Patents by Inventor Bernhard Grill

Bernhard Grill has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20260105924
    Abstract: Embodiments according to the invention comprise an audio decoder configured to, for a predetermined frame among consecutive frames, decode, from a data stream, a quantized spectrum, a linear prediction coefficient based spectral envelope representation and a fundamental frequency related parameter, and configured to determine a spectral shaping function from the linear prediction coefficient based spectral envelope representation using a first manner below a pitch frequency determined from the fundamental frequency related parameter, and a second manner above the pitch frequency, to spectrally shape the quantized spectrum using the spectral shaping function to obtain a dequantized spectrum and to reconstruct the predetermined frame using the dequantized spectrum.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2025
    Publication date: April 16, 2026
    Applicant: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Christian HELMRICH, Guillaume FUCHS, Goran MARKOVIC, Markus SCHNELL, Stefan REUSCHL, Bernhard GRILL
  • Patent number: 12573411
    Abstract: An audio encoder has a first information sink oriented encoding branch such as a spectral domain encoding branch, a second information source or SNR oriented encoding branch such as an LPC-domain encoding branch, and a switch for switching between the first and second encoding branches, the second encoding branch having a converter into a specific domain different from the spectral domain such as an LPC analysis stage generating an excitation signal, and the second encoding branch having a specific domain coding branch such as LPC domain processing branch, and a specific spectral domain coding branch such as LPC spectral domain processing branch, and an additional switch for switching between the specific domain coding branch and the specific spectral domain coding branch. An audio decoder has a first domain decoder, a second domain decoder, and a third domain decoder as well as two cascaded switches for switching between the decoders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2026
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Bernhard Grill, Roch Lefebvre, Bruno Bessette, Jimmy Lapierre, Philippe Gournay, Redwan Salami, Stefan Bayer, Guillaume Fuchs, Stefan Geyersberger, Ralf Geiger, Johannes Hilpert, Ulrich Kraemer, Jérémie Lecomte, Markus Multrus, Max Neuendorf, Harald Popp, Nikolaus Rettelbach
  • Patent number: 12573410
    Abstract: A decoder for generating an audio output signal having one or more audio output channels includes a receiving interface for receiving an audio input signal including a plurality of audio object signals, for receiving loudness information on the audio object signals, and for receiving rendering information indicating whether one or more of the audio object signals shall be amplified or attenuated. Moreover, the decoder includes a signal processor for generating the one or more audio output channels of the audio output signal. The signal processor is configured to determine a loudness compensation value depending on the loudness information and depending on the rendering information. Furthermore, the signal processor is configured to generate the one or more audio output channels of the audio output signal from the audio input signal depending on the rendering information and depending on the loudness compensation value. Moreover, an encoder is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2026
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V.
    Inventors: Jouni Paulus, Sascha Disch, Harald Fuchs, Bernhard Grill, Oliver Hellmuth, Adrian Murtaza, Falko Ridderbusch, Leon Terentiv
  • Publication number: 20260038512
    Abstract: A method is described which decodes a downmix matrix for mapping a plurality of input channels of audio content to a plurality of output channels, the input and output channels being associated with respective speakers at predetermined positions relative to a listener position, wherein the downmix matrix is encoded by exploiting the symmetry of speaker pairs of the plurality of input channels and the symmetry of speaker pairs of the plurality of output channels. Encoded information representing the encoded downmix matrix is received and decoded for obtaining the decoded downmix matrix.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2025
    Publication date: February 5, 2026
    Inventors: Florin Ghido, Achim Kuntz, Bernhard Grill
  • Patent number: 12512107
    Abstract: An audio encoder for encoding audio input data has: a preprocessor for preprocessing the audio input data to obtain audio data to be coded; a coder processor for coding the audio data to be coded; and a controller for controlling the coder processor so that, depending on a first signal characteristic of a first frame of the audio data to be coded, a number of audio data items of the audio data to be coded by the coder processor for the first frame is reduced compared to a second signal characteristic of a second frame, and a first number of information units used for coding the reduced number of audio data items for the first frame is stronger enhanced compared to a second number of information units for the second frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2024
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Jan Büthe, Markus Schnell, Stefan Döhla, Bernhard Grill, Martin Dietz
  • Patent number: 12412586
    Abstract: A method is described which decodes a downmix matrix for mapping a plurality of input channels of audio content to a plurality of output channels, the input and output channels being associated with respective speakers at predetermined positions relative to a listener position, wherein the downmix matrix is encoded by exploiting the symmetry of speaker pairs of the plurality of input channels and the symmetry of speaker pairs of the plurality of output channels. Encoded information representing the encoded downmix matrix is received and decoded for obtaining the decoded downmix matrix.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2024
