JP5049840B2 - Emergency call system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention makes it possible to report to the emergency call center by pressing the emergency button of a portable wireless slave or the emergency button of an emergency call device as a wireless master set installed in the house, and to report the status by voice. Related emergency call system.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known an emergency call system that automatically notifies an emergency call center when an emergency button of a portable wireless slave such as a pendant type or a list type is pressed or an emergency button of an emergency call device at home. For example, FIG. 6 shows a conventional emergency call system, where 1 is a wireless slave unit, 2 is an emergency call unit as a base unit, 3 is an emergency call center, and 4 is a network including an exchange. The wireless slave device 1 shows a case that includes an emergency button 11, a control unit 12, a wireless transmission unit 13, a wireless reception unit 14, and a power supply unit 15 such as a button battery. A configuration in which the wireless receiving unit 14 is omitted is common. The emergency notification device 2 includes an emergency button 21, a wireless transmitter unit 22, a wireless receiver unit 23, a control unit 24, a wired control unit 25, a speaker 26, a microphone (microphone) 27, a control unit 28, and a power supply unit 29. Show the case. It is common to have a configuration that allows a telephone call by switching to an external telephone.

  The wireless slave unit 1 has a small and lightweight configuration such as a pendant type that is lowered to the neck by a string or the like and a wrist type that is attached to an arm like a wristwatch, and supplies operating power from the power supply unit 15 to each unit. For example, when the emergency button 11 is pressed when a physical abnormality occurs, the control unit 12 sends emergency notification information from the wireless transmission unit 13 to the emergency notification device 2 via the antenna. Send. The emergency call device 2 is received by the wireless communication unit 22 and transferred to the control unit 24. The control unit 24 controls the wired control unit 25 to make a call to the emergency call center 3 via the network 4 connected by the analog subscriber line. Report including user information. In the emergency call device 2, the power supply unit 29 to which AC power is supplied from the commercial AC power supply AC100V converts the power into DC and supplies operating power to each unit. The controller 24 is connected to an external device. can do. Also, an emergency button 21 is provided, and when the emergency button 21 is pressed, an emergency call is made to the emergency call center 3 in the same manner as when the emergency button 11 of the wireless slave unit 1 is pressed, including user information. You can report. It is also possible to make a hands-free call with the emergency call center 3 by the speaker 26 and the microphone 27 respectively connected to the hands-free control unit 28.

  In addition, a stationary wireless transmitter used in combination with various sensors (fire sensors, etc.) is also known, and a system configuration in which a plurality of wireless slave devices 1 are integrated into one emergency call terminal device 2 is also possible. it can. As a basic function, by pressing the emergency button 21 of the emergency call device (main body) 2 or the emergency button 11 of the wireless slave unit 1, the emergency call center 3 is automatically called and the caller information (address) And a name etc.) by data or voice. Further, after notifying the caller information to the emergency call center 3, a hands-free call mode using the speaker 26 and the microphone 28 is automatically performed according to an instruction on the emergency call center 3 side or a setting on the emergency call device 2 side. There is also known a configuration including a function for enabling hands-free communication with an operator of the emergency call center 3 by switching to Note that this hands-free call is possible only with the emergency call device 2 itself, and not with the wireless slave unit 1. The wireless slave unit 1 can only have an emergency call function by pressing the emergency button 11. The communication distance between the wireless slave device 1 and the emergency call device 2 is generally about 50 m to 100 m in line of sight, and an emergency call can be made only in the house or its surroundings. In addition, a configuration is also known in which the wireless slave unit 1 is designed to be waterproof so that it can be used in a bathroom.

  The wireless interface between the wireless slave unit 1 and the emergency call device 2 uses a 400 MHz band specific low power radio. As a specification of the wireless slave unit 1, for example, a wireless system is used. Low-power security system (RCR STD-30), radio wave format is F1D, frequency is 426.45MHz, rated output is 1.5mW, signal transmission speed is 2,400bps, wireless section communication time is 3 seconds transmission, pause time Repetition of 2 seconds, communicable distance is 50 m or more, power consumption is 0.06 W or less, battery life is 3 years or more, and so on. Accordingly, the wireless slave device 1 replaces the battery as the power supply unit 15 after at least three years have passed.

