JPH0233404Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention is installed in a car, etc., and even when moving over a wide area, it is possible to select channels that can be received in each area by operating the selection key. Regarding a radio receiver.

When driving long distances by car, the channels that can be received differ depending on the area, so when the car moves from one area to another, the radio receiver installed in the car has been unable to provide good reception. The channel that was receiving the signal becomes unreceivable. Therefore, when a channel on which good reception was possible becomes unreceivable, it is necessary to operate the channel knob to select another receivable channel.

However, operating the channel knob to select a receivable channel is extremely troublesome, and it is especially difficult for the driver to perform this selection operation when driving a car. That's not a good thing.

Therefore, in-vehicle radio receivers installed in automobiles are equipped with a channel selection means and are configured so that a desired channel that can be received can be easily selected by simply operating a channel selection key. . Conventional channel selection means include a preset method and an auto search method. In the preset method, receivable channels are preset in the radio receiver in advance according to each tuning key, and the desired channel can be received by operating the desired tuning key. You can instantly receive the desired channel. The auto search method sweeps the broadcast band from low frequency to high frequency or vice versa by operating the channel selection key, and when a receivable channel is found, that channel is received. Therefore, channels that can be received in any area can be selected by simply operating the channel selection key.

As described above, the conventional in-vehicle radio receiver has a very simple channel selection operation. However, in the preset system, the next receivable channel must be preset each time the user leaves the radio station's coverage area. This preset is made by operating the channel knob to search for a channel that can be well received, and when such a channel is found, operating the channel selection keys to preset it, and assigning a receivable channel to each channel selection key to preset it. However, it is extremely troublesome to preset in this way for each region, and it is not possible to preset more receivable channels than the number of channel selection keys.

In addition, in the auto search method, even though there is no trouble with presetting, the sweep stops when a receivable channel is received by sweeping, and in order to obtain the next receivable channel, it is necessary to start the sweep. must be operated. Therefore, we do not know the number of channels that can be received.
For example, if a channel broadcasting a desired news broadcast is not found, the sweep start operation will be repeated forever. Furthermore, it is not possible to randomly select a channel from all receivable channels, and furthermore, it takes time to select a desired channel.

Further, even if a receivable channel is selected, as the car moves, the channel may be out of the service area in a short period of time, and reception may soon become poor or unreceivable. In such a case, it is necessary to perform another tuning operation immediately after selecting that channel. Furthermore, it is difficult to select a channel that provides better reception among receivable channels. This cannot be avoided regardless of the above-mentioned preset method or automatic search method.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art,
To provide a radio receiver capable of presetting all receivable channels, easily selecting a channel capable of good reception, and eliminating troublesome tuning. It is in.

To achieve this objective, the present invention sweeps the reception frequency region to detect all channels where the reception field strength is greater than a predetermined value, and stores all data representing the reception frequency and field strength of such channels in memory. The reception field strength of one receivable channel and the number of receivable channels are displayed simultaneously for each predetermined frequency division in the reception frequency region, and the correspondence in the memory is displayed as the channel selection key is operated. The present invention is characterized in that it reads out the data stored at the specified address and, based on the data, enables reception of a desired channel on which good reception is possible.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a radio receiver according to the present invention, in which 1 is an antenna, 2 is a high frequency amplifier, 3 is a mixing circuit, 4 is an intermediate frequency amplifier, 5 is a detector, and 6 is an amplifier. , 7 is the speaker, 8
is a voltage controlled oscillator, 9 is a prescaler, 10 is a programmable counter, 11 is a comparator, 12 is a reference oscillator, 13 is a low-pass filter, 14 is an analog
Digital converter, 15 is a tuning controller, 16 is a channel controller, 17 is a memory controller, 18 is a memory, 19 is a drive circuit, 20 is a display device, 21 is a channel selection key, 22 is a preset key, 23 is a switching key .

