MDCT audio coding with pulse vector quantizers

This paper describes a novel audio coding algorithm that is a building block in the recently standardized 3GPP EVS codec [1]. The presented scheme operates in the Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (MDCT) domain and deploys a Split-PVQ pulse coding quantizer, a noise-fill, and a gain control optimized for the quantizer's properties. A complexity analysis in terms of WMOPS is presented to illustrate that the proposed Split-PVQ concept and dynamic range optimized MPVQ-indexing are suitable for real-time audio coding. Test results from formal MOS subjective evaluations and objective performance figures are presented to illustrate the competitiveness of the proposed algorithm.