HK1125750B - Method and apparatus for encoding/decoding - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for encoding/decoding

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an encoding method and apparatus and a decoding method and apparatus, and more particularly, to an encoding method and apparatus that can generate a bitstream using encoded data and encoding information, and a decoding method and apparatus that can receive a bitstream and decode the received bitstream.

Background

As multimedia related to audio, video and text data becomes popular, a technique of compressing and encoding audio, video and text data into a bitstream and transmitting the bitstream, and a technique of receiving a bitstream, recovering audio, video and text data from the received bitstream by decoding, and reproducing the audio, video and text data attract more public attention.

A typical data encoding method will hereinafter be described in detail focusing on a conventional audio signal encoding method.

First, a time-domain audio signal is transformed into a frequency-domain signal. According to the human psychoacoustic model, the properties of frequency-domain audio signals that can be perceived by the human ear vary significantly from band to band, while time-domain signals that can be perceived by the human ear do not vary as much. Accordingly, data compression efficiency can be improved by changing the number of bits allocated per band.

With respect to the frequency domain audio signal, a masking threshold for each frequency band is calculated by using a masking phenomenon. Then, signal processing is performed on the frequency-domain audio signal using the masking threshold to minimize a deviation in sound quality of the frequency-band audio signal that can be perceived by human ears and improve encoding efficiency.

Then, the frequency domain audio signal is scalar-quantized such that the magnitude of quantization noise of each frequency band is smaller than the masking threshold and such that the quantization noise is not perceived by the human ear. Thereafter, the scalar quantized audio signal and the encoding information are combined, thereby generating a bitstream having a predetermined format.

When encoding/decoding data using a conventional data encoding/decoding method, a bitstream obtained by the encoding may include an unnecessary bit array that does not include any necessary decoding information that can be used to decode the bitstream, thereby reducing the efficiency of encoding/decoding. This problem of the conventional data encoding/decoding method is particularly apparent in the case where data is encoded at a low bit rate, and results in a reduction in encoding efficiency and a degradation in the quality of decoded data.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Technical problem

The present invention provides an encoding method and apparatus and a decoding method and apparatus that can improve encoding/decoding efficiency by generating a bitstream including only information required to decode the bitstream.

