Sinusoidal modelling using perceptual matching pursuits in the Bark scale for parametric audio coding

An improved sinusoidal modelling method based on perceptual matching pursuits computed in the Bark scale with application to parametric audio coding is proposed. Complex exponentials compose the overcomplete dictionary for matching pursuits. The main contribution is the minimisation of a perceptual distortion measure defined in the Bark scale to select the optimum atom at each iteration of the pursuits. In addition, a psychoacoustic stopping criterion for the pursuits is presented. The proposed sinusoidal modelling method is suitable to be integrated into a parametric audio coder based on the three-part model of sines, transients and noise, as appreciated in experimental results. The method provides significant advantages over previously proposed methods mainly because it operates in the Bark scale rather than in the frequency scale.