(19)
(11)EP 1 813 045 B1

(12)EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION

(45)Mention of the grant of the patent:
01.01.2014 Bulletin 2014/01

(21)Application number: 05802424.1

(22)Date of filing:  01.11.2005
(51)International Patent Classification (IPC): 
H04L 1/00(2006.01)
(86)International application number:
PCT/IL2005/001141
(87)International publication number:
WO 2006/048869 (11.05.2006 Gazette  2006/19)

(54)

METHODS AND DEVICES FOR PROVIDING PROTECTION IN PACKET SWITCHED COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

VERFAHREN UND EINRICHTUNGEN ZUR BEREITSTELLUNG VON SCHUTZ IN PAKETVERMITTELTEN KOMMUNIKATIONSNETZEN

PROCEDES ET DISPOSITIFS DESTINES A FOURNIR UNE PROTECTION DANS DES RESEAUX DE COMMUNICATION A COMMUTATION PAR PAQUETS


(84)Designated Contracting States:
AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

(30)Priority: 03.11.2004 IL 16501004

(43)Date of publication of application:
01.08.2007 Bulletin 2007/31

(73)Proprietor: DIALOGIC NETWORKS (ISRAEL) LTD.
Petach - Tikva 49517 (IL)

(72)Inventors:
  • ILAN, Amir
    45309 Hod Hasharon (IL)
  • AGASSY, Meir
    53254 Givataim (IL)
  • SHAPIRO, Joseph
    45287 Hod Hasharon (IL)
  • MATAS, David
    76201 Rehovot (IL)

(74)Representative: Modiano, Micaela Nadia et al
Modiano Josif Pisanty & Staub Ltd Thierschstrasse 11
80538 München
80538 München (DE)


(56)References cited: : 
US-A1- 2003 099 236
  
  • DONGYAN XU ET AL: "QoS-directed error control of video multicast in wireless networks" COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKS, 1999. PROCEEDINGS. EIGHT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BOSTON, MA, USA 11-13 OCT. 1999, PISCATAWAY, NJ, USA,IEEE, US, 11 October 1999 (1999-10-11), pages 257-262, XP010359532 ISBN: 0-7803-5794-9
  • SINGLI S K ET AL: "A dynamic-priority based approach to streaming video over cellular network" COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKS, 2004. ICCCN 2004. PROCEEDINGS. 13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHICAGO, IL, USA 11-13 OCT. 2004, PISCATAWAY, NJ, USA,IEEE, 11 October 2004 (2004-10-11), pages 281-286, XP010774524 ISBN: 0-7803-8814-3
  • YONG M ED - INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS: "Study of voice packet reconstruction methods applied to CELP speech coding" DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING 2, ESTIMATION, VLSI. SAN FRANCISCO, MAR. 23, vol. VOL. 5 CONF. 17, 23 March 1992 (1992-03-23), pages 125-128, XP010058844 ISBN: 0-7803-0532-9
  
Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention).


Description

FIEND OF THE INVENTION



[0001] The present invention relates in general to telecommunication systems and methods for their management, and particularly to systems and methods for efficiently managing packet switched coded communication.

BACICGROUND OF THE INVENTION



[0002] In coded packetized communication such as a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system, one or some voice frame data, which are obtained by encoding a voice signal, are gathered to form a packet. After adding some further information to the packet, such as generation time, sequence number etc., the latter is transmitted along a transmission path, e.g. the Internet. The packets are successively transmitted along the transmission path and arrive at a processing point, e.g. to a receiver. Typically, the processing point is provided with a buffer (queue) for re-arranging the packets received in accordance with their transmission time, so that to overcome different arrival delays resulting from various network problems such as congestion of various links, and then the received packets are decoded.

[0003] However, suppose a packet does not arrive on time at the reception buffer. Typically, the information included in that missing packet is derived by interpolation processing using the prior frames received, a process which is called error concealment processing.

[0004] Several attempts were made to overcome these problems and enable reception of the signal in a good quality. Among the attempts made is US 20020169859A1 which describes a voice decoding apparatus with packet error resistance, which, in case a packet is not received at the appropriate time when it should be decoded, the decoded signal and a filter memory value would be calculated at that time by using a concealment processing. However, in case a packet is later received (a delayed packet), the packet would nevertheless be used in recalculating the filter memory value for frames that were formed later than the time stamp of the lost packet. This way, it would be possible to reduce/remove the longterm deterioration effect caused by the concealment processing in the filter memory value. However, no solution is provided by this publication to many cases where the packet recalculation of the filter memory value cannot be made.

[0005] WO 0230098 describes a method whereby voice is sampled and encoded to produce data that represents speech prior to its transmission. Adaptive multi-rate (AMR) speech codecs represent generation of coding algorithms that are designed to work with inaccurate transport channels, such as wireless transmission channels. The AMR speech codec has built-in mechanisms that make it tolerant to a certain level of bit errors introduced by the transport channel. Therefore, would be possible to restore the original speech with some degradation even though the coded speech is received with some bit errors.

[0006] In a publication entitled "Packet Loss and Control for Voice Transmission over the Internet" by Henning Sanneck, GMD Research Series No. 8/2000, of GMD - Forschungszentrum Informationtechnik GmbH, a further step was made. Relying on the fact that some of the coded voice frames, namely, frames where there has been a transition state form unvoiced signal to a voiced signal, comprise more important information than other frames, it has been suggested to provide these frames with extra protection. Two solutions were proposed in this publication. The first, to attach a replica of each of the so-called important frames that is carried by the N-th packets, to the N+2th packets, so that if such an Nth packet is lost, the important packet can still be regenerated from its replica carried by the N+2th packet. The other solution suggested, is, that a XOR operation is carried on the Nth and N+1th packets, irrespective of the information comprised therein, and the result obtain from this operation is attached to the N+2th packet. Still, both these solutions have their drawbacks as they introduce a delay in the regenerated packet, and more importantly, they lead to a waste of bandwidth consumed by carrying the replicas of all important frames according to the first solution or even the bandwidth used for carrying the results of all those XOR operations.

[0007] In "QoS-Directed Error Control of Video Multicast in Wireless Networks" by Dongyan X. et al, Proceedings Eight International Conference in Boston 11-13-Oct, 1999 IEEE pp 257-262, there is disclosed a method to preserve good video quality by specifying a subset of video frames as QoS-essential frames while the other frames are specified as QoS optional frames where the essential frames are transmitted with error control while the latter type without such error control.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION



[0008] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for improving the reconstruction of encoded signal conveyed along packet switched networks.

[0009] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system and an apparatus capable of improving the quality of signals conveyed in their encoded form along packet switched networks.

[0010] Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the description of the invention proceeds. The invention is carried out by the independent claims.

[0011] In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for reconstructing a compressed signal conveyed along a communication path in a packet switched network, wherein the method comprising the steps of:

providing a communication signal that has been encoded into a plurality of frames;

determining which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame which loss would cause a deterioration in the quality of at least one proceeding frame, when said at least one proceeding frames be decoded;

packaging said plurality of frames into a plurality of packets, and identifying which of the packets comprise at least one essential frame;

adding protecting information to at least one packet which proceeds a packet identified as a packet carrying at least one essential frame.



[0012] The term "protecting information" as used herein, should be understood to encompass information that will enable successful decoding of at least one frame which proceeds the essential frame. Such protecting information may be for example, some of the parameters characterizing the essential frame and/or information that is not explicitly derived from the encoded parameters of the essential frame. By another example, the protecting information may be information which relates to the encoder state of the proceeding frame, wherein such information would normally be implicitly conveyed within the information included in the encoded signal of the essential frame. An essential frame is such that its loss will cause substantial incompatibility between the state of the encoder and the state of the decoder, which will consequently prevent successful decoding and re-synthesis of the encoded information comprising in the frames that follow the lost essential frame.

