JP2008015869A - Voice input and output device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice input and output technique with excellent reliability at low cost by effectively utilizing a smaller number of components. <P>SOLUTION: ID data 15 for module identification, in addition to audio data are input from a module unit 10 to an interface unit body 20 via a connector. In the interface unit body 20, a control CPU 40 that is a control means reads the ID data 15 at the time of initialization such as power input to determine the type of the module unit 10 installed, reads transmitting or receiving configuration data from a memory 30 according to the type, and downloads it, for example, to FPGA (field programmable gate array), thereby configuring the FPGA (control processing). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an audio input / output device that inputs and outputs audio signals.

  In recent years, with the development and spread of electronic information processing technology, digitization has progressed in the field of voice processing, and a console for mixing various sound sources has been realized as a digital console. Here, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an audio processing unit of the digital console. In this example, in an I / O unit (for example, 51) with respect to an analog or digital audio input signal, A / D conversion is performed for analog and AES / EBU is performed for digital according to the type of the audio input signal. Signals are decoded and output to an audio signal processing device (DSP).

  In this case, if a multi-channel signal is output and passed as it is, the number of cables between the I / O unit and the DSP unit will be very large, so using MADI (multi-channel audio digital interface) It is possible to transmit 56 channels of audio data with a single cable (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Note that MADI can correspond to two types of coaxial cables and optical cables according to the transmission distance and the like, and since details are standardized by AES10, description thereof is omitted here.

When MADI is used, the audio signal from the DSP unit is also input to the I / O unit (for example, 52) via the MADI interface in the output system, and in the case of analog audio output in this I / O unit 52, D / A Conversion is performed, and in the case of a digital audio signal, encoding into an AES / EBU signal or the like is performed, and the audio signal is output.
JP 2006-140909 A

  FIG. 5 shows the flow of a signal in one direction from the input side to the output side. As another example in which a plurality of systems respectively input and output, FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a conventional voice input / output device. The figure is shown. In this example, for example, in the MADI I / F (interface) surrounded by a broken line, the interface unit on the audio input side and the output side is integrated, so that the transmitter of the output system (“MADI IN” in the figure) “TX” in the drawing) and the audio bus interface circuit are not used, while the MADI output does not use the input receiver (RX) and the audio bus interface circuit.

  As described above, when the interface sections on the voice input side and the voice output side are simply prepared and integrated without using any common member, the cable interface of the coaxial or optical fiber or the reliability of the MADI line is determined depending on the MADI cable length. There is a problem that the cost for development according to various types of patterns, such as an interface for duplexing to enhance the productivity, is increased, and the management cost at the time of mass production increases because the number of types of interfaces increases. is there.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost and highly reliable voice input / output technology by effectively using a small number of components.

  In view of the above object, one aspect of the present invention is an audio input / output device including a MADI, in which a module unit in which a MADI input / output unit is modularized, an interface unit body, the module unit, and the interface unit body. Connection means for detachably connecting, a programmable hardware device for an audio bus interface circuit, and configuration data for configuring the programmable hardware device according to the type of the module unit to be used Read the identification ID data output from the module unit at the time of initialization, determine the type of the module unit, and store the configuration data corresponding to this type in advance. By using from the storage means and having a control means for configuring the programmable hardware device.

  In this way, the MADI input / output unit is configured for each type such as coaxial or optical, transmission, or reception, and is detachable from the interface unit main body. On the main body side, the type of the mounted unit is determined and corresponding Configuration data configures a programmable hardware device for an audio bus interface circuit for transmission and reception. As a result, various types of MADI interfaces can be handled with minimal hardware changes, and the circuit scale, cost, and apparatus size can be reduced. In addition, changes in the input / output unit of the device can be handled only by replacing the module unit, and the system can be easily changed.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, in the interface unit main body combined with at least the module unit on the receiving side, the MADI line to be transmitted / received in each module unit on the transmitting side and the receiving side is duplexed into at least two systems. When the type is determined to be the duplicated module unit based on ID data, switching means for switching reception to the other when a reception error is detected in one of the two systems is provided.

