Sigma-Delta CODEC system

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a Sigma-Delta CODEC system, more particularly, providing the function of software-controlled digital signal processor for operational analysis by the processing ability of CPU. The present invention provides various digital signal processes that the Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) mates with the processing ability of CPU without replacing by other hardware device (such as the sound card).

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] Analog to digital (A/D) conversion and digital to analog (D/A) conversion are used in a general modulation/demodulation device,namely termed as a coder/decoder (CODEC). In the prior art, there are many methods used for analog to digital and digital to analog conversion, for instance, integration, successive approximation, parallel conversion, delta modulation, pulse code modulation (PCM) and Sigma-Delta conversion. The selection of each translation method depends on various situations and needs. For example, systems needing high resolution of audio and video signals, generally use pulse code modulation or Sigma-Delta conversion.

[0006] Pulse code modulation (PCM) is characterized by very high oversampling rates, noise shaping, and word lengths of one or a few bits. Nevertheless, pulse code modulation (PCM) can introduce a differential nonlinearity error to the amplitude representation. Furthermore, the PCM may modify after processing, because the noise signal of each bit is unequal to that of each other bit, and therefore in each sampling, the total of each noise signal is unequal to that of the total of each noise signal.

[0007] In consideration of this disadvantage of pulse code modulation (PCM), the Sigma-Delta conversion method provides different solution for applying to the field of speech recognition. Such a method belongs to the low-bit conversion type: it carries out sampling and conversion through the use of oversampling. The advantages of this method not only can substantially enhance resolution, but also can create noise shaping. In other words, high resolution is achieved through noise shaping.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art Sigma-Delta CODEC system. The traditional method of A/D conversion is to input the analog signal to the modulation/demodulation device 10, by way of the processes of the digital signal processer 20 and the low pass filter 30, to obtain the analog output. The traditional Sigma-Delta CODEC consists of the analog circuit and the digital filter circuit. The traditional design combines the analog circuit with the digital filter circuit on the same main board. Low-bit A/D and D/A converters both use conversion methods such as Sigma-Delta modulation with noise shaping, and both process high sampling-rate signals with oversampling and decimation filters. In other words, hardware techniques used in high-speed digital signal processors must be used to achieve the high performance digital filter necessary to form a quality CODEC. However, this might facilitate miscellaneous circuit density, sophisticated circuit design, and high production cost.

[0009] According to the embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides a Sigma-Delta CODEC system. The system includes a modulation/demodulation device that is adapted to switch between analog signals and digital signals by way of the processes of Sigma-Delta conversion: the output of the modulation /demodulation device is coupled to the BUS; A Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) is used to drive the software decimation filter that processes the digital signals in the software digital signal filter. The present invention provides various digital signal processes that the Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) mates with CPU processing ability, without replacing any other hardware device (such as a sound card).

[0010] The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art Sigma-Delta CODEC system.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the Sigma-Delta CODEC system in accordance with the present invention.

[0013] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the following figures.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the Sigma-Delta CODEC system of the present invention. Generally, the analog signals enter the modulation/demodulation device 10, which then transforms the analog signals to digital signals, and processes through the use of the techniques of oversampling, low-bit conversion, and Sigma-Delta conversion. The method of the present invention is second-order Sigma-Delta noise shaping, mated with timing 40 that provides the Nyquist frequency band. Quantization error is uniformity present across the Nyquist frequency band from 0 to f_s/2 Hz and cannot be removed from the signal; f_sis the sampling frequency. If quantization is performed at a higher sampling frequency R×f_sHz where R is the oversampling rate, the error is spread across the band to R×f_s/2 Hz. The multiple frequency is the N factor of the Nyquist frequency, where N is an integer between 2 and 256. The digital signals are transferred through the BUS (such as a PCI BUS) 50 to the software digital signal filter 60. The Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) 70 drives the software decimation filter 80 to process the digital signals. The software digital signal filter 60 provides a low pass filter to decode the signal and to remove high-frequency (out-of-band) components. The user 82 makes use of the application program interface 90 to process the digital signals. The performance of the Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) 70 depends on the capability level of the CPU 100 to transfer the signals to the hardware 110 (such as the sound card) in real time, and thus achieve a real play effect. The preferred method of the present invention is second-order Sigma-Delta noise shaping: rather than limiting the scope of the present invention, this method also depends on the limits of practical application.

[0015] Generally, the quality of the conversion depends on the over sampling; the high performance of the prior art of the hardware technique combines the high-order Sigma-Delta modulator with the decimation filter to process the signals. The method causes minimal circuit density, sophisticated circuit design, and high production cost to achieve high performance. The other preferred embodiments of the present invention provide that the performance of the Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) 70 depends on the ability level of the CPU 100 to match with the hardware 110 (such as the sound card). The preferred method of the present invention is second-order Sigma-Delta noise shaping. This method can produce a 70-80 db output by means of a 300 MHz CPU. As the level of the CPU improves to 400 MHz, the system obtains the higher performance Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) 70, and produces an output greater than 90 db. The preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a replaceable Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) 70 to mate with various levels of CPU 100. However, it can achieve better quality without renewing other hardware 110 (such as the sound card).

[0016] From another point of viewpoint, the system provides signals of operational analysis, transmission, and access by means of the operational ability of the CPU 100 and related to aid its associated circuits (e.g. Direct Memory Access; DMA) 120. The system avoids causing increased circuit density, sophisticated circuit design, and high production cost to achieve high performance. It implements the hardware function to make use of software. More particularly, the user 82 is provided with various Virtual Device Drivers (Vxd) 70 that depend on various apparatus to achieve the preferred quality outputs.

[0017] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are not confined to any operational system or multimeda system 130 (such as DVD, VCD, and MP3). All signals must transfer the data form to the sound form (such as a wave file) 140 through the multimeda system 130, and obtain the direct sound signal 150 output by means of the application program interface 90 to process the digital signals. The system then proceeds with processing the direct sound signal 150 by means of the Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) 70. The Virtual Device Driver (Vxd) 70, that combined with the processing ability of CPU, is used to drive the software decimation filter 80 to process the digital signals. The methods of the present invention substantially achieve the function of a software-controlled digital signal processor.

[0018] As is understood by a person skilled in the art, the foregoing preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated of the present invention rather than limiting of the present invention. It is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structure.