Apparatus for Providing One or More Adjusted Parameters for a Provision of an
Upmix Signal Representation on the basis of a Downmix Signal Representation,
Audio Signal Decoder, Audio Signal Transcoder, Audio Signal Encoder, Audio
Bitstream, Method and Computer Program Using an Object-Related Parametric
Information
Description
Technical Field
Embodiments according to the invention are related to an apparatus for providing one or
more adjusted parameters for a provision of an upmix signal representation on the basis of
a downmix signal representation and an object-related parametric information.
Another embodiment according to the invention is related to an audio signal decoder.
Another embodiment according to the invention is related to an audio signal transcoder.
Yet further embodiments according to the invention are related to a method for providing
one or more adjusted parameters.
Yet further embodiments are related to a method for providing, as an upmix signal
representation, a plurality of upmix audio channels on the basis of a downmix signal
representation, an object-related parametric information and a desired rendering
information.
Yet another embodiment is related to a method for providing, as an upmix signal
representation, a downmix signal representation and a channel-related parametric
information on the basis of a downmix signal representation, an object-related parametric
information and a desired rendering information.
Yet further embodiments according to the invention are related to an audio signal encoder,
a method for providing an encoded audio signal representation and an audio bitstream.
Yet further embodiments are related to corresponding computer programs.

Yet further embodiments according to the invention are related to methods, apparatus and
computer programs for distortion avoiding audio signal processing.
Background of the Invention
In the art of audio processing, audio transmission and audio storage, there is an increasing
desire to handle multi-channel contents in order to improve the hearing impression. Usage
of multi-channel audio content brings along significant improvements for the user. For
example, a 3-dimensional hearing impression can be obtained, which brings along an
improved user satisfaction in entertainment applications. However, multi-channel audio
contents are also useful in professional environments, for example in telephone
conferencing applications, because the speaker intelligibility can be improved by using a
multi-channel audio playback.
However, it is also desirable to have a good tradeoff between audio quality and bitrate
requirements in order to avoid an excessive resource load caused by multi-channel
applications.
Recently, parametric techniques for the bitrate-efficient transmission and/or storage of
audio scenes containing multiple audio objects has been proposed, for example, Binaural
Cue Coding (Type I) (see, for example reference [BCC]), Joint Source Coding (see, for
example, reference [JSC]), and MPEG Spatial Audio Object Coding (SAOC) (see, for
example, references [SAOC1], [SAOC2]).
These techniques aim at perceptually reconstructing the desired output audio scene rather
than by a waveform match.
Fig. 8 shows a system overview of such a system (here: MPEG SAOC). The MPEG SAOC
system 800 shown in Fig. 8 comprises an SAOC encoder 810 and an SAOC decoder 820.
The SAOC encoder 810 receives a plurality of object signals x1 to XN, which may be
represented, for example, as time-domain signals or as time-frequency-domain signals (for
example, in the form of a set of transform coefficients of a Fourier-type transform, or in the
form of QMF subband signals). The SAOC encoder 810 typically also receives downmix
coefficients d1 to dN, which are associated with the object signals X1 to XN- Separate sets of
downmix coefficients may be available for each channel of the downmix signal. The
SAOC encoder 810 is typically configured to obtain a channel of the downmix signal by
combining the object signals x1 to xN in accordance with the associated downmix
coefficients d1 to dN. Typically, there are less downmix channels than object signals x1 to

xN. In order to allow (at least approximately) for a separation (or separate treatment) of the
object signals at the side of the SAOC decoder 820, the SAOC encoder 810 provides both
the one or more downmix signals (designated as downmix channels) 812 and a side
information 814. The side information 814 describes characteristics of the object signals x1
to XN, in order to allow for a decoder-sided object-specific processing.
The SAOC decoder 820 is configured to receive both the one or more downmix signals
812 and the side information 814. Also, the SAOC decoder 820 is typically configured to
receive a user interaction information and/or a user control information 822, which
describes a desired rendering setup. For example, the user interaction information/user
control information 822 may describe a speaker setup and the desired spatial placement of
the objects which provide the object signals x1 to xN.
The SAOC decoder 820 is configured to provide, for example, a plurality of decoded
upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷM. The upmix channel signals may for example be associated
with individual speakers of a multi-speaker rendering arrangement. The SAOC decoder
820 may, for example, comprise an object separator 820a, which is configured to
reconstruct, at least approximately, the object signals x1 to XN on the basis of the one or
more downmix signals 812 and the side information 814, thereby obtaining reconstructed
object signals 820b. However, the reconstructed object signals 820b may deviate
somewhat from the original object signals x1 to XN, for example, because the side
information 814 is not quite sufficient for a perfect reconstruction due to the bitrate
constraints. The SAOC decoder 820 may further comprise a mixer 820c, which may be
configured to receive the reconstructed object signals 820b and the user interaction
information/user control information 822, and to provide, on the basis thereof, the upmix
channel signals ŷ1 to ŷM. The mixer 820 may be configured to use the user interaction
information /user control information 822 to determine the contribution of the individual
reconstructed object signals 820b to the upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷM- The user
interaction information/user control information 822 may, for example, comprise rendering
parameters (also designated as rendering coefficients), which determine the contribution of
the individual reconstructed object signals 822 to the upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷM.
However, it should be noted that in many embodiments, the object separation, which is
indicated by the object separator 820a in Fig. 8, and the mixing, which is indicated by the
mixer 820c in Fig. 8, are performed in single step. For this purpose, overall parameters
may be computed which describe a direct mapping of the one or more downmix signals
812 onto the upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷM. These parameters may be computed on the

basis of the side information and the user interaction information/user control information
820.
Taking reference now to Figs. 9a, 9b and 9c, different apparatus for obtaining an upmix
signal representation on the basis of a downmix signal representation and object-related
side information will be described. Fig. 9a shows a block schematic diagram of a MPEG
SAOC system 900 comprising an SAOC decoder 920. The SAOC decoder 920 comprises,
as separate functional blocks, an object decoder 922 and a mixer/renderer 926. The object
decoder 922 provides a plurality of reconstructed object signals 924 in dependence on the
downmix signal representation (for example, in the form of one or more downmix signals
represented in the time domain or in the time-frequency-domain) and object-related side
information (for example, in the form of object meta data). The mixer/renderer 924
receives the reconstructed object signals 924 associated with a plurality of N objects and
provides, on the basis thereof, one or more upmix channel signals 928. In the SAOC
decoder 920, the extraction of the object signals 924 is performed separately from the
mixing/rendering which allows for a separation of the object decoding functionality from
the mixing/rendering functionality but brings along a relatively high computational
complexity.
Taking reference now to Fig. 9b, another MPEG SAOC system 930 will be briefly
discussed, which comprises an SAOC decoder 950. The SAOC decoder 950 provides a
plurality of upmix channel signals 958 in dependence on a downmix signal representation
(for example, in the form of one or more downmix signals) and an object-related side
information (for example, in the form of object meta data). The SAOC decoder 950
comprises a combined object decoder and mixer/renderer, which is configured to obtain
the upmix channel signals 958 in a joint mixing process without a separation of the object
decoding and the mixing/rendering, wherein the parameters for said joint upmix process
are dependent both on the object-related side information and the rendering information.
The joint upmix process depends also on the downmix information, which is considered to
be part of the object-related side information.
To summarize the above, the provision of the upmix channel signals 928, 958 can be
performed in a one step process or a two step process.
Taking reference now to Fig. 9c, an MPEG SAOC system 960 will be described. The
SAOC system 960 comprises an SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder 980, rather than an
SAOC decoder.

The SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder comprises a side information transcoder 982,
which is configured to receive the object-related side information (for example, in the form
of object meta data) and, optionally, information on the one or more downmix signals and
the rendering information. The side information transcoder is also configured to provide an
MPEG Surround side information (for example, in the form of an MPEG Surround
bitstream) on the basis of a received data. Accordingly, the side information transcoder 982
is configured to transform an object-related (parametric) side information, which is
relieved from the object encoder, into a channel-related (parametric) side information,
taking into consideration the rendering information and, optionally, the information about
the content of the one or more downmix signals.
Optionally, the SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder 980 may be configured to manipulate
the one or more downmix signals, described, for example, by the downmix signal
representation, to obtain a manipulated downmix signal representation 988. However, the
downmix signal manipulator 986 may be omitted, such that the output downmix signal
representation 988 of the SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder 980 is identical to the input
downmix signal representation of the SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder. The downmix
signal manipulator 986 may, for example, be used if the channel-related MPEG Surround
side information 984 would not allow to provide a desired hearing impression on the basis
of the input downmix signal representation of the SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder
980, which may be the case in some rendering constellations.
Accordingly, the SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder 980 provides the downmix signal
representation 988 and the MPEG Surround bitstream 984 such that a plurality of upmix
channel signals, which represent the audio objects in accordance with the rendering
information input to the SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder 980 can be generated using
an MPEG Surround decoder which receives the MPEG Surround bitstream 984 and the
downmix signal representation 988.
To summarize the above, different concepts for decoding SAOC-encoded audio signals can
be used. In some cases, a SAOC decoder is used, which provides upmix channel signals
(for example, upmix channel signals 928, 958) in dependence on the downmix signal
representation and the object-related parametric side information. Examples for this
concept can be seen in Figs. 9a and 9b. Alternatively, the SAOC-encoded audio
information may be transcoded to obtain a downmix signal representation (for example, a
downmix signal representation 988) and a channel-related side information (for example,
the channel-related MPEG Surround bitstream 984), which can be used by an MPEG
Surround decoder to provide the desired upmix channel signals.

In the MPEG SAOC system 800, a system overview of which is given in Fig. 8, the
general processing is carried out in a frequency selective way and can be described as
follows within each frequency band:
• N input audio object signals x1 to XN are downmixed as part of the SAOC encoder
processing. For a mono downmix, the downmix coefficients are denoted by d1 to dN. In
addition, the SAOC encoder 810 extracts side information 814 describing the
characteristics of the input audio objects. For MPEG SAOC, the relations of the object
powers with respect to each other are the most basic form of such a side information.
• Downmix signal (or signals) 812 and side information 814 are transmitted and/or
stored. To this end, the downmix audio signal may be compressed using well-known
perceptual audio coders such as MPEG-1 Layer II or III (also known as ".mp3"),
MPEG Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), or any other audio coder.
• On the receiving end, the SAOC decoder 820 conceptually tries to restore the original
object signal ("object separation") using the transmitted side information 814 (and,
naturally, the one or more downmix signals 812). These approximated object signals
(also designated as reconstructed object signals 820b) are then mixed into a target scene
represented by M audio output channels (which may, for example, be represented by
the upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷM) using a rendering matrix. For a mono output, the
rendering matrix coefficients are given by r1 to rN
• Effectively, the separation of the object signals is rarely executed (or even never
executed), since both the separation step (indicated by the object separator 820a) and
the mixing step (indicated by the mixer 820c) are combined into a single transcoding
step, which often results in an enormous reduction in computational complexity.
It has been found that such a scheme is tremendously efficient, both in terms of
transmission bitrate (it is only necessary to transmit a few downmix channels plus some
side information instead of N discrete object audio signals or a discrete system) and
computational complexity (the processing complexity relates mainly to the number of
output channels rather than the number of audio objects). Further advantages for the user
on the receiving end include the freedom of choosing a rendering setup of his/her choice
(mono, stereo, surround, virtualized headphone playback, and so on) and the feature of
user interactivity: the rendering matrix, and thus the output scene, can be set and changed
interactively by the user according to will, personal preference or other criteria. For

example, it is possible to locate the talkers from one group together in one spatial area to
maximize discrimination from other remaining talkers. This interactivity is achieved by
providing a decoder user interface:
For each transmitted sound object, its relative level and (for non-mono rendering) spatial
position of rendering can be adjusted. This may happen in real-time as the user changes the
position of the associated graphical user interface (GUI) sliders (for example: object level
= +5dB, object position = -30deg).
However, it has been found that the decoder-sided choice of parameters for the provision
of the upmix signal representation (e.g. the upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷM) brings along
audible degradations in some cases.
In view of this situation, it is the objective of the present invention to create a concept
which allows for reducing or even avoiding audible distortion when providing an upmix
signal representation (for example, in the form of upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷM)-
Summary of the invention
This problem is solved by an apparatus for providing one or more adjusted parameters for
a provision of an upmix signal representation on the basis of a downmix signal
representation and an object-related parametric information according to claim 1, an audio
signal decoder according to claim 24, an audio signal transcoder according to claim 25,
methods according to claims 26, 27 and 28, an audio signal encoder according to claim 29,
a method according to claim 31, an audio bitstream according to claim 32 and a computer
program according to claim 34.
An embodiment according to the invention creates an apparatus for providing one or more
adjusted parameters for a provision of an upmix signal representation on the basis of a
downmix signal representation and an object-related parametric information. The apparatus
comprises a parameter adjuster (for example, a rendering coefficient adjuster) configured
to receive one or more input parameters (for example, a rendering coefficient or a
description of a desired rendering matrix) and to provide, on the basis thereof, one or more
adjusted parameters. The parameter adjuster is configured to provide the one or more
adjusted parameters in dependence of the one or more input parameters and the object-
related parametric information (for example, in dependence on one or more downmix
coefficients, and/or one or more object-level-difference values, and/or one or more inter-,
object-correlation values), such that a distortion of the upmix signal representation, which

