Patent ID: 8818796

Claim:
An apparatus for decoding data segments representing a time-domain data stream, wherein one or more data segments are encoded in the time domain, and wherein two or more data segments are encoded in the frequency domain, wherein the data segments which are encoded in the frequency domain represent time-domain data samples of overlapping data blocks, the apparatus comprising: a time-domain decoder adapted to decode a data segment which is encoded in the time domain to acquire output data of the time-domain decoder; a processor adapted to process the data segments which are encoded in the frequency domain and the output data of the time-domain decoder to acquire time-domain data blocks, such that time-domain data blocks obtained based on consecutive data segments which consecutive data segments are encoded in the frequency domain, overlap, and such that consecutive time-domain data blocks of which one was encoded in the frequency domain and of which one was encoded in the time domain, overlap; and an overlap/add-combiner adapted to combine the overlapping time-domain data blocks to acquire decoded data segments of the time-domain data stream; wherein the overlap/add-combiner is adapted to apply weights according to synthesis windowing functions to overlapping time-domain data blocks, wherein the synthesis windowing functions are adapted to a size of an overlapping region of consecutive overlapping time-domain data blocks, wherein, when switching from frequency-domain coding to time domain coding, a window with a reduced overlapping size is applied to a time-domain data block which was encoded in the frequency domain; wherein a size of an overlapping region of two consecutive time-domain data blocks which were encoded in the frequency-domain is larger than a size of an overlapping region of two consecutive time-domain data blocks of which one was encoded in the frequency-domain and one was encoded in the time domain.