JP2004320582

Patent Translate
Powered by EPO and Google
Notice
This translation is machine-generated. It cannot be guaranteed that it is intelligible, accurate,
complete, reliable or fit for specific purposes. Critical decisions, such as commercially relevant or
financial decisions, should not be based on machine-translation output.
DESCRIPTION JP2004320582
To output an interrupting voice from an audio system in various output forms. SOLUTION:
Interrupt voice output devices 14 and 16 such as car navigation systems and car telephone
systems are provided, and interrupt voice data are outputted to an audio amplifier 18. The
microcomputer in the audio amplifier 18 combines or switches the two signals according to the
priority of the audio signal and the interrupting voice, and outputs the combined signal from the
speakers FR, FL, RR, and RL. The interruption voice is output with a non-linear characteristic
having an output level equal to or more than a predetermined value so that the user can
recognize even if the volume of the audio amplifier 18 is equal to or less than a predetermined
value. When the priority of the interrupting voice is low, the interrupting voice is synthesized
with the audio signal and output, and when the priority of the interrupting voice is high, the
audio signal is muted and only the interrupting voice is output. [Selected figure] Figure 1
Automotive interrupt signal output device
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an
on-vehicle interrupt signal output device, and more particularly to a technique for outputting
guidance voice from a navigation unit other than audio from an audio system. [0002]
Conventionally, there are known techniques for outputting guidance voice from a navigation
system, emergency voice of a radio, or voice of a car telephone from an audio system. In such a
system, usually, the speaker line of the audio system is separated to output the sound of the
navigation system or the car telephone system to the speaker. [0003] In the prior art described
below, a technology has been proposed which outputs voice from a car navigation system to an
audio amplifier and simultaneously outputs interrupt voice from a car navigation device without
stopping voice output of the audio device. It is done. [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent
Application Laid-Open No. 9-9397 However, in the configuration in which the speaker line is
10-05-2019
1
divided and the interruption sound is output from the audio speaker, the audio amplifier
Depending on the volume setting, there is a problem that the interrupting voice is too low to be
recognized by the user. Also, there is a problem that the sound from the audio device is also
divided uniformly. Further, in the configuration in which the audio voice and the interrupt voice
are simultaneously output from the speaker as in the above-mentioned prior art, the user may
miss important interrupt voice depending on the audio voice. In addition, some users may want
to output an interrupting voice from a specific speaker among a plurality of audio speakers (for
example, it is desired to output from a speaker closest to the driver's seat when car-mounted is
considered). Furthermore, instead of outputting the interrupting voice by superimposing
uniformly on the audio voice, for example, the guidance voice from the car navigation system
may be output simultaneously with the audio voice, but the other urgent interrupting voices may
be output. In view of the importance, it may be desired to mute the audio voice and output only
the interrupt voice. The conventional system has a problem that it can not meet various demands
of users. An object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of outputting an
interrupt signal from an audio system in various forms. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The
present invention is an on-vehicle apparatus for outputting an interrupt signal other than an
audio signal, comprising: a navigation unit for outputting the interrupt signal and the interrupt
control signal; And a switch for combining or switching between the audio signal and the
interrupt signal based on the interrupt control signal. Characterized by having means.
