Traditionally, speech coding and audio coding were separate worlds. Based on different technical approaches and different assumptions about the source signal, neither of the two coding schemes could efficiently represent both speech and music at low bitrates. This paper presents a unified speech and audio codec, which efficiently combines techniques from both worlds. This results in a codec that exhibits consistently high quality for speech, music and mixed audio content. The paper gives an overview of the codec architecture and presents results of formal listening tests comparing this new codec with HE-AAC(v2) and AMR-WB+. This new codec forms the basis of the reference model in the ongoing MPEG standardization activity for Unified Speech and Audio Coding.

This paper describes high data-rate audio data hiding using the IntMDCT. The IntMDCT is an integer approximation of the MDCT with perfect reconstruction. Based on this transform, we describe a straight-forward way to embed data and extract it in a bit-exact manner while perceptual transparency is maintained. Since the IntMDCT spectrum can be used to obtain a closer approximation of the masking threshold compared to time domain approaches, it is possible to achieve higher data rates. In a simple experimental implementation, we found we could embed data at rates up to about 140 kb/s without introducing audible distortions

In this paper, lossless audio coding using the integer modified discrete cosine transform (IntMDCT) is discussed. The IntMDCT is constructed as an integer approximation of the MDCT using the lifting scheme and is reversible. The rounding error shape of the IntMDCT is derived. When the spectral energy of the input audio signal is concentrated at the low frequencies, the rounding error spectrum limits the lossless coding performance. A method for shaping the rounding error in the transform domain is presented. This rounding error shaping scheme manipulates the error so that it is below the spectral envelope of the signal at the high frequencies in order to improve the lossless coding performance for the signal. Examples of an error shaping filter design are presented and verified by simulations. An IntMDCT-based lossless coding implementation is carried out to illustrate the use of the error shaping filters

The integer modified discrete cosine transform (IntMDCT), an integer approximation of the MDCT, is a reversible transform realized by the lifting scheme and thus is a useful transform for lossless audio coding. Because of the integer approximation, however, the approximation error appears as a "noise floor" in the transform domain and limits the lossless coding efficiency. In this paper, a theoretical analysis of the approximation error of the IntMDCT is discussed. The result is then used to design a simple test filter applied to each rounding operation of the IntMDCT in such a way that the error spectrum is shaped towards the low frequencies. As a result, especially when the spectral energy of an input signal is concentrated in the low frequency domain, the lossless coding efficiency is improved.

Recently lifting-based integer transforms have received much attention, especially in the area of lossless audio and image coding. The usual approach is to apply the lifting scheme to each Givens rotation. Especially in the case of long transform sizes in audio coding applications, this leads to a considerable approximation error in the frequency domain. This paper presents a multidimensional lifting approach for reducing this approximation error. In this approach, large parts of the transform are calculated without rounding operations, only the output is rounded and added. The new approach is applied and evaluated for both the integer modified discrete cosine transform (IntMDCT) and the integer fast Fourier transform (IntFFT).

This papers presents an embedded fine grain scalable perceptual and lossless audio coding scheme. The enabling technology for this combined perceptual and lossless audio coding approach is the integer modified discrete cosine transform (IntMDCT), which is an integer approximation of the MDCT based on the lifting scheme. It maintains the perfect reconstruction property and therefore enables efficient lossless coding in the frequency domain. The close approximation of the MDCT also allows us to build a perceptual coding scheme based on the IntMDCT. In this paper a bitsliced arithmetic coding technique is applied to the IntMDCT values. Together with the encoded shape of the masking threshold a perceptually hierarchical bitstream is obtained, containing several stages of perceptual quality and extending to lossless operation when transmitted completely. A concept of encoding subslices is presented in order to obtain a fine adaptation to the masking threshold especially in the range of perceptually transparent quality.

The Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (MDCT) is widely used in modem perceptual audio coding schemes. In this paper we present an integer approximation of this lapped transform, called IntMDCT, which is derived from the MDCT using the lifting scheme. This reversible integer transform inherits most of the attractive properties of the MDCT, exhibiting a good spectral representation of the audio signal, critical sampling and overlapping of blocks. This makes the IntMDCT well suited for both lossless audio coding as well as for combined perceptual and lossless audio coding. A scalable system is presented providing a lossless enhancement of perceptual audio coding schemes, such as MPEG-2 AAC.