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Florin Ghido, Achim Kuntz, Bernhard Grill
  • Patent number: 12406679
    Abstract: An audio encoder has a first information sink oriented encoding branch such as a spectral domain encoding branch, a second information source or SNR oriented encoding branch such as an LPC-domain encoding branch, and a switch for switching between the first and second encoding branches, the second encoding branch having a converter into a specific domain different from the spectral domain such as an LPC analysis stage generating an excitation signal, and the second encoding branch having a specific domain coding branch such as LPC domain processing branch, and a specific spectral domain coding branch such as LPC spectral domain processing branch, and an additional switch for switching between the specific domain coding branch and the specific spectral domain coding branch. An audio decoder has a first domain decoder, a second domain decoder, and a third domain decoder as well as two cascaded switches for switching between the decoders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2024
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Bernhard Grill, Roch Lefebvre, Bruno Bessette, Jimmy Lapierre, Philippe Gournay, Redwan Salami, Stefan Bayer, Guillaume Fuchs, Stefan Geyersberger, Ralf Geiger, Johannes Hilpert, Ulrich Kraemer, Jérémie Lecomte, Markus Multrus, Max Neuendorf, Harald Popp, Nikolaus Rettelbach
  • Patent number: 12406680
    Abstract: An audio encoder has a first information sink oriented encoding branch such as a spectral domain encoding branch, a second information source or SNR oriented encoding branch such as an LPC-domain encoding branch, and a switch for switching between the first and second encoding branches, the second encoding branch having a converter into a specific domain different from the spectral domain such as an LPC analysis stage generating an excitation signal, and the second encoding branch having a specific domain coding branch such as LPC domain processing branch, and a specific spectral domain coding branch such as LPC spectral domain processing branch, and an additional switch for switching between the specific domain coding branch and the specific spectral domain coding branch. An audio decoder has a first domain decoder, a second domain decoder, and a third domain decoder as well as two cascaded switches for switching between the decoders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2024
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Bernhard Grill, Roch Lefebvre, Bruno Bessette, Jimmy Lapierre, Philippe Gournay, Redwan Salami, Stefan Bayer, Guillaume Fuchs, Stefan Geyersberger, Ralf Geiger, Johannes Hilpert, Ulrich Kraemer, Jérémie Lecomte, Markus Multrus, Max Neuendorf, Harald Popp, Nikolaus Rettelbach
  • Publication number: 20250225989
    Abstract: An apparatus for generating a representation of a bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of an input signal representation includes a phase vocoder configured to obtain values of a spectral domain representation of a first patch of the bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of the input signal representation. The apparatus also includes a value copier configured to copy a set of values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch, which values are provided by the phase vocoder, to obtain a set of values of a spectral domain representation of a second patch, wherein the second patch is associated with higher frequencies than the first patch. The apparatus is configured to obtain the representation of the bandwidth-extended signal using the values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch and the values of the spectral domain representation of the second patch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: July 10, 2025
    Inventors: Frederik Nagel, Max NEUENDORF, Nikolaus RETTELBACH, Jérémie LECOMTE, Markus MULTRUS, Bernhard GRILL, Sascha DISCH
  • Publication number: 20250225992
    Abstract: An apparatus for generating a representation of a bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of an input signal representation includes a phase vocoder configured to obtain values of a spectral domain representation of a first patch of the bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of the input signal representation. The apparatus also includes a value copier configured to copy a set of values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch, which values are provided by the phase vocoder, to obtain a set of values of a spectral domain representation of a second patch, wherein the second patch is associated with higher frequencies than the first patch. The apparatus is configured to obtain the representation of the bandwidth-extended signal using the values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch and the values of the spectral domain representation of the second patch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: July 10, 2025
    Inventors: Frederik NAGEL, Max NEUENDORF, Nikolaus RETTELBACH, Jérémie LECOMTE, Markus MULTRUS, Bernhard GRILL, Sascha DISCH
  • Publication number: 20250225991
    Abstract: An apparatus for generating a representation of a bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of an input signal representation includes a phase vocoder configured to obtain values of a spectral domain representation of a first patch of the bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of the input signal representation. The apparatus also includes a value copier configured to copy a set of values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch, which values are provided by the phase vocoder, to obtain a set of values of a spectral domain representation of a second patch, wherein the second patch is associated with higher frequencies than the first patch. The apparatus is configured to obtain the representation of the bandwidth-extended signal using the values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch and the values of the spectral domain representation of the second patch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: July 10, 2025