Interrupt signals other than audio are supplied to an amplifier for audio signal without
interrupting the audio signal. The audio amplifier synthesizes or switches between the audio
signal and the interrupt signal and outputs it. By selecting combining and switching based on the
interrupt control signal from the navigation unit by the switch means in the audio amplifier, the
interrupt signal is output in various forms. The "interruption signal" refers to a signal other than
an audio signal from broadcast-based media such as radio and package-based media such as CD,
MD, and DVD. The combination or switching by the switch means is set, for example, in
accordance with the priorities of the audio signal and the interrupt signal. As an example, when
the priority levels of the interrupt signal and the audio signal are the same, the interrupt signal is
synthesized (superimposed) on the audio signal by the switch means and output. The user listens
to the interrupt voice simultaneously with the audio voice. If the priority of the interrupt signal is
higher than the priority of the audio signal, the switch means outputs an interrupt signal instead
of the audio signal. The user will hear only the interrupting voice. The priority reflects the
usefulness or urgency of the information for the user. In the present invention, the interrupt
signal data preferably has non-linear volume level characteristics with respect to the volume so
as to be output at a constant volume even if the volume of the amplifier is less than a
predetermined value. Since the interrupt signal is output from the audio amplifier, the output
level of the interrupt signal is determined depending on the volume level when the user listens to
the audio signal. Therefore, by maintaining a constant volume even if the volume is below a
predetermined value, the interrupt signal is always output at a constant volume or higher. As an
10-05-2019
2
example of the non-linear characteristic, the output level is maintained at a fixed level up to a
fixed value of the volume stop, and the output level increases according to the volume like the
normal property when the volume stop is higher than a fixed value. It is. BEST MODE FOR
CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be
described with reference to the drawings, taking an on-vehicle audio system as an example. A
system configuration diagram according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The onvehicle audio system includes an audio output device 10, an audio output device 12, an audio
amplifier 18, and an audio speaker. As the audio speakers, for example, a speaker FR installed at
the front right of the vehicle, a speaker FL installed at the left front of the vehicle, a speaker RR
installed at the right rear of the vehicle, and a speaker RL installed at the left rear of the vehicle
Can.
Of course, the speaker group is not limited to these, and if necessary, fourth and fifth speakers
(for example, a woofer, a tweeter, etc.) may be provided. The audio output device 10 is a car
radio or the like, and the audio output device 12 is a car CD player, a car MD player or the like. In
addition to these audio output devices, interrupt voice output devices 14 and 16 are provided
which output voices other than audio (this is referred to as interrupt voices). The interrupt voice
output devices 14 and 16 are cascaded, and the interrupt voice output device 16 is connected to
the audio amplifier 18. The interrupt voice output device 14 and the interrupt voice output
device 16 are connected by a dedicated line 20 for small signal, and the interrupt voice output
device 16 and the audio amplifier 18 are also connected by a dedicated line 20 for small signal.
The interruption voice output device 14 is a car navigation system or the like that outputs a
guidance voice and a voice output control signal, and the interruption voice output device 16 is a
hands-free car telephone system or the like. A hands-free car telephone system inputs voice from
a microphone installed at a predetermined position of a vehicle, and outputs a ring tone and
voice of the other party from an audio speaker to allow the other party without the user (driver)
to operate manually. It is a system that can talk with The audio output device 10, the audio
output device 12, the interrupt voice output device 14, the interrupt voice output device 16 and
the audio amplifier 18 are connected to a control LAN in the vehicle, and are control computers
that control these devices collectively. The operation is controlled. The audio amplifier 18
basically receives an audio signal from the audio output device 10 or the audio output device 12,
amplifies it, and outputs it to the speaker groups FR, FL, RR, and RL. In addition to the audio
signal, the interrupt voice signal from the interrupt voice output device 14 or the interrupt voice
output device 16 is also input. The audio amplifier 18 synthesizes or switches the audio signal
and the interrupt voice signal, and outputs it to the speaker group. The microcomputer of the
audio amplifier 18 determines whether to combine or switch and output the audio signal and the
interrupt voice signal. Here, when one of the interruption voice output devices 14 and 16 is a
navigation device, the guidance voice from the navigation device and the audio signal are
synthesized or switched by the voice output control signal output from the navigation device.
Output.