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

In the figure, a high frequency signal received by an antenna 1 is amplified by a high frequency amplifier 2, mixed with an output of a predetermined frequency from a voltage controlled oscillator 8 which is a local oscillator in a mixer 3, and converted into an intermediate frequency signal. This intermediate frequency signal is supplied to an intermediate frequency amplifier 4, where the intermediate frequency signal of a desired channel is selectively amplified, and detected by a detector 5 to obtain an audio signal. This audio signal is amplified by an amplifier 6 and supplied to a speaker 7. The above configuration is the same as that of a well-known radio receiver.

The voltage controlled oscillator 8 is controlled by a phase locked loop (PLL) consisting of a prescaler 9, a programmable counter 10, a comparator 11, a reference oscillator 12, and a low-pass filter 13. That is, the output of the voltage controlled oscillator 8 is divided by the prescaler 9,
Furthermore, the frequency is divided by a programmable counter 10 and the phase is compared with the output of a reference oscillator 12 by a comparator 11. The phase error signal from the comparator 11 is supplied to the voltage controlled oscillator 8 via the low-pass filter 13.
Therefore, the voltage controlled oscillator 8 is controlled by the phase error signal, and its oscillation frequency becomes such that the output frequency of the programmable counter 10 and the output frequency of the reference oscillator 12 match. Therefore, by changing the frequency division ratio of the programmable counter 10, the oscillation frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator 8 can be changed.

Now, in such a configuration, the frequency division ratio of the programmable counter 10 is changed by a control signal from the channel controller 16. The channel controller 16 sequentially changes the frequency division ratio of the programmable counter 10 based on the sweep command signal generated by operating the preset key 22, and sequentially changes the oscillation frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator 8 to perform a sweep. The data of all the obtained receivable channels can be stored in the memory 18. When the entire reception frequency range has been swept and the data for all receivable channels are stored in the memory 18, the data stored in the memory 18 is read out by the memory controller 17, and is processed to be described later and sent to the drive circuit. 1
9 to the display device 20. Therefore, the display device 20 displays the reception field strength and number of receivable channels for each frequency division in the reception frequency region, as will be described later. Therefore, a receivable channel with good reception can be selected by the display device 20, and the channel selection key 21 is operated to select a desired channel from among the receivable channels whose reception field strength is displayed. By doing so, it is possible to read the data for the desired channel from the memory 18, set the frequency division ratio of the programmable counter 10 based on this data, and select the desired channel.

Next, the above sweep operation and channel selection operation will be explained.

First, the sweep operation will be explained.

When the preset key 22 is operated, the preset key 22 generates a sweep command signal, and the channel controller 16 receives this sweep command signal and generates a control signal to change the frequency division ratio of the program counter 10 to perform a sweep.

On the other hand, if the detection output of the wave detector 5 or the received radio wave is an FM wave, the envelope of the intermediate frequency signal before passing through the limiter circuit (not shown) represents the electric field strength of the received radio wave. It is converted into a digital quantity by an analog-to-digital converter 14, and is supplied to the tuning controller 15 as a digital quantity representing the electric field strength of the received radio wave.
In the tuning controller 15, a predetermined threshold value is set, and the above digital amount and the threshold value are compared.

By the way, since the receiving frequency is changing due to the above-mentioned sweep, the digital amount is also changing sequentially as the receiving frequency changes. When the digital amount exceeds a threshold value, the tuning controller 15 determines that a receivable channel, that is, an audible channel is being received, and generates a sweep stop signal.
The channel controller 16 receives this sweep stop signal, fixes the programmable counter 10 to the current division ratio, and stops the sweep. and,
The channel controller 16 reads the current receiving frequency data from the programmable counter 10, for example, the frequency division ratio and the electric field strength data from the tuning controller 15.
The data is stored in the memory 18 via the memory controller 17.

