METHOD FOR ENCODING AND DECODING MULTI-CHANNEL AUDIO SIGNAL AND APPARATUS THEREOF

摘要

A method and an apparatus for encoding and decoding a multi-channel audio signal are provided to effectively decrease a data amount to be transmitted by inserting selected spatial information only into necessary frames. A downmix unit(110) of an encoder(100) downmixes a multi-channel audio signal to a mono or stereo signal. A spatial information generator(120) calculates spatial information for the multi-channel audio signal. A core encoder(130) encodes the downmix signal from the downmix unit to form an encoded downmix signal. A parameter encoder(135) encodes the spatial information from the spatial information generator. A bitstream generator(140) combines the encoded downmix signal with the spatial information to generate a bitstream. A demultiplexer(210) of a decoder(200) receives the bitstream and separates the encoded downmix signal from additional information. A core decoder(220) decodes the encoded downmix signal to form the downmix signal. A parameter decoder(230) generates the spatial information by using the additional information. A multi-channel synthesizer(240) generates the multi-channel audio signal by using the spatial information and the downmix signal.