vad : revisit timestamp alignment/mapping (#3173)

* vad : revisit timestamp alignment/mapping

This commit improving the timestamp alignment by introducing a mapping
table, adding intermediate reference points for longer segments, and
binary search for lookups.

The motivation for this changes is to address issues with the currently
solution where zero-length segments are possible, and also to improve
the precision of the VAD timestamps.

Refs: https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/issues/3162

* vad : use uint64_t for time mapping

This commit changes the type of the `processed_time` and `original_time`
fields in the `vad_time_mapping` struct from `double` to `uint64_t`.

The motivation for this change is made to improve precision and avoid
floating-point inaccuracies and also be consistent with other part of
the code base that use `uint64_t` for time representation.

This is a part of a refactoring where I'm also going to change the
vad_segment_info struct to use `uint64_t` for the start and end times.
This is the reason for the not so pleasant conversion and casts in the
code at the moment.

* vad : change vad_segment_info and whisper_vad_segment to use uint64_t

* vad : use int64_t instead of uint64_t for timestamps

To be consistent with other timestamps in the codebase.

* vad : add centisecond conversion functions

* vad : extract vad processing from whisper_full_with_state

This commit extracts the VAD processing from the
`whisper_full_with_state` function into the `whisper_full` and
`whisper_full_parallel` functions.

The motivation for this is that I did not take into account that when
`whisper_full_parallel` is called with `n_processors > 1`, then the
vad processing would not be applied correctly. Instead the VAD
processing should be done prior to processing in the case of
`whisper_full_parallel`.

* vad : remove filtered_n_samples from whisper_vad

The commit removes the parameter `filtered_n_samples` from the
`whisper_vad` function signature and its usage, as it is no longer
needed since filtered samples is now a vector (previously it was a
float*)

The motivation for this is to simplify the usage of this function.

* vad : remove vad_mapping_table_initialized flag

* vad : fix leaning (none) of pointer/references

src/whisper.cpp

@@ -859,6 +859,11 @@ struct whisper_aheads_masks {
     ggml_backend_buffer_t buffer = nullptr;
 };
 
+struct vad_time_mapping {
+    int64_t processed_time;  // Time in processed (VAD) audio
+    int64_t original_time;   // Corresponding time in original audio
+};
+
 struct whisper_state {
     int64_t t_sample_us = 0;
     int64_t t_encode_us = 0;
@@ -948,13 +953,15 @@ struct whisper_state {
     whisper_vad_context * vad_context = nullptr;
 
     struct vad_segment_info {
-        float orig_start;
+        int64_t orig_start;
-        float orig_end;
+        int64_t orig_end;
-        float vad_start;
+        int64_t vad_start;
-        float vad_end;
+        int64_t vad_end;
     };
     std::vector<vad_segment_info> vad_segments;
     bool has_vad_segments = false;
+
+    std::vector<vad_time_mapping> vad_mapping_table;
 };
 
 struct whisper_context {
@@ -4407,8 +4414,8 @@ struct whisper_vad_model {
 };
 
 struct whisper_vad_segment {
-    float start; // Start time in seconds
+    int64_t start;
-    float end;   // End time in seconds
+    int64_t end;
 };
 
 struct whisper_vad_segments {
@@ -4456,6 +4463,15 @@ struct whisper_vad_params whisper_vad_default_params(void) {
     return result;
 }
 
+// Time conversion utility functions for whisper VAD
+static int cs_to_samples(int64_t cs) {
+    return (int)((cs / 100.0) * WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE + 0.5);
+}
+
+static int64_t samples_to_cs(int samples) {
+    return (int64_t)((samples / (double)WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE) * 100.0 + 0.5);
+}
+
 static bool weight_buft_supported(const whisper_vad_hparams & hparams, ggml_tensor * w, ggml_op op, ggml_backend_buffer_type_t buft, ggml_backend_dev_t dev) {
     bool op_supported = true;
 
@@ -5400,12 +5416,12 @@ struct whisper_vad_segments * whisper_vad_segments_from_probs(
                 (speeches[i].end + speech_pad_samples) : audio_length_samples;
         }
 