would be caused by the use of non-optimal parameters, is reduced at least for input
parameters deviating from optimal parameters by more than a predetermined deviation.
This embodiment according to the invention is based on the idea that audio signal
distortions which are caused by inappropriately chosen input parameters can be reduced by
providing adjusted parameters for the provision of the upmix signal representation, and
that the provision of the adjusted parameters can be performed with good accuracy by
taking into consideration the object-related parametric information. It has been found that
the usage of the object-related parametric information allows to obtain an estimate measure
of audible distortions, which would be caused by the usage of the input parameters, which
in turn allows to provide adjusted parameters which are suited to keep audible distortions
within a predetermined range or which are suited to reduce audible distortions when
compared to the input parameters. The object-related information describes, for example,
characteristics of the audio objects and/or gives information about the encoder-sided
processing of the objects.
Accordingly, undesirable and often annoying audio signal distortions, which would be
caused by the usage of inappropriate parameters (for example, inappropriate rendering
coefficients) can be reduced, or even avoided, by providing one or more adjusted
parameters, wherein the consideration of the object-related parametric information for the
adjustment of the parameters helps to ensure an effective reduction and/or limitation of
audio signal distortions by allowing for a comparatively reliable estimation of audible
distortions.
In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus is configured to receive, as the input parameters,
desired rendering parameters describing a desired intensity scaling of a plurality of audio
object signals in one or more channels described by the upmix signal representation. In this
case, the parameter adjuster is configured to provide one or more actual rendering
parameters in dependence on the one or more desired rendering parameters. It has been
found that the choice of inappropriate rendering parameters brings along a significant (and
often audible) degradation of an upmix signal representation, which is obtained using such
inappropriately chosen rendering parameters. Also, it has been found that the rendering
parameters can efficiently be adjusted in dependence on the object-related parametric
information, because the object-related parametric information allows for an estimation of
distortions, which would be introduced by a given choice of the rendering parameters
(which may be defined by the input parameters).

In a preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to obtain one or more
rendering parameter limit values in dependence on the object-related parametric
information and a downmix information describing a contribution of the audio object
signals to the downmix signal representation, such that a distortion metric is within a
predetermined range for rendering parameter values obeying limits defined by the
rendering parameter limit values. In this case, the parameter adjuster is configured to
obtain the actual rendering parameters in dependence on the desired rendering parameters
and the one or more rendering parameter limit values, such that the actual rendering
parameters obey the limits defined by the rendering parameter limit values. Computing
rendering parameter limit values constitutes a computationally simple and reliable
mechanism for ensuring that audible distortions are within an allowable range in
accordance with a distortion metric.
In a preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to obtain the one or more
rendering parameter limit values such that a relative contribution of an object signal in a
rendered superposition of a plurality of object signals, rendered using a rendering
parameter obeying the one or more rendering parameter limit values, differs from a relative
contribution of the object signal in a downmix signal by no more than a predetermined
difference. It has been found that distortions are typically sufficiently small, if the
contribution of an object signal in a rendered superposition of object signals is similar to a
contribution of the object signal in a downmix signal, while a strong difference of said
relative contributions typically brings along audible distortions. This is due to the fact that
a strong change of the (relative) level of an object signal when compared to the (relative)
level of the object signal in the downmix signal representation often brings along artifacts,
because often it is not possible to separate object signals of different audio objects in the
ideal way. Accordingly, it has been found to bring along good results to adjust the
rendering parameters such that the relative contribution of the object signals is only
changed moderately by the choice of the rendering parameters.
In another embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to obtain the one or more
rendering parameter limit values such that a distortion measure which describes a
coherence between a downmix signal described by the downmix signal representation and
a rendered signal, rendered using the one or more rendering parameters obeying the one or
more rendering parameter limit values, is within a predetermined range. It has been found
that the choice of desired rendering parameters, which form the input parameters of the
parameter adjuster, should be made such that a sufficient "similarity" is maintained
between the downmix signal described by the downmix signal representation and the

rendered signal, because otherwise the risk of obtaining audible artifacts in the upmix
process is quite high.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to compute a
linear combination between a square of a desired rendering parameter (which may form the
input parameter of the parameter adjuster) and a square of an optimal rendering parameter
(which may, for example, be defined as a rendering parameter minimizing a distortion
metric), to obtain the actual rendering parameter (which may be output by the apparatus as
the adjusted parameter). In this case, the parameter adjuster is configured to determine a
contribution of the desired rendering parameter and of the optimal rendering parameter to
the linear combination in dependence on a predetermined threshold parameter T and
distortion metric, wherein the distortion metric describes a distortion which would be
caused by using the one or more desired rendering parameters, rather than the optimal
rendering parameters, for obtaining the upmix signal representation on the basis of the
downmix signal representation. This concept allows for reducing the distortion to an
acceptable measure while still maintaining a sufficient impact of the desired rendering
parameters. According to this concept, a reasonably good compromise between the optimal
rendering parameters and the desired rendering parameters can be found, taking into
account a desired degree of limiting the audible distortions.
In a preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to provide one or more
adjusted parameters in dependence on a computational measure of perceptual degradation,
such that a perceptually evaluated distortion of the upmix signal representation caused by
the use of non-optimal parameters and represented by the computational measure of
perceptual degradation is limited. In this way, it can be achieved that the parameters are
adjusted in accordance with the hearing impression, thereby avoiding an unacceptably bad
hearing impression while still providing sufficient flexibility in adjusting the parameters in
accordance with a user"s desires.
In a preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to receive an object
property information describing properties of one or more original object signals, which
form the basis for a downmix signal described by the downmix signal representation. In
this case, the parameter adjuster is configured to consider the object property information
to provide the adjusted parameters such that a distortion of the upmix signal representation
with respect to properties of object signals included in the upmix signal representation is
reduced at least for input parameters deviating from optimal parameters by more than a
predetermined deviation. This embodiment according to the invention is based on the
finding that the properties of the one or more original object signals may be used to

evaluate whether the input parameters are appropriate or should be adjusted, because it is
desirable to provide the upmix signal such that the characteristics of the upmix signal are
related to the properties of the one or more original object signals, because otherwise the
perceptual impression would be significantly degraded in many cases.
In a preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to receive and consider, as
an object property information, an object signal tonality information, in order to provide
the one or more adjusted parameters. It has been found that the tonality of the object
signals is a quantity which has a significant impact on the perceptual impression, and that
the choice of parameters which significantly change the tonality impression should be
avoided in order to have a good hearing impression.
In a preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to estimate a tonality of an
ideally-rendered upmix signal in dependence on the received object signal tonality
information and a received object power information. In this case, the parameter adjuster is
configured to provide the one or more adjusted parameters to reduce the difference
between the estimated tonality and the tonality of an upmix signal obtained using the one
or more adjusted parameters when compared to a difference between the estimated tonality
and a tonality of an upmix signal obtained using the input parameters, or to keep a
difference between the estimated tonality and a tonality of an upmixed signal obtained
using the one or more adjusted parameters within a predetermined range. Using this
concept, a measure for a degradation of a hearing impression can be obtained with high
computational efficiency, which allows for an appropriate adjustment of the rendering
parameters.
In a preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to perform a time-and-
frequency-variant adjustment of the input parameters. Accordingly, the adjustment of the
input parameters, to obtain adjusted parameters, may be performed only for such time
intervals or frequency regions for which the adjustment actually brings along an
improvement of the hearing impression or avoids a significant degradation of the hearing
impression.
Yet in another preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to also consider
the downmix signal representation for providing the one or more adjusted parameters. By
taking into consideration the downmix signal representation, an even more precise estimate
of the possible distortion of the hearing impression can be obtained.

In a preferred embodiment, the parameter adjuster is configured to obtain an overall
distortion measure, that is a combination of distortion measures describing a plurality of
types of artifacts. In this case, the parameter adjuster is configured to obtain the overall
distortion measure such that the overall distortion measure is a measure of distortions
which would be caused by using one or more of the input rendering parameters rather than
optimal rendering parameters for obtaining the upmix signal representation on the basis of
the downmix signal representation. By combining a plurality of distortion measures
describing a plurality of types of artifacts, a well-controlled mechanism for adjusting the
hearing impression is created.
Another embodiment according to the invention creates an audio signal decoder for
providing, as an upmix signal representation, a plurality of upmixed audio channels on the
basis of a downmix signal representation, an object-related parametric information and a
desired rendering information. The audio signal decoder comprises an upmixer configured
to obtain the upmixed audio channels on the basis of the downmix signal representation
and in dependence on the object-related parametric information and an actual rendering
information describing an allocation of a plurality of object signals of audio objects
described by the object-related parametric information to the upmixed audio channels. The
audio signal decoder also comprises an apparatus for providing one or more adjusted
parameters, as discussed before. The apparatus for providing one or more adjusted
parameters is configured to receive the desired rendering information as the one or more
input parameters and to provide the one or more adjusted parameters as the actual
rendering information. The apparatus for providing the one or more adjusted parameters is
also configured to provide the one or more adjusted parameters such that distortions of the
upmixed audio channels caused by the use of the actual rendering parameters, which
deviate from optimal rendering parameters, are reduced at least for desired rendering
parameters deviating from the optimal rendering parameters by more than a predetermined
deviation.
The usage of the apparatus for providing the one or more adjusted parameters in an audio
signal decoder allows to avoid a generation of strong audible distortions, which would be
caused by performing the audio decoding with inappropriately-chosen desired rendering
information.
An embodiment according to the invention creates an audio signal transcoder for
providing, as an upmix signal representation, a channel-related parameter information, on
the basis of a downmix signal representation, an object-related parametric information and
a desired rendering information. The audio signal transcoder comprises a side information

transcoder configured to obtain the channel-related parametric information on the basis of
the downmix signal representation and in dependence on the object-related parametric
information and an actual rendering information describing an allocation of a plurality of
object signals of audio objects described by the object-related parametric information to
the upmix audio channels. The audio signal decoder also comprises an apparatus for
providing one or more adjusted parameters, as described above. The apparatus for
providing one or more adjusted parameters is configured to receive the desired rendering
information as the one or more input parameters and to provide the one or more adjusted
parameters as the actual rendering information. Also, the apparatus for providing the one
or more adjusted parameters is configured to provide the one or more adjusted parameters
such that distortions of upmixed audio channels represented by the channel-related
parametric information (in combination with downmix signal information), which are
caused by the use of the actual rendering parameters, which deviate from optimal rendering
parameters, are reduced at least for desired rendering parameters deviating from the
optimal rendering parameters by more than a predetermined deviation. It has been found
that the concept of providing adjusted parameters is also well-suited for the use in
combination with an audio signal transcoder.
Further embodiments according to the invention create a method for providing one or more
adjusted parameters, a method for decoding an audio signal and a method for transcoding
an audio signal. Said methods are based on the same key ideas as the above discussed
apparatus.
Another embodiment according to the invention creates an audio signal encoder for
providing a downmix signal representation and an object-related parametric information on
the basis of a plurality of object signals. The audio encoder comprises a downmixer
configured to provide one or more downmix signals in dependence on downmix
coefficients associated with the object signals, such that the one or more downmix signals
comprise a superposition of a plurality of object signals. The audio encoder also comprises
a side information provider configured to provide an inter-object-relationship side
information describing level differences and correlation characteristics of object signals
and an individual-object side information describing one or more individual properties of
the individual object signals. It has been found that the provision of both an inter-object-
relationship side information and an individual-object side information by an audio signal
encoder allows to efficiently reduce, or even avoid, audible distortions at the side of a
multi-channel audio signal decoder. While the inter-object-relationship side information is
used for separating the object signals at the decoder side, the individual-object side
information can be used to determine whether the individual characteristics of the object

signals are maintained at the decoder side, which indicates that the distortions are within
acceptable tolerances.
In a preferred embodiment, the side information provider is configured to provide the
individual-object side information such that the individual-object side information
describes tonalities of the individual objects. It has been found that the tonality of the
individual objects is a psycho-acoustically important quantity, which allows for a decoder-
sided limitation of distortions.
Another embodiment according to the invention creates a method for encoding an audio
signal.
Another embodiment according to the invention creates an audio bitstream representing a
plurality of (audio) object signals in an encoded form. The audio bitstream comprises a
downmix signal representation representing one or more downmix signals, wherein at least
one of the downmix signals comprises a superposition of a plurality of (audio) object
signals. The audio bitstream also comprises an inter-object-relationship side information
describing level differences and correlation characteristics of object signals and an
individual-object side information describing one or more individual properties of the
individual object signals. As discussed above, such an audio bitstream allows for a
reconstruction of the multi-channel audio signal, wherein audible distortions, which would
be caused by inappropriate setting of rendering parameters, can be recognized and reduced
or even eliminated.
Further embodiments according to the invention create a computer program for
implementing the above discussed methods.
Brief Description of the Figures
Embodiments according to the invention will subsequently be described taking reference to
the enclosed figures, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a block schematic diagram of an apparatus for providing one or more
adjusted parameters for a provision of an upmix signal representation on the
basis of a downmix signal representation and an object-related parametric
information;