When the storage of each data in the memory 18 is completed, the channel controller 16 restarts the sweep, and thereafter, the tuning controller 15 similarly determines the reception frequency and reception field strength of the channel that is determined to be receivable. The data representing the data are sequentially stored in the memory 18, and the data of all receivable channels in a predetermined sweepable frequency range are stored in the memory 18.

Note that the frequency domain may be swept in either direction from low frequencies to high frequencies or from high frequencies to low frequencies. Also, when the preset key 22 is operated to start the sweep, the sweep is started from the reception frequency to a higher or lower frequency with respect to the division ratio set in the programmable counter 10, and the entire reception frequency region is swept. The method of sweeping may be arbitrary.

Data is stored separately for each frequency segment.
In other words, if we take Japan as an example, the above-mentioned reception frequency range is 525kHz to 1605kHz, so this reception frequency range is divided into seven regions, the first division: 525kHz to 680kHz, the second division: 681kHz to 833kHz. 3rd division: 834kHz to 987kHz 4th division: 988kHz to 1142kHz 5th division: 1143kHz to 1296kHz 6th division: 1297kHz to 1450kHz 7th division: 7 frequency divisions are set: 1451kHz to 1605kHz. On the other hand, memory 8
In , a storage area is set for each frequency division, and if the maximum number of receivable channels in one frequency division is 6, then
A storage area consisting of 6 addresses is set for each frequency division, and each storage area is as follows: 1st division: addresses 0 to 5, 2nd division: addresses 6 to 11, and 3rd division: addresses 12 to 17. Addresses 4th division: 18th to 23rd 5th division: 24th to 29th 6th division: 30th to 35th 7th division: 36th to 41st.

Therefore, when data is supplied from the channel controller 16 to the memory controller 17, the memory controller 17 determines which frequency division the current reception frequency falls into based on the supplied data. Next, data is read from the storage area of the memory 18 corresponding to the determined frequency division, and the magnitude of the received electric field strength including the data supplied from the channel controller is compared. The information is sequentially stored in the corresponding storage area of the memory 18.

For example, the data supplied from the channel controller 16 to the memory controller 17 is
When it is determined that the reception frequency falls within the category (525kHz to 680kHz), the data stored in addresses 0 to 5 of the memory 18 (these data are also calculated based on the received electric field strength from address 0) These data are compared with the data supplied from the channel controller 16 in terms of received field strength, and are stored in the memory 1 in order of the received field strength.
The information is stored sequentially starting from address 0 of 8.

However, the receiving frequency range (525kHz to 1605k
Hz), when the entire sweep is completed, data will be stored in each of the storage areas of the memory 18 in order of magnitude of received electric field strength for each frequency division.

As described above, when data storage is completed, a sweep completion signal is supplied from the channel controller 16 to the memory controller 17, and the memory controller 17 reads data for display from the memory 18.

This data is read out for each frequency section. First, the data stored at addresses 0 to 5 corresponding to the first division are read out, and the data at address 0, which is the first address, is supplied to the display device 20 via the drive circuit 19, and the remaining data are read out. , that is, the number of data stored at addresses 1 to 5 is counted, and this count is supplied to the display device via the drive circuit 19. Similarly, data is read from the memory 18 in the order of the second division, ..., the seventh division, and the data is read from the memory 18 in the order of the second division, ..., the seventh division, and the data is read out from the memory 18 in the order of the second division, ..., the seventh division, and the data is read out from the memory 18 in the order of the second division, ..., the seventh division, and the data is read out from the memory 18 in the order of the second division, .
The data at addresses 30, 36) and the number of remaining data are sent to the display device 20 via the drive circuit 19, respectively.
is supplied to

On the display device 20, based on the supplied data for each frequency segment, the received field strength corresponding to the data for each frequency segment and the number of remaining receivable channels are displayed.

Next, the channel selection operation will be explained.

The channel selection key 21 is used to select a receivable channel whose reception field strength is displayed on the display device 20.

