts between audio blocks, ensuring sufficient quality before executing the time scaling.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If time scaling is performed to handle transmission interruptions and delays, then continuous playback is maintained, but audible artifacts and distortions are introduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontinuous playbackVSAvoidaudible artifacts

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary quality estimation before executing time scaling operations. By computing or estimating the quality of the time-scaled version in advance, the system can determine whether the time scaling would produce acceptable results, thereby preventing audible artifacts from being introduced during playback.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from quality estimation to control the time scaling process. The computed or estimated quality information is fed back to the time scaler, which then adjusts its operation accordingly - performing time scaling only when quality requirements are met, thus maintaining continuous playback without introducing audible artifacts.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Object-affected harmful factors

If quality estimation is performed before time scaling, then audible artifacts are avoided, but computational complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaudible artifactsVSAvoidcomputational complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs only the necessary quality estimation computations required to make a go/no-go decision about time scaling, rather than performing exhaustive analysis. This partial action approach provides sufficient quality prediction to avoid audible artifacts while keeping computational complexity manageable for real-time operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS12020721B2Time scaler, audio decoder, method and a computer program using a quality control

Publication Date: 2024.06.25 FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV

AI summary

A time scaler for providing a time scaled version of an input audio signal is configured to compute or estimate a quality of a time scaled version of the input audio signal obtainable by a time scaling of the input audio signal. The time scaler is configured to perform the time scaling of the input audio signal in dependence on the computation or estimation of the quality of the time scaled version of the input audio signal obtainable by the time scaling. An audio decoder has such a time scaler.