MPEG digital audio coding

The Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) within the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) has developed a series of audio-visual standards known as MFEG-1 and MPEG-2. These audio-coding standards are the first international standards in the field of high-quality digital audio compression. MPEG-1 covers coding of stereophonic audio signals at high sampling rates aiming at transparent quality, whereas MPEG-2 also offers stereophonic audio coding at lower sampling rates. In addition, MPEG-2 introduces multichannel coding with and without backwards compatibility to MPEG-1 to provide an improved acoustical image for audio-only applications and for enhanced television and video-conferencing systems. MPEG-2 audio coding without backwards compatibility, called IMPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), offers the highest compression rates. Typical application areas for MPEG-based digital audio are in the fields of audio production, program distribution and exchange, digital sound broadcasting, digital storage, and various multimedia applications. We describe in some detail the key technologies and main features of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 audio coders. We also present the MPEG-4 standard and discuss some of the typical applications for MPEG audio compression     

MPEG-4: a multimedia standard for the third millennium. 1

MPEG-4 (formally ISO/IEC international standard 14496) defines a multimedia system for the interoperable communication of complex scenes containing audio, video, synthetic audio and graphics material. In this article, we provide a comprehensive overview of the technical elements of the Moving Pictures Expert Group's MPEG-4 multimedia system specification     

MPEG-4 multimedia for our time

The MPEG-4 standard explores every possibility of the digital environment. Recorded images and sounds co-exist with their computer-generated counterparts, a new language for sound promises compact-disk quality at extremely low data rates; and the multimedia content could even adjust itself to suit the transmission rate and quality. Possibly the greatest of the advances made by MPEG-4 is that viewers and listeners need no longer be passive. The height of “interactivity” in audiovisual systems today is the users ability merely to stop or start a video in progress. MPEG-4 is completely different: it allows the user to interact with objects within the scene, whether they derive from so-called real sources, such as moving video, or from synthetic sources, such as computer-aided design output or computer-generated cartoons. Authors of content can give users the power to modify scenes by deleting, adding, or repositioning objects, or to alter the behavior of the objects. Perhaps the most immediate need for MPEG-4 is defensive. It supplies tools with which to create uniform (and top-quality) audio and video encoders and decoders on the Internet, preempting what may become an unmanageable tangle of proprietary formats. In addition to the Internet, the standard is also designed for low bit-rate communications devices, which are usually wireless     

MPEG-4 natural audio coding

MPEG-4 audio represents a new kind of audio coding standard. Unlike its predecessors, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 high-quality audio coding, and unlike the speech coding standards which have been completed by the ITU-T, it describes not a single or small set of highly efficient compression schemes but a complete toolbox to do everything from low bit-rate speech coding to high-quality audio coding or music synthesis. The natural coding part within MPEG-4 audio describes traditional type speech and high-quality audio coding algorithms and their combination to enable new functionalities like scalability (hierarchical coding) across the boundaries of coding algorithms. This paper gives an overview of the basic algorithms and how they can be combined.     

MPEG-4: a multimedia compression standard for interactiveapplications and services

The Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG), which produced the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video and audio compression standards, is developing the MPEG-4 standard. MPEG-4 targets interactive multimedia applications and will become a standard in 1999. As well as an increased compression efficiency, MPEG-4 will also offer content-based functionality, i.e. the possibility of accessing and manipulating individual objects in the picture. Furthermore, MPEG-4 will offer possibilities for efficient video storage and for transmission over poor audio and video channels at bit rates between 5 kbit/s and 4 Mbit/s. This paper gives an overview of the state of the art of MPEG-4 development, concentrating especially on video content-based functionality, which is so important for interactive applications     

MPEG-4: a multimedia standard for the third millennium. 2

MPEG-4 defines a multimedia system for interoperable communication of complex scenes containing audio, video, synthetic audio, and graphics material. In part 1 of this two-part article (Battista et al., 1999) we provided a comprehensive overview of the technical elements. In part 2 we describe an application scenario based on digital satellite television broadcasting, discuss the standard's envisaged evolution, and compare it to other activities in forums addressing multimedia specifications     

Face and 2-D mesh animation in MPEG-4

This paper presents an overview of some of the synthetic visual objects supported by MPEG-4 version-1, namely animated faces and animated arbitrary 2D uniform and Delaunay meshes. We discuss both specification and compression of face animation and 2D-mesh animation in MPEG-4. Face animation allows to animate a proprietary face model or a face model downloaded to the decoder. We also address integration of the face animation tool with the text-to-speech interface (TTSI), so that face animation can be driven by text input.     

