IEC 61937-9:2007

Digital audio - Interface for non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams applying IEC 60958 - Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format

IEC 61937-9:2007 describes the method to convey non-linear PCM bitstreams encoded according to the MAT format.

Audionumérique - Interface pour les flux de bits audio à codage MIC non linéaire conformément à la CEI 60958 - Partie 9: Flux de bits MIC non linéaire selon le format MAT

La CEI 61937-9:2007 décrit la méthode pour acheminer des flux de bits MIC non linéaire codés selon le format MAT.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 29-Aug-2007
• ICS: 33.160.30 - Audio systems
• ICS: 35.040.40 - Coding of audio, video, multimedia and hypermedia information
• Technical Committee: TC 100 - Audio, video and multimedia systems and equipment
• Current Stage: DELPUB - Deleted Publication
• Start Date: 10-Aug-2017
• Completion Date: 26-Oct-2025

Relations

• Revised: IEC 61937-9:2017 - Digital audio - Interface for non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams applying IEC 60958 - Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC 61937-9
Edition 1.0 2007-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
Digital audio – Interface for non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams applying
IEC 60958 –
Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester.
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please contact the address below or your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

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IEC 61937-9
Edition 1.0 2007-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
Digital audio – Interface for non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams applying
IEC 60958 –
Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
PRICE CODE
J
ICS 33.160.30; 35.040 ISBN 2-8318-9274-0

– 2 – 61937-9 © IEC:2007(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.3

1 Scope.5
2 Normative references .5
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations .5
3.1 Terms and definitions .5
3.2 Abbreviations .5
4 Mapping of the audio bitstream on to IEC 61937-1 .5
4.1 General .5
4.2 MAT burst-info.6
5 Format of MAT data-bursts .6
5.1 General .6
5.2 Pause data-burst.6
5.3 Audio data-bursts .6
5.3.1 The MAT data.6
5.3.2 Latency of the MAT decoder .8

Bibliography.9

Figure 1 – MAT data-burst .7
Figure 2 – Latency of MAT decoding.8

Table 1 – Fields of burst-info .6
Table 2 – Repetition period of the pause data-bursts .6
Table 3 – Data-type-dependent information for MAT .7
Table 4 – Sample rate of MAT encoded audio and IEC 60958 frame rate.7

61937-9 © IEC:2007(E) – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
DIGITAL AUDIO –
INTERFACE FOR NON-LINEAR PCM ENCODED
AUDIO BITSTREAMS APPLYING IEC 60958 –

Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
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transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
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equipment declared to be in conformity with an IEC Publication.
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 61937-9 has been prepared by techn
...

IEC 61937-9 ®
Edition 1.0 2007-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Digital audio – Interface for non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams applying
IEC 60958 –
Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format

Audionumérique – Interface pour les flux de bits audio à codage MIC non
linéaire conformément à la CEI 60958 –
Partie 9: Flux de bits MIC non linéaire selon le format MAT

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester.
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International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

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latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

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IEC 61937-9 ®
Edition 1.0 2007-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Digital audio – Interface for non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams applying

IEC 60958 –
Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format

Audionumérique – Interface pour les flux de bits audio à codage MIC non

linéaire conformément à la CEI 60958 –

Partie 9: Flux de bits MIC non linéaire selon le format MAT

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
CODE PRIX J
ICS 33.160.30; 35.040 ISBN 978-2-83220-523-5

– 2 – 61937-9 © IEC:2007
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3

1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations . 5
3.1 Terms and definitions . 5
3.2 Abbreviations . 5
4 Mapping of the audio bitstream on to IEC 61937-1 . 5
4.1 General . 5
4.2 MAT burst-info. 6
5 Format of MAT data-bursts . 6
5.1 General . 6
5.2 Pause data-burst . 6
5.3 Audio data-bursts . 6
5.3.1 The MAT data . 6
5.3.2 Latency of the MAT decoder . 8

Bibliography . 9

Figure 1 – MAT data-burst . 7
Figure 2 – Latency of MAT decoding . 8

Table 1 – Fields of burst-info . 6
Table 2 – Repetition period of the pause data-bursts . 6
Table 3 – Data-type-dependent information for MAT . 7
Table 4 – Sample rate of MAT encoded audio and IEC 60958 frame rate . 7

61937-9 © IEC:2007 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
DIGITAL AUDIO –
INTERFACE FOR NON-LINEAR PCM ENCODED
AUDIO BITSTREAMS APPLYING IEC 60958 –

Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC provides no marking procedure to indicate its approval and cannot be rendered responsible for any
equipment declared to be in conformity with an IEC Publication.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 61937-9 has been prepared by technical area 4: Digital system
interfaces and protocols, of IEC technical committee 100: Audio, video and multimedia
systems and equipment.
This bilingual version (2012-12) corresponds to the monolingual English version, published in
2007-08.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
100/1198/FDIS 100/1265/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.

