Patent ID: 8126152

Claim:
A method for synthesizing an arbitrary predetermined linear combination of a multi-channel surround audio signal comprising the steps of: receiving a description H of the arbitrary predetermined linear combination receiving a decoded downmix signal of the multi-channel surround audio signal, receiving spatial parameters comprising correlations and channel level differences of the multi-channel audio signal, further comprising the steps of: obtaining a partially known spatial covariance based on the received spatial parameters comprising correlations and channel level differences of the multi-channel audio signal, extrapolating the partially known spatial covariance to obtain a complete spatial covariance, forming according to a fidelity criterion an estimate of said arbitrary predetermined linear combination of the multi-channel surround audio signal based at least on the extrapolated complete spatial covariance, the received decoded downmix signal and the said description of the arbitrary predetermined linear combination, and synthesizing said arbitrary predetermined linear combination of a multichannel surround audio signal based on said estimate of the arbitrary predetermined linear combination of the multi-channel surround audio signal.