MPEG-4标准系统部分初论

对ISO／IEC14496的第一部分MPEG－4系统作概要论述。先从MPEG－4的整体结构分析出发,分别描述了MPEG－4系统中的主要工具,包括对象描述框架、场景的二进制描述、定时和同步等,最后归纳了MPEG－45系统的一些关键特性,并展望了其今后的发展。     

MPEG-4概述

从ISO/IEC14496的第一部分MPEG-4系统的体系结构出发,分别对MPEG-4标准中提供的主要工具进行了技术描述,包括对象描述框架、系统解码器模型(SDM)和传输多媒体集成框架(DMIF)、场景的二进制描述(BIFS)、同步层、视频对象和音频对象编码等.最后对MPEG-4系统的特性做出了小结并探讨了该标准的应用前景.     

基于MPEG-2TS的多路音频存储播放系统设计

设计了一种多路音频自动存储播放系统,该系统接收12路AES／EBU数字音频信号,采用MPEG－2TS生成音频复用TS流,并通过网络传输到指定的硬盘存储。根据播放指令,该系统可选择还原任意一路任意时段的数字音频,并送至播放单元播出。系统仿真和板上验证结果表明,所设计的系统实现了预定的功能。     

Fast MPEG-4 Motion Estimation: Processor Based and Flexible VLSI Implementations

MPEG-4 is a new multimedia standard combining interactivity, object-based natural and synthetic digital video, audio and computer-graphics. For the implementation of the video part of the MPEG-4 standard a high degree of flexibility is required, where the motion estimation requires the highest part of the computational power. Therefore, in this paper fast algorithms for MPEG-4 motion estimation are evaluated in terms of visual quality and computational power requirements for processor based implementations. Due to the object-based nature of MPEG-4 also new VLSI architectures for MPEG-4 motion estimation are required. Therefore known motion estimation architectures are evaluated on their capability of being modified for MPEG-4 support. Based on this evaluation a new dedicated, but flexible MPEG-4 motion estimation architecture targeted for low-power handheld applications is presented, which resulted to be advantageous to processor based implementations by magnitudes of order.     

MPEG-4 high-efficiency AAC coding

The name MPEG-4 high-efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) refers to a family of recent audio coders that was developed by the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) by subsequent extension of the established Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) architecture. These algorithmic extensions facilitate a significant increase in coding efficiency relative to previous standards and other known systems. Thus, they provide a representation for generic audio/music signals that offers high audio quality also to applications limited in transmission bandwidth or storage capacity, such as digital audio broadcasting and wireless music access for cellular phones. This article presents a compact overview of the evolution, technology, and performance of the MPEG-4 HE-AAC coding family.     

ATSC Video and Audio Coding

In recent decades, digital video and audio coding technologies have helped revolutionize the ways we create, deliver, and consume audiovisual content. This is exemplified by digital television (DTV), which is emerging as a captivating new program and data broadcasting service. This paper provides an overview of the video and audio coding subsystems of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) DTV standard. We first review the motivation for data compression in digital broadcasting. The MPEG-2 video and AC-3 audio compression algorithms are described, with emphasis on basic concepts, system features, and coding performance. Next-generation video and audio codecs currently under consideration for advanced services are also presented.     

MPEG-4: Why,what, how and when?

The MPEG-4 Version 1 standard has been recently finalized. Since MPEG-4 adopted an object-based audiovisual representation model with hyperlinking and interaction capabilities and supports both natural and synthetic content, it is expected that this standard will become the information coding playground for future multimedia applications. This paper intends to give an overview on the MPEG-4 motivations, objectives, achievements, process and workplan, providing a stimulating starting point for more detailed reading.     

The MPEG-4 Multimedia Coding Standard: Algorithms, Architectures and Applications

The upcoming MPEG-4 standard provides new possibilities for the compression and presentation of multimedia contents. The main characteristics of MPEG-4 are the object-based coding and representation of an audio-visual scene and the ability to code objects of natural or synthetic origin. These features will enhance existing applications with new functionalities and enable standardised solutions for new applications. This paper provides an overview of the three major parts Systems, Visual and Audio of the new MPEG-4 standard, highlights implementation aspects for some envisaged types of MPEG-4 terminals and describes possible future multimedia application scenarios using MPEG-4 functionalities.