Patents by Inventor Mark S. Vinton

Mark S. Vinton 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).

  • Patent number: 11894005
    Abstract: An audio communication endpoint receives a bitstream containing spectral components representing spectral content of an audio signal, wherein the spectral components relate to a first range extending up to a first break frequency, above which any spectral components are unassigned. The endpoint adapts the received bitstream in accordance with a second range extending up to a second break frequency by removing spectral components or adding neutral-valued spectral components relating to a range between the first and second break frequencies. The endpoint then attenuates spectral content in a neighbourhood of the least of the first and second break frequencies for thereby achieving a gradual spectral decay. After this, reconstructing the audio signal is reconstructed by an inverse transform operating on spectral components relating to said second range in the adapted and attenuated received bitstream. At small computational expense, the endpoint may to adapt to different sample rates in received bitstreams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignees: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION, DOLBY INTERNATIONAL AB
    Inventors: Heiko Purnhagen, Leif Sehlstrom, Lars Villemoes, Glenn N. Dickins, Mark S Vinton
  • Publication number: 20230395086
    Abstract: Described herein is a method of processing an audio signal using a neural network or using a first and a second neural network. Described is further a method of training said neural network or of jointly training a set of said first and said second neural network. Moreover, described is a method of obtaining and transmitting a latent feature space representation of a perceptual domain audio signal using a neural network and a method of obtaining an audio signal from a latent feature space representation of a perceptual domain audio signal using a neural network. Described are also respective apparatuses and computer program products.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2021
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Applicant: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark S. VINTON, Cong ZHOU, Roy M. FEJGIN, Grant A. DAVIDSON
  • Publication number: 20230394287
    Abstract: A neural network system for predicting frequency coefficients of a media signal, the neural network system comprising a time predicting portion including at least one neural network trained to predict a first set of output variables representing a specific frequency band of a current time frame given coefficients of one or several previous time frames, and a frequency predicting portion including a at least one neural network trained to predict a second set of output variables representing a specific frequency band given coefficients of one or several frequency bands adjacent to the specific frequency band in said current time frame. Such a neural network system forms a predictor capable of capturing both temporal and frequency dependencies occurring in time-frequency tiles of a media signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2021
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Applicants: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, DOLBY INTERNATIONAL AB
    Inventors: Cong Zhou, Mark S. Vinton, Grant A. Davidson, Lars Villemoes
  • Publication number: 20230386486
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for predicting transform coefficients representing frequency content of an adaptive block length media signal, by receiving a frame and receiving block length information indicating a number of quantized transform coefficients for each block in the frame, the number of quantized transform coefficients being one of a first or second number, wherein the first number is greater than the second number, determining a first block has the second number of quantized transform coefficients, converting the first block into a converted block having the first number of quantized transform coefficients, conditioning a main neural network trained to predict at least one output variable given at least one conditioning variable, the at least one conditioning variable being based on information regarding the converted block and block length information for the first block, providing at least one predicted transform coefficients from an output stage of the main neural network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2021
    Publication date: November 30, 2023
    Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Cong ZHOU, Grant A. DAVIDSON, Mark S. VINTON
  • Publication number: 20230328469
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2023
    Publication date: October 12, 2023
    Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
  • Patent number: 11671779
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
  • Publication number: 20220415334
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to the field of audio coding, in particular, it relates to a method for encoding audio signals through a masking model based on a hearing threshold of frequency intervals of the audio signal and a measured energy of the audio signal for the corresponding frequency intervals. The disclosure further relates to an encoder that is capable of carrying out the audio encoding method.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2020
    Publication date: December 29, 2022
    Applicant: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Grant A. Davidson, Louis D. Fielder, Mark S. Vinton
  • Publication number: 20220103959
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Applicant: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
  • Patent number: 11140501
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
  • Publication number: 20200367003
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2020
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Applicant: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
  • Patent number: 10750306
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
  • Publication number: 20200143817
    Abstract: According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for reconstructing an audio signal having a baseband portion and a highband portion is disclosed. The method includes obtaining a decoded baseband audio signal by decoding an encoded audio signal and obtaining a plurality of subband signals by filtering the decoded baseband audio signal. The method further includes generating a high-frequency reconstructed signal by copying a number of consecutive subband signals of the plurality of subband signals and obtaining an envelope adjusted high-frequency signal. The method further includes generating a noise component based on a noise parameter. Finally, the method includes adjusting a phase of the high-frequency reconstructed signal and obtaining a time-domain reconstructed audio signal by combining the decoded baseband audio signal and the combined high-frequency signal to obtain a time-domain reconstructed audio signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Publication date: May 7, 2020
    Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Michael M. Truman, Mark S. Vinton
  • Publication number: 20200082836
    Abstract: An audio communication endpoint receives a bitstream containing spectral components representing spectral content of an audio signal, wherein the spectral components relate to a first range extending up to a first break frequency, above which any spectral components are unassigned. The endpoint adapts the received bitstream in accordance with a second range extending up to a second break frequency by removing spectral components or adding neutral-valued spectral components relating to a range between the first and second break frequencies. The endpoint then attenuates spectral content in a neighbourhood of the least of the first and second break frequencies for thereby achieving a gradual spectral decay. After this, reconstructing the audio signal is reconstructed by an inverse transform operating on spectral components relating to said second range in the adapted and attenuated received bitstream. At small computational expense, the endpoint may to adapt to different sample rates in received bitstreams.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Applicant: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Heiko PURNHAGEN, Leif SEHLSTROM, Lars VILLEMOES, Glenn N. DICKINS, Mark S. VINTON
  • Patent number: 10553224
    Abstract: A method for performing inter-channel encoding of a multi-channel audio signal comprising channel signals for N channels, with N being an integer, with N>1, is described. The method comprises determining a basic graph comprising the N channels as nodes and comprising directed edges between at least some of the N channels. Furthermore, the method comprises determining an inter-channel coding graph from the basic graph, such that the inter-channel coding graph is a directed acyclic graph, and such that a cumulated a cumulated cost of the signals of the nodes of the inter-channel coding graph is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignees: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Dolby International AB
    Inventors: Janusz Klejsa, Roy M. Fejgin, Mark S. Vinton
  • Patent number: 10529347
    Abstract: According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for reconstructing an audio signal having a baseband portion and a highband portion is disclosed. The method includes obtaining a decoded baseband audio signal by decoding an encoded audio signal and obtaining a plurality of subband signals by filtering the decoded baseband audio signal. The method further includes generating a high-frequency reconstructed signal by copying a number of consecutive subband signals of the plurality of subband signals and obtaining an envelope adjusted high-frequency signal. The method further includes generating a noise component based on a noise parameter. Finally, the method includes adjusting a phase of the high-frequency reconstructed signal and obtaining a time-domain reconstructed audio signal by combining the decoded baseband audio signal and the combined high-frequency signal to obtain a time-domain reconstructed audio signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Michael M. Truman, Mark S. Vinton
  • Patent number: 10504525
    Abstract: A method of encoding audio information for forward error correction reconstruction of a transmitted audio stream over a lossy packet switched network, the method including the steps of: (a) dividing the audio stream into audio frames; (b) determining a series of corresponding audio frequency bands for the audio frames; (c) determining a series of power envelopes for the frequency bands; (d) encoding the envelopes as a low bit rate version of the audio frame in a redundant transmission frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Xuejing Sun, Kai Li, Mark S. Vinton, Shen Huang
  • Patent number: 10482891
    Abstract: An audio communication endpoint receives a bitstream containing spectral components representing spectral content of an audio signal, wherein the spectral components relate to a first range extending up to a first break frequency, above which any spectral components are unassigned. The endpoint adapts the received bitstream in accordance with a second range extending up to a second break frequency by removing moving spectral components or adding neutral-valued spectral components relating to a range between the first and second break frequencies. The endpoint then attenuates spectral content in a neighbourhood of the least of the first and second break frequencies for thereby achieving a gradual spectral decay. After this, reconstructing the audio signal is reconstructed by an inverse transform operating on spectral components relating to said second range in the adapted and attenuated received bitstream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignees: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Dolby International AB
    Inventors: Heiko Purnhagen, Leif Sehlstrom, Lars Villemoes, Glenn N. Dickins, Mark S. Vinton
  • Publication number: 20190342685
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Publication date: November 7, 2019
    Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Louis D. FIELDER, Zhiwei SHUANG, Grant A. DAVIDSON, Xiguang ZHENG, Mark S. VINTON
  • Patent number: 10382875
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
  • Publication number: 20190172472
    Abstract: According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for reconstructing an audio signal having a baseband portion and a highband portion is disclosed. The method includes obtaining a decoded baseband audio signal by decoding an encoded audio signal and obtaining a plurality of subband signals by filtering the decoded baseband audio signal. The method further includes generating a high-frequency reconstructed signal by copying a number of consecutive subband signals of the plurality of subband signals and obtaining an envelope adjusted high-frequency signal. The method further includes generating a noise component based on a noise parameter. Finally, the method includes adjusting a phase of the high-frequency reconstructed signal and obtaining a time-domain reconstructed audio signal by combining the decoded baseband audio signal and the combined high-frequency signal to obtain a time-domain reconstructed audio signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2019
    Publication date: June 6, 2019
    Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Michael M. Truman, Mark S. Vinton