Fig. 2 shows a block schematic diagram of an MPEG S AOC system, according to
an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 3 shows a block schematic diagram of an MPEG S AOC system, according to
another embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 4 shows a schematic representation of a contribution of object signals to a
downmix signal and to a mixed signal;
Fig. 5a shows a block schematic diagram of a mono downmix-based SAOC-to
MPEG Surround transcoder, according to an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 5b shows a block schematic diagram of a stereo downmix-based SAOC-to
MPEG Surround transcoder, according to an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 6 shows a block schematic diagram of an audio signal encoder, according to
an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 7 shows a schematic representation of an audio bitstream, according to an
embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 8 shows a block schematic diagram of a reference MPEG SAOC system;
Fig. 9a shows a block schematic diagram of a reference SAOC system using a
separate decoder and mixer;
Fig. 9b shows a block schematic diagram of a reference SAOC system using an
integrated decoder and mixer; and
Fig. 9c shows a block schematic diagram of a reference SAOC system using an
SAOC-to-MPEG transcoder.
Detailed Description of the Embodiments
1. Apparatus for providing one or more adjusted parameters, according to Fig. 1
In the following, an apparatus 100 for providing one or more adjusted parameters for a
provision of an upmix signal representation on the basis of a downmix signal

representation and an object-related parametric information will be described taking
reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows a block schematic diagram of such an apparatus 100,
which is configured to receive one or more input parameters 110. The input parameters
110 may, for example, be desired rendering parameters. The apparatus 100 is also
configured to provide, on the basis thereof, one or more adjusted parameters 120. The
adjusted parameters may, for example, be adjusted rendering parameters. The apparatus
100 is further configured to receive an object-related parametric information 130. The
object-related parametric information 130 may, for example, be an object-level-difference
information and/or an inter-object correlation information describing a plurality of objects.
The apparatus 100 comprises a parameter adjuster 140, which is configured to receive the
one or more input parameters 110 and to provide, on the basis thereof, the one or more
adjusted parameters 120. The parameter adjuster 140 is configured to provide the one or
more adjusted parameters 120 in dependence on the one or more input parameters 110 and
the object-related parametric information 130, such that a distortion of an upmix signal
representation, which would be caused by the use of non-optimal parameters (e.g. the one
or more input parameters 110) in an apparatus for providing an upmix signal representation
on the basis of a downmix signal representation and the object-related parametric
information 130, is reduced at least for input parameters 110 deviating from optimal
parameters by more than a predetermined deviation.
Accordingly, the apparatus 100 receives the one or more input parameters 110 and
provides, on the basis thereof, the one or more adjusted parameters 120. In providing the
one or more adjusted parameters 120, the apparatus 100 determines, explicitly or
implicitely, whether the unchanged use of the one or more input parameters 110 would
cause unacceptably high distortions if the one or more input parameters 110 were used for
controlling a provision of an upmix signal representation on the basis of a downmix signal
representation and the object-related parametric information 130. Thus, the adjusted
parameters 120 are typically better-suited for adjusting such an apparatus for the provision
of the upmix signal representation than the one or more input parameters 110, at least if the
one or more input parameters 110 are chosen in an inadvantageous way.
Accordingly, the apparatus 100 typically improves the perceptual impression of an upmix
signal representation, which is provided by an upmix signal representation provider in
dependence on the one or more adjusted parameters 120. Usage of the object-related
parametric information for the adjustment of the one or more input parameters, to derive
the one or more adjusted parameters, has been found to bring along good results, because
the quality of the upmix signal representation is typically good if the one or more adjusted
parameters 120 correspond to the object-related parametric information 130, while

parameters which violate the desired relationship to the object-related parametric
information 130 typically result in audible distortions. The object-related parametric
information may, for example, comprise downmix parameters, which describe a
contribution of object signals (from a plurality of audio objects) to the one or more
downmix signals. The object-related parametric information may also comprise,
alternatively or in addition, object-level-difference parameters and/or inter-object-
correlation parameters, which describe characteristics of the object signals. It has been
found that both parameters describing an encoder-sided processing of the object signals
and parameters describing characteristics of the audio objects themselves may be
considered as useful information for use by the parameter adjuster 120. However, other
object-related parametric information 130 may be used by the apparatus 100 alternatively
or in addition.
However, it should be noted that the parameter adjuster 140 may use additional
information in order to provide the one or more adjusted parameters 120 on the basis of the
one or more input parameters 110. For example, the parameter adjuster 140 may optionally
evaluate downmix coefficients, one or more downmix signals or any additional
information to even improve the provision of the one or more adjusted parameters 120.
2. System according to Fig. 2
In the following, the MPEG SAOC system 200 of Fig. 2 will be described in detail.
In order to provide a good understanding of the MPEG SAOC system 200, an overview
will be given of the desired system specifications and design considerations. Subsequently,
a structural overview of the system will be given. Moreover, a plurality of SAOC distortion
metrics will be discussed, and the application of these SAOC distortion metrics for a
limitation of distortions will be described. In addition, further extensions of the system 200
will be discussed.
2.1 System Design Considerations
As discussed above, parametric techniques for the bitrate-efficient transmission/storage of
audio scenes containing multiple audio objects are typically efficient, both in terms of
transmission bitrate and computational complexity. Further advantages for the user of such
system on the receiving end include the freedom of choosing a rendering setup of his/her
choice (mono, stereo, surround, virtualized headphone playback, and so on) and the feature
of user interactivity: the rendering matrix, and thus the output scene, can be set and

changed interactively according to will, personal preference, or other criteria. For example,
it is possible to locate talkers from one group together in one spatial area to maximize
discrimination from other remaining talkers. This interactivity is achieved by providing a
decoder user interface:
For each transmitted sound object, its relative level and (for non-mono rendering) spatial
position of rendering can be adjusted. This may happen in real-time as the user changes the
position of the associated graphical user interface (GUI) sliders (for example: object level
= +5dB, object position = -30deg). However, it has been found that due to the downmix
separation/mix-based parametric approach, the subjective quality of the rendered audio
output depends on the rendering parameter settings. It was found that changes in relative
object level affect the final audio quality more than changes in spatial rendering position
("re-panning"). It has also been found that extreme settings for relative parameters (for
example, +20dB) can even lead to unacceptable output quality. While this is simply a
result of violating some of the perceptual assumptions that are underlying this scheme, it is
still unacceptable for a commercial product to produce bad sound and artifacts depending
on the settings on the user interface. Accordingly, embodiments according to the invention,
like, for example, the system 200, address this problem of avoiding unacceptable
degradations regardless of the settings of the user interface (which settings of the user
interface may be considered as "input parameters").
In the following, some details regarding the approaches for avoiding SAOC distortions will
be discussed. The approach for SAOC distortion limiting presented herein is based on the
following concepts:
• Prominent SAOC distortions appear for inappropriate choices of rendering coefficients
(which may be considered as input parameters). This choice is usually made by the user
in an interactive manner (for example, via a real-time graphical user interface (GUI) for
interactive applications). Therefore, an additional processing step is introduced which
modifies the rendering coefficients that were supplied by the user (for example, limits
them based on certain calculations) and uses these modified coefficients for the SAOC
rendering engine. For example, the rendering coefficients that were supplied by the
user may be considered as input parameters, and the modified coefficients for the
SAOC rendering engine may be considered as modified parameters.
• In order to control the excessive degradation of the produced SAOC audio output, it is
desirable to develop a computational measure of perceptual degradation (also

designated as distortion measure DM). It has been found that this distortion measure
should fulfill certain criteria:
o The distortion measure should be easily computable from internal
parameters of the S AOC decoding engine. For example, it is desirable that
no extra filterbank computation is required to obtain the distortion measure.
o The distortion measure value should correlate with subjectively perceived
sound quality (perceptual degradation), i.e. be inline with the basics of
psychoacoustics. To this end, the computation of the distortion measure
may preferably be done in a frequency selective way, as it is commonly
known from perceptual audio coding and processing.
It has been found that a multitude of SAOC distortion measures can be defined and
calculated. However, it has been found that the SAOC distortion measures should
preferably consider certain basic factors in order to come to a correct assessment of a
rendered SAOC quality and thus often (but not necessarily) have certain commonalities:
• They consider the downmix coefficients. These determine the relative mixing fractions
of each audio object within the one or more downmix signals. As a background
information, it should be noted that it has been found that the occurring SAOC
distortion depends on the relation between downmix and rendering coefficients: if the
relative object contribution defined by the rendering coefficients is substantially
different from the relative object contribution within the downmix, then the SAOC
decoding engine (which uses the modified parameters) has to perform considerable
adjustment of the downmix signal to convert it into the rendered output. It has been
found that this results in SAOC distortion.
• They consider the rendering coefficients. These determine the relative output strength
of each audio object to each of the one or more rendered output signals. As a
background information, it should be noted that it has been found that the occurring
SAOC distortion also depends on the relation of object powers with respect to each
other. If an object at a certain point in time has a much higher power than other objects
(and if the downmix coefficient of this object is not too small) then this object
dominates the downmix and is reproduced very well in the rendered output signal. On
the contrary, weak objects are represented only very weakly in the downmix and thus
cannot be brought up to high output levels without significant distortions.

• They consider the (relative) object power/level of each object in relation to the other.
This information is described, for example, as SAOC object level differences (OLDs).
As a background information, it should be noted that it has been found that the
occurring SAOC distortion furthermore depends on the properties of the individual
object signals. As an example, boosting an object of a tonal nature in the rendered
output to greater levels (whereas the other objects may be more of more noise-like
nature) will result in considerable perceived distortion.
• In addition to this, other information about properties of the original object signals can
be considered. These may then be transmitted by the SAOC encoder as part of the
SAOC side information. For example, information about the tonality or the noisiness of
each object item can be transmitted as part of the SAOC side information and be used
for the purpose of distortion limiting.
2.2 System Overview
Based on the above considerations, an overview over the MPEG SAOC system 200 will be
given now for a good understanding of the present invention. It should be noted that the
SAOC system 200 according to Fig. 2 is an extended version of the MPEG SAOC system
800 according to Fig. 8, such that the above-discussion also applies. Moreover, it should be
noted that the MPEG SAOC system 200 can be modified in accordance with the
implementation alternatives 900, 930, 960 shown in Figs. 9a, 9b and 9c, wherein the object
encoder corresponds to the SAOC encoder, wherein the user interaction information/user
control information 822 corresponds to the rendering control information/rendering
coefficient.
Furthermore, the SAOC decoder of the MPEG SAOC system 100 may be replaced by the
separated object decoder and mixer/renderer arrangement 920, by the integrated object
decoder and mixer/renderer arrangement 930 or the SAOC to MPEG Surround transcoder
980.
Taking reference now to Fig. 2, it can be seen that the MPEG SAOC system 200 comprises
an SAOC encoder 210, which is configured to receive plurality of object signals x1 to xN,
associated with a plurality of objects numbered from 1 to N. The SAOC encoder 210 is
also configured to receive (or otherwise obtain) downmix coefficients d1 to dN. For
example, the SAOC encoder 210 may obtain one set of downmix coefficients d1 to dN for
each channel of the downmix signal 212 provided by the SAOC encoder 210. The SAOC
encoder 210 may, for example, be configured to obtain a weighted combination of the