Technical solution

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an encoding method including: encoding data; generating an array of data bits comprising all or part of the encoded data and the encoding information; and generating an align bit array, the align bit array comprising one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error related to the data bit array and the align bit array has occurred, wherein the align bit array is inserted into a bitstream after the data bit array when a number of bits of the data bit array is not a multiple of one predetermined bit unit, and wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the data bit array and a minimum multiple of a number of bits in a predetermined bit unit greater than the number of bits in the data bit array.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a decoding method of receiving a bitstream and decoding the bitstream, the decoding method including: extracting from the bitstream an array of data bits comprising all or part of the encoded data and encoding information; determining a number of bits of an align bit array based on a number of bits of the extracted data bit array, wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the extracted data bit array and a smallest multiple of a number of bits in a predetermined bit unit that is greater than the number of bits in the extracted data bit array; extracting an align bit array comprising one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred related to the data bit array and the align bit array; and decoding the encoded data included in at least one of the data bit array and the align bit array.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a decoding method of receiving a bitstream and decoding the bitstream, the decoding method including: extracting from the bitstream an array of data bits comprising all or part of the encoded data and encoding information; extracting a flag from the bitstream, the flag indicating whether an align bit array includes one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred related to the data bit array and the align bit array; and when the value of the flag is 1, determining the number of bits of the align bit array based on the number of bits of the extracted data bit array, wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the extracted data bit array and a minimum multiple of the number of bits in a predetermined bit unit that is greater than the number of bits in the extracted data bit array; extracting the align bit array from the bitstream and decoding the encoded data included in at least one of the data bit array and the align bit array.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an encoding apparatus comprising: an encoding unit that encodes data; and a bitstream generation unit that generates a bitstream using the encoded data, wherein the bitstream generation unit includes: a data bit array generating unit that generates a data bit array including all or part of the encoded data and the encoding information; and an align bit array generating unit that generates an align bit array including one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error related to the data bit array and the align bit array has occurred, wherein the align bit array is inserted into a bitstream after the data bit array when a number of bits of the data bit array is not a multiple of one predetermined bit unit, and wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the data bit array and a minimum multiple of a number of bits in a predetermined bit unit greater than the number of bits in the data bit array.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a decoding apparatus that receives a bitstream and decodes the bitstream, the decoding apparatus including: a data bit array extraction unit that extracts a data bit array including all or part of the encoded data and the encoding information from the bitstream; an align bit array quantity determination unit that determines a number of bits of an align bit array based on a number of bits of the extracted data bit array, wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the extracted data bit array and a minimum multiple of a number of bits in a predetermined bit unit that is greater than the number of bits in the extracted data bit array; an align bit array extraction unit that extracts an align bit array, the align bit array including one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred related to the data bit array and the align bit array; and a decoding unit that decodes the encoded data included in at least one of the data bit array and the align bit array.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an encoding method. The encoding method includes encoding data, generating a data bit array including the encoded data and encoding information, and generating an alignment (align) bit array including one or more 1 s.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a decoding method of receiving a bitstream and decoding the bitstream. The decoding method includes extracting a data bit array including encoded data and encoding information from the bitstream, extracting an align bit array including one or more 1 s from the bitstream, and decoding the extracted data bit array using information contained in the extracted align bit array.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a decoding method of receiving a bitstream and decoding the bitstream. The decoding method includes extracting a data bit array including encoded data and encoded information from the bitstream, extracting a flag indicating whether an align bit array includes information from the bitstream, and if the value of the flag is 1, extracting the align bit array from the bitstream and decoding the extracted data bit array using information contained in the extracted align bit array.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an encoding apparatus. The encoding device includes: an encoding unit that encodes data; and a bitstream generation unit that generates a bitstream using the encoded data, and the bitstream generation unit includes: a data bit array generating unit that generates a data bit array containing the encoded data and encoding information; and an align bit array generating unit generating an align bit array including one or more 1 s.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a decoding apparatus that receives a bitstream and decodes the bitstream. The decoding apparatus includes: a data bit array extraction unit that extracts a data bit array including encoded data and encoding information from the bit stream; an align bit array extraction unit extracting one or more 1's from the bitstream; and a decoding unit decoding the extracted data bit array using information contained in the extracted align bit array.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data structure including a bitstream of encoded data. The data structure includes: a frame data field including encoded data and encoding information as a frame; a byte alignment field comprising an alignment bit array comprising one or more 1's; and a flag indicating whether the alignment array includes information.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing one of an encoding method and a decoding method.

Advantageous effects

According to the encoding method and apparatus and the decoding method and apparatus, it is possible to improve the quality of decoded data by inserting various information into an align bit array included in a bitstream for aligning a plurality of encoded data bit arrays with each other. In addition, according to the encoding method and apparatus and the decoding method and apparatus, it is possible to efficiently utilize a data bandwidth allocated for encoding/decoding data at a lower bit rate by improving data encoding efficiency.

Brief Description of Drawings

The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail various exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a block diagram of an encoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a bitstream according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an encoding method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a decoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a decoding method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a block diagram of a multi-channel audio signal encoding/decoding system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a block diagram of a multi-channel audio signal encoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 8 is a block diagram of a multi-channel audio signal decoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Best mode for carrying out the invention

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an encoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 1, the encoding apparatus includes an encoding unit 100 and a bitstream generation unit 110. The bitstream generation unit 110 includes a data bit array generation unit 120, an align bit quantity determination unit 130, and an align bit array generation unit 140. The operation of the encoding apparatus shown in fig. 1 will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 3.

Referring to fig. 3, the encoding unit 100 encodes data by performing a predetermined encoding operation in operation 300. Examples of the data include all types of data that can be compressed, such as audio data, video data, and text data. Various encoding methods may be used in operation 300. Also, almost any type of data compression method may be used in operation 300. For example, an encoding method of MPEG surround Spatial Audio Coding (SAC) may be used in operation 300.

The bitstream generation unit 110 generates a bitstream using the encoded data and the encoding information.