    Inventors: Frederik NAGEL, Max NEUENDORF, Nikolaus RETTELBACH, Jérémie LECOMTE, Markus MULTRUS, Bernhard GRILL, Sascha DISCH
  • Publication number: 20250225993
    Abstract: An apparatus for generating a representation of a bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of an input signal representation includes a phase vocoder configured to obtain values of a spectral domain representation of a first patch of the bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of the input signal representation. The apparatus also includes a value copier configured to copy a set of values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch, which values are provided by the phase vocoder, to obtain a set of values of a spectral domain representation of a second patch, wherein the second patch is associated with higher frequencies than the first patch. The apparatus is configured to obtain the representation of the bandwidth-extended signal using the values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch and the values of the spectral domain representation of the second patch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: July 10, 2025
    Inventors: Frederik NAGEL, Max NEUENDORF, Nikolaus RETTELBACH, Jérémie LECOMTE, Markus MULTRUS, Bernhard GRILL, Sascha DISCH
  • Publication number: 20250225994
    Abstract: An apparatus for generating a representation of a bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of an input signal representation includes a phase vocoder configured to obtain values of a spectral domain representation of a first patch of the bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of the input signal representation. The apparatus also includes a value copier configured to copy a set of values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch, which values are provided by the phase vocoder, to obtain a set of values of a spectral domain representation of a second patch, wherein the second patch is associated with higher frequencies than the first patch. The apparatus is configured to obtain the representation of the bandwidth-extended signal using the values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch and the values of the spectral domain representation of the second patch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: July 10, 2025
    Inventors: Frederik NAGEL, Max NEUENDORF, Nikolaus RETTELBACH, Jérémie LECOMTE, Markus MULTRUS, Bernhard GRILL, Sascha DISCH
  • Publication number: 20250225990
    Abstract: An apparatus for generating a representation of a bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of an input signal representation includes a phase vocoder configured to obtain values of a spectral domain representation of a first patch of the bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of the input signal representation. The apparatus also includes a value copier configured to copy a set of values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch, which values are provided by the phase vocoder, to obtain a set of values of a spectral domain representation of a second patch, wherein the second patch is associated with higher frequencies than the first patch. The apparatus is configured to obtain the representation of the bandwidth-extended signal using the values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch and the values of the spectral domain representation of the second patch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: July 10, 2025
    Inventors: Frederik NAGEL, Max NEUENDORF, Nikolaus RETTELBACH, Jérémie LECOMTE, Markus MULTRUS, Bernhard GRILL, Sascha DISCH
  • Patent number: 12334088
    Abstract: An encoder for providing an audio stream on the basis of a transform-domain representation of an input audio signal includes a quantization error calculator configured to determine a multi-band quantization error over a plurality of frequency bands of the input audio signal for which separate band gain information is available. The encoder also includes an audio stream provider for providing the audio stream such that the audio stream includes information describing an audio content of the frequency bands and information describing the multi-band quantization error. A decoder for providing a decoded representation of an audio signal on the basis of an encoded audio stream representing spectral components of frequency bands of the audio signal includes a noise filler for introducing noise into spectral components of a plurality of frequency bands to which separate frequency band gain information is associated on the basis of a common multi-band noise intensity value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2024
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Nikolaus Rettelbach, Bernhard Grill, Guillaume Fuchs, Stefan Geyersberger, Markus Multrus, Harald Popp, Juergen Herre, Stefan Wabnik, Gerald Schuller, Jens Hirschfeld
  • Patent number: 12334090
    Abstract: An encoder for providing an audio stream on the basis of a transform-domain representation of an input audio signal includes a quantization error calculator configured to determine a multi-band quantization error over a plurality of frequency bands of the input audio signal for which separate band gain information is available. The encoder also includes an audio stream provider for providing the audio stream such that the audio stream includes information describing an audio content of the frequency bands and information describing the multi-band quantization error. A decoder for providing a decoded representation of an audio signal on the basis of an encoded audio stream representing spectral components of frequency bands of the audio signal includes a noise filler for introducing noise into spectral components of a plurality of frequency bands to which separate frequency band gain information is associated on the basis of a common multi-band noise intensity value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2024