object signals x1 to xN to obtain a downmix signal, wherein each of the object signals x1 to
XN is weighted with its associated downmix coefficient d1 to dN. The SAOC encoder 210 is
also configured to obtain inter-object relationship information, which describes a
relationship between the different object signals. For example, the inter-object relationship
information may comprise object-level-difference information, for example, in the form of
OLD parameters and inter-object-correlation information, for example, in form of IOC
parameters. Accordingly, the SAOC encoder 200 then is configured to provide one or more
downmix signals 212, each of which comprises a weighted combination of one or more
object signals, weighted in accordance with a set of downmix parameters associated to the
respective downmix signal (or a channel of the multi-channel downmix signal 212). The
SAOC encoder 210 is also configured to provide side information 214, wherein the side
information 214 comprises the inter-object-relationship-information (for example, in the
form of object-level-difference parameters and inter-object-correlation parameters). The
side information 214 also comprises a downmix parameter information, for example, in the
form of downmix gain parameters and downmix channel level difference parameters. The
side information 214 may further comprise an optional object property side information,
which may represent individual object properties. Details regarding the optional object
property side information will be discussed below.
The MPEG SAOC system 200 also comprises an SAOC decoder 220, which may comprise
the functionality of the SAOC decoder 820. Accordingly, the SAOC decoder 220 receives
the one or more downmix signals 212 and side information 214, as well as modified (or
"adjusted", or "actual") rendering coefficients 222 and provides, on the basis thereof, one
or more upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷN.
The MPEG SAOC system 200 also comprises an apparatus 240 for providing one or more
modified (or adjusted, or "actual") parameters, namely the modified rendering coefficients
222, in dependence on one or more input parameters, namely input parameters describing a
rendering control information or rendering coefficients 242. The apparatus 240 is
configured to also receive at least a part of the side information 214. For example, the
apparatus 240 is configured to receive parameters 214a describing object powers (for
example, powers of the object signals x1 to xN). For example, the parameters 214a may
comprise the object-level-difference parameters (also designated as OLDs). The apparatus
240 also preferably receives parameters 214b of the side information 214 describing
downmix coefficients. For example, the parameters 214b describe the downmix
coefficients d1 to dN. Optionally, the apparatus 240 may further receive additional
parameters 214c, which constitute an individual-object property side information.

The apparatus 240 is generally configured to provide the modified rendering coefficients
222 on the basis of the input rendering coefficients 242 (which may, for example, be
received from a user interface, or may, for example, be computed in dependence on the
user input or be provided as preset information), such that a distortion of the upmix signal
representation, which would be caused by the use of non-optimal rendering parameters by
the SAOC decoder 220, is reduced. In other words, the modified rendering coefficients 222
are a modified version of the input rendering coefficients 242, wherein the changes are
made, in dependence on the parameters 214a, 214b, such that all audible distortions in the
upmix channel signals ŷ1 to ŷN (which form the upmix signal representation) are reduced
or limited.
The apparatus 240 for providing the one or more adjusted parameters 242 may, for
example, comprise a rendering coefficient adjuster 250, which receives the input rendering
coefficients 242 and provides, on the basis thereof the modified rendering coefficients 222.
For this purpose, the rendering coefficient adjuster 250 may receive a distortion measure
252 which describes distortions which would be caused by the usage of the input rendering
coefficients 242. The distortion measure 252 may, for example, be provided by distortion
calculator 260 in dependence on the parameters 214a, 214b and the input rendering
coefficients 242.
However, the functionalities of the rendering coefficient adjuster 250 and of the distortion
calculator 260 may also be integrated in a single functional unit, such that the modified
rendering coefficients 222 are provided without an explicit computation of a distortion
measure 252. Rather, implicit mechanisms for reducing or limiting the distortion measure
may be applied.
Regarding the functionality of the MPEG SAOC system 200, it should be noted that the
upmix signal representation, which is output in the form of the upmix channel signals y to y N, is created with good perceptual quality because audible distortions, which would be
caused by an inappropriate choice of the user interaction information/user control
information 822 in the reference system 800, are avoided by the modification or
adjustment of the rendering coefficients. The modification or adjustment is performed by
the apparatus 240 such that severe degradations of the perceptual impression are avoided,
or such that degradations of the perceptual impression are at least reduced when compared
to a case in which the input rendering coefficients 242 are used directly (without
modification or adjustment) by the SAOC decoder 220.

In the following, the functionality of the inventive concept will be briefly summarized.
Given a distortion measure (DM), excessive distortion in the audio output can be avoided
by calculating the distortion measure value for the given signals, and modifying the SAOC
decoding algorithm (limiting the actually used rendering coefficients 212) such that the
distortion measure value does not exceed a certain threshold. A system 200 according to
this concept is shown in Fig. 2 and has been explained in some detail above.
Regarding the system 200, the following remarks can be made:
• The desired rendering coefficients 242 are input by the user or another interface.
• Before being applied in the SAOC decoding engine 220, the rendering coefficients
242 are modified by a rendering coefficient adjuster 250, which makes use of one
or more calculated distortion measures 252, which are supplied from a distortion
calculator 260.
• The distortion calculator 260 evaluates information (e.g. parameters 214a, 214b)
from the side information 214 (for example, relative object power/OLDs, downmix
coefficients, and - optionally - object-signal property information). Additionally,
it is based on the desired rendering coefficient input 242.
In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus 240 is configured to modify the rendering
coefficients based on a distortion measure. Preferably, the rendering coefficients are
adjusted in a frequency-selective manner using, for example, frequency-selective weight.
The modification of the rendering coefficients may be based on this frame (for example, on
a current frame), or the rendering coefficients may be adjusted over time not just on a
frame-by-frame basis, but also processed/controlled over time (for example, smoothened
over time) wherein possibly different attack/decay time constants may be applied like for a
dynamic range compressor/limiter.
In some embodiments, the distortion measure may be frequency-selective.
In some embodiments, the distortion measure may consider one or more of the following
characteristics:
• Power/energy/level of each object;
• Downmix coefficients;

• Rendering coefficients; and/or
• Additional object property side information, if applicable.
In some embodiments, the distortion measure may be calculated per object and combined
to arrive at an overall distortion.
In some embodiments, an additional object property side information 214c may optionally
be evaluated. The additional object property side information 214c may be extracted in an
enhanced SAOC encoder, for example, in the SAOC encoder 210. The additional object
property side information may be embedded, for example, into an enhanced SAOC
bitstream, which will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Also, the additional object
property side information may be used for distortion limiting by an enhanced SAOC
decoder.
In a special case, the noisiness/tonality may be used as the object property described by the
additional object property side information. In this case, the noisiness/tonality may be
transmitted with a much coarser frequency resolution than other object parameters (for
example, OLDs) to save on side information. In an extreme case, the noisiness/tonality
object property side information may be transmitted with just one information per object
(for example, as broadband characteristics).
2.3 SAOC Distortion Metrics
In the following, a plurality of different distortion measures will be described, which may,
for example, be obtained using the distortion calculator 260. Details regarding the
application of these distortion measures for the limitation of the rendering coefficients will
be discussed below in section 2.4.
In other words, this section outlines several distortion measures. These can be used
individually or can be combined to form a compound, more complex distortion metric, for
example, by weighted addition of the individual distortion metric values. It should be noted
here that the terms "distortion measure" and "distortion metric" designate similar
quantities and do not need to be distinguished in most cases.
In the following, a plurality of distortion metrics will be described, which may be
evaluated by the distortion calculator 260 and which may be used by the rendering
coefficient adjuster 250 in order to obtain the modified rendering coefficients 222 on the
basis of the input rendering coefficients 242.

2.3.1 Distortion Measure # 1
In the following, a first distortion measure (also designated to the distortion measure #.1)
will be described.
For the sake of conceptual simplicity, a N-l-1 SAOC system (e.g., a mono downmix signal
(212) and a single upmix channel (signal)) will be considered. N input audio objects are
downmixed into a mono signal and rendered into a mono output. As given in Figure 8, the
downmix coefficients are denoted by d1 .. dN and the rendering coefficients are denoted by
r1.. rN . In the following formulae, time indices have been omitted for simplicity. Likewise,
frequency indices have been left out, noting that the equations relate to subband signals. In
some of the equations below, lowercase letters denote coefficients or signals, and
uppercase letters denote the corresponding powers, which can be seen from the context of
the equations. Also, it should be noted that signals are sometimes represented by
corresponding time-frequency-domain coefficients, rather than in the time-domain.
Assume that object #m (hearing object index m) is an object of interest, e.g., the most
dominant object which is increased in its relative level and thus limits the overall sound
quality. Then the ideal desired output signal (upmix channel signal) is given by

Herein, the first term is the desired contribution of the object of interest to the output
signal, whereas the second term denotes the contributions from all the other objects
("interference").
In reality, however, due to the downmix process, the output signal is given by

i.e., the downmix signal is subsequently scaled by a transcoding coefficient, t,
corresponding to the "m2" matrix in an MPEG Surround decoder. Again, this can be split
into a first term (actual contribution of the object signal to the output signal) and a second
term (actual "interference" by other object signals). Herein, the SAOC system (for
example, the SAOC decoder 220, and, optionally, also the apparatus 240) dynamically
determines the transcoding coefficient, t, such that the power of the actually rendered
output signal is matched to the power of the ideal signal:


A distortion measure (DM) can be defined by computing the relation between the ideal
power contribution of the object #m and its actual power contribution:

Herein,  denotes the power of the finally rendered signal, and  is the
power of the downmix signal. Note that, in an actual implementation, the Xt values can be
directly replaced by the corresponding Object Level Difference (OLDi) values that are
transmitted as part of the SAOC side information 214.
For a better interpretation of dnii, its definition can be reformulated as follows:

Effectively, this means that the distortion metric is the ratio of the relative object power
contribution in the ideally rendered (output) signal versus in the downmix (input) signal.
This goes together with the finding that the SAOC scheme works best when it does not
have to alter the relative object powers by large factors.
Increasing values of dmi indicate decreasing sound quality with respect to sound object
#m. It has been found that the value of dmj remains constant if all rendering coefficients
are scaled by a common factor, or if all downmix coefficients are scaled likewise. Also it
has been found that increasing the rendering coefficient for object #m (increasing its
relative level) leads to increased distortion. The values of drnj can be interpreted as
follows:

• A value of 1 indicates ideal quality with respect to object #m;
• Increasing dnii values above 1 indicate decreasing quality;
• Values of dnii below 1 do not further improve quality with respect to object #m.
Consequently, an overall measure of sound scene quality (i.e. the quality for all objects)
can be computed as follows:

In this equation, w(m) indicates a weighting factor of object #m that relates to the
significance and sensitivity of the particular object within the audio scene. As an example,
w(m) then could be chosen depending on the object power / loudness w(m) = (rm X^"
where a may typically be chosen as 0.25 to roughly emulate the psychoacoustic loudness
growth for this object. Furthermore, w(m) could take into account tonality and masking
phenomena. Alternatively, w(m) can be set to 1, which facilitates the computation of DMj.
2.3.2 Distortion Measure #2
An alternate distortion measure can be constructed by starting from equation (4) to form a
perceptual measure in the style of a Noise-to-Mask-Ratio (NMR), i.e. compute the relation
between noise/interference and masking threshold:

In this equation, msr is the Mask-To-Signal-Ratio of the total audio signal which depends
on its tonality. Increasing values of dm2 indicate higher distortion with respect to sound
object #m. Again, the value of dm2 remains constant if all rendering coefficients are scaled
by a common factor, or if all downmix coefficients are scaled likewise. The value range of
dni2 can be interpreted as follows:
• A value of 0 indicates ideal quality with respect to object #m;
• Increasing dm2 values above 1 indicate progressive audible degradations;
• Values of dm2 below 1 indicate indistinguishable quality with respect to object #m.