In detail, in operation 310, the data bit array generating unit 120 of the bitstream generating unit 110 generates a data bit array including encoded data and encoding information.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a bitstream according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 2, the bitstream includes a series of a plurality of frames, which are minimum decoding units. A plurality of bit arrays each corresponding to the frames are sequentially arranged in units of predetermined bit units, and preferably in units of bytes (1 byte-8 bits). Thus, if the number of bits in the data bit array of a frame, including the encoded data and the encoded information, is a multiple of the number of bits in one predetermined bit unit, and preferably, a multiple of the number of bits in one byte (i.e., a multiple of 8), then an align bit array may be inserted into the bitstream after the data bit array so that the frame may become a plurality of predetermined bit units long.

Referring to fig. 3, in operation 320, the align bit quantity determination unit 130 determines an align bit quantity indicating the number of bits to be included in the align bit array based on the number of bits in the data bit array generated in operation 310. The align bit quantity determination unit 130 may determine a difference between the number of bits allocated to the data bit array generated in operation 310 and the number of bits in the data bit array generated in operation 310 as an align bit quantity.

In the case where the bitstream includes configuration data followed by a bit array for each frame, an align bit array including the number of bits corresponding to the align bit quantity determined in the aforementioned method by the align bit quantity determination unit 130 may be inserted in the bitstream after the configuration data.

Referring to fig. 2, if the number of bits in the data bit array of a frame (e.g., frame n or frame n +2) is not a multiple (preferably, a multiple of 8) of the number of bits in a predetermined bit unit, an align bit array including a number of bits corresponding to a difference between the number of bits in the data bit array and a minimum multiple of 8 greater than the number of bits in the data bit array may be inserted in the bitstream after the data bit array. For example, if the number of bits in the data bit array of frame n is 27, an align bit array comprising a number of bits corresponding to a difference of 27 from 32, the smallest multiple of 8 greater than 27, i.e. an align bit array comprising five bits, is transmitted after the data bit array corresponding to frame n is transmitted.

If the number of bits in the data bit array of each frame (e.g., frame n +1) is a multiple of the number of bits in one predetermined bit unit-and preferably a multiple of 8-then no align bit array needs to be inserted into the bitstream.

The bitstream may include a flag that includes information indicating whether an align bit array of a frame in the bitstream includes information. For example, if the align bit array of a frame includes information, the flag may have a value of 1. On the other hand, if the align bit array of the frame does not include any information and is only filled with one or more 0 s, the flag may have a value of 0. This flag may be inserted into the frame header followed by the bit array corresponding to each frame in the bitstream.

If the flag has a value of 0, the align bit array of the frame is filled with as many 0's as the number of bits in the align bit array.

The decoding apparatus may determine whether the align bit array includes information based on the flag, and may thus determine whether to use the align bit array in a decoding operation.

Referring to fig. 3, in operation 330, the align bit array generation unit 140 generates an align bit array including the number of bits corresponding to the align bit quantity determined in operation 320. The align bit array generated in operation 320 may consist of a bit array having one or more 1 s and may include information required to perform a decoding operation.

In operation 340, the data bit array generated in operation 310 and the align bit array generated in operation 330 may be continuously transmitted in units of frames.

Examples of information that may be included in the align bit array will be described in detail below.

First, information generated during encoding of each frame may be included in an align bit array. According to an embodiment of the present invention, encoded data that is obtained by the encoding unit 100 and cannot be included in the data bit array due to, for example, a limited transmission bit rate, may be included in the align bit array following the data bit array. Preferably, encoded data obtained by the encoding unit 100 and not included in the data bit array is stored in a storage unit (not shown). Assuming that the align bit quantity determined by the align bit quantity determination unit 130 is greater than one, encoded data, which is stored in the storage unit and can be represented by the number of bits corresponding to the align bit quantity determined by the align bit quantity determination unit 130, is included in the align bit array.

For example, referring to fig. 2, if not all of the encoded data regarding frame n and frame n +2 obtained by the encoding unit 100 may be included in the data bit array corresponding to frame n and frame n +2, as much encoded data as can be represented by the number of bits in the align bit array following the data bit array may be included in the align bit array.