There has also been proposed a telephone device having an emergency call function that makes a call to a pre-registered emergency call destination by pressing an emergency button connected to the telephone and automatically switches the telephone to a state where hands-free calling is possible (for example, , See Patent Document 1). Also, in the event of sudden illness, traffic accidents, etc., a means has been proposed in which an emergency button is pressed to notify an emergency notification center by wireless communication, and a voice signal is digitized and transmitted (for example, see Patent Document 2).
JP-A-5-300265 JP 2004-164078 A

  The conventional emergency call system is generally configured to have only an emergency call function by pressing the emergency button 11 in order to reduce the size and weight of the wireless slave unit 1 and extend the usable period. Therefore, in order to notify the emergency call center 3 side of the occurrence of the emergency state through a call, it is necessary to approach a distance at which the hands-free function of the emergency call device 2 can operate. However, in the case of an emergency situation in which it is not possible to move to a position where hands-free calling is possible, there is a problem that notification of details of the emergency situation cannot be made. Therefore, it is conceivable to provide the wireless handset 1 with a voice call function. However, due to the relationship between the battery capacity of the power supply unit 15 and the usable period, it is impossible to mount a normal telephone call function. In addition, as means for enabling a call with low power, it is conceivable to apply a means by VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) using a voice compression technology. It is difficult to apply.

(1) Since the entire emergency call system needs to be converted to IP and there are a considerable number of elderly homes and small-scale emergency call centers, it is economically difficult to replace the entire emergency call system.
(2) When the wireless slave unit is configured to support VoIP and the voice compression technology is applied, for example, the voice is about 90 kbps by 64 kHz sampling and about 33 kbps by 8 kHz sampling, so a band of several tens of kbps or more is required. In this case, it is necessary to provide a high-speed wireless communication means such as a wireless LAN or BLUETOOTH. Due to the increase in electric power, the primary battery may be a rechargeable secondary battery. However, problems such as the necessity for a charging operation and an increase in size arise.
(3) The IP on the emergency call device side has problems such as adding router functions and securing network security such as VPN, etc., leading to increased equipment costs and network costs (currently at each user's home) Because it is configured to carry out emergency call communication on the contracted analog telephone line, there is a problem that the cost of using the network can be seen as completely new).

  Therefore, it is required to implement a voice call while applying the emergency call system based on the current analog line and further utilizing the low power consumption (primary battery drive and long life) that is a merit of the wireless slave unit. That is, a voice call using a low-power radio that is the current wireless interface is required. The problems in transmitting voice with this low-power radio are that it is necessary to transfer voice data in a low-speed band of about 2400 bps, and an intermittent communication system that provides a fixed stop time according to the transmission time restriction regulations, It is a point that needs to be done.

  The present invention aims to solve the above-described conventional problems, maintains a small shape, and secures the minimum necessary call contents between the wireless slave unit and the emergency call center with low power consumption. It is possible to make a call.

  An emergency call system according to the present invention includes a wireless slave unit including an emergency button and a wireless transmission / reception unit, a wireless transmission / reception unit between the wireless slave unit, an emergency button, a hands-free call function, and a wired transmission / reception function. Device and an emergency call center that is connected to the emergency call device via a network and performs emergency call processing, wherein the wireless slave unit receives text data received from the emergency call device as a voice signal A text-to-speech conversion unit that converts to a sound, a speaker that outputs sound using the sound signal converted by the text-to-speech conversion unit, a microphone that performs sound input, and a sound signal from the microphone that is converted into text data And an audio signal / text converter for transmitting to the emergency call device. The emergency call device converts the voice signal from the emergency call center into text data. An audio signal / text data conversion unit for converting and transmitting to the wireless slave unit, and a text / speech conversion unit for converting text data from the wireless slave unit to an audio signal and transmitting it to the reporting center I have.

  The voice / text conversion unit of the wireless slave unit and the emergency call apparatus includes means for converting the voice recognition processing result into text data for each word. The text-to-speech conversion unit of the wireless slave unit and the emergency call device converts the text data corresponding to the sentence divided by the suspension time of the wireless transmission into a continuous speech signal in sentence units by buffering until the suspension time elapses. Means.