Consequently, an overall measure of sound scene quality (i.e. the quality for all objects)
can be computed as follows:

Again, w(m) indicates a weighting factor of object #m that relates to the significance / level
I loudness of the particular object within the audio scene, typically chosen as w(m) = (rm
XX with a = 0.25.
The distortion measure on equation (6) computes the distortion as the difference of the
powers (this corresponds to an "NMR with spectral difference" measurement).
Alternatively, the distortion can be computed on a waveform basis which leads to the
following measure including an additional mixed product term:

2.3.3 Distortion Measure #3
A third distortion measure is presented which describes the coherence between the
downmix signal and the rendered signal. Higher coherence results in better subjective
sound quality. Additionally the correlation of the input audio objects can be taken into
account if IOC data is present at the SAOC decoder.
From SAOC parameters (e.g., parameters 214a, which may comprise object level
difference parameters and inter-object-correlation parameters) a model of the object
covariance can be determined


To calculate the distortion measure a Matrix M is assembled which contains the render and
downmix coefficients (M can be interpreted as a rendering matrix for a N-l-2 SAOC
system)

The covariance between the downmix and rendered signal C is then

A distortion measure DM3 is defined as

The values of DM3 can be interpreted as follows:
• Values are in the range [0 .. 1] and indicate the coherence between downmix and
rendered signal.
• A value of 0 indicates ideal quality.
• Increasing DM3 values indicate decreasing quality.
2.3.4 Distortion Measure #4
2.3.4.1 Overview
This approach proposes to use as a distortion measure the averaged weighted ratio between
the target rendering energy (UPMIX) and optimal downmix energy (calculated from given
downmix DMX).
For details, reference is also made to Fig. 4, which shows a graphical representation of the
downmix (DMX), the optimal downmix energy (DMXopt) and the target rendering
energy (UPMIX).
2.3.4.2 Nomenclature
ch = {\,2,...,Nch} index for upmix channels

dx - {1,2} index for downmix channels
ob = {1,2,...,Noh} index for audio objects
pb = {1,2,..., Npb} index for parameter bands
rchobpb=r(ch,ob,pb) rendering matrix for channel ch, audio object ob and
parameter band pb
dfr ob pb = d(dx, ob, pb) downmix matrix for downmix channel dx, audio object ob
and parameter band pb
wob pb - w(ob, pb) weighting factor representing the significance / level /
loudness of audio object ob for parameter band pb
NRGpb =NRG(pb) absolute object energy of the audio object with the highest
energy for the frequency band pb
OLDob pb=OLD(ob,pb) object level difference, which describes the intensity
differences between one audio object ob and the object with
the highest energy for the corresponding frequency band pb
IOCob ob pb = IOC(obnobj,pb) inter-object correlation, which describes the
correlation between two channels of audio objects.
2.3.4.3 Algorithm
Steps of an algorithm for obtaining the distortion measure #4 will be briefly described in
the following:
• Calculation of the upmix and downmix relative energies:

• Construction of the optimal downmixfor each upmix channel and band:
The multiplicative constants i " are calculated by solving the overdefined
system of linear equations to satisfy the following condition:
• Calculation of the distortion measure:


2.3.4.4 Distortion control
Distortion control is achieved by limiting one or more rendering coefficient(s) in
dependence on the distortion measure DM4.
It may be noted that (i) the measure is relevant only for the stereo downmix case, and (ii) it
can be reduced to DM1 for #dx=l and #ch=l.
2.3.4.5 Properties
In the following, properties of the concept for calculating the distortion measure number 4
will be briefly summarized. The concept
• assumes ideal transcoding
• can handle stereo downmix; and
• allows for a generalization to a multiple channel rendering.
2.3.5 Distortion Measure #5
An alternative computation of the transcoding coefficient tis suggested. It can be
interpreted as an extension of t and leads to the transcoding matrix T which is
characterised by the incorporation of the inter-object coherence (IOC) and at the same time
extends the current metrics DM#1 and DM#2 to stereo downmix and multichannel upmix.
The current implementation of the transcoding coefficient / considers the match of the
power of the actually rendered output signal to the power of the ideal rendered signal, i.e.

The incorporation of the covariance matrix E yields a modified formulation for /, namely
the transcoding matrix T, that considers the inter-object coherence, too. The elements of
E are computed from the SAOC parameters 214 as

The transcoding matrix represents the conversion of the downmix to the rendered output
signal such that TDx « Rx. It is obtained through minimisation of the mean square error,
yielding


the distortion measure in the style of dml but now for every downmix/rendering
combination (n,k) of object m is given by

Considering dml (m) separately for the left and right downmix channel leads to

It can be assumed that the better of the two downmix/upmix paths is relevant for the
quality of the rendered output, thus the measure corresponds to the minimum value, i.e.

An overall measure of all output channels, designated by index k, can be computed as

The overall measure of all objects can be obtained by

A similar extension of t to T is possible for dm2 and dm2.
2.3.6. Distortion Measure #6
In the following, a sixth distortion measure will be described.
Let ej(t) be the squared Hilbert envelope of object signal #i and Pj the power of object
signal #i (both typically within a subband), then a measure N of tonality/noise-likeness can
be obtained from a normalized variance estimate of the Hilbert envelope like


Alternatively, also the power / variance of the Hilbert envelope difference signal can be
used instead of the variance of the Hilbert envelope itself. In any case, the measure
describes the strength of the envelope fluctuation over time.
This tonality/noise-likeness measure, N, can be determined for both the ideally rendered
signal mixture and the actually SAOC rendered sound mixture and a distortion measure
can be computed from the difference between both, e.g.:

where P is a parameter (e.g. P -2).
2.3.7. Calculating the energies of the source signal images for reference scene and
SAOC rendered scene
For calculating the object energies of the source image in the reference and SAOC
rendered scene used for the distortion measures one have to take into account the
transcoding matrix T for the SAOC rendered scene as it is done in "Distortion measure 5"
but also the correlation of the source signals for both, the reference scene and the rendered
scene.
Remark: The notation of the signals in uppercase reflect here the matrix notation of the
signals, not the signals energies as in the chapters before
For an arbitrary source xm the signal parts of xm in all sources x, can be calculated as
follows:
Split all source signals xi into a signal part x(||m that is correlated to the object of interest
xm and a part xilm that is uncorrected to xm . This can be done by subspace projection of
xm onto all signals x<, i.e. xt = x,1|m + xj±m . The correlated part is given by

2.3.7.1 Calculating from the image of source in the reference scene

With Y = RX and X = XLm + X[{m, the image yXm of source xm for all rendered channels
can be calculated via Y = RX]im where

Yr can the be calculated by

Therefore the energy Pideal x of source image Yx in the reference scene will be:

2.3.7.2 Calculatingfrom the image of source in the SAOC rendered
scene 
This can be done in the same manner as for Pideal x . With T the transcoding matrix and D
the downmix matrix, yr for all channels in the rendered scene will be:



Therefore the energy of source image in the reference scene will be:

2.3.7.3. Calculating the distortion measure
The distortion measure in the style of dmx can be calculated for every object m and output
rendering channel k as

2.3.8 Object-Signal Properties
In the following, an example of object-signal properties will be described which may be
used, for example, by the apparatus 250 or the artifact reduction 320 in order to obtain a
distortion measure.

In the SAOC processing, several audio object signals are downmixed into a downmix
signal which is then used to generate the final rendered output. If a tonal object signal is
mixed together with a more noise-like second object signal of equal signal power, the
result tends to be noise-like. The same holds, if the second object signal has a higher
power. Only, if the second object signal has a power that is substantially lower than the
first one, the result tends to be tonal. In the same way, the tonality / noise-likeness of the
rendered SAOC output signal is mostly determined by the tonality / noise-likeness of the
downmix signal regardless of the applied rendering coefficients. In order to achieve good
subjective output quality, also the tonality/noise-likeness of the actually rendered signal
should be close to the tonality/noise-likeness of the ideally rendered signal. In order to use
this concept in the distortion measure, it is necessary to transmit the information about
each object"s tonality/noise-likeness as part of the bitstream. The tonality/noise-likeness N
of the ideally rendered output can then be estimated in the SAOC decoder as a function of
the tonality/noise-likeness of each object Nj and its object power

and compared to the tonality/noise-likeness of the actually rendered output signal in order
to compute a distortion measure. As an example, the following function f() may be used:
which combines object tonality/noise-likeness values and object powers into a single
output estimating the tonality/noise-likeness value of the mixture of the signals. The
parameter a can be chosen to optimize the precision of the estimation procedure for a given
tonality/noise-likeness measure (e.g. <x=2). A suitable distortion metric based on
tonality/noise-likeness is described in Section 2.3.6 as distortion measure #6.
2.4 Distortion limiting schemes
2.4.1 Overview of the distortion limiting schemes
In the following, a short overview of a plurality of distortion limiting schemes will be
given. As discussed above, the rendering coefficient adjuster 250 receives the input
rendering coefficients 242 and provides, on the basis thereof, a modified rendering
coefficient 222 for use by the SAOC decoder 220.

Different concepts for the provision of the modified rendering coefficients can be
distinguished, wherein the concepts can also be combined in some embodiments.
According to the first concept, one or more rendering parameter limit values are obtained
in a first step in dependence on one or more parameters of the side information 214 (i.e., in
dependence on the object-related parametric information 214). Subsequently, the actual
"(modified or adjusted)" rendering coefficients 222 are obtained in dependence on the
desired rendering parameter 242 and the one or more rendering parameter limit values,
such that the actual rendering parameters obey the limits defined by the rendering
parameter limit values. Accordingly, such rendering parameters, which exceed the
rendering parameter limit values, are adjusted (modified) to obey the rendering parameter
limit values. This first concept is easy to implement but may sometimes bring along a
slightly degraded user satisfaction, because the user"s choice of the desired rendering
parameters 242 is left out of consideration if the user-defined desired rendering parameters
242 exceed the rendering parameter limit values.
According to the second concept, the parameter adjuster computes a linear combination
between a square of a desired rendering parameter and a square of an optimal rendering
parameter, to obtain the actual rendering parameter. In this case, the parameter adjuster is
configured to determine a contribution of the desired rendering parameter and of the
optimal rendering parameter to the linear combination in dependence on a predetermined
threshold parameter and a distortion metric (as described above).
In addition, it can be distinguished whether the distortion measure (distortion metric) is
computed using inter-object relationship properties and/or individual object properties. In
some embodiments, only inter-object-relationship properties are evaluated while leaving
individual object properties (which are related to a single object only) out of consideration.
In some other embodiments, only individual object properties are considered while leaving
inter-object-relationship properties out of consideration. However, in some embodiments, a
combination of both inter-object-relationship properties and individual object properties
are evaluated.
Based on the previous considerations, and also based on the above discussion of different
distortion measures, a number of schemes for limiting the distortion will be defined, as
outlined in the following subsections. These schemes for limiting the distortion may be
applied by the rendering coefficient adjuster 250 in order to obtain the modified rendering
coefficients in dependence on the input rendering coefficients 242.
2.4.2 Distortion limiting scheme #1

In subsection 2.3.1 a simple distortion measure was defined by computing the relation
between the ideal power contribution of the object #m and its actual power contribution
(equation 4):

In this equation, the only variables that are under the control of the SAOC renderer are the
rendering coefficients that are used in the transcoding process. So if the resulting distortion
metric shall not exceed a certain threshold value, T, this imposes a condition on the
corresponding rendering matrix coefficient:

To find a solution for all a set of linear equations Ax = b can be set up where

The first N rows of A are directly derived from equation (6.1 .a). Additionally a constraint
is added so that the energy of the new (limited) rendering coefficients equals the energy of
the user specified coefficients. A solution for (which may be considered as rendering
parameter limit values) is then obtained as:


Starting with this, a first simplistic distortion limiting scheme can be seen as follows:
Instead of using the rendering matrix coefficients 242 as they are provided to the SAOC
decoder from the user interface, the effectively used rendering coefficient 222 for
object #m is modified / limited (for example, by the rendering coefficient adjuster 240 on a
per frame basis before being used for the SAOC decoding process:

Note that the limiting process depends on the individual object energies in each particular
frame. The approach is simple, and has the following minor shortcomings:
• It does not consider relative object loudness nor perceptual masking; and
• It only captures the effects of boosting a particular object, but does not capture the
effects by attenuating object gains. This could be addressed by also mandating a lower
bound on the dm value.
2.4.3 Limiting scheme #2
2.4.3.1 Limiting scheme overview
This section describes a limiting function considering the following aspects:
• the distortion measure is restricted by a limiting threshold,
• the derivation of the limited rendering matrix is based on the limiting function and on
its distance to the initial rendering matrix.
This limiting function (or limiting scheme) may, for example, be performed by the
rendering coefficient adjuster 250 in combination with the distortion calculator 260.
The distortion measure is a function of the rendering matrix, so that
• an initial rendering matrix (described, for example, by the input rendering coefficients
242) yields an initial distortion measure,

• the optimal distortion measure yields an optimal rendering matrix, but the distance of
this optimal rendering matrix to the initial rendering matrix may not be optimal,
• the distortion measure is invers linear proportional to the distance of a rendering matrix
to the initial rendering matrix,
• for a certain threshold the limited rendering matrix (described, for example, by the
adjusted or modified rendering coefficients 222) is derived through interpolation (for
example, linear interpolation)between the initial and optimal working point.
Additionally, the power of the rendered signal in each working point can be assumed
approximately constant, so that

The limiting scheme #2 can be used in combination with different distortion measures, as
will be discussed in the following.
2.4.3.2 Limiting of distortion measure #1
For each parameter band the distortion measure dmx [m) for an object of interest m is
defined as

The optimal rendering matrix results when setting dm^ {ni) to its optimal value, i.e.