Information other than that generated during encoding of the respective frames may also be included in the align bit array.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, additional information related to a bitstream to be transmitted, such as metadata or watermark data for copy protection, may be included in the align bit array. Examples of metadata related to audio data include file names, title information, genre information, and lyric information. Preferably, the additional information may be created before or during creation of the bitstream to be transmitted, and may be stored in a storage unit (not shown). Thereafter, whenever a frame whose align bit amount is determined to be one or more than one is encountered, additional information may be inserted into the align bit array of the frame, and then a bitstream to be transmitted is transmitted.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, information that the encoding apparatus and the decoding apparatus have agreed in advance, such as error check data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred, may be included in the align bit array. Preferably, a storage unit (not shown) storing a bit-pattern table (bit-pattern table) that matches the amount of align bits with the error-checking data may be searched for error-checking data corresponding to the number of bits in the align bit array of the current frame, and the identified error-checking data may be included in the align bit array corresponding to the current frame. The decoding apparatus may store the same bit pattern table as that existing in the storage unit.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a decoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 4, the decoding apparatus includes a data array extraction unit 400, an align bit quantity determination unit 410, an align bit array extraction unit 420, and a decoding unit 430. The operation of the decoding apparatus shown in fig. 4 will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a decoding method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 5, in operation 500, a data bit array extraction unit 400 extracts a data bit array and a flag indicating whether an align bit array included in an input bitstream includes information, from the input bitstream.

In operation 505, it is determined whether the value of the extracted flag is 1. If it is determined in operation 505 that the value of the extracted flag is 1, it appears that the align bit array of the input bitstream includes information that can be used to perform a decoding operation. Thus, the extracted data bit array and information included in the align bit array of the input bitstream may be used to perform decoding later.

In detail, in operation 510, if it is determined in operation 505 that the value of the extracted flag is 1, the align bit quantity determination unit 410 determines an align bit quantity based on the number of bits in the extracted data bit array. The determination of the align bit quantity has been described above with reference to fig. 1 and 2, and thus a detailed description thereof will be skipped.

In operation 520, the align bit array extraction unit 420 extracts an align bit array including the number of bits corresponding to the align bit quantity determined in operation 510 from the input bitstream. In operation 530, the decoding unit 430 performs a decoding operation in units of frames using the extracted data bit array and the extracted align bit array. Almost all types of decoding methods can be used in operation 530. For example, the MPEG surround SAC decoding method may be used in operation 530. The MPEG surround SAC decoding method will be described in detail later with reference to fig. 6 and 8.

The extracted align bit array may include information. In this case, the decoding apparatus may define various types of information that may be included in the extracted align bit array in advance. Examples of such information that may be included in the extracted align bit array are as follows.

First, information generated during encoding of each frame of the input bitstream may be included in the align bit array. According to an embodiment of the present invention, encoded data obtained by an encoding unit, i.e., encoded data obtained by the encoding unit 100 shown in fig. 1 and which cannot be included in a data bit array due to, for example, a limited transmission bit rate, may be included in an align bit array following the data bit array. In this case, the decoding unit 430 performs a decoding operation by adding the encoded data included in the align bit array to the encoded data included in the data bit array.

Information other than that generated during encoding of the respective frames may also be included in the align bit array. According to another embodiment of the present invention, additional information related to a bitstream to be transmitted, such as metadata or watermark data for copy protection, may be included in the align bit array. Preferably, the data included in the align bit array is stored whenever the align bit array for the frame is encountered. When the amount of stored data reaches a predetermined level, the stored data may be used as metadata or watermark data.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, information that the encoding apparatus and the decoding device have agreed in advance, such as error check data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred, may be included in the align bit array. Preferably, a storage unit (not shown) storing a bit pattern table matching the align bit quantity with the error check data may be searched for error check data corresponding to the number of bits in the extracted align bit array. The identified error data may then be compared to error-checking data included in the extracted align bit array. If the identified error data matches error checking data included in the extracted align bit array, it may be determined that no transmission error occurred during transmission of the data bit array followed by the extracted align bit array.