10-05-2019
3
A specific configuration of the audio amplifier 18 in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. The audio amplifier
18 is a distributor for distributing the stereo signals of R and L to the speaker group, switch
groups SW1 to SW4 for combining or switching the audio signal and the interrupting voice based
on the audio output control signal, and further each switch SW1 to SW4 It is configured to have
a microcomputer that controls opening and closing. SW1 is connected to the speaker FR, SW2 is
connected to the speaker FL, SW3 is connected to the speaker RR, and SW4 is connected to the
speaker RL. The switches SW1 to SW4 switch the contact on the audio signal side and the
contact on the interrupt voice side independently. By closing only the audio signal side, only the
audio signal is output to the speaker, and by closing only the interruption voice side, only the
interruption voice is output to the speaker. By closing the audio signal side and the interrupting
voice side together, the audio signal and the interrupting voice are synthesized and output to the
speaker. The microcomputer in the audio amplifier 18 controls SW1 to SW4 based on the audio
signal and the priority of the interrupting voice. The priority is predetermined and stored in a
memory such as a ROM. The priority is as follows. P (audio signal) <P (interruption voice 1) P
(audio signal) <P (interruption voice 1) <P (interruption voice 2) P (audio signal) = P (interruption
voice 3) Here, P () represents the priority, and the interrupting voices 1, 2, 3, etc. correspond to
the presence of several types of interrupting voices. When the priority P (interruption voice) of
the interrupting voice is higher than the priority P (audio signal) of the audio signal, the
microcomputer opens the SW2 to SW4 (OFF control) to cut off the audio signal from the
distributor. At the same time, the switch SW1 is closed only to the interrupting voice side (ON
control) to output only the interrupting voice from the speaker FR. FIG. 2 shows how the
interrupting voice is output from the speaker FR. When the priority P of the audio signal (audio
signal) and the priority P of the interrupting voice are the same, the microcomputer controls the
SW2 to SW4 to the audio signal side to control the audio signal from the distributor. As well as
outputting to the speaker group, the switch SW1 is closed on the audio signal side and the
interruption voice side, the audio signal and the interruption voice are synthesized and output
from the speaker FR. In this embodiment, the microcomputer in the audio amplifier 18
synthesizes or switches signals according to the priority of the audio signal and the interrupting
voice, and outputs the synthesized signal to the speaker group, so that it can be output in various
forms.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show switching of the speaker group according to the type of the interrupting
voice. For example, the guidance voice from the car navigation system and the ringing tone from
the hands-free car telephone system are assumed to be interrupting voices, and the priority is as
follows. P (audio signal) = P (guidance voice) <P (ring tone) When the ringtone from the handsfree car telephone system is inputted as an interruption voice, the microcomputer of the audio
amplifier 18 has the above-mentioned priority. The switches SW3 and SW4 are controlled to
open, and the switches SW1 and SW2 are controlled to be closed on the voice side to mute the
10-05-2019
4
audio signal as shown in FIG. 3 to output the ringing tone from the speakers FR and FL. It can be
determined by the command from the control computer that controls the entire system that the
interrupting voice is the ringing tone from the handsfree mobile telephone system. It may be
acquired via the control LAN that the microcomputer of the audio amplifier 18 is a ring tone. The
microcomputer of the audio amplifier 18 may function as a control computer that controls the
entire system. On the other hand, when the guidance voice from the car navigation system is
inputted as the interruption voice, the microcomputer of the audio amplifier 18 controls SW3
and SW4 to the audio signal side according to the above-mentioned priority, and switches SW1
and SW2 It is closed on the audio signal side and the interrupt voice side, synthesized into an
audio signal as shown in FIG. 4, and a guidance voice is outputted from the speakers FR and FL.
