Unequal error protection for perceptual audio coders

An apparatus for use in processing audio information for transmission in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• a classifier for receiving a stream of audio information bits, wherein the classifier is operative to separate the audio information bits into control bits and n different classes of data bits, where n is greater than or equal to two, and the audio data bits are separated into the classes based on error sensitivity of the audio data bits, and further wherein the separation of the audio data bits into the classes occurs after an audio coding process has been applied to the audio data bits, the audio coding process including both a quantization operation and a variable length audio coding operation;
• and
• at least n encoders, each of the n encoders receiving the data bits of one of the n classes, and coding the nth class of data bits so as to provide a corresponding one of n levels of error protection for that class of data bits, wherein a given level of error protection is provided for a corresponding one of the classes using a fixed channel coding rate.

An apparatus for use in decoding audio information received in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• at least n decoders, wherein each of the n decoders is operative to decode a portion of a received audio signal to recover a corresponding portion of an audio information bit stream including control bits and n different classes of data bits, where n is greater than or equal to two, and each of the n classes of data bits has one of n levels of error protection, and further wherein separation of the audio data bits into the classes occurs after an audio coding process has been applied to the audio data bits, the audio coding process including both a quantization operation and a variable length audio coding operation, and a given level of error protection is provided for a corresponding one of the classes using a fixed channel coding rate;
• and
• a reconstruction unit which receives the portions of the audio information bit stream from the decoders and generates audio packets therefrom.

A method of processing a stream of coded audio information bits for transmission in a communication system, the coded audio information bits including control bits and data bits, the method comprising the steps of:

• separating the audio data bits into n different classes of audio data bits based on error sensitivity, where n is greater than or equal to two, and each of at least a subset of the classes is configured so as to include audio data bits corresponding to designated non-contiguous bands of an audio frequency spectrum;
• and
• providing a different level of error protection for each of the n different classes of audio data bits.

An apparatus for use in processing audio information for transmission in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• a classifier for receiving a stream of audio information bits, wherein the classifier is operative to separate the audio information bits into control bits and n different classes of data bits, where n is greater than or equal to two, and the data bits are separated into the classes based on error sensitivity of the data bits, and each of at least a subset of the classes is configured so as to include audio data bits corresponding to designated non-contiguous bands of an audio frequency spectrum;
• and
• at least n encoders, each of the n encoders receiving the data bits of one of the n classes, and coding the nth class of data bits so as to provide a corresponding one of n levels of error protection for that class of data bits.

An apparatus for use in decoding audio information received in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• at least n decoders, wherein each of the n decoders is operative to decode a portion of a received audio signal to recover a corresponding portion of an audio information bit stream including control bits and n different classes of data bits, where n is greater than or equal to two, and each of the n classes of data bits has one of n levels of error protection, and each of at least a subset of the classes is configured so as to include audio data bits corresponding to designated noncontiguous bands of an audio frequency spectrum;
• and
• a reconstruction unit which receives the portions of the audio information bit stream from the decoders and generates audio packets therefrom.

A method of processing a stream of coded audio information bits for transmission in a communication system, the coded audio information bits including control bits and data bits, the method comprising the steps of:

• separating the audio data bits into n different classes of audio data bits based on error sensitivity, where n is greater than or equal to two;
• and
• providing a different level of error protection for each of the n different classes of audio data bits, wherein the different levels of error protection are provided for a first portion of the audio data bits in accordance with a first multipacket error protection profile and are provided for a second portion of the audio data bits in accordance with a second multipacket error protection profile different than the first error protection profile.

An apparatus for use in processing audio information for transmission in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• a classifier for receiving a stream of audio information bits, wherein the classifier is operative to separate the audio information bits into control bits and n different classes of data bits, where n is greater than or equal to two, and the data bits are separated into the classes based on error sensitivity of the data bits;
• and
• at least n encoders, each of the n encoders receiving the data bits of one of the n classes, and coding the nth class of data bits so as to provide a corresponding one of n levels of error protection for that class of data bits, wherein the different levels of error protection are provided for a first portion of the audio data bits in accordance with a first multipacket error protection profile and are provided for a second portion of the audio data bits in accordance with a second multipacket error protection profile different than the first error protection profile.

An apparatus for use in decoding audio information received in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• at least n decoders, wherein each of the n decoders is operative to decode a portion of a received audio signal to recover a corresponding portion of an audio information bit stream including control bits and n different classes of data bits, where n is greater than or equal to two, and each of the n classes of data bits has one of n levels of error protection, wherein the different levels of error protection are provided for a first portion of the audio data bits in accordance with a first multipacket error protection profile and are provided for a second portion of the audio data bits in accordance with a second multipacket error protection profile different than the first error protection profile;
• and
• a reconstruction unit which receives the portions of the audio information bit stream from the decoders and generates audio packets therefrom.