When the channel selection key 21 is operated, a channel selection signal is generated. Channel controller 16 receives this channel selection signal, reads data corresponding to the channel selection signal from memory 18 via memory controller 17, and sets the frequency division ratio of programmable counter 10 in accordance with this data. However, the voltage controlled oscillator 8
oscillation frequency is set, and the desired channel can be received.

By the way, as mentioned above, the display device 20 has
Since the received field strength of several receivable channels is displayed, you can refer to the received field strength when selecting a channel. Since the higher the received electric field strength, the better the reception is possible.
By recognizing a channel with relatively high received field strength displayed on the display device 20 and operating the channel selection key 21, a channel with good reception can be selected.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the display device, channel selection key, and switching key shown in _FIG .
202 is the received field strength display section, ₂₀₂ is the channel number display section, ₂₁₁ to ₂₁₇ are the channel selection operation keys, and the first
Parts corresponding to the figures are given the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 2, the received electric field strength display section ₂₀₁ consists of light emitting elements, for example, light emitting diodes, arranged in a matrix of seven in the X direction and three in the Y direction, and the X direction corresponds to each frequency in the above-mentioned received frequency region. It is configured to be able to represent the received electric field strength in the Y direction. There are three levels of received field strength: "strong", "medium" and "weak".
When it is "strong", three light emitting elements are
When set to "Medium", the bottom two light emitting elements are activated, and
When it is "weak", only the lowest light emitting element emits light.

The channel number display section ₂₀₂ displays the number of receivable channels for each frequency division.
Each light emitting element is made up of five light emitting elements.

The channel selection key 21 consists of seven operation keys 21 ₁ to 21 ₇ , each of which is arranged corresponding to a column of the light emitting matrix of the received electric field strength display section ₂₀₁ . Then, when one of the operation keys 21 ₁ to 21 ₇ is operated,
The channel whose received field strength is displayed in the corresponding column of the received field strength display section 20 ₁ is selected.

Therefore, as described above, data for each frequency division and the number of receivable channels are supplied to the display device 20 from the memory controller 17 (FIG. 1) via the drive circuit 19 (FIG. 1). ,
The received electric field strength is displayed in column A of the received electric field strength display section ₂₀₁ based on the data of the first category, and
The number of channels that can be received is displayed in channel number display section 2.
Displayed in the corresponding part of 0 ₂ . Thereafter, in the same manner, the received electric field strengths are displayed in the respective columns, B column, C column, ..., G of the received electric field strength display section ₂₀₁ based on the data of the second section, third section, . displayed in columns. At the same time, the number of receivable channels for each frequency division is displayed in the channel number display section 20 ₂
will be displayed in the corresponding part of .

The hatched light-emitting elements of the received electric field strength display section 20 ₁ and the channel number display section 20 ₂ are shown to be emitting light. Therefore, for example, in the first division (525kHz to 680kHz),
The received electric field strength is set to "strong" by operating the operation key 21 ₁ .
You can select the channels that can be received.
In addition, the channel number display section 20 ₂ further displays
It can be seen that there are three receivable channels.

In order to display the reception field strength of the next receivable channel for each frequency division and to enable channel selection, the switch key 23 is operated. This switching key 2
3, a switching signal is sent to the memory controller 1 via the channel controller 16 (Fig. 1).
7 (FIG. 1). Therefore, the memory controller 17 again sequentially reads data from each storage area of the memory 18 (FIG. 1).

However, the data read out for each storage area is the data stored at the second address and subsequent addresses. The memory controller 17 processes these data, and as mentioned earlier, the data stored in the second address of each storage area and the third
The number of data stored in the addresses after the th address, that is, the number of receivable channels, is supplied to the display device 20.

Therefore, in the display device 20, as shown in FIG. 3, the memory 18 (FIG. 1) is used for each frequency division.
The second address of each storage area (address 1, address 7,
13, 19, 25, 31, 37) will be displayed and you can select the channel.At the same time, the number of remaining receivable channels will be displayed. is displayed on the channel number display section ₂₀₂ .

