An Analog MP3 Compression Psychoacoustic Model Implemented on a Field-Programmable Analog Array

Abstract

This effort describes a low-power analog MP3 psychoacoustic model designed, implemented, and demonstrated using a large-scale Field-Programmable Analog Array (FPAA) to allocate bits for MP3 compression. Although MP3 encoders are assumed to be a digital algorithm, this effort looks to create analog algorithm versions. This block could enable low-power real-time MP3 encoding of microphone input signals for higher-quality acoustic transmissions, significantly improving the audio quality of the compressed transmitted signal from battery-powered devices. An exponentially spaced filterbank enables a low-power representation consistent with human hearing transduction. An analog psychoacoustic model uses signal masking to determine channel bit rates. These designs would enable a fully integrated MP3 encoder when implementing the straightforward aspects of the MDCT.