-        // Convert from samples to seconds and copy to final segments
+        // Convert from samples to centiseconds
-        segments[i].start = (float)speeches[i].start / sample_rate;
+        segments[i].start = samples_to_cs(speeches[i].start);
-        segments[i].end   = (float)speeches[i].end   / sample_rate;
+        segments[i].end   = samples_to_cs(speeches[i].end);
 
         WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: VAD segment %d: start = %.2f, end = %.2f (duration: %.2f)\n",
-                        __func__, i, segments[i].start, segments[i].end, segments[i].end - segments[i].start);
+                        __func__, i, segments[i].start/100.0, segments[i].end/100.0, (segments[i].end - segments[i].start)/100.0);
     }
 
     whisper_vad_segments * vad_segments = new whisper_vad_segments;
@@ -6602,10 +6618,13 @@ static bool whisper_vad(
     struct whisper_full_params   params,
                    const float * samples,
                            int   n_samples,
-            std::vector<float> & filtered_samples,
+            std::vector<float> & filtered_samples) {
-                           int & filtered_n_samples) {
+    WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: VAD is enabled, processing speech segments only\n", __func__);
-    WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: VAD is enabled, processing speach segments only\n", __func__);
+    int filtered_n_samples = 0;
-    filtered_n_samples = 0;
+
+    // Clear any existing mapping table
+    state->vad_mapping_table.clear();
+    state->has_vad_segments = false;
 
     if (state->vad_context == nullptr) {
         struct whisper_vad_context_params vad_ctx_params = whisper_vad_default_context_params();
@@ -6627,13 +6646,17 @@ static bool whisper_vad(
         ctx->state->vad_segments.clear();
         ctx->state->vad_segments.reserve(vad_segments->data.size());
 
+        // Initialize the time mapping table
+        state->vad_mapping_table.clear();
+        state->vad_mapping_table.reserve(vad_segments->data.size() * 4);
+
         WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: detected %d speech segments\n", __func__, (int)vad_segments->data.size());
         float overlap_seconds = vad_params.samples_overlap;
         int overlap_samples = overlap_seconds * WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE;
 
         for (int i = 0; i < (int)vad_segments->data.size(); i++) {
-            int segment_start_samples = vad_segments->data[i].start * WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE;
+            int segment_start_samples = cs_to_samples(vad_segments->data[i].start);
-            int segment_end_samples   = vad_segments->data[i].end   * WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE;
+            int segment_end_samples   = cs_to_samples(vad_segments->data[i].end);
 
             if (i < (int)vad_segments->data.size() - 1) {
                 segment_end_samples += overlap_samples;
@@ -6642,9 +6665,9 @@ static bool whisper_vad(
             filtered_n_samples  += (segment_end_samples - segment_start_samples);
 
             WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: Including segment %d: %.2f - %.2f (duration: %.2f)\n",
-                __func__, i, vad_segments->data[i].start,
+                __func__, i, vad_segments->data[i].start/100.0,
-                vad_segments->data[i].end + (i < (int)vad_segments->data.size() - 1 ? overlap_seconds : 0),
+                (vad_segments->data[i].end/100.0 + (i < (int)vad_segments->data.size() - 1 ? overlap_seconds : 0)),
-                (vad_segments->data[i].end - vad_segments->data[i].start) +
+                (vad_segments->data[i].end - vad_segments->data[i].start)/100.0 +
                 (i < (int)vad_segments->data.size() - 1 ? overlap_seconds : 0));
         }
 
@@ -6666,8 +6689,8 @@ static bool whisper_vad(
 
         int offset = 0;
         for (int i = 0; i < (int)vad_segments->data.size(); i++) {
-            int segment_start_samples = vad_segments->data[i].start * WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE;
+            int segment_start_samples = cs_to_samples(vad_segments->data[i].start);
-            int segment_end_samples   = vad_segments->data[i].end   * WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE;
+            int segment_end_samples   = cs_to_samples(vad_segments->data[i].end);
 
             if (i < (int)vad_segments->data.size() - 1) {
                 segment_end_samples += overlap_samples;
@@ -6676,18 +6699,47 @@ static bool whisper_vad(
             segment_start_samples = std::min(segment_start_samples, n_samples - 1);
             segment_end_samples = std::min(segment_end_samples, n_samples);
             int segment_length = segment_end_samples - segment_start_samples;
-
             if (segment_length > 0) {
                 whisper_state::vad_segment_info segment;
 
                 segment.orig_start = vad_segments->data[i].start;
                 segment.orig_end   = vad_segments->data[i].end;
 