– 4 – 61937-9 © IEC:2007
The French version of this standard has not been voted upon.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The list of all parts of the IEC 61937 series, under the general title Digital audio – Interface for
non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams applying IEC 60958, can be found on the IEC
website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the maintenance result date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the
data related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
61937-9 © IEC:2007 – 5 –
DIGITAL AUDIO –
INTERFACE FOR NON-LINEAR PCM ENCODED
AUDIO BITSTREAMS APPLYING IEC 60958 –

Part 9: Non-linear PCM bitstreams according to the MAT format

1 Scope
This part of IEC 61937 describes the method to convey non-linear PCM bitstreams encoded
according to the MAT format.
2 Normative references
The following Standards contain provisions which, through reference in the text, referenced
documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only
the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60958 (all parts), Digital audio interface
IEC 61937-1:2007, Digital audio – Interface for non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams
applying IEC 60958 – Part 1: General
IEC 61937-2:2007, Digital audio – Interface for non-linear PCM encoded audio bitstreams
applying IEC 60958 – Part 2: Burst info
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations
For the purpose of this standard, the following definitions and abbreviations apply.
3.1 Terms and definitions
3.1.1
latency
delay time of an external audio decoder to decode a MAT data-burst, defined as the sum of
two values of the receiving delay time and the decoding delay time
3.2 Abbreviations
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
ISO International Organization for Standardization
ISO/IEC MPEG The Moving Picture Experts Group, a joint committee of ISO and IEC
MAT Metadata-enhanced Audio Transmission
4 Mapping of the audio bitstream on to IEC 61937-1
4.1 General
The coding of the bitstream and data-burst is in accordance with IEC 61937-1 and 61937-2.

– 6 – 61937-9 © IEC:2007
4.2 MAT burst-info
The 16-bit burst-info contains information about the data which will be found in the data-burst.
Table 1 – Fields of burst-info
Bits of Reference Repetition period of data-
Value Contents
Pc point R burst in IEC 60958 frames
0 – 4 Data-type
0 – 21 According to IEC 61937
22 MAT R-MAT 15 360
23 – 31 According to IEC 61937
5, 6 Sub- data-type
0 MAT
1 – 3 According to IEC 61937
7 – 15 According to IEC 61937

5 Format of MAT data-bursts
5.1 General
This clause specifies the audio data-burst MAT. Specific properties such as reference points,
repetition period, the method of filling stream gaps, and decoding latency are specified.
The decoding latency (or delay), indicated for the data-type, should be used by the transmitter
to schedule data-bursts as necessary to establish synchronization between picture and
decoded audio.
5.2 Pause data-burst
Pause data-burst for MAT is given in Table 2
Table 2 – Repetition period of the pause data-bursts
Repetition period of pause data-burst
Data-type of audio data-burst
Mandatory Recommended
MAT - 4 IEC 60958 frames
5.3 Audio data-bursts
5.3.1 The MAT data
The MAT bitstream consists of a sequence of MAT frames. The data-type of a MAT data-burst
is 22, and the sub-data-type is 0. When MAT data is being transmitted, the transmission
device shall ensure that both the data-type and sub-data-type values are set correctly.
Additionally, the receiving device shall utilize both the data-type and sub data-type values to
ensure that the content of the data-burst is correctly identified as MAT. The data-burst is
headed with a burst-preamble, followed by the burst-payload. The burst-payload of each MAT
data-burst shall contain 1 complete MAT frame.

61937-9 © IEC:2007 – 7 –
The length of the MAT data-burst will depend on the encoded bit rate (which determines the
MAT frame length).
Pa Pb Pc Pd MAT burst-payload Pa Pb Pc Pd MAT burst-payload
R-MAT R-MAT
MAT frame
MAT frame Stuffing
Regular rate of the MAT frames
Repetition period of the burst
IEC  1920/07
Figure 1 – MAT data-burst
The data-type-dependent information for MAT is given in Table 3.
Table 3 – Data-type-dependent information for MAT
Bits of Pc
Value Contents
LSB.MSB
8 - 12 00h Reserved, shall be set to ‘0’

Table 4 shows the relation between the sample rate of MAT encoded audio and the
IEC 60958 frame rate used to deliver MAT data via the IEC 61937 interface.

Table 4 – Sample rate of MAT encoded audio and IEC 60958 frame rate
MAT sample rate IEC 60958 frame rate
48 kHz 768 kHz
96 kHz 768 kHz
192 kHz 768 kHz
44,1 kHz 705,6 kHz
88,2 kHz 705,6 kHz
176,4 kHz 705,6 kHz
The reference point of a MAT data-burst (R-MAT) is the IEC 60958 frame that occurs half-way
through the MAT burst-payload. The data-bursts containing MAT frames shall occur at a
regular rate, with the reference point of the MAT data-burst beginning 15 360 IEC 60958
frames after the reference point of the preceding MAT data-burst.
The units of burst-length shall be in bytes. The maximum size of a MAT burst-payload is
61 424 bytes.
– 8 – 61937-9 © IEC:2007
5.3.2 Latency of the MAT decoder
The latency of a MAT decoder which receives this signal is specified, with respect to the
reference point of the MAT data-burst, to be equal to the time occupied by 1/12 of a MAT
frame (equivalent to 1 280 IEC 60958 frames at the IEC 60958 frame rate).

Pa Pb Pc Pd MAT burst-payload Pa Pb Pc Pd MAT burst-payload
R-MAT R-MAT
MAT frame Stuffing MAT frame
Regular rate of the MAT frames
Latency of the MAT decoder
IEC  1921/07
Figure 2 – Latency of MAT decoding
It is recommended that Pause data-bursts are used to fill stream gaps in the MAT bitstream
as described in IEC 61937-1, and that pause data-bursts be transmitted with a repetition
period of 4 IEC 60958 frames, except when other repetition periods are necessary to fill the
precise stream gap length (which may not be a multiple of 4 IEC 60958 frames), or to meet
the requirement on burst spacing (refer to
...