As described above, the interrupting voice is output with the position of the output speaker and
the number of the output speakers being varied according to the level of the priority, and it is
further independently (muting of the audio signal) or with the audio signal. Synthesized and
output. Since the guidance voice output from the navigation device can be synthesized or
switched with the audio signal according to the voice output control signal, the guidance voice is
synthesized or switched by outputting the voice output control signal at the timing of only the
required guidance voice. Can increase the degree of freedom. The configuration may be such that
the user can appropriately select the presence or absence of the output speaker of the
interrupting voice and the number thereof, or the combination with the audio signal. The output
speaker information of the interrupting voice set by the user is stored in the memory of the
microcomputer, and the microcomputer outputs the interrupting voice according to the stored
output speaker information and the priority stored in the ROM. When the microcomputer of the
audio amplifier 18 mutes the audio signal and outputs the interrupting voice from the speakers,
depending on the volume of the audio system, the output of the interrupting voice may be too
low to be recognized by the user. .
For example, if the user has narrowed the volume of the audio system to the minimum position
for some reason, even if the interrupting voice is output from the audio amplifier 18, the
interrupting voice is not output from the speaker group, and the user Can not recognize.
Therefore, the interrupt voice in the present embodiment is a non-linear signal having an output
level equal to or higher than a certain level so that the user can be surely recognized even if the
volume of the audio system is set to a certain value or less. It has a characteristic. FIG. 5 shows
the output characteristics of the interrupting voice. In the figure, reference numeral 100 is an
audio signal output, and reference numeral 200 is an interrupt voice output characteristic. The
audio signal output changes substantially linearly with the volume, and the output level is zero
when the volume is narrowed, but the interrupt voice has a constant output level even if the
volume is below a certain value. . That is, the interrupting voice maintains a constant output level
when the volume is below the constant value Vo, and the output level increases in proportion to
the volume when the volume is above Vo. Such non-linear characteristics may be provided, for
example, with an adjustment amplifier for interrupting voice in the audio amplifier 18, and the
10-05-2019
5
adjustment amplifier may change the interrupting voice output non-linearly in conjunction with a
volume operable by the user. Amp in the audio amplifier 18 in FIG. 2 corresponds to the
adjustment amplifier. As a result, even when the user is not outputting the audio signal from the
speaker or outputs it at a sufficiently low volume, the interrupting voice is output from the
speaker group at a certain level or more, so the guidance voice or the incoming call It is possible
to reliably recognize interrupt sounds such as sounds and emergency sounds. When the nonlinear characteristic output at a constant volume level is given to the interrupt voice output even
if the volume is a fixed value or less, the non-linear characteristic is set by the user or according
to the type of the interrupt voice. It is also preferable to set them. FIG. 6 shows an example in
which the interruption voice output 200 is increased or decreased based on the setting signal
from the user. If the user desires to output at a higher volume, the microcomputer adjusts Amp
to increase the non-linear characteristic level of the interrupting speech overall. When the user
performs an operation to lower the volume, the microcomputer adjusts Amp to decrease and
adjust the non-linear characteristic level of the interrupt sound as a whole. When increasing or
decreasing the non-linear characteristic, it is also possible to change the shape of the non-linear
characteristic itself.
For example, the threshold volume value Vo at which the output level becomes constant is
changed according to the setting from the user. FIG. 7 shows the non-linear characteristics of the
guidance voice from the car navigation system and the ringing tone from the hands-free car
telephone system. The output characteristic 200a of the ringing tone in the handsfree mobile
telephone system has a larger output level than the non-linear characteristic 200b of the
guidance voice from the car navigation system. This takes into consideration that the priority of
the ringing tone is higher than the priority of the guidance voice. That is, the microcomputer
determines the non-linear characteristic, particularly the output level value below the volume Vo,
according to the priority of the audio signal and the interrupting voice stored in the memory. The
embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not
limited to this, and various modifications can be made. For example, although a plurality of
interrupt voice output devices 14 and 16 are cascade-connected in this embodiment, even if a
plurality of interrupt voice output devices 14 and 16 are connected to the audio amplifier 18 in a
star configuration. Good. Further, in the present embodiment, the interrupt voice output devices
14 and 16 are connected to the audio amplifier 18 by dedicated lines for small signals, but are
connected to the audio amplifier 18 by high speed data lines for transmitting digital data. It may
be done. The interrupt voice signals from the interrupt voice output devices 14 and 16 are
digitized and output to the audio amplifier 18 through high speed data lines. FIG. 8 shows a
system configuration according to another embodiment. A console panel or switches 15 installed
near the driver's seat of the vehicle, a car navigation system 14, car audio systems 10 and 12,
and an audio amplifier 18 are connected via a high speed data line 300 in the vehicle. The car
navigation system 14 as an interruption voice output device has an analog-to-digital converter
ADC that digitizes the guidance voice and a driver that transmits the digitized guidance voice
10-05-2019
6
from the high-speed data line 300 to the audio amplifier 18. The audio amplifier 18 has a switch
group connected to the DSP and the audio speakers FR, FL, RR, and RL, and further has a switch
SW. The switch SW is connected to the interrupt voice speaker SP. As described above, in
addition to the audio speaker group, the speaker SP dedicated to the interruption voice may be
provided, and the interruption voice may be output from the dedicated speaker SP.