-                segment.vad_start = offset / (float)WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE;
+                segment.vad_start = samples_to_cs(offset);
-                segment.vad_end   = (offset + segment_length) / (float)WHISPER_SAMPLE_RATE;
+                segment.vad_end   = samples_to_cs(offset + segment_length);
+
+                // Add segment boundaries to mapping table
+                vad_time_mapping start_mapping = {segment.vad_start, segment.orig_start};
+                vad_time_mapping end_mapping = {segment.vad_end, segment.orig_end};
+
+                state->vad_mapping_table.push_back(start_mapping);
+                state->vad_mapping_table.push_back(end_mapping);
+
+                // Add intermediate points for longer segments to improve interpolation accuracy
+                const int64_t min_segment_length = 100; // 1 second
+                const int64_t point_interval = 20;     // Add a point every 200ms
+
+                if (segment.vad_end - segment.vad_start > min_segment_length) {
+                    int64_t segment_duration = segment.vad_end - segment.vad_start;
+                    int num_points = (int)(segment_duration / point_interval) - 1;
+
+                    for (int j = 1; j <= num_points; j++) {
+                        int64_t vad_time = segment.vad_start + j * point_interval;
+
+                        if (vad_time >= segment.vad_end) continue;
+
+                        int64_t vad_elapsed = vad_time - segment.vad_start;
+                        int64_t vad_total = segment.vad_end - segment.vad_start;
+                        int64_t orig_total = segment.orig_end - segment.orig_start;
+                        int64_t orig_time = segment.orig_start + (vad_elapsed * orig_total) / vad_total;
+
+                        vad_time_mapping intermediate_mapping = {vad_time, orig_time};
+                        state->vad_mapping_table.push_back(intermediate_mapping);
+                    }
+                }
 
                 WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: vad_segment_info: orig_start: %.2f, orig_end: %.2f, vad_start: %.2f, vad_end: %.2f\n",
-                    __func__, segment.orig_start, segment.orig_end, segment.vad_start, segment.vad_end);
+                    __func__, segment.orig_start/100.0, segment.orig_end/100.0, segment.vad_start/100.0, segment.vad_end/100.0);
                 ctx->state->vad_segments.push_back(segment);
 
                 // Copy this speech segment
@@ -6696,6 +6748,17 @@ static bool whisper_vad(
 
                 // Add silence after this segment (except after the last segment)
                 if (i < (int)vad_segments->data.size() - 1) {
+                    // Calculate the start and end time of the silence gap in processed audio
+                    int64_t silence_start_vad = samples_to_cs(offset);
+                    int64_t silence_end_vad = samples_to_cs(offset + silence_samples);
+                    // Calculate the corresponding original times
+                    int64_t orig_silence_start = segment.orig_end;
+                    int64_t orig_silence_end = vad_segments->data[i+1].start;
+
+                    // Add mapping points for silence boundaries
+                    state->vad_mapping_table.push_back({silence_start_vad, orig_silence_start});
+                    state->vad_mapping_table.push_back({silence_end_vad, orig_silence_end});
+
                     // Fill with zeros (silence)
                     memset(filtered_samples.data() + offset, 0, silence_samples * sizeof(float));
                     offset += silence_samples;
@@ -6703,6 +6766,24 @@ static bool whisper_vad(
             }
         }
 