  The text-to-speech conversion unit of the wireless slave unit and the emergency call device includes means for holding the received text data for a predetermined time and means for converting the text data held by the means into at least a word-unit voice. .

  If the number of characters per second of the call voice content is about 5 to 10 characters, if 1 character is 2 bytes and 4 bytes are used as additional information, transmission is possible if there is a bandwidth of about 200 bps for 10 characters. It becomes. Therefore, communication is possible using a low-speed wireless line of about 2400 bps in low power wireless. In that case, the data can be converted into text data in units of words, and in that case, the delay time in units of words is sufficient, so that the contents can be sufficiently grasped even in comparison with normal conversation. Also, when converting text data in sentence units, even if the text data transmission of the wireless line is an intermittent communication system, it is possible to make a call by reproducing a voice signal as a continuous sentence, and the contents of the call become clearer. . In addition, when converting text data into a voice signal, the received text data is held for a predetermined time and converted in units of words or sentences so that the contents of the call can be easily grasped.

  The emergency call system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. A wireless slave device 1 including an emergency button 11 and wireless transmission / reception means, a wireless transmission / reception means between the wireless slave device 1 and an emergency button 21. An emergency call system including an emergency call device 2 including a hands-free call function and a wired transmission / reception function, and an emergency call center 3 connected to the emergency call device 2 via a network 4 to perform emergency call processing. The wireless handset 1 includes a text / speech conversion unit 18 that converts text data received from the emergency call device 2 into a speech signal, and a speaker 16 that performs speech output using the speech signal converted by the text / speech conversion unit. , A microphone 17 for performing voice input, and a voice signal / text converter 1 for converting a voice signal from the microphone 17 into text data and transmitting it to the emergency call device 2 The emergency call device 2 converts the voice signal from the emergency call center 3 into text data and transmits it to the wireless slave unit 1. The text data is converted into a voice signal and transmitted to the reporting center 3.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of Embodiment 1 of the present invention, where 1 is a wireless slave unit, 2 is an emergency call device as a base unit, 3 is an emergency call center, 4 is a network including an exchange, 11 is an emergency button, 12 is a control unit, 13 is a wireless transmission unit, 14 is a wireless reception unit, 15 is a power supply unit, 16 is a speaker, 17 is a microphone (microphone), 18 is a text / speech conversion unit, 19 is a speech / text conversion unit, 21 Is an emergency button, 22 is a wireless transmitter, 23 is a wireless receiver, 24 is a controller, 25 is a wired controller, 26 is a speaker, 27 is a microphone, 28 is a hands-free controller, and 29 is a power supply. , 30 is a voice / text converter, and 31 is a text / voice converter.

  In this embodiment, the wireless slave unit 1 has a configuration in which a speaker 16, a microphone 17, a text / speech conversion unit 18, and a speech / text conversion unit 19 are provided in the configuration of the conventional example. Since the speaker 16 and the microphone 17 in this case are variously developed and put into practical use for portable devices, such a small and lightweight configuration can be applied. Further, in the case of the configuration of the conventional example that does not include the wireless receiving unit 14, the wireless receiving unit 14 is provided. The emergency call device 2 includes a voice / text converter 30 and a text / voice converter 31 in the configuration of the conventional example. For example, the emergency button 11 of the wireless slave unit 1 is pressed to make an emergency notification to the emergency call device 2, and the emergency call center 3 makes an emergency call from the emergency call device 2, and the wireless slave device 1 and the emergency call center 3 For the call with the operator, the emergency caller's call to the microphone 17 of the wireless slave unit 1 is converted into text data by the voice / text conversion unit 17, and the emergency call is made from the control unit 12 via the wireless transmission unit 13. Wirelessly transmitted to the device 2. The text data received by the wireless reception unit 23 of the emergency call device 2 is converted into a voice signal by the text / voice conversion unit 19 and transmitted to the emergency call center 3 through the wired control unit 25 under the control of the control unit 24. The The voice signal of the operator of the emergency call center 3 is transmitted to the emergency call device 2 via the network 4 and the analog subscriber line. The emergency call device 2 transfers to the voice / text conversion unit 30 via the wired control unit 25 and the control unit 24, converts the text data into text data, and wirelessly transmits the data from the wireless transmission unit 22 to the wireless slave device 1. The wireless handset 1 receives the text data by the wireless receiving unit 14, transfers the text data to the text / speech conversion unit 18 via the control unit 12, converts the text data into an audio signal, and reproduces the sound from the speaker 16. That is, a hands-free call by the wireless slave device 1 becomes possible.

