Compressed data structure and apparatus and method related thereto

A waveform storage processing apparatus comprising:

• a compression processing section that compresses a plurality of samples of waveform data;
• a framing section that segments the plurality of samples of waveform data, compressed by said compression processing section, into a plurality of frames to thereby form the frames, wherein each of the frames has a fixed total number of bits and includes a fixed auxiliary information area and a remaining data area, by packing the compressed and segmented waveform data into the data area and packing compression-related information into the auxiliary information area, wherein a number of bits per sample of the packed waveform data is uniform within each of the frames but variable between the frames, wherein irrespective of the number of bits per sample of compressed waveform data stored in said data area of each frame, each frame is stored over said predetermined number j of successive addresses, and said compression-related information includes number-of-bits information indicative of said number of bits per sample within the corresponding one of the frames and decompression parameters to be used for the decompression of said compressed waveform data in the corresponding one of the frames;
• and
• a writing section that, for each of the frames, writes the frame, formed by said framing section, into memory capable of storing n bits per address, over a predetermined number j of successive addresses.

A memory storing a plurality of frames of compressed waveform, said memory being capable of storing n bits data per address, said memory storing a plurality of compressed waveform data segmented into a plurality of frames,

• wherein a number of bits per sample of the compressed waveform data is variable between the frames, but uniform within each of the frames,
• each of the frames of the compressed waveform data is stored over a predetermined number j of successive addresses of said memory,
• each of the frames includes, in a predetermined layout, an auxiliary information area for storing auxiliary information that includes compression-related information to be used for decompressing the compressed waveform data, and a data area for storing a plurality of samples of the compressed waveform data of the frame, wherein irrespective of the number of bits per sample of compressed waveform data stored in said data area of each frame, each frame is stored over said predetermined number j of successive addresses, wherein said auxiliary information area and data area in each frame are fixed in position irrespective of the number of bits per sample of compressed waveform data stored in the frame, and wherein said compression-related information includes number-of-bits information indicative of said number of bits per sample within the corresponding one of the frames, and
• wherein m bits of the n bits (where m<n) in the j addresses of said memory contain said data area, and remaining “n−m” bits of the n bits in the j addresses of said memory contain said auxiliary information area.

A tone generation apparatus comprising:

• a memory capable of storing n bits data per address, said memory storing a plurality of compressed waveform data segmented into a plurality of frames,
• wherein a number of bits per sample of the compressed waveform data is variable between the frames, but uniform within each of the frames,
• each of the frames of the compressed waveform data is stored over a predetermined number j of successive addresses of said memory, and
• each of the frames includes, in a predetermined layout, an auxiliary information area for storing auxiliary information that includes compression-related information to be used for decompressing the compressed waveform data, and a data area for storing a plurality of samples of the compressed waveform data of the frame, wherein irrespective of the number of bits per sample of compressed waveform data stored in said data area of each frame, each frame is stored over said predetermined number j of successive addresses, wherein said auxiliary information area and data area in each frame are fixed in position irrespective of the number of bits per sample of compressed waveform data stored in the frame, and wherein said compression-related information includes number-of-bits information indicative of said number of bits per sample within the corresponding one of the frames;
• an address generation section that generates, every sampling cycle, a readout address varying at a predetermined rate corresponding to a designated tone pitch;
• a readout section that designates, on the basis of said readout address, any one of the frames to be read out and reads out stored data of the designated frame from said memory address by address;
• an auxiliary information retrieval section that, of the data of the frame read out by said readout section, retrieves the auxiliary information from the auxiliary information area;
• a compressed waveform data retrieval section that, of the data of the frame read out by said readout section, retrieves the samples of the compressed waveform data from the data area in accordance with the number of bits per sample designated by said number-of-bits information included in the auxiliary information retrieved by said auxiliary information retrieval section;
• a decoding section that decompresses each of the samples of the compressed waveform data retrieved by said compressed waveform data retrieval section;
• and
• a tone generation section that generates a tone on the basis of the waveform data decompressed by said decoding section,
• wherein m bits of the n bits (where m<n) in the j addresses of said memory contain said data area, and a remaining “n−m” bits of the n bits in the j addresses of said memory contain said auxiliary information area, and wherein said auxiliary information retrieval section retrieves the auxiliary information by taking out the data of“n−m” bits from the data of the n bits, successively read out by said read out section, and
• wherein said compressed waveform data retrieval section further comprises a temporary storage section that stores the data of the m bits among the data of n bits, successively read out by said read out section, and said compressed waveform data retrieval section retrieves the samples by taking out each of the samples of compressed waveform data from the data of the m bits stored in said temporary storage section, in accordance with the readout address generated by said address generation section and the number of bits per sample designated by said number-of-bits information.