+        // Sort the mapping table by processed time
+        std::sort(state->vad_mapping_table.begin(), state->vad_mapping_table.end(),
+            [](const vad_time_mapping& a, const vad_time_mapping& b) {
+                return a.processed_time < b.processed_time;
+        });
+
+        // Remove any duplicate processed times to ensure monotonicity which is
+        // needed for binary search and interpolation later.
+        if (!state->vad_mapping_table.empty()) {
+            auto last = std::unique(state->vad_mapping_table.begin(), state->vad_mapping_table.end(),
+                [](const vad_time_mapping& a, const vad_time_mapping& b) {
+                    return a.processed_time == b.processed_time;
+                });
+            state->vad_mapping_table.erase(last, state->vad_mapping_table.end());
+        }
+
+        WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: Created time mapping table with %d points\n", __func__, (int)state->vad_mapping_table.size());
+
         filtered_n_samples = offset;
         WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: Reduced audio from %d to %d samples (%.1f%% reduction)\n",
                         __func__, n_samples, filtered_n_samples, 100.0f * (1.0f - (float)filtered_n_samples / n_samples));
@@ -6722,27 +6803,9 @@ int whisper_full_with_state(
 
     result_all.clear();
 
-    const float * process_samples = samples;
+    if (n_samples > 0) {
-    int n_process_samples = n_samples;
-    std::vector<float> vad_samples;
-
-    if (params.vad) {
-        WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: VAD is enabled, processing speech segments only\n", __func__);
-        int vad_n_samples;
-        if (!whisper_vad(ctx, state, params, samples, n_samples, vad_samples, vad_n_samples)) {
-            WHISPER_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to compute VAD\n", __func__);
-            return -1;
-        }
-        if (vad_n_samples == 0) {
-            return 0;
-        }
-        process_samples = vad_samples.data();
-        n_process_samples = vad_n_samples;
-    }
-
-    if (n_process_samples > 0) {
         // compute log mel spectrogram
-        if (whisper_pcm_to_mel_with_state(ctx, state, process_samples, n_process_samples, params.n_threads) != 0) {
+        if (whisper_pcm_to_mel_with_state(ctx, state, samples, n_samples, params.n_threads) != 0) {
             WHISPER_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to compute log mel spectrogram\n", __func__);
             return -2;
         }
@@ -7652,6 +7715,20 @@ int whisper_full(
     struct whisper_full_params   params,
                    const float * samples,
                            int   n_samples) {
+
+    std::vector<float> vad_samples;
+    if (params.vad) {
+        WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: VAD is enabled, processing speech segments only\n", __func__);
+        if (!whisper_vad(ctx, ctx->state, params, samples, n_samples, vad_samples)) {
+            WHISPER_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to compute VAD\n", __func__);
+            return -1;
+        }
+        if (vad_samples.empty()) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+        samples = vad_samples.data();
+        n_samples = vad_samples.size();
+    }
     return whisper_full_with_state(ctx, ctx->state, params, samples, n_samples);
 }
 
@@ -7661,9 +7738,24 @@ int whisper_full_parallel(
         const float * samples,
         int n_samples,
         int n_processors) {
+
     if (n_processors == 1) {
         return whisper_full(ctx, params, samples, n_samples);
     }
+
+    std::vector<float> vad_samples;
+    if (params.vad) {
+        WHISPER_LOG_INFO("%s: VAD is enabled, processing speech segments only\n", __func__);
+        if (!whisper_vad(ctx, ctx->state, params, samples, n_samples, vad_samples)) {
+            WHISPER_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to compute VAD\n", __func__);
+            return -1;
+        }
+        if (vad_samples.empty()) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+        samples = vad_samples.data();
+        n_samples = vad_samples.size();
+    }
     int ret = 0;
 
     // prepare separate states for each thread
@@ -7786,130 +7878,89 @@ int whisper_full_lang_id(struct whisper_context * ctx) {
     return ctx->state->lang_id;
 }
 