[0013] The terms "proceeding frame" or "frame that proceeds", as used herein and throughout the specification, should be understood to encompass a frame (or frames) encoded in accordance with information derived from at least one frame of interest (e.g. an essential frame), irrespective whether such a proceeding frame follows time-wise the frame of interest time-wise, or not. For example, when the signal is of a voice type, a proceeding frame would typically be a frame that follows time-wise the frame of interest. However, when the signal is for example a video signal, motion estimation can be carried out either by moving forward or backward in time, and a proceeding frame will be encoded respectively in accordance with information comprised in respective time-wise past or future frame(s) of interest.

[0014] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a somewhat similar solution may be derived by introducing a delay to the frames that should be transmitted, so that in such a case the protecting information that will be used by at least one of the proceeding frames will be carried by a packet the precedes the essential frame. Such a method should also be understood to be encompassed within the scope of the present invention.

[0015] In case the packet carrying the at least one essential frame is lost, the protecting information is adapted to allow decoding and synthesis of at least one frame comprised in the proceeding frame at a better quality than the quality that would have been achieved had the at least one frame that proceeds said essential frame been reconstructed without using said protecting information for its decoding and synthesis.

[0016] In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the step of determining which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame, comprises determining a plurality of frames, which loss will cause a deterioration in the quality of at least one proceeding frame, when said at least one proceeding frames be decoded.

[0017] Using such protecting information will allow, in case of a loss of an essential frame, a faster synchronization between the state of the encoder at the transmitting end and the state of the decoder at the receiving end within a matter of few frames. Better decoding and synthesis of the encoded signal is obtained until resynchronization is achieved. In case no protecting information is provided, such synchronization will typically not be achieved during that phoneme, and consequently that phoneme could not be reconstructed properly.

[0018] According to another embodiment of the invention, the protecting information comprises the excitation vector of the synthesis process. Preferably, not the entire excitation vector is added as the protecting information, but only parameters that may provide sufficient information to be used as the protecting information. For example, the locations of at least some of the peaks of the excitation vector, the gain of these peaks, and the like. Preferably, the respective excitation vector of the synthesis process is represented by an index denoting a vector out of a plurality of vectors associated with possible excitation vectors.

[0019] By yet another embodiment of the invention, the method provided further comprises a step of attaching an indication to at least one of the packets comprising protecting information, to denote that protecting information was added to that packet. Preferably, that indication is added to the first (time-wise) packet out of the packets comprising protecting information that relates to a single essential frame.

[0020] According to still another embodiment of the invention, protecting information is added to more than one packet. Preferably, the protecting information added to the first packet(s) comprises information that would allow course reconstruction of the signal, while the proceeding packets will allow a finer reconstruction of the signal. This way, if the load of the protecting information requires a relatively considerable bandwidth, it may be divided as explained above, so that the load is shared between a number of packets, without having a substantial adverse effect on the signal being reconstructed.

[0021] In accordance with yet another example of the invention, the method provided further comprises a step of initiating a recovery process at receiving end of the packet switched network, if the packet carrying the at least one essential frame does not arrive to allow successful decoding of its proceeding packets, whereby the protecting information is derived from the proceeding packet, enabling the reconstruction of at least one frame comprised in one of the proceeding packets at a quality which is substantially similar to that that would have been achieved had the packet carrying the at least one essential frame not been lost.

[0022] According to an example of the invention, the communication signal is a member selected from the group consisting of voice type, audio type and video type. Preferably, if the communication signal is of a voice type, the at least one essential frame comprises information which relates to a transition from unvoiced signal (e.g. fricative phoneme) or silence, to a voiced signal.

[0023] The term "frame" as used herein, should be understood also to encompass both a full frame as well as a part of a frame. For example, the protecting information referred to hereinbefore may relate to the compressed signal of the whole frame or of a part of a frame (sub-frame), or both, so that the reconstruction that should take place while using the protecting information provided in the proceeding packet, will relate to information comprised in the respective part of the frame.

[0024] The term "packet switched communication network" as will be used hereinafter, should be understood to encompass the various types of networks known in the art, such as synchronous and asynchronous transfer networks, for example ATM networks, Ethernet networks, IP networks, frame relaying networks, Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), Local Area Network (LAN), packet over SONET/SDH networks, wireless networks and the like.

[0025] According to another example of the invention, the encoded frames are obtained by using a compressing algorithm that is a) based on a model which parameters are estimated and the initial values of the model variables are provided, and/or b) which operation depends on synchronization between the encoder and decoder, e.g. wave form compression algorithm, such as ADPCM.

[0026] The term "algorithm" as will be used hereinafter, refers to various ways of handling the communication signals. Such algorithms, typically operative as encoders and/or decoders, encompass signal relaying such as demodulation/remodulation relay, various types of lossy or lossless compression, variable rate compression, transcoding and the like.

[0027] According to still another example of the invention, the protecting information is associated with a change in the characteristics of said encoded signal

[0028] By another embodiment of the invention there is provided an encoding device which comprises:

means for receiving a communication signal;

means for encoding said communication signal into a plurality of frames;

means for determining which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame which loss will cause a deterioration in the quality of at least one proceeding frame, upon decoding said at least one proceeding frame;

means for packaging said plurality of frames into a plurality of packets, and identifying which of the packets comprises at least one essential frame;

means for adding protecting information to at least one packet which proceeds a packet identified as a packet carrying at least one essential frame; and

a conveying means adapted to forward the plurality of packets towards their respective destination.



[0029] By still another example of the invention there is provided an apparatus which comprises:

an input interface adapted to receive a communication signal;

an encoding device operative to encode said communication signal into a plurality of encoded frames;

a detector adapted to determine which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame which loss will cause a deterioration in the quality of at least one proceeding frame when said at least one proceeding frames be decoded,

a processor adapted to add protecting information to at least one packet which proceeds a packet identified as a packet carrying at least one essential frame;

a packetizer operative to aggregate said plurality of frames into a plurality of packets, and identify which of the packets comprises at least one essential frame; and

a transmitter adapted to forward said plurality of packets towards their respective destination.



[0030] According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the processor is further adapted to add an indication to at least one of the packets which comprise protecting information, to denote that protecting information was added to that packet. Preferably, that indication is added to the first (time-wise) packet out of the packets comprising protecting information.

[0031] In accordance with still another embodiment of the invention, the apparatus further comprises at least one signal decoder and synthesizer adapted to reconstruct the encoded frames and identify the essential frames among the encoded frames.

[0032] By yet another embodiment of the invention there is provided a decoding device which comprises:

an input interface adapted to receive a plurality of packets from one or more upstream nodes, wherein the plurality of packets is associated with an encoded communication signal and wherein at least one of the plurality of packets comprises protection information;

a receiving buffer adapted to:

  1. i) store a pre-defined number of packets received;
  2. ii) determine whether each of the packets belonging to the compressed communication arrived in time for its reconstruction; and
  3. iii) determine in case that at least one of the packets did not arrive in time, whether its consecutive packet comprise protecting information

a processor coupled with the receiving buffer and adapted to retrieve protecting information from frames carrying such protecting information, and have that protecting information processed;

a packet loss concealment circuit operative to receive the processed packets and generate information that enables reconstruction of missing packets;

a decoder operative to provide a decoded form of the packets received, and to decode and synthesize a communication signal therefrom in conjunction with the protecting information retrieved and processed by the processor.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS



[0033] 

FIG. 1 presents a block diagram showing a structure example of a voice encoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGs. 2A and 2B illustrate two option of constructing a detector of the voice encoding apparatus of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 presents a block diagram showing a structure example of a voice decoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.


DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION



[0034] The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed examples taken in conjunction with the drawings.

[0035] Let us consider now Fig. 1 which presents an example of a schematic block diagram of an encoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Assuming that the signal that reaches the encoding device 1 is a voice signal, and that it is encoded by using a CELP (Code Excited Linear Prediction) encoder. The encoding in encoder 2 is conducted by extracting linear prediction (LP) coefficients representing a spectrum envelope characteristic obtained in a linear prediction analysis, and an excitation signal for driving an LP synthesis filter constructed out of these LP coefficients from an input voice signal, and encoding them.

[0037] The encoding of the LP analysis and the LP coefficients is conducted for every frame of predetermined length.

[0038] The signal received in encoding device 1 is encoded by encoder 2 and the encoded signal is forwarded to detector 4 and to packetizer 10. Detector 4 is operative to detect the essential frames from among the plurality of frames. The frames encoded by encoder 2 are then processed by processor 8 and certain information is retrieved therefrom. Once detector 4 identifies a frame as being an essential frame, processor 8 ensures that the information retrieved in connection with the essential frame, now considered as being protecting information, shall be included in the next packet prepared by packetizer 10. Preferably, processor 8 also minimizes the protecting information that will be added to that packet so that only the essential protecting information is added in order to save on the bandwidth used.

[0039] As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, an equivalent result may be achieved if detector 4 controls directly packetizer 10. In such a case, the relevant information is retrieved for all the packets, but the decision on its addition only to certain packets as protecting information, is based on the determination made by detector 4.

[0040] Fig. 2A present an exploded view of detector 4 constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. All encoded frames are received in detector 4, and are processed in two parallel branches. Along the first branch, the encoded frame n is decoded and synthesized by a corresponding decoder 22. Along the second branch, a simulation of discarding frame (n-1) is made, a packet loss concealment process is carried for that discarded packet by packet loss concealment device 20. Thereafter frame n is decoded and synthesized by decoder 22' and the resulting signals from both decoders 22 and 22' are compared. When there is a substantial difference between the two, frame n-1 is determined by decision making block 26 to be an essential frame. Similarly, the impact of losing a frame, over more then one proceeding frames may also be evaluated. In addition or in the alternative, if the difference found between the delay lines of both synthesis filters or the respective excitation vectors is greater than the pre-defined threshold, decision block 26 makes the determination that the preceding frame was an essential frame.

[0041] Fig. 2B demonstrates a similar construction of detector 4, with the exception that the resulting two reconstructed signals are processed by processor 24 to determine the relative difference in quality of the reconstructed signals thus received. Based on the evaluated quality, decision making block 26 determines which are the essential frames, e.g. frames that without them the proceeding frames shall have less then a pre-defined quality threshold.

[0042] In addition or in the alternative, a more complex processing may be carried by which, after making the decision which are the essential frames, the minimum protecting information is determined. By this method, signal synthesizer 22' receives frame n together with minimal protecting information which relates to the preceding frame, n-1. Frame n is then reconstructed while the reconstruction takes into account the minimal protecting information, and the quality of the reconstructed signal is then evaluated by processor 24. If the resulting quality is still less then required, some further protecting information is added, the reconstructing process is repeated and is carried until a sufficient quality of the reconstructed signal is achieved. By this embodiment, the final protecting information applied, is conveyed to packetizer 10 to be added to packet n.

[0043] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the above two examples are only few of the options available for determining the essential frames, but of course the invention is not limited to these two options, and any other arrangement that achieve the same result may be used without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0044] In the corresponding decoding apparatus 50 illustrated in Fig. 3, the excitation signal calculated is input to the synthesis filter constructed out of the decoded LP coefficients to synthesize a decoded voice signal. An arriving packet is first transferred to a reception buffer 52 where certain number of packets are accumulated. The accumulated packets are rearranged by the order of their generation time, and buffer 52 then determines any missing or packets that are late arriving. The arriving packets are then transferred to frame decoder 54 and a packet loss concealment circuit 56, which is operative if a packet was lost by conducting a packet loss concealment process as known in the art per se. Once frame decoder 54 identifies a frame carrying protection information and the fact that the preceding frame was lost is known, decoder 54 retrieves that protecting information which is then sent to processor 59 that uses the protecting information to establi sh information required to prevent long term deterioration effect of the decoded signal due to the loss of the essential frame (e.g. restoring the excitation vector used in the synthesis filter). The information established by processor 59 is then forwarded to signal synthesizer 58 and used therein in the process for obtaining the required decoded signal.

[0045] It is to be understood that the present invention has been described using non-limiting detailed descriptions of embodiments thereof that are provided by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. It should be understood that features and/or steps described with respect to one embodiment may be used with other embodiments and that not all embodiments of the invention have all of the features and/or steps shown in a particular figure or described with respect to one of the embodiments. Variations of embodiments described will occur to persons of the art.

[0046] It is noted that some of the above described embodiments describe the best mode contemplated by the inventors and therefore include structure, acts or details of structures and acts that may not be essential to the invention and which are described as examples. Therefore, the scope of the invention is limited only by the elements and limitations as used in the claims. When used in the following claims, the terms "comprise", "include", "have" and their conjugates mean "including but not limited to"


Claims

1. A method for reconstructing an encoded signal conveyed along a communication path in a packet switched network, wherein the method comprising the steps of
providing a communication signal that has been encoded into a plurality of frames;
determining which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame, which loss would cause a deterioration in the quality of at least one proceeding frame upon decoding said at least one proceeding frame;
packaging said plurality of frames into a plurality of packets, and identifying which of the packets comprise at least one essential frame;
adding protecting information to at least one packet which proceeds a packet identified as a packet carrying at least one essential frame, the protecting information being information that will enable successful decoding of at least one frame which proceeds the essential frame,
characterized in that said step of determining which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame comprises one of the following options I-IV:

I.

a) processing the communication signal that has been encoded in a plurality of frames by:

i) at least partially decoding and synthesizing, by means of filtering that uses linear prediction, a given encoded frame of the communication signal, and

ii) simulating a discard of at least one frame that precedes said given encoded frame of the communication signal, and at least partially decoding and synthesizing, by means of filtering that uses linear prediction, the given encoded frame of the communication signal,

b) comparing both decoded and synthesized signals thus obtained, and

c) if there is a difference between said two compared signals which is greater than a predefined threshold, determining that said preceding encoded frame is an essential frame; or

II.

a) processing the communication signal that has been encoded in a plurality of frames by:

i) at least partially decoding a given encoded frame of the communication signal using a first synthesis filter that uses a linear prediction, and

ii) simulating a discard of at least one frame that precedes said given encoded frame and at least partially decoding the given encoded frame using a second synthesis filter that uses a linear prediction,

b)comparing differences found in delay lines associated with both said synthesis filters, and

c)if there is a difference between said two delay lines which is greater than a predefined threshold, determining that said preceding encoded frame is an essential frame.