As described above, each time the switching key 23 is operated, the received field strength for each frequency division is displayed, and the channels that can be selected can be changed. In addition, in Figure 2, the second category (681kHz to 833kHz)
Hz) and the fifth division (1143kHz to 1296kHz), there are no remaining receivable channels, so in Fig. 3, which shows the result of operating the switching key 23, the received electric field is Intensity is not displayed.

Note that when operating the switching key 23 to switch the display of the received field strength of seven receivable channels at a time, it is of course possible to switch in the opposite direction to the direction described above.

In the embodiments described above, it is possible to visually grasp the distribution of receivable channels in the entire receiving frequency region, and it is possible to quickly and accurately select any channel that can be well received. Further, since the range of the channel selection operation is inevitably made clear, it is possible to prevent unnecessary channel selection operations.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the memory 18 (first
The case where data is stored in descending order of received field strength in each storage area of the memory 18 has been described.
The memory controller 17 (FIG. 1) stores the received field strength and the number of receivable channels on the display device 20 in the order detected by the sweep according to FIG. It is also possible to determine the magnitude of the received electric field strength when reading each data.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the received electric field strength displayed on the display device 20 is configured such that the received electric field strength is displayed with priority given to the higher one for each frequency division, and the lower one can also be displayed by operating the switching key 23. ,
In each frequency division, it is possible to preferentially display the signals in the order detected by the sweep by the channel controller 16, for example, in descending order of received frequencies. In this case, the memory controller 17 is the channel controller 1
It is determined which frequency division the data supplied from 6 falls into, and the data is sequentially stored in the corresponding storage area of the memory 18. When all the data is stored, the address of the same order in each storage area (for example, the first The data at the address) and the number of data stored at addresses after the address are supplied to the display device 20, and as described above, the received field strength and the number of channels are displayed for each frequency division. In this embodiment, processing for arranging data in the memory 18 is not necessary, so the sweep operation is quick.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.
The number of light emitting elements for each frequency division in the channel number display section ₂₀₂ is merely shown as an example for the purpose of explanation, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to selectively display the received field strength of a plurality of receivable channels, and also display the distribution over the entire receiving frequency range of the receivable channels. Therefore, it is possible to quickly and accurately select a channel that allows good reception, and the range of channel selection operations is made clear, making it possible to prevent unnecessary channel selection operations. Except for the shortcomings, it can provide a radio receiver with excellent functionality.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a radio receiver according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the display device of FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display state when the switching key shown in FIG. 2 is operated. 3...Mixing circuit, 5...Detector, 7...Speaker, 8...Voltage controlled oscillator, 10...Programmable counter, 11...Comparator, 12...Reference oscillator, 14...Analog-digital converter , 15
...Tuning controller, 16...Channel controller, 17...Memory controller, 18...Memory, 20...Display device, 21...
...Tuition selection key, 22...Preset key, 23...
Switch key.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A radio receiver in which receivable channels in a reception frequency region can be preset includes a preset key, a channel selection key, a channel controller that sweeps the reception frequency region by operating the preset key, and a channel controller that sweeps the reception frequency region by operating the preset key; a tuning controller that generates a sweep stop signal when the intensity exceeds a predetermined level; a memory that stores data representing the reception frequency and reception electric field strength upon generation of the sweep stop signal; (an integer of ) display areas, and reads data from the memory and uses the data to display the received field strength of one receivable channel and the number of receivable channels for each of the N frequency divisions in the received frequency region. a display device that displays data in separate display areas at the same time, and the channel controller causes the memory to start the sweep again after storing the data, and to respond to the operation in accordance with the operation of the channel selection key. The radio is characterized in that the data stored in the corresponding address of the memory can be read out, and a desired channel whose reception field strength is displayed by the display device of the reception frequency represented by the data can be selected. Receiving machine.