+static int64_t map_processed_to_original_time(int64_t processed_time, const std::vector<vad_time_mapping> & mapping_table) {
+    if (mapping_table.empty()) {
+        return processed_time;
+    }
+
+    if (processed_time <= mapping_table.front().processed_time) {
+        return mapping_table.front().original_time; // Before first mapping point
+    }
+
+    if (processed_time >= mapping_table.back().processed_time) {
+        return mapping_table.back().original_time; // After last mapping point
+    }
+
+    // Binary search over the time map that finds the first entry that has a
+    // processed time greater than or equal to the current processed time.
+    auto upper = std::lower_bound(mapping_table.begin(), mapping_table.end(), processed_time,
+        [](const vad_time_mapping & entry, int64_t time) {
+            return entry.processed_time < time;
+        }
+    );
+
+    // If exact match found
+    if (upper->processed_time == processed_time) {
+        return upper->original_time;
+    }
+
+    // Need to interpolate between two points
+    auto lower = upper - 1;
+
+    int64_t processed_diff = upper->processed_time - lower->processed_time;
+    int64_t original_diff = upper->original_time - lower->original_time;
+    int64_t offset = processed_time - lower->processed_time;
+
+    if (processed_diff == 0) {
+        return lower->original_time;
+    }
+
+    // Perform linear interpolation
+    return lower->original_time + (offset * original_diff) / processed_diff;
+}
+
+// Function to get the starting timestamp of a segment
 int64_t whisper_full_get_segment_t0_from_state(struct whisper_state * state, int i_segment) {
     // If VAD wasn't used, return the original timestamp
-    if (!state->has_vad_segments || state->vad_segments.empty()) {
+    if (!state->has_vad_segments || state->vad_mapping_table.empty()) {
         return state->result_all[i_segment].t0;
     }
 
-    // Get the start timestamp produced by whisper_full. whisper_full processes
+    // Get the processed timestamp
-    // only the speech segments in this case so we need to map these timestamps
+    int64_t t0 = state->result_all[i_segment].t0;
-    // back to the original audio.
-    float t0 = state->result_all[i_segment].t0 / 100.0f;
 
-    // Find which VAD segment this timestamp belongs.
+    // Map to original time using the mapping table
-    // TODO(danbev) This could be optimized by using a binary search if the number
+    return map_processed_to_original_time(t0, state->vad_mapping_table);
-    // of segments exceed a certain limit. Also we might be able to assume that
-    // the access pattern is sequential and optimized for that too.
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < state->vad_segments.size(); i++) {
-        const auto & segment = state->vad_segments[i];
-
-        // Check if the timestamp falls within this segment.
-        if (t0 >= segment.vad_start && t0 <= segment.vad_end) {
-            float proportion = 0.0f;
-            if (segment.vad_end > segment.vad_start) {
-                proportion = (t0 - segment.vad_start) / (segment.vad_end - segment.vad_start);
-            }
-            float orig_t0 = segment.orig_start + proportion * (segment.orig_end - segment.orig_start);
-            return (int64_t)(orig_t0 * 100);
-        }
-    }
-
-    // Check if the timestamp falls between two segments.
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < state->vad_segments.size() - 1; i++) {
-        const auto & curr = state->vad_segments[i];
-        const auto & next = state->vad_segments[i + 1];
-
-        if (t0 > curr.vad_end && t0 < next.vad_start) {
-            // Calculate how far we are through the gap as a proportion
-            float gap_proportion = 0.0f;
-            if (next.vad_start > curr.vad_end) {
-                gap_proportion = (t0 - curr.vad_end) / (next.vad_start - curr.vad_end);
-            }
-            float orig_t0 = curr.orig_end + gap_proportion * (next.orig_start - curr.orig_end);
-            return (int64_t)(orig_t0 * 100);
-        }
-    }
-
-    // Handle the case where the timestamp is after the last segment.
-    if (t0 > state->vad_segments.back().vad_end) {
-        // For timestamps after the last segment, add the extra time to the end of the last segment
-        const auto& last = state->vad_segments.back();
-        // Calculate how far beyond the last segment
-        float extra_time = t0 - last.vad_end;
-        // Add this extra time to the original end time
-        float orig_t0 = last.orig_end + extra_time;
-        return (int64_t)(orig_t0 * 100);
-    }
-
-    WHISPER_LOG_WARN("%s: Could not map t0 = %f to a VAD segment\n", __func__, t0);
-    return t0;
-}
-
-int64_t whisper_full_get_segment_t0(struct whisper_context * ctx, int i_segment) {
-    return whisper_full_get_segment_t0_from_state(ctx->state, i_segment);
 }
 