Accordingly, the optimal rendering matrix valuescan be obtained by using a system
of equations, wherein r,2 is replaced by 
With the pre-defined threshold T for dmx (m) the limited rendering matrix is given by

2.4.3.3 Limiting of distortion measure #2a
Distortion measure dm2a (m), which is also sometimes briefly designated as "c?/w2 (w)", is
defined as

for object m and each parameter band. For a certain parameter band pb the mask to signal
ration msr(pb) is a function of the power of the rendered signal

The optimal value for the distortion measure is zero, i.e. dmlaopl (m) = 0. This corresponds
to a prefect transcoding process that does not introduce any error. Hence, the optimal
rendering matrix yields

With dm2a (m) = T the limited rendering matrix, which may be described by the modified
rendering coefficients 222, becomes


2.4.3.4 Limiting of distortion measure #2b
The distortion measure dm2h (m), which is also sometimes briefly designated as dmT (m),
may also be used by the apparatus 240 for obtaining the limited rendering matrix, which
may be described by the modified rendering coefficients 222, in dependence on the input
rendering coefficients 242.
2.4.3.5 Limiting of distortion measure #4
Distortion measure dmA (ni) is defined as

for object m and each parameter band and its optimal value is dm4opl(m) = 0.
Consequently the optimal and limited rendering matrices result in

Accordingly, the apparatus 240 may provide the modified rendering coefficients 222 in
dependence on the input rendering coefficients 242 and also in dependence on the
distortion measure 252, which may be equal to the fourth distortion measure dmA (m).
2.4.4 Limiting scheme #3
Corresponding to formula (6. La) the limited rendering coefficient for object m can be
calculated for distortion measure #3 as follows. With the abbreviations


a quadratic equation is set up

whose (positive) solution is

Accordingly, the apparatus 240 may comprise rendering parameter limit values rm, and
may limit the adjusted (or modified) rendering coefficients 222 in accordance with said
rendering parameter limit values.
2.4.5 Further optional improvements
The above described concept for limiting the rendering coefficients 222, which are
performed individually or in combination by the apparatus 240, can be further improved.
For example, a generalization to M-channel rendering can be performed. For this purpose,
the sum of squares/power of rendering coefficients can be used instead of a single
rendering coefficient.
Also, a generalization to a stereo downmix can be performed. For this purpose, a sum of
squares/power of downmix coefficients can be used instead of a single downmix
coefficient.
In some embodiments distortion metrics can be combined across frequency into a single
one that is used for degradation control. Alternatively, it may be better (and simpler) in
some cases to do distortion control independently for each frequency band.
Different concepts can be applied for actually doing the distortion control. For example,
the one or more rendering coefficients can be limited. Alternatively, or in addition, a m2

matrix coefficient (for example of an MPEG Surround decoding) can be limited.
Alternatively, or in addition, a relative object gain can be limited.
3. Embodiment according to Fig. 3
In the following, another embodiment of an SAOC decoder will be described taking
reference to Fig. 3. In order to facilitate the understanding, a brief discussion of the
underlying considerations will be given first. The output of a "spatial audio object coding"
(SAOC) system (like that under standardization as ISO/IEC 23003-2) can exhibit artifacts
that depend on the properties of the audio object and the relation between the rendering
matrix and the downmix matrix. To discuss this problem, the case where downmix and
rendering matrices have the same dimension is considered here without loss of generality.
Corresponding considerations apply if the number of channels in the downmix and the
rendered scene are different.
It has been found that, in general, the risk of artifacts increases when the rendering matrix
becomes significantly different from the downmix matrix. Different types of artifacts can
be distinguished:
1. Imperfections of the rendering, i.e., that the "effective" rendering matrix differs
from the desired rendering matrix that is input to the SAOC decoder (the
effectively achieved attenuation or gain of an object is different from what is
specified in the rendering matrix). This is typically the effect from overlap of
objects in certain parameter bands.
2. Undesired and possibly even time-variant changes of the timbre of an object. This
artifact is especially severe when the "leakage" mentioned in 1. only occurs locally
for a single parameter band.
3. Artifacts, like modulated object signals, musical tones, or modulated noise, caused
by the time- and frequency-variant signal processing in the SAOC decoder.
It has been found that it is desirable to minimize all types of artifacts.
A generalized approach to address this problem and to minimize the artifacts is to employ
a time-frequency-variant post-processing of the desired rendering matrix before it is sent to
the SAOC decoder. This approach is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 shows a block schematic diagram of an SAOC decoder arrangement 300. The SAOC
decoder 300 may also briefly be designated as an audio signal decoder. The audio signal
decoder 300 comprises an SAOC decoder core 310, which is configured to receive a
downmix signal representation 312 and an SAOC bitstream 314 and to provide, on the
basis thereof, a description 316 of a rendered scene, for example, in the form of a
representation of a plurality of upmix audio channels.
The audio signal decoder 300 also comprises an artifact reduction 320, which may, for
example, be provided in the form of an apparatus for providing one or more adjusted
parameters in dependence on one or more input parameters. The artifact reduction 320 is
configured to receive information 322 about a desired rendering matrix. The information
322 may, for example, take the form of a plurality of desired rendering parameters, which
may form input parameters of the artifact reduction. The artifact reduction 320 is further
configured to receive the downmix signal representation 312 and the SAOC bitstream 314,
wherein the SAOC bitstream 314 may carry an object-related parametric information. The
artifact reduction 320 is further configured to provide a modified rendering matrix 324 (for
example, in the form of a plurality of adjusted rendering parameters) in dependence on the
information 322 about the desired rendering matrix.
Consequently, the SAOC decoder core 310 may be configured to provide the
representation 316 of the rendered scene in dependence on the downmix signal
representation 312, the SAOC bitstream 314 and the modified rendering matrix 324.
In the following, some details regarding the functionality of the audio signal decoder will
be provided. It has been found that in order to assess the risk of artifacts due to potentially
limited separation capabilities of the SAOC system for a given desired rendering matrix, it
is desirable to take both the downmix signal (described by the downmix signal
representation 312) and the SAOC bitstream 314 into account. With this information at
hand, it is possible to attempt mitigating these artifacts, for example, by modification of the
rendering matrix. This is performed by the artifact reduction 320. Advanced strategies for
mitigation take both the limitations (overlap) of the time- and frequency-selectivity of the
SAOC system as well as perceptual effects into account, i.e., they should try to make the
rendered signal sound as similar to the desired output signal while having as little as
possible audible artifacts.
A preferred approach for artifact reduction, which is used in the audio signal decoder 300
shown in Fig. 3, is based on an overall distortion measure that is a weighted combination
of distortion measures assessing the different types of artifacts listed above. These weights

determine a suitable tradeoff between the different types of artifacts listed above. It should
be noted that the weights for these different types of artifacts can be dependent on the
application in which the SAOC system is used.
In other words, the artifact reduction 320 may be configured to obtain distortion measures
for a plurality of types of artifacts. For example, the artifact reduction 320 may apply some
of the distortion measures dmi to dni6 discussed above. Alternatively, or in addition, the
artifact reduction 320 may use further distortion measures describing other types of
artifacts, as discussed within this section. Also, the artifacts reduction may be configured to
obtain the modified rendering matrix 324 on the basis of the desired rendering matrix 322
using one or more of the distortion limiting schemes, which have been discussed above
(for example, under sections 2.4.2, 2.4.3 and 2.4.4), or comparable artifact limiting
schemes.
4. Audio signal transcoders according to Figs. 5a and 5b
4.1 Audio signal transcoder according to Fig. 5a
It should be noted that the concepts described above can be applied in both an audio signal
decoder and an audio signal transcoder. Taking reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the concept has
been described in combination with audio signal decoders. In the following, the usage of
the inventive concept will briefly be discussed in combination with audio signal
transcoders.
Regarding this issue, it should be noted that the similarities of audio signal decoders and
audio signal transcoders have already been discussed with reference to Figs. 9a, 9b and 9c,
such that the explanations made with respect to Figs. 9a, 9b and 9c are applicable to the
inventive concept.
Fig. 5a shows a block schematic diagram of an audio signal transcoder 500 in combination
with an MPEG Surround decoder 510. As can be seen, the audio signal transcoder 500,
which may be an SAOC-to-MPEG Surround transcoder, is configured to receive an SAOC
bitstream 520 and to provide, on the basis thereof, an MPEG Surround bitstream 522
without affecting (or modifying) a downmix signal representation 524. The audio signal
transcoder 500 comprises an SAOC parsing 530, which is configured to receive the SAOC
bitstream 520 and to extract desired SAOC parameters from the SAOC bitstream 530. The
audio signal transcoder 500 also comprises a scene rendering engine 540, which is
configured to receive SAOC parameters provided by the SAOC parsing 530 and a

rendering matrix information 542, which may be considered as an actual rendering
(matrix) information, and which may be represented, for example, in the form of a plurality
of adjusted (or modified) rendering parameters. The scene rendering engine 540 is
configured to provide the MPEG Surround bitstream 522 in dependence on said SAOC
parameters and the rendering matrix 542. For this purpose, the scene rendering engine 540
is configured to compute the MPEG Surround bitstream parameters 522, which are
channel-related parameters (also designated as parametric information). Thus, the scene
rendering engine 540 is configured to transform (or "transcoder") the parameters of the
SAOC bitstream 520, which constitutes an object-related parametric information, into the
parameters of the MPEG Surround bitstream, which constitutes a channel-related
parametric information, in dependence on the actual rendering matrix 542.
The audio signal transcoder 500 also comprises a rendering matrix generation 550, which
is configured to receive an information about a desired rendering matrix, for example, in
the form of an information 552 about a playback configuration and an information 554
about object positions. Alternatively, the rendering matrix generation 550 may receive
information about desired rendering parameters (e.g, rendering matrix entries). The
rendering matrix generation is also configured to receive the SAOC bitstream 520 (or, at
least, a subset of the object-related parametric information represented by the SAOC
bitstream 520). The rendering matrix generation 550 is also configured to provide the
actual (adjusted or modified) rendering matrix 542 on the basis of the received
information. Insofar, the rendering matrix generation 550 may take over the functionality
of the apparatus 100 or of the apparatus 240.
The MPEG Surround decoder 510 is typically configured to obtain a plurality of upmix
channel signals on the basis of the downmix signal information 524 and the MPEG
Surround stream 522 provided by the scene rendering engine 540.
To summarize, the audio signal transcoder 500 is configured to provide the MPEG
Surround bitstream 522 such that the MPEG Surround bitstream 522 allows for a provision
of an upmix signal representation on the basis of the downmix signal representation 524,
wherein the upmix signal representation is actually provided by the MPEG Surround
decoder 510. The rendering matrix generation 550 adjusts the rendering matrix 542 used
by the scene rendering engine 540 such that the upmix signal representation generated by
the MPEG Surround decoder 510 does not comprise an inacceptable audible distortion.
4.2 Audio Signal Transcoder According to Fig. 5b

Fig. 5b shows another arrangement of an audio signal transcoder 560 and an MPEG
Surround decoder 510. It should be noted that the arrangement of Fig. 5b is very similar to
the arrangement of Fig. 5a, such that identical means and signals are designated with
identical reference numerals. The audio signal transcoder 560 differs from the audio signal
transcoder 500 in that the audio signal transcoder 560 comprises a downmix transcoder
570, which is configured to receive the input downmix representation 524 and to provide a
modified downmix representation 574, which is fed to the MPEG Surround decoder 510.
The modification of the downmix signal representation is made in order to obtain more
flexibility in the definition of the desired audio result. This is due to the fact that the MPEG
Surround bitstream 522 cannot represent some mappings of the input signal of the MPEG
Surround decoder 510 onto the upmix channel signals output by the MPEG Surround
decoder 510. Accordingly, the modification of the downmix signal representation using the
downmix transcoder 570 may bring along an increased flexibility.
Again, the rendering matrix generation 550 may take over the functionality of the
apparatus 100 or the apparatus 240, thereby ensuring that audible distortions in the upmix
signal representation provided by the MPEG Surround decoder 510 are kept sufficiently
small.
5. Audio Signal Encoder according to Fig. 6
In the following, an audio signal encoder 600 will be described taking reference to Fig. 6,
which shows a block schematic diagram of such an audio signal encoder. The audio signal
encoder 600 is configured to receive a plurality of object signals 612a, 612N (also
designated with Xi to XN) and to provide, on the basis thereof, a downmix signal
representation 614 and an object-related parametric information 616. The audio signal
encoder 600 comprises a downmixer 620 configured to provide one or more downmix
signals (which constitute the downmix signal representation 614) in dependence on
downmix coefficients di to dN associated with the object signals, such that the one or more
downmix signals comprise a superposition of a plurality of object signals. The audio signal
encoder 600 also comprises a side information provider 630, which is configured to
provide an inter-object-relationship side information describing level differences and
correlation characteristics of two or more object signals 612a to 612N. The side
information provider 630 is also configured to provide an individual-object side
information describing one or more individual properties of the individual object signals.

