Real-Time Perceptual Moving-Horizon Multiple-Description Audio Coding

A novel scheme for perceptual coding of audio for robust and real-time communication is designed and analyzed. As an alternative to PCM, DPCM, and more general noise-shaping converters, we propose to use psychoacoustically optimized noise-shaping quantizers based on the moving-horizon principle. In moving-horizon quantization, a few samples look-ahead is allowed at the encoder, which makes it possible to better shape the quantization noise and thereby reduce the resulting distortion over what is possible with conventional noise-shaping techniques. It is first shown that significant gains over linear PCM can be obtained without introducing a delay and without requiring postprocessing at the decoder, i.e., the encoded samples can be stored as, e.g., 16-bit linear PCM on CD-ROMs, and played out on standards-compliant CD players. We then show that multiple-description coding can be combined with moving-horizon quantization in order to combat possible erasures on the wireless link without introducing additional delays.