Patent ID: 6980948

Claim:
A speech coding system for encoding a speech signal, the speech coding system comprising: an encoder that determines a plurality of candidate pulse positions for encoding an excitation signal, wherein the plurality of candidate pulse positions are divided among a plurality of tracks; and an algorithm for execution by the encoder; wherein the algorithm is configured to assign a first fixed set of candidate pulse positions selected from the plurality of candidate pulse positions to a first track of the plurality of tracks if the algorithm determines that the speech signal is approximately periodic or to assign a second fixed set of candidate pulse positions selected from the plurality of candidate pulse positions to a second track of the plurality of tracks if the algorithm determines that the speech signal is approximately non-periodic; wherein the algorithm is further configured to assign a dynamic set of candidate pulse positions selected from the plurality of candidate pulse positions to an additional track of the plurality of tracks, wherein the candidate pulse positions in the dynamic set of candidate pulse positions are defined relative to the candidate pulse positions in the assigned fixed set of candidate pulse positions.