III.

a) processing the communication signal that has been encoded in a plurality of frames by:

i) at least partially decoding and synthesizing, by means of filtering that uses linear prediction, a given encoded frame of the communication signal and

ii) simulating a discard of at least one frame that precedes said given encoded frame and at least partially decoding and synthesizing, by means of filtering that uses linear prediction, the given encoded frame,

b) determining relative difference in quality between the two at least partially decoded and synthesized signals thus obtained, and

c) if the difference between said two compared signals is greater than a predefined threshold, determining that said preceding encoded frame is an essential frame; or

IV.

a) processing the communication signal that has been encoded in a plurality of frames by:

i) at least partially decoding a given encoded frame to generate a first excitation vector used for linear prediction encoding of the encoded frame, and

ii) simulating a discard of at least one frame that precedes said given encoded frame and at least partially decoding said given encoded frame to generate a second excitation vector used for linear prediction encoding of the encoded frame,

b) comparing differences found between said two excitation vectors, and

c) if there is a difference between said two excitation vectors which is greater than a predefined threshold, determining that said preceding encoded frame is an essential frame.


 
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said protecting information is adapted to allow in case the packet carrying said at least one essential frame is lost, decoding and synthesizing of at least one frame comprised in said proceeding packet at a better quality than the quality that would have been achieved had the at least one frame that proceeds said essential frame been reconstructed without using said protecting information for its decoding and synthesis.
 
3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said step of determining which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame, comprises determining a plurality of frames, which loss will cause a deterioration in the quality of at least one proceeding frame, when said at least one proceeding frames be decoded.
 
4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said protecting information comprises information relating to a respective state or part of the state of the encoder (2) used to encode said signal.
 
5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of attaching an indication to at least one of the packets comprising protecting information, to denote that protecting information was added to that packet.
 
6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said indication is attached to a first packet out of the packets comprising protecting information that relates to a single essential frame.
 
7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said protecting information is divided among a plurality of packets.
 
8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the protecting information added to a first packet of said plurality of packets comprises information that would allow course reconstruction of the signal, while the proceeding packets will carry the remaining of the protecting information that will allow a finer reconstruction of the signal.
 
9. A method according to claim 1 and wherein said step of determining which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame comprises option I, further comprising a step of determining minimum protecting information required for said given encoded frame which comprises:

a) processing said given encoded frame by:

i) assuming a set of minimum information data required as protecting information to be included in said given frame and

ii) simulating a discard of said essential frame and at least partially decoding and synthesizing a communication signal associated with said given encoded frame which proceeds an essential frame, while utilizing the assumed set of minimum information data required,

b) comparing both communication signals thus obtained, and

c) if the difference between said two compared communication signals exceeds a pre-defined threshold, assuming a new set of information data and repeating steps a)ii), b) and c).


 
10. A method according to claim 1 and wherein said step of determining which of said plurality of frames is an essential frames comprises option II, further comprising a step of determining minimum protecting information required for said given encoded frame which composers:

a) processing said given encoded frame by:

i) assuming a set of minimum information data required as protecting information to be included in said given frame, and

ii) simulating a discard of said essential frame and at least partially at least partially decoding a communication signal associated with said given encoded frame which proceeds an essential frame while utilizing the assumed set of minimum information data required, using said second synthesis filter,

b) comparing differences found in delay lines associated with both said synthesis filters, and

c) if the difference between said two delay lines exceeds a pre-defined threshold, assuming a new set of information data and repeating steps a)ii), b) and c).


 
11. A method according to claim 1 and wherein said step of determining which of said plurality of frames is an_essential frames comprises option III, further comprising a step of determining minimum protecting information required for said given encoded frame which comprises:

a) processing said given encoded frame by:

i) assuming a set of minimum information data required as protecting information to be included in said given frame and

ii) simulating a discard of said essential frame and at least partially decoding and synthesizing a communication signal associated with said given encoded frame which proceeds an essential frame, while utilizing the assumed set of minimum information data required,

b) determining relative difference between said two at least partially decoded and synthesized communication signals, and

c) if the difference between said two at least partially decoded and synthesized communication signals exceeds a pre-defined threshold, assuming a new set of information data and repeating steps a)ii), b) and c).


 
12. A method according to claim 1 and wherein said step of determining which of said plurality of frames is an_essential frames comprises option IV, further comprising a step of determining minimum protecting information required for said given encoded frame which comprises:

a) processing said given encoded frame by:

i) assuming a set of minimum information data required as protecting information to be included in said given frame, and

ii) simulating a discard of said essential frame and at least partially decoding a communication signal associated with said given encoded frame which proceeds an essential frame while utilizing the assumed set of minimum information data required, using said second excitation vector,

b) comparing differences found in said two excitation vectors, and

c) if the difference between said two excitation vectors exceeds a pre-defined threshold, assuming a new set of information data and repeating steps a)ii), b) and c).


 
13. A method according to claim 1, wherein said protecting information to be used in conjunction with one or more frames carried by said at least one proceeding packet, is added to at least one packet that precedes a packet carrying an essential frame.
 
14. An encoder which comprises:

means for receiving a communication signal;

means for encoding (2) said communication signal into a plurality of frames;

means for determining (4) which of said plurality of frames is an essential frame which loss will cause a deterioration in the quality of at least one proceeding frame, upon decoding said at least one proceeding frame;

means for packaging (10) said plurality of frames into a plurality of packets, and identifying which of the packets comprises at least one essential frame;

means for adding protecting information (8) to at least one packet which proceeds a packet identified as a packet carrying at least one essential frame, the protecting information being information that will enable successful decoding of at least one frame which proceeds the essential frame; and

a conveying means adapted to forward the plurality of packets towards their respective destination,

characterized in that said means for determining which of said plurality of frames is an_essential frame is operative in accordance with at least one of the following options I-IV:

I.

a) processing the communication signal that has been encoded in a plurality of frames by:

i) at least partially decoding and synthesizing, by means of filtering that uses linear prediction, a given encoded frame of the communication signal, and

ii) simulating a discard of at least one frame that precedes said given encoded frame of the communication signal, and at least partially decoding and synthesizing, by means of filtering that uses linear prediction, the given encoded frame of the communication signal,

b) comparing both decoded and synthesized signals thus obtained, and

c) if there is a difference between said two compared signals which is greater than a predefined threshold, determining that said preceding encoded frame is an essential frame; or

II.

a) processing the communication signal that has been encoded in a plurality of frames by:

i) at least partially decoding a given encoded frame of the communication signal using a first synthesis filter that uses a linear prediction, and

ii) simulating a discard of at least one frame that precedes said given encoded frame and at least partially decoding the given encoded frame using a second synthesis filter that uses a linear prediction,

b) comparing differences found in delay lines associated with both said synthesis filters, and

c) if there is a difference between said two delay lines which is greater than a predefined threshold, determining that said preceding encoded frame is an essential frame.

III.

a) processing the communication signal that has been encoded in a plurality of frames by:

i) at least partially decoding and synthesizing, by means of filtering that uses linear prediction, a given encoded frame of the communication signal and

ii) simulating a discard of at least one frame that precedes said given encoded frame and at least partially decoding and synthesizing, by means of filtering that uses linear prediction, the given encoded frame,

b) determining relative difference in quality between the two at least partially decoded and synthesized signals thus obtained, and

c) if the difference between said two compared signals is greater than a predefined threshold, determining that said preceding encoded frame is an essential frame, or

IV.

a) processing the communication signal that has been encoded in a plurality of frames by:

i) at least partially decoding a given encoded frame to generate a first excitation vector used for linear prediction encoding of the encoded frame, and

ii) simulating a discard of at least one frame that precedes said given encoded frame and at least partially decoding said given encoded frame to generate a second excitation vector used for linear prediction encoding of the encoded frame,

b) comparing differences found between said two excitation vectors, and

c) if there is a difference between said two excitation vectors which is greater than a predefined threshold, determining that said preceding encoded frame is an essential frame.