Referring to fig. 5, if it is determined in operation 505 that the value of the extracted flag is 0, it appears that the align bit array of the input bitstream does not include any information, but is only filled with one or more 0 s or meaningless bits. Thus, in operation 540, the decoding unit 430 performs a decoding operation using only the extracted data bit array.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a multi-channel audio signal encoding/decoding system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, fig. 6 illustrates an MPEG surround SAC encoding apparatus and an MPEG surround SAC decoding apparatus.

Referring to fig. 6, the encoding apparatus 600 includes: a downmix (downmix) module generating a downmix signal by downmixing a multi-channel audio signal to a stereo signal or a mono signal; and a spatial parameter estimation module that generates spatial information. The encoding apparatus 600 may receive a downmix signal of an arbitrary artistic effect from an external device. The decoding apparatus 610 performs spatial synthesis on the plurality of pieces of spatial information and restores the original multi-channel audio signal from the input down-mix signal by decoding according to the result of the spatial synthesis.

The multi-channel audio signal encoding method and apparatus and the multi-channel audio signal decoding method and apparatus according to the present invention are applicable to a multi-channel audio processing operation based on the MPEG surround standard. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, the present invention is also applicable to various types of signal processing operations other than those set forth herein.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram of a multi-channel audio signal encoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, fig. 7 illustrates an MPEG surround SAC encoding apparatus.

Referring to fig. 7, the multi-channel audio signal encoding apparatus includes a down-mixer 700, a spatial parameter calculator 710, a core encoder 720, and a parameter encoder 730.

The down-mixer 700 down-mixes an input multi-channel audio signal, thereby generating a down-mixed signal. For example, in case of downmixing a multi-channel audio signal having 5 channels to a stereo signal, the downmix channel 1 may be obtained by combining components of a first, a third and a fourth channel of the multi-channel audio signal, and the downmix channel 2 may be obtained by combining components of a second, a third and a fifth channel of the multi-channel audio signal.

The spatial information calculator 710 calculates spatial information. The spatial information includes a plurality of spatial parameters such as Channel Level Difference (CLD), inter-channel cross-correlation (ICC), and Channel Prediction Coefficient (CPC).

The core encoder 720 encodes the down-mixed signal obtained by the down-mixer 700, and the parameter encoder 730 encodes the spatial information obtained by the spatial information calculator 710.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram of a multi-channel audio signal decoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, fig. 8 illustrates an MPEG surround SAC decoding apparatus.

Referring to fig. 8, the multi-channel audio signal decoding apparatus includes a demultiplexer 800, a core decoder 810, a parameter decoder 820, and a multi-channel synthesizer 830.

The demultiplexer 800 demultiplexes the encoded downmix signal and the encoded spatial information from the input bitstream. The core decoder 810 obtains a down-mix signal by decoding the encoded down-mix signal, and the parameter decoder 820 obtains spatial information by decoding the encoded spatial information. The multi-channel synthesizer 830 generates a multi-channel audio signal using the spatial information obtained by the parameter decoder 820 and the down-mix signal obtained by the core decoder 810.

The present invention can be realized as computer readable codes written on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium may be any type of recording device in which data is stored in a computer-readable manner. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage, and a carrier wave (e.g., data transmission through the internet). The computer-readable recording medium can be distributed over a plurality of computer systems connected to a network so that the computer-readable code is written thereto and executed therefrom in a decentralized manner. Functional programs, codes, and code segments required for implementing the present invention can be easily construed by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Industrial applicability

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the quality of decoded data by inserting various information into an align bit array included in a bitstream for aligning a plurality of encoded data bit arrays with each other. In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently utilize a data bandwidth allocated for encoding/decoding data at a lower bit rate by improving data encoding efficiency.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims (12)

1. An encoding method, comprising:

encoding data;

generating an array of data bits comprising all or part of the encoded data and the encoding information; and

generating an align bit array comprising one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred related to the data bit array and the align bit array,

wherein the align bit array is inserted into the bitstream after the data bit array when the number of bits of the data bit array is not a multiple of one predetermined bit unit, and wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the data bit array and a smallest multiple of the number of bits in a predetermined bit unit that is greater than the number of bits in the data bit array.