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Nikolaus Rettelbach, Bernhard Grill, Guillaume Fuchs, Stefan Geyersberger, Markus Multrus, Harald Popp, Juergen Herre, Stefan Wabnik, Gerald Schuller, Jens Hirschfeld
  • Patent number: 12334086
    Abstract: An audio encoder has a first information sink oriented encoding branch such as a spectral domain encoding branch, a second information source or SNR oriented encoding branch such as an LPC-domain encoding branch, and a switch for switching between the first and second encoding branches, the second encoding branch having a converter into a specific domain different from the spectral domain such as an LPC analysis stage generating an excitation signal, and the second encoding branch having a specific domain coding branch such as LPC domain processing branch, and a specific spectral domain coding branch such as LPC spectral domain processing branch, and an additional switch for switching between the specific domain coding branch and the specific spectral domain coding branch. An audio decoder has a first domain decoder, a second domain decoder, and a third domain decoder as well as two cascaded switches for switching between the decoders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2024
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Bernhard Grill, Roch Lefebvre, Bruno Bessette, Jimmy Lapierre, Philippe Gournay, Redwan Salami, Stefan Bayer, Guillaume Fuchs, Stefan Geyersberger, Ralf Geiger, Johannes Hilpert, Ulrich Kraemer, Jérémie Lecomte, Markus Multrus, Max Neuendorf, Harald Popp, Nikolaus Rettelbach
  • Patent number: 12334089
    Abstract: An encoder for providing an audio stream on the basis of a transform-domain representation of an input audio signal includes a quantization error calculator configured to determine a multi-band quantization error over a plurality of frequency bands of the input audio signal for which separate band gain information is available. The encoder also includes an audio stream provider for providing the audio stream such that the audio stream includes information describing an audio content of the frequency bands and information describing the multi-band quantization error. A decoder for providing a decoded representation of an audio signal on the basis of an encoded audio stream representing spectral components of frequency bands of the audio signal includes a noise filler for introducing noise into spectral components of a plurality of frequency bands to which separate frequency band gain information is associated on the basis of a common multi-band noise intensity value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2024
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Nikolaus Rettelbach, Bernhard Grill, Guillaume Fuchs, Stefan Geyersberger, Markus Multrus, Harald Popp, Juergen Herre, Stefan Wabnik, Gerald Schuller, Jens Hirschfeld
  • Patent number: 12327570
    Abstract: An encoder provides an audio stream based on a transform-domain representation of an input audio signal and includes a quantization error calculator configured to determine a multi-band quantization error over a plurality of frequency bands of the input audio signal for which separate band gain information is available. The encoder also includes an audio stream provider for providing the audio stream such that the audio stream includes information describing an audio content of the frequency bands and information describing the multi-band quantization error. A decoder provides a decoded representation of an audio signal based on an encoded audio stream representing spectral components of frequency bands of the audio signal and includes a noise filler for introducing noise into spectral components of a plurality of frequency bands to which separate frequency band gain information is associated on the basis of a common multi-band noise intensity value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2024
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Nikolaus Rettelbach, Bernhard Grill, Guillaume Fuchs, Stefan Geyersberger, Markus Multrus, Harald Popp, Juergen Herre, Stefan Wabnik, Gerald Schuller, Jens Hirschfeld
  • Publication number: 20250124935
    Abstract: An audio encoder for encoding an audio signal includes: a first encoding processor for encoding a first audio signal portion in a frequency domain, wherein the first encoding processor includes: a time frequency converter for converting the first audio signal portion into a frequency domain representation having spectral lines up to a maximum frequency of the first audio signal portion; a spectral encoder for encoding the frequency domain representation; a second encoding processor for encoding a second different audio signal portion in the time domain; a cross-processor for calculating, from the encoded spectral representation of the first audio signal portion, initialization data of the second encoding processor, so that the second encoding processing is initialized to encode the second audio signal portion immediately following the first audio signal portion in time in the audio signal; a controller configured for analyzing the audio signal and for determining, which portion of the audio signal is the firs
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2024
    Publication date: April 17, 2025
    Inventors: Sascha DISCH, Martin DIETZ, Markus MULTRUS, Guillaume FUCHS, Emmanuel RAVELLI, Matthias NEUSINGER, Markus SCHNELL, Benjamin SCHUBERT, Bernhard GRILL