  As described above, the reliability of voice transmission can be effectively improved by duplicating the MADI line between the module units and switching the module units when an error occurs.

  In addition, each above aspect is the same also about a method and a program.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that assumptions common to the explanation in the background art and problems are omitted as appropriate.

[1. First Embodiment]
The first embodiment is a voice input / output device having a MADI (multi-channel audio digital interface). As shown in the schematic block diagram of FIG. 1, a module unit 10 in which a MADI input / output unit is modularized, and a base The interface unit main body 20 to be connected is detachably connected by connecting means.

  Among these, the module unit 10 configures MADI input / output units for each type, for example, coaxial or for each type such as light, transmission or reception, for example, such a coaxial or light transmitter (TX), receiver (RX). These parts are configured to be detachable and replaceable module units, and are connected and attached by a connector 12 such as a plug-in type as connecting means to the interface unit main body 20.

  Other than the specific structural parts such as the coaxial and optical connection structure and the element part, it is realized by a programmable hardware device (typically FPGA, hereinafter referred to as “FPGA” for convenience) for the audio bus interface circuit. Configuration data for transmission (OUT) and reception (IN) for configuring (switching) this FPGA to a transmission circuit configuration corresponding to the type of module unit 10 to be used and a reception circuit configuration Is stored in a predetermined storage means (in this example, the control CPU 40 has a built-in or external memory 30).

  The module unit 10 provides ID data 15 for module identification to the interface unit body 20 via the connector 12 in addition to audio data. In the interface unit body 20, the control CPU 40, which is a control means, reads this ID data 15 at the time of initialization such as power-on, etc., determines the type of the module unit 10 mounted, and according to this type The configuration data for transmission (OUT) or reception (IN) is read from the memory 30 and downloaded to, for example, an FPGA to configure an audio bus interface circuit corresponding to the type of module (control processing) .

  Note that the control CPU 40 has already been implemented in digital consoles in the past, such as gain switching of an analog audio signal input head amplifier (HA), on / off control of a sampling rate converter for digital audio input asynchronous signal input, and the like. It is carried out. This control CPU 40 has an advantage that it can be realized with almost no addition of hardware by newly adding functions for reading and recognizing ID data 15 and downloading configuration data to the FPGA.

  Here, an example of the ID data 15 representing the type of the module unit 10 is shown in FIG. As illustrated in this figure, if two bits are used, four types of modules can be identified. The data in this case does not need to use a memory or the like, but depends on the high or low level of the output voltage at the time of voltage application. Since the data can be exchanged, there is almost no increase in circuit scale and cost due to the addition of the ID data 15.

  With the above configuration, correspondence for each type of MADI interface can be realized by replacing the module unit 10 (FIG. 1), and the optimization of the audio bus interface circuit can be performed by reading the ID of the module unit 10 and determining the type. This can be realized by downloading the corresponding configuration data to the FPGA.

  That is, according to the first embodiment, the MADI input / output unit is configured for each type such as coaxial, light, transmission, or reception, and is detachable from the interface unit main body 20. The type of 10 is discriminated and the configuration data corresponding to it is configured to configure a programmable hardware device (FPGA) for the audio bus interface circuit for transmission and reception.

  As a result, various types of MADI interfaces can be handled with minimal hardware changes, and the circuit scale, cost, and apparatus size can be reduced. In addition, the change of the input / output unit of the apparatus can be handled only by replacing the module unit 10, and the change of the system becomes easy.

[2. Second Embodiment]
Another example is shown in FIG. 3 as a second embodiment. In this example, two systems of MADI interfaces (modules 11 and 12) are mounted on a single audio input / output device. In a large-scale multi-channel input / output system, this unit is connected to 56 × 2 inputs or output. While a 56 × 2 configuration is used, a small-scale input / output system can be used with a configuration of 56 inputs and 56 channels, so a system of a different scale can be flexibly realized with this single input / output device. .