+// Function to get the ending timestamp of a segment
 int64_t whisper_full_get_segment_t1_from_state(struct whisper_state * state, int i_segment) {
     // If VAD wasn't used, return the original timestamp
-    if (!state->has_vad_segments || state->vad_segments.empty()) {
+    if (!state->has_vad_segments || state->vad_mapping_table.empty()) {
         return state->result_all[i_segment].t1;
     }
 
-    // Get the end timestamp produced by whisper_full. whisper_full processes
+    // Get the processed timestamp
-    // only the speech segments in this case so we need to map these timestamps
+    int64_t t1 = state->result_all[i_segment].t1;
-    // back to the original audio.
-    float t1 = state->result_all[i_segment].t1 / 100.0f;
 
-    // Find which VAD segment this timestamp belongs.
+    // Map to original time using the mapping table
-    // TODO(danbev) This could be optimized by using a binary search if the number
+    int64_t orig_t1 = map_processed_to_original_time(t1, state->vad_mapping_table);
-    // of segments exceed a certain limit. Also we might be able to assume that
-    // the access pattern is sequential and optimized for that too.
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < state->vad_segments.size(); i++) {
-        const auto& segment = state->vad_segments[i];
 
-        // Check if the timestamp falls within this segment.
+    // Get the corresponding t0 for this segment
-        if (t1 >= segment.vad_start && t1 <= segment.vad_end) {
+    int64_t orig_t0 = whisper_full_get_segment_t0_from_state(state, i_segment);
-            // Calculate the proportion through the filtered segment.
+
-            float proportion = 0.0f;
+    // Ensure minimum duration to prevent zero-length segments
-            if (segment.vad_end > segment.vad_start) {
+    const int64_t min_duration = 10; // 10ms minimum
-                proportion = (t1 - segment.vad_start) / (segment.vad_end - segment.vad_start);
+    if (orig_t1 - orig_t0 < min_duration) {
-            }
+        orig_t1 = orig_t0 + min_duration;
-            float orig_t1 = segment.orig_start + proportion * (segment.orig_end - segment.orig_start);
-            return (int64_t)(orig_t1 * 100);
-        }
     }
 
-    // Check if the timestamp falls between two segments.
+    return orig_t1;
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < state->vad_segments.size() - 1; i++) {
+}
-        const auto & curr = state->vad_segments[i];
-        const auto & next = state->vad_segments[i + 1];
 
-        if (t1 > curr.vad_end && t1 < next.vad_start) {
-            // Calculate how far we are through the gap as a proportion
-            float gap_proportion = 0.0f;
-            if (next.vad_start > curr.vad_end) {
-                gap_proportion = (t1 - curr.vad_end) / (next.vad_start - curr.vad_end);
-            }
-            // Map to the corresponding position in the original gap
-            float orig_t1 = curr.orig_end + gap_proportion * (next.orig_start - curr.orig_end);
-            return (int64_t)(orig_t1 * 100);
-        }
-    }
 
-    // Handle the case where the timestamp is after the last segment
+int64_t whisper_full_get_segment_t0(struct whisper_context * ctx, int i_segment) {
-    if (t1 > state->vad_segments.back().vad_end) {
+    return whisper_full_get_segment_t0_from_state(ctx->state, i_segment);
-        // For the last segment, use the end of the last VAD segment
-        const auto& last = state->vad_segments.back();
-        // Calculate how far beyond the last segment
-        float extra_time = t1 - last.vad_end;
-        // Add this extra time to the original end time
-        float orig_t1 = last.orig_end + extra_time;
-        return (int64_t)(orig_t1 * 100);
-    }
-
-    WHISPER_LOG_WARN("%s: Could not map t1 = %f to a VAD segment\n", __func__, t1);
-    return t1;
 }
 
 int64_t whisper_full_get_segment_t1(struct whisper_context * ctx, int i_segment) {