 
15. An encoder according to claim 14, wherein said means for packaging said plurality of frames is further adapted to add an indication to at least one of the packets which comprise protecting information so as to denote that protecting information was added to said packet.
 


Ansprüche

1. Ein Verfahren zur Rekonstruktion eines codierten Signals, das entlang eines Kommunikationspfads in einem paketvermittelten Netzwerk übertragen wird, wobei das Verfahren folgende Schritte aufweist:

Bereitstellung eines Kommunikationssignals, das in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde;

Bestimmung, welcher aus der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, dessen Verlust zu einer Verschlechterung der Qualität mindestens eines fortschreitenden Rahmens bei der Decodierung des mindestens einen fortschreitenden Rahmens führen würde;

Verpackung der Vielzahl von Rahmen in einer Vielzahl von Paketen und Bestimmung, welche der Pakete mindestens einen essentiellen Rahmen aufweisen;

Hinzufügen von Schutzinformation zu mindestens einem Paket, das ein Paket liefert, welches als ein Paket identifiziert ist, das mindestens einen essentiellen Rahmen trägt, wobei die Schutzinformation Information ist, die erfolgreiche Decodierung mindestens eines Rahmens ermöglichen wird, der den essentiellen Rahmen liefert,

dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der Schritt der Bestimmung, welcher der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, eine der folgenden Optionen I-IV aufweist:

I.

a) Verarbeitung des Kommunikationssignals, das in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde, durch:

i) zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung, mit Hilfe von Filtern, das lineare Vorhersage nutzt, eines bestimmten codierten Rahmens des Kommunikationssignals, und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung mindestens eines Rahmens, der dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen des Kommunikationssignals vorangeht, und zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung, mit Hilfe von Filtern, das lineare Vorhersage nutzt, des bestimmten codierten Rahmens des Kommunikationssignals,

b) Vergleich sowohl der decodierten als auch der synthetisierten so gewonnenen Signale, und

c) wenn eine Differenz zwischen den zwei verglichenen Signalen besteht, die größer ist als ein vordefinierter Schwellenwert, Bestimmung, dass der vorhergehende codierte Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist; oder

II.

a) Verarbeitung des Kommunikationssignals, das in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde, durch:

i) zumindest partielle Decodierung eines bestimmten codierten Rahmens des Kommunikationssignals mit Hilfe eines ersten Synthesefilters, der eine lineare Vorhersage nutzt, und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung mindestens eines Rahmens, der dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen vorausgeht, und zumindest partielle Decodierung des bestimmten codierten Rahmens mit Hilfe eines zweiten Synthesefilters, der eine lineare Vorhersage nutzt,

b) Vergleich der in Laufzeitleitungen festzustellenden Differenzen, die mit den beiden Synthesefiltern verknüpft sind, und

c) wenn eine Differenz zwischen den beiden Laufzeitleitungen besteht, die höher ist als ein vordefinierter Schwellenwert, Bestimmung, dass der vorhergehende codierte Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist,

III.

a) Verarbeitung des Kommunikationssignals, das in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde, durch:

i) zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung, durch Filtern, das lineare Vorhersage nutzt, eines bestimmten codierten Rahmens des Kommunikationssignals und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung mindestens eines Rahmens, der dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen vorausgeht, und zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung, durch Filtern, das lineare Vorhersage nutzt, des bestimmten codierten Rahmens,

b) Bestimmung eines relativen Unterschieds in der Qualität zwischen den zwei so gewonnenen zumindest teilweise decodierten und synthetisierten Signalen, und

c) wenn der Unterschied zwischen den zwei verglichenen Signalen größer ist als ein vordefinierter Schwellenwert, Bestimmung, dass der vorhergehende codierte Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist; oder

IV.

a) Verarbeitung des Kommunikationssignals, das in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde, durch:

i) zumindest partielle Decodierung eines bestimmten codierten Rahmens, um einen ersten Anregungsvektor zu erzeugen, der zur linearen prädiktiven Codierung des codierten Rahmens verwendet wird, und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung mindestens eines Rahmens, der dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen vorausgeht, und zumindest partielle Decodierung des bestimmten codierten Rahmens, um einen zweiten Anregungsvektor zu erzeugen, der zur linearen prädiktiven Codierung des codierten Rahmens verwendet wird,

b) Vergleich von Unterschieden, die zwischen den zwei Anregungsvektoren festgestellt werden, und

c) wenn es einen Unterschied zwischen den zwei Anregungsvektoren gibt, der größer ist als ein vordefinierter Schwellenwert, Bestimmung, dass der vorhergehende codierte Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist.


 
2. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin die Schutzinformation geeignet ist, falls das Paket, das den mindestens einen essentiellen Rahmen trägt, verloren geht, Folgendes zu ermöglichen: Decodierung und Synthetisierung mindestens eines Rahmens, der in dem fortschreitenden Paket umfasst ist, in einer besseren Qualität als diejenige Qualität, die erreicht worden wäre, wäre der mindestens eine Rahmen, der den essentiellen Rahmen liefert, ohne Nutzung der Schutzinformation für seine Decodierung und Synthese rekonstruiert worden.
 
3. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin der Schritt der Bestimmung, welcher der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, Folgendes aufweist: Bestimmung einer Vielzahl von Rahmen, deren Verlust zu einer Verschlechterung der Qualität mindestens eines fortschreitenden Rahmens führt, wenn der mindestens eine fortschreitende Rahmen decodiert wird.
 
4. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin die Schutzinformation Information aufweist, die Information bezüglich eines jeweiligen Zustands oder Teils des Zustands des Codierers (2) umfasst, der verwendet wird, um das Signal zu codieren.
 
5. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, das weiter einen Schritt des Anfügens einer Meldung an mindestens eines der Pakete aufweist, welches Schutzinformation aufweist, um anzuzeigen, dass Schutzinformation zu diesem Paket hinzugefügt wurde.
 
6. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 5, worin die Meldung an ein erstes Paket der Pakete angefügt wird, die Schutzinformation umfassen, die einen einzigen essentiellen Rahmen betrifft.
 
7. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin die Schutzinformation auf eine Vielzahl von Paketen aufgeteilt wird.
 
8. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 7, worin die Schutzinformation, die zu einem ersten Paket der Vielzahl von Paketen hinzugefügt wird, Information aufweist, die eine Verlaufsrekonstruktion des Signals ermöglicht, während die fortschreitenden Pakete die restliche Schutzinformation enthalten, die eine feinere Rekonstruktion des Signals ermöglicht.
 
9. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin der Schritt der Bestimmung, welcher der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, die Option 1 aufweist, weiter einen Schritt zur Bestimmung minimaler Schutzinformation aufweisend, die für den bestimmten codierten Rahmen erforderlich ist, Folgendes aufweisend:

a) Verarbeitung des bestimmten codierten Rahmens durch:

i) Annahme eines Satzes minimaler Informationsdaten, die als Schutzinformation erforderlich sind, die in den bestimmten Rahmen einzuschließen ist und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung des essentiellen Rahmens und zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung eines Kommunikationssignals, das mit dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen verknüpft ist, der einen essentiellen Rahmen liefert, bei gleichzeitiger Nutzung des angenommenen Satzes minimaler erforderlicher Informationsdaten,

b) Vergleich beider so gewonnener Kommunikationssignale, und

c) wenn der Unterschied zwischen den beiden verglichenen Kommunikationssignalen einen vordefinierten Schwellenwert überschreitet, Annahme eines neuen Satzes von Informationsdaten und Wiederholung der Schritte a)ii), b) und c).