  Similarly to the first embodiment, the FPGA relating to the audio bus interface is also configured according to the module types for two MADI systems, so that two conventional transmission circuits + reception circuits Compared with the circuit configuration of two systems, the circuit scale of the FPGA can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

  Further, in the case of a coaxial cable module, the MADI interface module is mounted with one or two ICs, passive components such as resistors and capacitors, interface connectors, and the like. Also, in the case of an optical fiber interface module, only an optical transmitter is added for output and an optical receiver is added for input.

  On the other hand, the audio bus interface circuit constituted by the FPGA includes a buffer memory for all 56 channels, an audio bus (time division bus as an example) input / output control circuit, a mute circuit when an error occurs in the case of MADI input, and MADI output In this case, since a parity generation circuit or the like is required and the circuit scale of the FPGA tends to increase, the application of the second embodiment in which the circuit configuration of the FPGA is changed by module unit identification is particularly effective.

[3. Third Embodiment]
Further, FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram centering on module units (modules) in the third embodiment in which MADI lines are duplicated. In this example, in each of the transmission side and reception side modules (module units) 13 and 14, the transmission / reception MADI line between the transmitter TX and the receiver RX is duplexed into two systems, and the same signal is sent from the transmission side transmitter TX to A. Output to both system and B system.

  Then, on the receiving side, a CPU (not shown) according to FIG. 1 serves as a switching unit, and the identification ID data read at the time of initialization indicates the type of the duplicated module unit as described above. Normally, error information of the receiver is monitored periodically while receiving the A system side, and if a reception error continues for a certain time on the A system side, it is automatically (or manually operated according to the warning display output) (D) An input switching signal is output to the selector 41 of the module unit 14 and the reception target is switched to the B system side (switching process).

  As described above, the reliability of voice transmission can be effectively improved by duplicating the MADI line between the module units and switching the module units when an error occurs.

The figure which shows the structure of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of ID data in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of a prior art. The figure which shows the other example of a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cable 10, 11, 13, 14 ... Module unit 12 ... Connector 15 ... ID data 20 ... Interface unit main body 30 ... Memory 40 ... CPU for control
41 ... Selector RX ... Receiver TX ... Transmitter

Claims (3)

In a voice input / output device equipped with MADI,
A module unit in which MADI I / O units are modularized by type;
The interface unit body,
Connection means for detachably connecting the module unit and the interface unit body;
A programmable hardware device for an audio bus interface circuit; and
Storage means for storing configuration data for configuring the programmable hardware device according to the type of the module unit to be used;
The ID data for identification output from the module unit at the time of initialization is read to determine the type of the module unit, and the configuration data corresponding to this type is read from the storage means and used, whereby the programmable hardware device is used. Control means to configure;
A voice input / output device comprising: Duplicate MADI lines to be transmitted and received in each module unit on the transmission side and reception side in two systems,
At least in the interface unit body combined with the module unit on the receiving side, when the type is determined to be the duplicated module unit based on the identification ID data, if a reception error is detected in one of the two systems, the other unit The voice input / output device according to claim 1, further comprising switching means for switching reception. A module unit in which MADI I / O units are modularized by type;
The interface unit body,
Connection means for detachably connecting the module unit and the interface unit body;
A programmable hardware device for an audio bus interface circuit; and
Storage means for storing configuration data for configuring the programmable hardware device according to the type of the module unit to be used;
Control means for controlling each part;
In a voice input / output method in a voice input / output device having
The control means reads the identification ID data output from the module unit at the time of initialization, determines the type of the module unit, and reads the configuration data corresponding to the type from the storage means to use the data. A voice input / output method characterized by executing a control process constituting a programmable hardware device.

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