The audio signal encoder 600 thus provides the object-related parametric information 616
such that the object-related parametric information comprises both an inter-object-
relationship side information and the individual-object-side information.
It has been found that such an object-related parametric information, which describes both
a relationship between object signals and individual characteristics of single object signals
allows for a provision of a multi-channel audio signal in an audio signal decoder, as
discussed above. The inter-object-relationship side information can be exploited by the
audio signal decoder receiving the object-related parametric information 616 in order to
extract, at least approximately, individual object signals from the downmix signal
representation. The individual object side information, which is also included in the object-
related parametric information 614, can be used by the audio signal decoder to verify
whether the upmix process brings along too strong signal distortions, such that the upmix
parameters (for example, rendering parameters) need to be adjusted.
Preferably, the side information provider 630 is configured to provide the individual-object
side information such that the individual-object side information describes a tonality of the
individual object signals. It has been found that a tonality information can be used as a
reliable criterion for evaluating whether the upmix process brings along significant
distortions or not.
It should also be noted that the audio signal encoder 600 can be supplemented by any of
the features and functionalities discussed herein with respect to audio signal encoders, and
that the downmix signal representation 614 and the object-related parametric information
616 may be provided by the audio signal encoder 600 such that they comprise the
characteristics discussed with respect to the inventive audio signal decoder.
6. Audio Bitstream According to Fig. 7
An embodiment according to the invention creates an audio bitstream 700, a schematic
representation of which is shown in Fig. 7. The audio bitstream representS"a plurality of
object signals in an encoded form.
The audio bitstream 700 comprises a downmix signal representation 710 representing one
or more downmix signals, wherein at least one of the downmix signals comprises a
superposition of a plurality of object signals. The audio bitstream 700 also comprises an
inter-object-relationship side information 720 describing level differences and correlation
characteristics of object signals. The audio bitstream also comprises an individual object

side information 730 describing one or more individual properties of the individual object
signals (which form the basis for the downmix signal representation 710).
The inter-object-relationship side information and the individual-object-information may
be considered, in their entirety, as an object-related parametric side information.
In a preferred embodiment, the individual-object side information describes tonalities of
the individual object signals.
Naturally, as the audio bitstream 700 is typically provided by an audio signal encoder as
discussed herein and evaluated by an audio signal decoder, as discussed herein. The audio
bitstream may comprise characteristics as discussed with respect to the audio signal
encoder and the audio signal decoder. Accordingly, the audio bitstream 700 may be well-
suited for the provision of a multi-channel audio signal using an audio signal decoder, as
discussed herein.
7. Conclusion
The embodiments according to the invention provide solutions for reducing or avoiding the
distortion problem explained above, which originates from the fact that the single, original
object signals cannot be reconstructed perfectly from the few transmitted downmix signals.
There are more simple solutions to this problem thus be applied:
• A simplistic approach would be to limit the range of relative object gain to, e.g.
+/-12dB. While it is true, that large object gain settings can lead to audible
degradations (example: boost one object by 20dB while leaving the other object
levels at OdB), this is, however, not necessary: As an example, boosting all
relative object levels by the same factor yields an unimpaired system output.
• A more elaborated view would be to look at the differences in relative object
levels. For the rendering of two audio objects, the difference of both relative
object levels indeed provides a hook for possible degradations in rendered
output. It is, however, not clear how this idea generalizes to more than two
rendered audio objects.
In view of this situation, embodiments according to the present invention provide means
for addressing this problem and thus preventing an unsatisfactory user experience. Some

embodiments may, according to the invention, bring along even more elaborate solutions
than those discussed in the previous section.
Accordingly, a good hearing impression can be obtained by using the present invention,
even if inappropriate rendering parameters are provided by a user.
Generally speaking, embodiments according to the invention relate to an apparatus, a
method or a computer program for encoding an audio signal or for decoding an encoded
audio signal, or to an encoded audio signal (for example, in the form of an audio bitstream)
as described above.
8. Implementation Alternatives
Although some aspects have been described in the context of an apparatus, it is clear that
these aspects also represent a description of the corresponding method, where a block or
device corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Analogously, aspects
described in the context of a method step also represent a description of a corresponding
block or item or feature of a corresponding apparatus. Some or all of the method steps may
be executed by (or using) a hardware apparatus, like for example, a microprocessor, a
programmable computer or an electronic circuit. In some embodiments, some one or more
of the most important method steps may be executed by such an apparatus.
The inventive encoded audio signal or audio bitstream can be stored on a digital storage
medium or can be transmitted on a transmission medium such as a wireless transmission
medium or a wired transmission medium such as the Internet.
Depending on certain implementation requirements, embodiments of the invention can be
implemented in hardware or in software. The implementation can be performed using a
digital storage medium, for example a floppy disk, a DVD, a Blue-Ray, a CD, a ROM, a
PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory, having electronically readable
control signals stored thereon, which cooperate (or are capable of cooperating) with a
programmable computer system such that the respective method is performed. Therefore,
the digital storage medium may be computer readable.
Some embodiments according to the invention comprise a data carrier having
electronically readable control signals, which are capable of cooperating with a
programmable computer system, such that one of the methods described herein is
performed.

Generally, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented as a computer
program product with a program code, the program code being operative for performing
one of the methods when the computer program product runs on a computer. The program
code may for example be stored on a machine readable carrier.
Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing one of the methods
described herein, stored on a machine readable carrier.
In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a computer program
having a program code for performing one of the methods described herein, when the
computer program runs on a computer.
A further embodiment of the inventive methods is, therefore, a data carrier (or a digital
storage medium, or a computer-readable medium) comprising, recorded thereon, the
computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.
A further embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a data stream or a sequence of
signals representing the computer program for performing one of the methods described
herein. The data stream or the sequence of signals may for example be configured to be
transferred via a data communication connection, for example via the Internet.
A further embodiment comprises a processing means, for example a computer, or a
programmable logic device, configured to or adapted to perform one of the methods
described herein.
A further embodiment comprises a computer having installed thereon the computer
program for performing one of the methods described herein.
In some embodiments, a programmable logic device (for example a field programmable
gate array) may be used to perform some or all of the functionalities of the methods
described herein. In some embodiments, a field programmable gate array may cooperate
with a microprocessor in order to perform one of the methods described herein. Generally,
the methods are preferably performed by any hardware apparatus.
The above described embodiments are merely illustrative for the principles of the present
invention. It is understood that modifications and variations of the arrangements and the
details described herein will be apparent to others skilled in the art. It is the intent,

therefore, to be limited only by the scope of the impending patent claims and not by the
specific details presented by way of description and explanation of the embodiments
herein.

References
[BCC] C. Faller and F. Baumgarte, "Binaural Cue Coding - Part II: Schemes and
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[JSC] C. Faller, "Parametric Joint-Coding of Audio Sources", 120th AES Convention,
Paris, 2006, Preprint 6752
[SAOC1] J. Herre, S. Disch, J. Hilpert, O. Hellmuth: "From SAC To SAOC - Recent
Developments in Parametric Coding of Spatial Audio", 22nd Regional UK AES
Conference, Cambridge, UK, April 2007
[SAOC2] J. Engdegard, B. Resch, C. Falch, O. Hellmuth, J. Hilpert, A. Holzer, L.
Terentiev, J. Breebaart, J. Koppens, E. Schuijers and W. Oomen: " Spatial Audio Object
Coding (SAOC) - The Upcoming MPEG Standard on Parametric Object Based Audio
Coding", 124th AES Convention, Amsterdam 2008, Preprint 7377

Claims
1. An apparatus (100;240; 320; 550) for providing one or more adjusted parameters
(120; 222; 324; rm", rlim,m) for a provision of an upmix signal representation (ŷ1 to
ŷN; 316; 522,524; 522,574) on the basis of a downmix signal representation
(212;312;524) and an object-related parametric information (214; 314; 520), the
apparatus comprising:
a parameter adjuster (140;240) configured to receive one or more input parameters
(110; 242; 322; 552,554; ri) and to provide, on the basis thereof, one or more
adjusted parameters (120;222;324;542),
wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to provide the one or more adjusted
parameters in dependence on the one or more input parameters and the object-
related parametric information (130; 214a,214b,214c;314;520), such that a
distortion of the upmix signal representation caused by the use of non-optimal
parameters is reduced at least for input parameters that deviate from optimal
parameters by more than a predetermined deviation.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive,
as the input parameters (110; 242; 322; 552,554; rj), desired rendering parameters
(ri) describing a desired intensity scaling of a plurality of audio object signals (x1 to
XN) in one or more audio channels described by the upmix signal representation (ŷ1
to ŷN 316; 522,524; 522,574); and
wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to provide one or more actual
rendering parameters (rm", rlim,m) in dependence on the one or more desired
rendering parameters (rj).
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to
obtain one or more rendering parameter limit values (ȓ2m) in dependence on the
object-related parametric information (130; 214a,214b,214c;314;520) and a
downmix information (214b; dj), describing a contribution of the audio object
signals (x1 to XN) to the downmix signal representation, such that a distortion metric
(dm1(m),dm2(m),dm5(m),dm6(m), DM1, DM2, DM3, DM4, DM5, DM6), is within a
predetermined range for rendering parameter values obeying limits defined by the
rendering parameter limit values, and

wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to obtain the actual rendering
parameters (rm", rlim;m) in dependence on the desired rendering parameters (r;) and
the one or more rendering parameter limit values, such that the actual rendering
parameters obey the limits defined by the rendering parameter limit values.
4. The apparatus according to one of claims 2 to 3, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to obtain the one or more rendering parameter limit" values (ȓ2m) such
that a relative contribution of an object signal (x1 to XN) in a rendered superposition
of a plurality of object signals, rendered using one or more rendering parameters
(rm", rlim,m) obeying the one or more rendering parameter limit values, differs from a
relative contribution of the object signal (x1 to XN) in a downmix signal
(212;312;524) by no more than a predetermined difference.
5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to
determine the one or more rendering parameter values rm such that the equation

is fulfilled for one or more audio objects designated by an object index m,
wherein rm designates a rendering parameter describing a contribution of an object
signal of an audio object having object index m to a given channel (ŷ1 to ŷN) of
the upmix signal,
wherein dm designates a downmix parameter describing a contribution of the object
signal (x1 to xN) of the object having index m in a downmix signal, and
when Xi designates an energy measure of the audio object having object index m,
which energy measure is determined by the object-related parametric information.
6. The apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to obtain the one or more rendering parameter limit values (ȓm2) such
that a distortion measure (DM3), which describes a coherence between a downmix

signal described by the downmix signal representation and a rendered signal,
rendered using one or more rendering parameters (rm) obeying the one or more
rendering parameter limit values (ȓm2), is within a predetermined range.
7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to
obtain the one or more rendering parameter limit values to ȓ2m such that the
distortion measure

takes a predetermined value,
wherein C is defined as

wherein

is a matrix comprising a first row of rendering parameters r1 to rn and a second row
of downmix parameters d1 to dn describing a contribution of the audio object
signals to the downmix signal representation;
wherein E is an object covariance matrix which is obtained using parameters (OLD,
IOC) of the object-related parametric information, and
wherein designates a complex-conjugate operator.
8. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to
compute a linear combination between a square of a desired rendering parameter
(rm) and a square of an optimal rendering parameter (ropt,m), to obtain the actual
rendering parameter (rlim,m),

wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to determine a contribution of the
desired rendering parameter (rm) and of the optimal rendering parameter (ropt,m) to
the linear combination in dependence on a predetermined threshold parameter T
and a distortion metric (dm1, dm2, dm3, dm4, dm5, dm6), wherein the distortion
metric describes a distortion which would be caused by using the one or more
desired rendering parameters (rm), rather than the optimal rendering parameters
(ropt,m), for obtaining the upmix signal representation on the basis of the downmix
signal representation.
9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to
evaluate the equation