 
10. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin der Schritt der Bestimmung, welcher der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, die Option II aufweist, weiter einen Schritt zur Bestimmung minimaler Schutzinformation aufweisend, die für den bestimmten codierten Rahmen erforderlich ist, Folgendes aufweisend:

a) Verarbeitung des bestimmten codierten Rahmens durch:

i) Annahme eines Satzes minimaler Informationsdaten, die als Schutzinformation erforderlich sind, die in den bestimmten Rahmen einzuschließen ist, und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung des essentiellen Rahmens und zumindest partielle Decodierung eines Kommunikationssignals, das mit dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen verknüpft ist, der einen essentiellen Rahmen liefert, bei gleichzeitiger Nutzung des angenommenen Satzes minimaler erforderlicher Informationsdaten unter Verwendung des zweiten Synthesefilters,

b) Vergleich von Unterschieden, die in Laufzeitleitungen gefunden werden, welche mit den beiden Synthesefiltern verknüpft sind, und

c) wenn der Unterschied zwischen den zwei Laufzeitleitungen einen vordefinierten Schwellenwert überschreitet, Annahme eines neuen Satzes von Informationsdaten und Wiederholung der Schritte a)ii), b) und c).


 
11. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin der Schritt der Bestimmung, welcher der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, Option III aufweist, weiter einen Schritt zur Bestimmung minimaler Schutzinformation aufweisend, die für den bestimmten codierten Rahmen erforderlich ist, Folgendes aufweisend:

a) Verarbeitung des bestimmten codierten Rahmens durch:

i) Annahme eines Satzes minimaler Informationsdaten, die als Schutzinformation, die in den bestimmten Rahmen einzuschließen ist, erforderlich sind und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung des essentiellen Rahmens und zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung eines Kommunikationssignals, das mit dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen verknüpft ist, der einen essentiellen Rahmen liefert, bei gleichzeitiger Nutzung des angenommenen Satzes minimaler erforderlicher Informationsdaten,

b) Bestimmung des relativen Unterschieds zwischen den beiden zumindest teilweise decodierten und synthetisierten Kommunikationssignalen, und

c) wenn der Unterschied zwischen den zwei zumindest teilweise decodierten und synthetisierten Kommunikationssignalen einen vordefinierten Schwellenwert überschreitet, Annahme eines neuen Satzes von Informationsdaten und Wiederholung der Schritte a)ii), b) und c).


 
12. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin der Schritt der Bestimmung, welcher der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, Option IV aufweist, weiter einen Schritt zur Bestimmung minimaler Schutzinformation aufweisend, die für den bestimmten codierten Rahmen erforderlich ist, Folgendes aufweisend:

a) Verarbeitung des bestimmten codierten Rahmens durch:

i) Annahme eines Satzes minimaler Informationsdaten, die als Schutzinformation, die in den bestimmten Rahmen einzuschließen ist, erforderlich sind, und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung des essentiellen Rahmens und zumindest partielle Decodierung eines Kommunikationssignals, das mit dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen verknüpft ist, der einen essentiellen Rahmen liefert, bei gleichzeitiger Nutzung des angenommenen Satzes minimaler erforderlicher Informationsdaten, unter Verwendung des zweiten Anregungsvektors,

b) Vergleich von Unterschieden, die in den zwei Anregungsvektoren gefunden werden, und

c) wenn der Unterschied zwischen den zwei Anregungsvektoren einen vordefinierten Schwellenwert überschreitet, Annahme eines neuen Satzes von Informationsdaten und Wiederholung der Schritte a)ii), b) und c).


 
13. Ein Verfahren gemäß Anspruch 1, worin die Schutzinformation, die in Verbindung mit einem oder mehreren Rahmen zu verwenden ist, die von dem mindestens einen fortschreitenden Paket getragen werden, zu mindestens einem Paket hinzugefügt wird, das einem Paket vorangeht, welches einen essentiellen Rahmen trägt.
 
14. Ein Codierer, der Folgendes aufweist:

Mittel zum Empfangen eines Kommunikationssignals;

Mittel zum Codieren (2) des Kommunikationssignals in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen;

Mittel zur Bestimmung (4), welcher der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, dessen Verlust zu einer Verschlechterung der Qualität von mindestens einem fortschreitenden Rahmen, bei Decodierung des mindestens einen fortschreitenden Rahmens, führen wird;

Mittel zur Verpackung (10) der Vielzahl von Rahmen in einer Vielzahl von Paketen und Bestimmung, welches der Pakete mindestens einen essentiellen Rahmen aufweist,

Mittel zum Hinzufügen von Schutzinformation (8) zu mindestens einem Paket, das ein Paket liefert, welches als ein Paket gekennzeichnet ist, das mindestens einen essentiellen Rahmen trägt, wobei die Schutzinformation Information ist, die die erfolgreiche Decodierung mindestens eines Rahmens ermöglicht, der den essentiellen Rahmen liefert, und

ein Übertragungsmittel, ausgebildet, um die Vielzahl von Paketen zu ihrem jeweiligen Ziel weiterzuleiten,

dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das Mittel zur Bestimmung, welcher der Vielzahl von Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist, gemäß mindestens einer der folgenden Optionen I-IV arbeitet:

I.

a) Verarbeitung des Kommunikationssignals, das in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde, durch:

i) zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung, durch Filtern, das lineare Vorhersage nutzt, eines bestimmten codierten Rahmens des Kommunikationssignals, und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung mindestens eines Rahmens, der dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen des Kommunikationssignals vorangeht, und zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung, durch Filtern, das lineare Vorhersage nutzt, des bestimmten codierten Rahmens des Kommunikationssignals,

b) Vergleich sowohl der decodierten als auch der so gewonnenen synthetisierten Signale, und

c) wenn es einen Unterschied zwischen den zwei verglichenen Signalen gibt, der größer ist als ein vordefinierter Schwellenwert, Bestimmung, dass der vorhergehende codierte Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist; oder

II.

a) Verarbeitung des Kommunikationssignals, das in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde, durch:

i) zumindest partielle Decodierung eines bestimmten codierten Rahmens des Kommunikationssignals mit Hilfe eines ersten Synthesefilters, der eine lineare Vorhersage nutzt und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung mindestens eines Rahmens, der dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen vorangeht, und zumindest partielle Decodierung des bestimmten codierten Rahmens mit Hilfe eines zweiten Synthesefilters, der eine lineare Vorhersage nutzt,

b) Vergleich von Unterschieden, die in Laufzeitleitungen zu finden sind, die mit den beiden Synthesefiltern verknüpft sind, und

c) wenn es einen Unterschied zwischen den zwei Laufzeitleitungen gibt, der größer ist als ein vordefinierter Schwellenwert, Bestimmung, dass der vorhergehende codierte Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist,

III.

a) Verarbeitung des Kommunikationssignals, das in einerv Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde, durch:

i) zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung, durch Filtern, das lineare Vorhersage nutzt, eines bestimmten codierten Rahmens des Kommunikationssignals und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung mindestens eines Rahmens, der dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen vorangeht, und zumindest partielle Decodierung und Synthetisierung, durch Filtern, das lineare Vorhersage nutzt, des bestimmten codierten Rahmens,

b) Bestimmung der relativen Differenz in der Qualität zwischen den zwei so gewonnenen zumindest teilweise decodierten und synthetisierten Signalen, und

c) wenn die Differenz zwischen den zwei verglichenen Signalen größer ist als ein vordefinierter Schwellenwert, Bestimmung, dass der vorhergehende codierte Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist; oder

IV.

a) Verarbeitung des Kommunikationssignals, das in einer Vielzahl von Rahmen codiert wurde, durch:

i) zumindest partielle Decodierung eines bestimmten codierten Rahmens, um einen ersten Anregungsvektor zu erzeugen, der für lineare prädiktive Codierung des codierten Rahmens verwendet wird, und

ii) Simulation einer Verwerfung mindestens eines Rahmens, der dem bestimmten codierten Rahmen vorangeht, und zumindest partielle Decodierung des bestimmten codierten Rahmens, um einen zweiten Anregungsvektor zu erzeugen, der für lineare prädiktive Codierung des codierten Rahmens verwendet wird,

b) Vergleich von Differenzen, die zwischen den zwei Anregungsvektoren zu finden sind, und

c) wenn die Differenz zwischen zwischen den zwei Anregungsvektoren größer ist als ein vordefinierter Schwellenwert, Bestimmung, dass der vorhergehende codierte Rahmen ein essentieller Rahmen ist.


