A new fast computational structure identical both for the forward and backward modified discrete cosine/sine transform (MDCT/MDST) computation is described. It is the result of a systematic construction of a fast algorithm for an efficient implementation of the complete time domain aliasing cancellation (TDAC) analysis/synthesis MDCT/MDST filter banks. It is shown that the same computational structure can be used both for the encoder and the decoder, thus significantly reducing design time and resources. The corresponding generalized signal flow graph is regular and defines new sparse matrix factorizations of the discrete cosine transform of type IV (DCT-IV) and MDCT/MDST matrices. The identical fast MDCT computational structure provides an efficient implementation of the MDCT in MPEG layer III (MP3) audio coding and the Dolby Labs AC-3 codec. All steps to derive the computational structure are described in detail, and to put them into perspective a comprehensive list of references classified into categories is provided covering new research results achieved in the time period 1999-2008 in theoretical and practical developments of TDAC analysis/synthesis MDCT/MDST filter banks (general mathematical, symmetry and special properties, fast MDCT/MDST algorithms and efficient software/hardware implementations of the MDCT in MP3). Crown Copyright (c) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.