in order to obtain the actual rendering parameter rlim,m describing a contribution of
an object signal of an object having object index m to a given channel of the upmix
signal,
wherein T designates a predetermined distortion threshold parameter,
wherein dmx (m) designates a distortion metric associated with the desired
rendering parameter rm describing a desired contribution of an object signal of an
audio object having object index m to a given channel of the upmix signal;
wherein ropt,m designates an optimal rendering parameter describing an optimal
contribution of an object signal of the audio object having object index m to the
given channel of the upmix signal.
10. The apparatus according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to obtain the distortion metric such that the distortion metric is
dependent on a relationship between a relative contribution of a given object signal
in a rendered superposition of a plurality of object signals, rendered in accordance
with the desired rendering parameters, and a relative contribution of the given
object signal in a downmix signal comprising the given object signal.
11. The apparatus according to claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to obtain the distortion metric (dm1) such that the distortion metric is

dependent on a ratio between a relative contribution of a given object signal (x1 to
xN) in a rendered superposition of a plurality of object signals, rendered in
accordance with the desired rendering parameters (rm), and a relative contribution
of the given object signal (x1 to xN) in a downmix signal comprising the given
object signal (x1 to xN).
12. The apparatus according to one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to compute the distortion metric dmx (m) according to

wherein rm and ri designate desired rendering parameters associated with audio
objects having object indices m and i, respectively;
wherein dm and di designate downmix parameters describing a contribution of
object signals of audio objects having object indices m and i, respectively, to a
downmix signal of the downmix signal representation;
wherein Nob designates a number of audio objects under consideration;
wherein Xi designates energy measures associated with the object signals of the
audio objects having object indices i.
13. The apparatus according to claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to obtain the distortion metric (dm2) such that the distortion metric is
dependent on a difference between a relative contribution of a given object signal
(x1 to xN) in a rendered superposition of a plurality of object signals, rendered in
accordance with the desired rendering parameters (rm), and a relative contribution
of the given object signal (x1 to XN) in a downmix signal comprising the given
object signal (x1 to xN).
14. The apparatus according to one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to compute the distortion metric (dm2) such that the distortion metric is
dependent on a mask-to-signal ratio (msr), such that the distortion metric (dm2)
decreases, indicating a smaller distortion, if the mask-to-signal ratio increases.

15. The apparatus according to one of claims 8 to 10 or 11 or 12, wherein the parameter
adjuster is configured to compute the distortion metric according to

wherein rm and ri designate desired rendering parameters associated with audio
objects having object indices m and i, respectively;
wherein dm and di designate downmix parameters describing a contribution of
object signals of audio objects having object indices m and i, respectively, to a
downmix signal of the downmix signal representation;
wherein N designates a number of audio objects under consideration;
wherein Xj and Xm designate energy measures associated with the object signals of
the audio objects having object indices i and m, respectively; and
wherein msr defines a mask-to-signal ratio.
16. The apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to provide the one or more adjusted parameters in dependence on a
computational measure of perceptual degradation, such that a perceptually
evaluated distortion of the upmix signal representation caused by the use of non-

optimal parameters and represented by the computational measure of perceptual
degradation is limited.
17. The apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to receive an individual-object property information describing the
individual properties of one or more original object signals which form the basis for
a downmix signal described by the downmix signal representation; and
wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to consider the individual-object
property information, and to provide the adjusted parameters such that a distortion
of the upmix signal representation with respect to an ideally rendered upmix signal
representation is reduced at least for input parameters deviating from optimal
parameters by more than a predetermined deviation.
18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the parameter adjuster is configured
to receive and consider, as an individual object property information, an object
signal tonality information, in order to provide the one or more adjusted parameters.
19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the parameter adjuster is configured
to estimate a tonality (N) of an ideally rendered upmix signal in dependence on the
received object signal tonality information and the received object power
information (OLD,P); and
wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to provide the one or more adjusted
parameters to reduce a difference between the estimated tonality and the tonality of
an upmix signal obtained using the one or more adjusted parameters when
compared to a difference between the estimated tonality and a tonality of an upmix
signal obtained using the one or more input parameters, or to keep a difference
between the estimated tonality and a tonality of an upmix signal obtained using the
one or more adjusted parameters within a predetermined range.
20. The apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to perform a time-and-frequency-variant adjustment of the input
parameters.
21. The apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 20, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to also consider the downmix signal representation for providing the one
or more adjusted parameters.

22. The apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the parameter adjuster is
configured to obtain an overall distortion measure, that is a weighted combination
of distortion measures describing a plurality of types of artifacts;
wherein the parameter adjuster is configured to obtain the overall distortion
measure such that the overall distortion measure is a measure of distortions which
would be caused by using one or more of the input rendering parameters, rather
than optimal rendering parameters, for obtaining the upmix signal representation on
the basis of the downmix signal representation.
23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the parameter adjuster is configured
to combine at least two of the following distortion measures in order to obtain the
overall distortion measure:
• a measure describing a parasitic change of timbre of an audio object;
• a measure describing a parasitic modulation of an object signal associated
with an audio object;
• a measure describing the presence of a parasitic musical tone;
• a measure describing the presence of a parasitic modulated noise.
24. An audio signal decoder (220,240; 300;) for providing, as an upmix signal
representation, a plurality of upmix audio channels (ŷ1 to ŶN; 316) on the basis of
a downmix signal representation (212;312), an object-related parametric
information (214; 314) and a desired rendering information (242;322), the audio
signal decoder comprising:
an upmixer (220; 310) configured to obtain the upmixed audio channels (ŷ1 to ŷN;
316) on the basis of the downmix signal representation (212;312) and in
dependence on the object-related parametric information (214; 314) and an actual
rendering information (222; 324) describing an allocation of a plurality of object
signals of audio objects described by the object-related parametric information to
the upmixed audio channels; and

an apparatus (100; 240; 320) for providing one or more adjusted parameters,
according to one of claims 1 to 23, wherein the apparatus for providing one or more
adjusted parameters is configured to receive the desired rendering information
(242;322) as the one or more input parameters (110) and to provide the one or more
adjusted parameters (222;324) as the actual rendering information; and
wherein the apparatus for providing the one or more adjusted parameters is
configured to provide the one or more adjusted parameters such that distortions of
the upmixed audio channels (ŷ1 to ŷN; 316) caused by the use of the actual
rendering parameters (rm", rlimm), which deviate from optimal rendering parameters
(ropt,m), are reduced at least for desired rendering parameters (ri) deviating from the
optimal rendering parameters (ropt,m) by more than a predetermined deviation.
25. An audio signal transcoder (500;560) for providing, as an upmix signal
representation (522), a channel-related parametric information on the basis of a
downmix signal representation (524), an object-related parametric information
(520) and a desired rendering information (552,554), the audio signal transcoder
comprising:
a side information transcoder (540) configured to obtain the channel-related
parametric information (522) on the basis of the downmix signal representation
(524) and in dependence on the object-related parametric information (520) and an
actual rendering information (542) describing an allocation of a plurality of object
signals of audio objects described by the object-related parametric information
(522) to upmix audio channels described by the channel-related parametric
information; and
an apparatus (100; 550) for providing one or more adjusted parameters (542),
according to one of claims 1 to 23, wherein the apparatus for providing one or more
adjusted parameters is configured to receive the desired rendering information
(552,554) as the one or more input parameters (110) and to provide the one or
more adjusted parameters (120) as the actual rendering information (542); and
wherein the apparatus for providing the one or more adjusted parameters is
configured to provide the one or more adjusted parameters (120) such that
distortions of the upmixed audio channels caused by the use of the actual rendering
parameters (542), which deviate from optimal rendering parameters, are reduced at

least for desired rendering parameters (552,554) deviating from the optimal
rendering parameters by more than a predetermined deviation.
26. A method for providing one or more adjusted parameters for a provision of an
upmix signal representation on the basis of a downmix signal representation and an
object-related parametric information, the method comprising:
receiving one or more input parameters and providing, on the basis thereof, one or
more adjusted parameters,
wherein the one or more adjusted parameters are provided in dependence on the
one or more input parameters and the object-related parametric information, such
that a distortion of the upmix signal representation caused by the use of non-
optimal parameters is reduced at least for input parameters deviating from optimal
parameters by more than a predetermined deviation.
27. A method for providing, as an upmix signal representation, a plurality of upmixed
audio channels on the basis of a downmix signal representation, an object related
parametric information and a desired rendering information, the method
comprising:
providing one or more adjusted parameters, according to claim 26, wherein the
desired rendering information is received as the one or more input parameters and
wherein the one or more adjusted parameters are provided as an actual rendering
information, and wherein the one or more adjusted parameters are provided such
that distortions of the upmixed audio channels caused by the use of the actual
rendering parameters, which deviate from optimal rendering parameters, are
reduced at least for desired rendering parameters deviating from the optimal
rendering parameters by more than a predetermined deviation; and
obtaining the upmixed audio channels on the basis of the downmix signal
representation and in dependence on the object-related parametric information and
the actual rendering information describing an allocation of a plurality of object
signals of audio objects described by the object-related parametric information to
the upmixed audio channels.
28. A method for providing, as an upmix signal representation, a channel-related
parametric information on the basis of a downmix signal representation, an object-

related parametric information and a desired rendering information, the method
comprising:
providing one or more adjusted parameters, according to claim 26, wherein the
desired rendering information is received as the one or more input parameters and
wherein the one or more adjusted parameters are provided as an actual rendering
information, and wherein the one or more adjusted parameters are provided such
that distortions of the upmixed audio channels caused by the use of the actual
rendering parameters, which deviate from optimal rendering parameters, are
reduced at least for desired rendering parameters deviating from the optimal
rendering parameters by more than a predetermined deviation; and
obtaining the channel-related parametric information, which describes the upmixed
audio channels, on the basis of the downmix signal representation and in
dependence on the object-related parametric information and the actual rendering
information describing an allocation of a plurality of object signals of audio objects
described by the object-related parametric information to upmixed audio channels,
which upmixed audio channels are described by the channel related parametric
information.
29. An audio signal encoder (600) for providing a downmix signal representation (614)
and an object-related parametric information (616) on the basis of a plurality of
object signals (x1 to xN), the audio encoder comprising:
a downmixer (620) configured to provide one or more downmix signals in
dependence on downmix coefficients (d1 to dN) associated with the object signals
(x1 to XN), such that the one or more downmix signals comprise a superposition of a
plurality of object signals;
a side information provider (630) configured to provide an inter-object-relationship
side information (OLD, IOC) describing level differences and correlation
characteristics of object signals (x1 to xN) and an individual-object side information
describing one or more individual properties of the individual object signals (x1 to
xN).
30. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the side information provider (630) is
configured to provide the individual-object side information such that the

individual-object side information describes tonalities of the individual object
signals (x1 to xN).
31. A method for providing a downmix signal representation and an object-related
parametric information on the basis of a plurality of object signals, the method
comprising:
providing one or more downmix signals in dependence on downmix coefficients
associated with the object signals, such that the one or more d&wnmix signals
comprise a superposition of a plurality of object signals; and
providing an inter-object-relationship side information describing level differences
and correlation characteristics of object signals; and
providing an individual-object side information describing one or more individual
properties of the individual object signals.
32. An audio bitstream (700) representing a plurality of object signals (x1 to XN) in an
encoded form, the audio bitstream comprising:
a downmix signal (710) representation representing one or more downmix signals,
wherein at least one of the downmix signals comprises a superposition of a plurality
of object signals; and
an inter-object-relationship side information (720) describing level differences and
correlation characteristics of object signals; and
an individual-object side information (730) describing one or more individual
properties of the individual object signals.
33. The audio bitstream according to claim 32, wherein the individual-object side
information describes tonalities of the individual object signals.
34. A computer program for performing one of the methods according to claims 26, 27,
28 or 31.

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for providing one or more adjusted parameters for a provision of an upmix
signal representation on the basis of a downmix signal representation and an object-related
parametric information comprises a parameter adjuster. The parameter adjuster is
configured to receive one or more input parameters and to provide, on the basis thereof,
one or more adjusted parameters. The parameter adjuster is configured to provide the one
or more adjusted parameters in dependence on the one or more input parameters and the
object-related parametric information, such that a distortion of the upmix signal
representation caused by the use of non-optimal parameters is reduced at least for input
parameters deviating from optimal parameters by more than a predetermined deviation.