Patent ID: 8543392

Claim:
An encoding apparatus, comprising: a first layer encoder that performs encoding processing with respect to input transform coefficients to generate first layer encoded data; a first layer decoder that performs decoding processing using the first layer encoded data to generate first layer decoded transform coefficients; and a second layer encoder that performs encoding processing with respect to a target frequency band where, in first layer error transform coefficients representing an error between the input transform coefficients and the first layer decoded transform coefficients, a maximum error is found, to generate second layer encoded data, wherein the second layer encoder comprises: a first position specifying processor that searches for a first band comprising the maximum error throughout a full band, based on a wider bandwidth than the target frequency band and a predetermined first step size to generate first position information showing the first band; a second position specifying processor that searches for the target frequency band throughout the first band, based on a narrower second step size than the predetermined first step size to generate second position information showing the target frequency band; and an encoder that encodes the first layer error transform coefficients included in the target frequency band specified based on the first position information and the second position information to generate encoded information.