Patent ID: 7457742

Claim:
A method of coding a digital audio signal frame as a binary output sequence, in which a maximum number Nmax of coding bits is defined for a set of parameters that can be calculated according to the signal frame, which set is composed of a first and of a second subset, the method comprising the following steps: calculating the parameters of the first subset, and coding these parameters on a number N0 of coding bits such that N0<Nmax; determining an allocation of Nmax−N0 coding bits for the parameters of the second subset; and ranking the Nmax−N0 coding bits allocated to the parameters of the second subset in a determined order, in which at least one of the allocation and the order of ranking of the Nmax−N0 coding bits is determined as a function of the coded parameters of the first subset, the method furthermore comprising the following steps in response to the indication of a number N of bits of the binary output sequence that are available for the coding of said set of parameters, with N0<N≦Nmax: selecting the second subset's parameters to which are allocated the N−N0 coding bits ranked first in said order; calculating the selected parameters of the second subset, and coding these parameters so as to produce said N−N0 coding bits ranked first; and inserting into the output sequence the N0 coding bits of the first subset as well as the N−N0 coding bits of the selected parameters of the second subset.