The DSP in the audio amplifier 18 outputs only the interrupt voice from the speaker SP
according to the priority of the interrupt voice and the audio signal as in the above embodiment,
or both the interrupt voice and the audio signal are output. Control whether to output. When the
guidance voice from the car navigation system 14 is output together with the audio signal, the
guidance voice is digitized by the ADC in the car navigation system 14 and supplied to the driver
through the protocol IC. The digital guidance audio data from the driver is supplied to the driver
of the car audio system 10 and is further supplied to the audio amplifier 18 through the car
audio system 12. The DSP of the audio amplifier 18 includes a DAC that converts digital audio
guidance data into an analog signal, and supplies the analog audio guidance signal to each
switch. Further, the DSP controls the switch SW to be on the interrupt voice side according to the
priority stored in the memory, and outputs the guidance voice from the speaker SP. Further, the
other switches are closed on the audio signal side to output audio signals from the speakers FR,
FL, RR, and RL. The interruption sound supplied from the high-speed digital line 300 and
converted to analog is supplied not only to the switch SW for the speaker SP but also to all the
switches. Therefore, in addition to the dedicated speaker SP, an interrupting voice may be output
from another speaker (for example, the speaker FR) according to the priority of the interrupting
voice. For example, when emergency audio is output from the radio of the car audio system 10,
the emergency audio is digitized by the ADC and supplied to the DSP of the audio amplifier 18
via the digital line 300. The DSP recognizes that the interrupt voice is an emergency voice, and
controls the SW to be closed on the interrupt voice side according to the priority stored in the
memory, and controls all other switches to be interrupt voice side Output emergency sound from
all speakers. The following is an example of an output speaker corresponding to the type of the
interrupting voice. Guidance voice for navigation: Speaker SP ringtone of the mobile phone or
voice of the other party: speaker SP and speaker FR Emergency voice: speaker SP and speakers
FR, FL, RR, RL Also in this embodiment, the audio amplifier 18 The DSP can adjust the amplifier
of the interrupting voice to output the output level of the interrupting voice at a certain level or
more even if the volume of the signal is less than the constant value Vo.
As described above, according to the present invention, interrupt voice can be output from the
audio system in various output forms. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a system
configuration diagram of an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an audio amplifier in FIG.
1; FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an output form from an audio amplifier 18; FIG. 4 is an
explanatory view of another output form from the audio amplifier 18; FIG. 5 is a characteristic
10-05-2019
7
diagram of audio output and interrupt voice output. FIG. 6 is another characteristic diagram of
audio output and interrupt voice output. FIG. 7 is still another characteristic diagram of the audio
output and the interrupt voice output. FIG. 8 is another system configuration diagram of the
embodiment. [Description of the code] 10, 12 audio output devices, 14, 16 interrupt voice output
devices, 18 audio amplifiers.
10-05-2019
8

Download Report