Reducing sparseness in coded speech signals

An apparatus for processing acoustical signal information, comprising:

• an input for receiving the acoustical signal information, said acoustical signal information representing an analog acoustical signal;
• a coding apparatus coupled to said input and responsive to said information for providing a digital signal, said digital signal including a first sequence of sample blocks which correspond respectively to timewise successive segments of the analog acoustical signal, each sample block including a sequence of sample values;
• and
• an anti-sparseness operator having an input coupled to said coding apparatus and responsive to said digital signal for producing therefrom an output digital signal which includes a second sequence of sample blocks that respectively timewise correspond to said sample blocks of said first sequence of sample blocks, each sample block of said second sequence of sample blocks including a sequence of sample values, said sequence of sample values in each sample block of said second sequence of sample blocks having a greater density of non-zero sample values than the sequence of sample values in the corresponding sample block of said first sequence of sample blocks.

A method of reducing sparseness in an input digital signal, comprising:

• receiving the input digital signal, the input digital signal derived from an analog signal and including a first sequence of sample blocks which correspond respectively to timewise successive segments of the analog signal, each sample block including a sequence of sample values;
• producing in response to the input digital signal an output digital signal which includes a second sequence of sample blocks that respectively timewise correspond to said sample blocks of said first sequence of sample blocks, each sample block of said second sequence of sample blocks including a sequence of sample values, said sequence of sample values in each sample block of said second sequence of sample blocks having a greater density of non-zero sample values than the sequence of sample values in the corresponding sample block of said first sequence of sample blocks;
• and
• outputting the output digital signal.

A method of processing acoustical signal information, comprising:

• receiving the acoustical signal information, said acoustical signal information representing an analog acoustical signal;
• providing in response to the information a digital signal including a first sequence of sample blocks which correspond respectively to timewise successive segments of the analog acoustical signal, each sample block including a sequence of sample values;
• and
• producing in response to the digital signal an output digital signal which includes a further sequence of sample blocks that respectively timewise correspond to said sample blocks of said first sequence of sample blocks, each sample block of said further sequence of sample blocks including a sequence of sample values, the sequence of sample values in each sample block of said further sequence of sample blocks having a greater density of non-zero sample values than the sequence of sample values in the corresponding sample block of said first sequence of sample blocks.

An apparatus for reducing sparseness in an input digital signal which includes a first sequence of sample values, comprising:

• an input to receive the input digital signal;
• an anti-sparseness operator coupled to said input and responsive to the input digital signal for producing an output digital signal which includes a further sequence of sample values, said further sequence of sample values having a greater density of non-zero sample values than the first sequence of sample values, said anti-sparseness operator operable to perform a convolution operation on respective blocks of sample values in said first sequence of sample values;
• and
• an output coupled to said anti-sparseness operator to receive therefrom said output digital signal.

An apparatus for processing acoustical signal information, comprising:

• an input for receiving the acoustical signal information;
• a coding apparatus coupled to said input and responsive to said information for providing a digital signal, said digital signal including a first sequence of sample values;
• and
• an anti-sparseness operator having an input coupled to said coding apparatus and responsive to said digital signal for producing an output digital signal which includes a second sequence of sample values, said second sequence of sample values having a greater density of non-zero sample values than the first sequence of sample values, said anti-sparseness operator operable to perform a convolution operation on respective blocks of sample values in said first sequence of sample values.

A method of reducing sparseness in an input digital signal which includes a first sequence of sample values, comprising:

• receiving the input digital signal;
• producing in response to the input digital signal an output digital signal which includes a second sequence of sample values, said second sequence of sample values having a greater density of non-zero sample values than the first sequence of sample values, said producing step including performing a convolution operation on respective blocks of sample values in said first sequence of sample values;
• and
• outputting the output digital signal.

A method of processing acoustical signal information, comprising:

• receiving the acoustical signal information;
• providing in response to the information a digital signal including a first sequence of sample values;
• and
• producing in response to the digital signal an output digital signal which includes a further sequence of sample values, the further sequence of sample values having a greater density of non-zero sample values than the first sequence of sample values, said producing step including performing a convolution operation on respective blocks of sample values in said first sequence of sample values.