 
15. Ein Codierer gemäß Anspruch 14, wobei das Mittel zur Verpackung der Vielzahl von Rahmen weiter ausgebildet ist, um einen Hinweis zu mindestens einem der Pakete, die Schutzinformation aufweisen, hinzuzufügen, um anzuzeigen, dass Schutzinformation zu dem Paket hinzugefügt wurde.
 


Revendications

1. Procédé pour reconstruire un signal encodé acheminé le long d'un chemin de communication dans un réseau à commutation par paquets, dans lequel le procédé comprend les étapes de :

fournir un signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames ;

déterminer laquelle de ladite pluralité de trames est un trame essentielle, dont la perte entraînerait la détérioration dans la qualité d'au moins une trame de traitement au décodage de ladite au moins une trame de traitement;

stocker ladite pluralité de trames dans une pluralité de paquets, et identifier lequel des paquets comprends au moins une trame essentielle ;

ajouter des informations de protection au moins à l'un des paquets traitant un paquet identifié comme un paquet portant au moins une trame essentielle, l'information de protection étant une information qui permettra de décoder avec succès au moins une trame traitant la trame essentielle,

caractérisé en ce que l'étape de déterminer laquelle de la pluralité de trames est une trame essentielle comprend une des suivantes options I-IV :

I.

a) traiter le signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames en :

i) décodant et synthétisant au moins partiellement, par filtrage en utilisant une prédiction linéaire, une trame encodée donnée du signal de communication, et

ii) simulant un refus d'au moins une trame précédant ladite trame encodée donnée du signal de communication, et au moins partiellement en décodant et synthétisant, par filtrage en utilisant une prédiction linéaire, la trame encodée donnée du signal de communication,

b) comparant les deux signaux décodé et synthétisé ainsi obtenus, et

c) en cas de différence entre lesdits deux signaux comparés supérieure à un seuil prédéfini, en déterminant que ladite trame encodée précédente est une trame essentielle ; ou

II.

a) traiter le signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames en :

i) décodant au moins partiellement une trame encodée donnée du signal de communication en utilisant un premier filtre de synthèse qui utilise une prédiction linéaire, et

ii) simulant un refus d'au moins une trame précédant ladite trame encodée donnée et au moins partiellement en décodant la trame encodée donnée en utilisant un deuxième filtre de synthèse qui utilise une prédiction linéaire,

b) comparer les différences révélées dans les lignes de retard associées aux deux dits filtres de synthèse, et

c) en cas de différence entre lesdites deux lignes de retard supérieure à un seuil prédéfini, déterminer que ladite trame précédente encodée est une trame essentielle.

III.

a) traiter le signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames en :

i) décodant et synthétisant au moins partiellement, par filtrage utilisant une prédiction linéaire, une trame encodée donnée du signal de communication et

ii) simulant un refus d'au moins une trame précédant ladite trame encodée donnée et en décodant et synthétisant au moins partiellement, par filtrage utilisant une prédiction linéaire, la trame encodée donnée,

b) déterminer la différence relative en qualité entre les deux signaux au moins partiellement décodés et synthétisés ainsi obtenus, et

c) si la différence entre les deux signaux comparés est supérieure à un seuil prédéfini, déterminer que ladite trame encodée précédente est une trame essentielle ; ou

IV.

a) traiter le signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames en :

i) décodant au moins partiellement une trame encodée donnée afin de générer un premier vecteur d'excitation utilisé pour la prédiction linéaire encodant la trame encodée, et

ii) simulant un refus d'au moins une trame précédant ladite trame encodée donnée et au moins partiellement en décodant ladite trame encodée donnée pour générer un deuxième vecteur d'excitation utilisée pour la prédiction linéaire encodant la trame encodée,

b) comparer les différences révélées entre lesdits deux vecteurs d'excitation, et

c) en cas de différence entre lesdits deux vecteurs d'excitation qui est supérieure à un seuil prédéfini, déterminer que ladite trame encodée précédente est une trame essentielle.


 
2. Procédé selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ladite information de sûreté est apte à permettre, au cas où ledit paquet portant ladite au moins une trame essentielle est perdu, le décodage et la synthèse d'au moins une trame comprise dans ledit paquet de traitement à une qualité meilleure que la qualité qui s'obtiendrait si l'au moins une trame traitant ladite trame essentielle était reconstruite sans utiliser ladite information de protection pour son décodage et synthèse.
 
3. Procédé selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ladite étape pour déterminer laquelle de ladite pluralité de trames est une trame essentielle, comprend la détermination d'une pluralité de trames dont la perte entraînerait la détérioration de la qualité d'au moins une trame de traitement, lorsque ladite au moins une trame de traitement est décodée.
 
4. Procédé selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ladite information de protection comprend de l'information concernant une condition ou une partie respective de la condition de l'encodeur (2) utilisé pour encoder ledit signal.
 
5. Procédé selon la revendication 1, comprenant en outre l'étape d'annexer une indication à au moins l'un des paquets comprenant de l'information de protection, pour dénoter que l'information de protection a été ajoutée au paquet.
 
6. Procédé selon la revendication 5, dans lequel ladite indication est annexée à un premier paquet parmi les paquets comprenant l'information de protection qui concerne une seule trame essentielle.
 
7. Procédé selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ladite information de protection est partagée entre une pluralité de paquets.
 
8. Procédé selon la revendication 7, dans lequel l'information de protection ajoutée à un premier paquet de ladite pluralité de paquets comprend l'information qui permettrait la reconstruction de parcours du signal, tandis que les paquets de procédé porteront le reste de l'information de protection qui permettra une meilleure reconstruction du signal.
 
9. Procédé selon la revendication 1 et dans lequel ladite étape pour déterminer laquelle de ladite pluralité de trames est une trame essentielle comprend l'option I, comprenant en outre une étape déterminant une information de protection minimale nécessaire pour ladite trame encodée donnée comprenant :

a) le traitement de ladite trame encodée donnée par :

i) l'adoption d'un groupe de données d'information nécessaire en tant que information de protection à inclure dans ladite trame donnée et

ii) la simulation d'un refus de ladite trame essentielle et en décodant et synthétisant au moins partiellement un signal de communication associé à ladite trame encodée donnée traitant une trame essentielle, tandis que l'on utilise le groupe adopté de données d'information minimale nécessaire,

b) la comparaison des deux signaux ainsi obtenus, et

c) au cas où la différence entre les deux signaux de communication comparés dépasse un seuil prédéfini, l'adoption d'un nouveau groupe de données d'information et la répétition des étapes a)ii), b) et c).