2. The encoding method of claim 1, wherein when the data bit array includes all of the encoded data, the align bit array includes one of the additional information and the error checking data, and when the data bit array includes part of the encoded data, the align bit array includes one of the part of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, the additional information, and the error checking data.

3. A decoding method of receiving a bitstream and decoding the bitstream, the decoding method comprising:

extracting from the bitstream an array of data bits comprising all or part of the encoded data and encoding information;

determining a number of bits of an align bit array based on a number of bits of the extracted data bit array, wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the extracted data bit array and a smallest multiple of a number of bits in a predetermined bit unit that is greater than the number of bits in the extracted data bit array;

extracting an align bit array comprising one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred related to the data bit array and the align bit array; and

decoding the encoded data included in at least one of the data bit array and the align bit array.

4. The decoding method of claim 3, wherein when the data bit array includes all of the encoded data, the align bit array includes one of the additional information and the error checking data, and when the data bit array includes part of the encoded data, the align bit array includes one of the part of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, the additional information, and the error checking data.

5. The decoding method of claim 3, wherein the decoding comprises:

combining the extracted data bit array and the extracted align bit array; and

decoding the bit array obtained by the combination.

6. The decoding method of claim 3, wherein the additional information includes at least one of watermark data and metadata associated with the encoded data.

7. A decoding method of receiving a bitstream and decoding the bitstream, the decoding method comprising:

extracting from the bitstream an array of data bits comprising all or part of the encoded data and encoding information;

extracting a flag from the bitstream, the flag indicating whether an align bit array includes one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred related to the data bit array and the align bit array; and

determining a number of bits of the align bit array based on a number of bits of the extracted data bit array when the value of the flag is 1, wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the extracted data bit array and a minimum multiple of a number of bits in a predetermined bit unit that is greater than the number of bits in the extracted data bit array;

extracting the align bit array from the bitstream and decoding the encoded data included in at least one of the data bit array and the align bit array.

8. An encoding apparatus comprising:

an encoding unit that encodes data; and

a bitstream generation unit that generates a bitstream using the encoded data,

wherein the bitstream generation unit includes:

a data bit array generating unit that generates a data bit array including all or part of the encoded data and the encoding information; and

an align bit array generating unit generating an align bit array including one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred related to the data bit array and the align bit array,

wherein the align bit array is inserted into the bitstream after the data bit array when the number of bits of the data bit array is not a multiple of one predetermined bit unit, and wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the data bit array and a smallest multiple of the number of bits in a predetermined bit unit that is greater than the number of bits in the data bit array.

9. The encoding apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a storage unit to store a portion of the encoded data that is not included in the array of data bits,

wherein the align bit array generating unit generates the align bit array using a predetermined number of encoded data stored in the storage unit, the predetermined number corresponding to a predetermined number of align bits.

10. A decoding apparatus that receives a bitstream and decodes the bitstream, the decoding apparatus comprising:

a data bit array extraction unit that extracts a data bit array including all or part of the encoded data and the encoding information from the bitstream;

an align bit array quantity determination unit that determines a number of bits of an align bit array based on a number of bits of the extracted data bit array, wherein the number of bits of the align bit array corresponds to a difference between the number of bits in the extracted data bit array and a minimum multiple of a number of bits in a predetermined bit unit that is greater than the number of bits in the extracted data bit array;

an align bit array extraction unit that extracts an align bit array, the align bit array including one of: a portion of the encoded data not included in the data bit array, additional information related to the data bit array, and error checking data required to determine whether a transmission error has occurred related to the data bit array and the align bit array; and

a decoding unit that decodes the encoded data included in at least one of the data bit array and the align bit array.

11. The decoding apparatus of claim 10, wherein the decoding unit comprises:

a first decoder that obtains data by decoding the encoded data included in the data bit array; and

a second decoder that obtains data by decoding the encoded data included in the align bit array.

12. The decoding apparatus of claim 10, wherein the additional information includes at least one of watermark data and metadata associated with the encoded data.