Patent ID: 8762157

Claim:
An audio decoding method comprising: generating, by an audio decoding apparatus, a third downmix signal by combining multiple downmix signals including a first downmix signal and a second downmix signal; generating, by an audio decoding apparatus, a third object-based side information by combining multiple object-based side informations including a first object-based side information and a second object-based side information; wherein: the first object-based side information is obtained when at least one object signal is downmixed into the first downmix signal, the second object-based side information is obtained when at least one object signal is downmixed into the second downmix signal, both the first object-based side information and second object-based side information comprise at least one of object level difference information, inter-object cross correlation information, downmix gain information, downmix channel level difference information, and absolute object energy information.