 
10. Procédé selon la revendication 1 et dans lequel ladite étape pour déterminer laquelle de ladite pluralité de trames est une trame essentielle comprend l'option II, comprenant en outre une étape déterminant une information de protection minimale nécessaire pour ladite trame encodée donnée qui comprend :

a) le traitement de ladite trame encodée donnée par :

i) l'adoption d'un groupe de données d'information minimale nécessaire en tant qu'information de protection à inclure dans ladite trame donnée, et

ii) la simulation d'un refus de ladite trame essentielle et au moins partiellement le décodage d'un signal de communication associé à ladite trame encodée donnée traitant une trame essentielle tandis que l'on utilise le groupe adopté de données d'information minimale nécessaires, en utilisant ledit deuxième filtre de synthèse,

b) la comparaison des différences révélés dans les lignes de retard associées aux deux filtres de synthèse, et

c) au cas où la différence entre les deux lignes de retard dépasse un seuil prédéfini, l'adoption d'un nouveau groupe de données d'information et la répétition des étapes a)ii), b) et c).


 
11. Procédé selon la revendication 1 et dans lequel ladite étape pour déterminer laquelle de ladite pluralité de trames est une trame essentielle comprend l'option III, comprenant en outre une étape pour déterminer un minimum d'information de protection nécessaire pour ladite trame encodée donnée qui comprend :

a) le traitement de ladite trame encodée donnée par :

i) l'adoption d'un groupe de données d'information minimal nécessaire en tant qu'information de protection à inclure dans ladite trame donnée et

ii) la simulation d'un refus de ladite trame essentielle et au moins partiellement le décodage et la synthèse d'un signal de communication associés à ladite trame encodée donnée traitant une trame essentielle, en utilisant le groupe adopté de donnée d'information minimales nécessaire,

b) la détermination de la différence relative entre lesdits deux signaux de communication au moins partiellement décodés et synthétisés ; et

c) si la différence entre lesdits deux signaux de communication au moins partiellement décodés et synthétisés dépasse un seuil prédéfini, l'adoption d'un nouveau groupe de données d'information et la répétition des étapes a)ii), b) et c).


 
12. Procédé selon la revendication 1 et dans lequel ladite étape de détermination de laquelle de ladite pluralité de trames est une trame essentielle comprend l'option IV, comprenant en outre la détermination de l'information de protection minimale nécessaire pour ladite trame encodée comprenant :

a) le traitement de ladite trame encodée donnée par :

i) l'adoption d'un groupe de données d'information minimales nécessaire en tant que information de protection à inclure dans ladite trame donnée, et

ii) la simulation d'un refus de ladite trame essentielle et la décodification au moins partielle d'un signal de communication associé à ladite trame encodée donnée traitant une trame essentielle en utilisant en même temps le groupe adopté de données d'information minimales nécessaire, en utilisant ledit deuxième vecteur d'excitation,

b) la comparaison des différences révélées dans lesdits deux vecteurs d'excitation, et

c) si la différence entre lesdits deux vecteurs d'excitation dépasse un seuil prédéfini, l'adoption d'un nouveau groupe de données d'information et la répétition des étapes a)ii), b) et c).


 
13. Procédé selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ladite information de protection devant être utilisée conjointement à une ou plusieurs trames portées par ledit au moins un paquet de traitement, est ajoutée à au moins un paquet qui précède un paquet portant une trame essentielle.
 
14. Encodeur comprenant :

des moyens de réception d'un signal de communication ;

des moyens pour encoder (2) ledit signal de communication dans une pluralité de trames ;

des moyens pour déterminer (4) laquelle de ladite pluralité de trames est une trame essentielle dont la perte entrainerait une détérioration dans la qualité d'au moins une trame de traitement, en décodant ladite au moins une trame de traitement;

des moyens pour emballer (10) ladite pluralité de trames dans une pluralité de paquets, et pour identifier lequel des paquets comprend au moins une trame essentielle ;

des moyens pour ajouter de l'information de protection (8) à au moins un paquet qui traite un paquet identifié comme un paquet portant au moins une trame essentielle, l'information de protection étant de l'information qui permet la réussite du décodage d'au moins une trame traitant la trame essentielle ; et

des moyens d'acheminement aptes à transmettre la pluralité de paquets vers la leur destination respective,

caractérisé en ce que lesdits moyens pour la détermination de laquelle de ladite pluralité de trames est une trame essentielle opère en accord avec au moins l'une des options suivantes I-IV :

I.

a) le traitement du signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames par:

i) le décodage et la synthèse au moins partielles, par un filtrage utilisant la prédiction linéaire, d'une trame encodée donnée du signal de communication, et

ii) la simulation d'un refus d'au moins une trame précédant ladite trame encodée donnée du signal de communication, et le décodage et la synthèse au moins partielles, par un filtrage utilisant la prédiction linéaire, de la trame décodée donnée du signal de communication,

b) la comparaison des deux signaux décodé et synthétisé ainsi obtenus, et

c) en cas de différence entre lesdits deux signaux comparés supérieure à un seuil prédéfini, la détermination que ladite trame encodée précédente est une trame essentielle ; ou

II.

a) le traitement du signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames par:

i) le décodage au moins partial d'une trame encodée donnée du signal de communication utilisant un premier filtre de synthèse qui utilise une prédiction linéaire, et

ii) la simulation d'un refus d'au moins une trame qui précède ladite trame encodée donnée et le décodage au moins partial de la trame encodée donnée en utilisant un deuxième filtre de synthèse qui utilise une prédiction linéaire,

b) la comparaison des différences révélées dans les lignes de retard associées aux deux filtres de synthèse, et

c) en cas de différence entre lesdites deux lignes de retard supérieure à un seuil prédéfini, la détermination que ladite trame encodée précédente est une trame essentielle,

III.

a) le traitement du signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames par:

i) le décodage et la synthèse au moins partiaux, par un filtrage utilisant la prédiction linéaire, d'une trame encodée donnée du signal de communication et

ii) la simulation d'un refus d'au moins une trame qui précède ladite trame encodée donnée et le décodage et la synthèse au moins partiaux, par un filtrage utilisant une prédiction linéaire, de la trame encodée donnée,

b) la détermination de la différence relative en qualité entre les deux signaux décodé et synthétisé au moins partiellement ainsi obtenus, et

c) en cas de différence entre lesdits deux signaux comparés supérieure à un seuil prédéfini, la détermination que ladite trame encodée précédente est une trame essentielle ; ou

IV.

a) le traitement du signal de communication qui a été encodé dans une pluralité de trames par:

i) le décodage au moins partial d'une trame encodée donnée pour générer un premier vecteur d'excitation utilisé pour l'encodage de prédiction linéaire de la trame encodée, et

ii) la simulation d'un refus d'au moins une trame qui précède ladite trame encodée donnée et le décodage au moins partial de ladite trame encodée donnée pour générer un deuxième vecteur d'excitation utilisé pour l'encodage de prédiction linéaire de la trame encodée,

b) la comparaison des différences entre lesdits deux vecteurs d'excitation, et

c) en cas de différence entre lesdits deux vecteur d'excitation supérieure à un seuil prédéfini, la détermination que ladite trame encodée précédente est une trame essentielle.


 
15. Encodeur selon la revendication 14, dans lequel des moyens pour emballer ladite pluralité de trames sont aptes en outre à ajouter une indication à au moins l'un des paquets qui comprend l'information de protection de sorte a dénoter que de l'information de protection a été ajoutée audit paquet.
 




Drawing














Cited references

REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION



This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.

Patent documents cited in the description




Non-patent literature cited in the description