Variable rate vocoder
US5778338A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 23, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jul 7, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 23, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG10L2025/786
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method for performing speech signal compression, by variable rate coding of frames of digitized speech samples. The level of speech activity for each frame of digitized speech samples is determined and an output data packet rate is selected from a set of rates based upon the determined level of frame speech activity. A lowest rate of the set of rates corresponds to a detected minimum level of speech activity, such as background noise or pauses in speech, while a highest rate corresponds to a detected maximum level of speech activity, such as active vocalization. Each frame is then coded according to a predetermined coding format for the selected rate wherein each rate has a corresponding number of bits representative of the coded frame. A data packet is provided for each coded frame with each output data packet of a bit rate corresponding to the selected rate. At the decoder, if a frame is lost due to a channel error, the error is masked by maintaining a fraction of the previous frame's energy and smoothly transitioning to background noise.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.