  As described above, the voice / text conversion units 19 and 30 and the text / speech conversion units 18 and 31 perform conversion from one to the other and one from the other of the voice signal and text data. Various configurations have already been proposed and put to practical use for the conversion processing technology between a voice signal and text data. For example, conversion processing means disclosed in JP 2001-148713 A, JP 2001-517398 A, JP 2002-16701 A, and the like can be applied. However, the present invention needs to transmit / receive text data by applying specific low-power wireless communication, and repeats the communication time and the pause time in a short time. Therefore, the means corresponding to the wireless communication method is applied. There is a need to. For example, the transmission duration is 3 seconds and the transmission pause time is 2 seconds, and the transmission speed is limited to 2400 bps.

  For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 2A, the wireless transmission side converts voice signals into text data and wirelessly transmits them, and the wireless reception side converts received text data into voice signals. For example, as shown in the voice-to-text conversion, "Moshimoshi" and "Moshimoshi is here is XXX" (however, the voice waveform is a conceptual waveform). This is converted to text data D1 to D5 and silent time data S1 and S2, respectively, based on “This is”, “XXX” and “I.” As shown in the text-to-speech conversion, the wireless receiver side outputs the voice by reverse conversion processing of the received data based on the received text data D1 to D5 and the silent time data S1, S2. In this case, it is possible to reproduce and output “If this is ○○○○” with the same content as the voice input on the wireless transmission side. The voice waveform of this voice output is also shown as a conceptual waveform.

  An example of the text data D1 to D5 and the silent time data S1 and S2 in this case is shown in FIG. That is, the text data D # can be 1 byte data type, 1 byte text length, 2 bytes / 1 text ratio text data, 1 byte speech time, 1 byte speech information. The silent time data S # indicates a case including a 1-byte data type and a 1-byte silent time. As described above, the wireless handset 1 is provided with the microphone 17, the speaker 16, the voice / text conversion unit 19, and the text / voice conversion unit 18, and the emergency call device 2 also has the voice / text conversion unit 30, text / voice conversion. By providing the unit 31, the voice signal input from the microphone 17 of the wireless slave unit 1 is converted to text data in real time and transmitted to the emergency call device 2 via the conventional low-speed low-power radio section. Although it is pseudo, it is converted into a voice signal by the voice conversion unit 31 and transmitted to the emergency call center 3. The emergency call device 2 converts the voice signal received from the emergency call center 3 into text data in real time, transmits it to the wireless slave unit 1 via the low-power radio, and the text / voice conversion unit on the wireless slave unit 1 side. 18 converts the sound into a pseudo sound signal and outputs the sound from the speaker 16. When converting a speech signal (word) into text data, in addition to the extracted text data, as shown in FIG. 2B, the speech time for one word, speech information (gender distinction, pitch, intonation, etc.) ) Is added, a more faithful sound reproduction is possible.

  FIG. 3 is the same as that shown in FIG. 2A, but the detailed radio transmission side audio when the transmission time T1 and the pause time T2 are repeated at predetermined intervals in the radio transmission interval. For input, word-by-word speech-to-text conversion, wireless transmission, text-to-speech conversion at the wireless reception side, and speech output, the transmission processes of text data and silent time data are indicated by arrows. In the wireless transmission period, as described above, the transmission time T1 and the pause time T2 are repeated, and there may be a pause period between the speech words. In the process, text data can be buffered to reduce the unnaturalness of the voice output state.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of voice signal transmission / reception according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Like FIG. 3, voice input on the wireless transmission side, voice-to-text conversion, wireless transmission, text-to-voice conversion on the wireless reception side, For voice output, the transmission process of text data and silent time data is indicated by arrows. In the wireless transmission section, as described above, the transmission time T1 and the pause time T2 are repeated, and in FIG. 3, "there is consultation" and "there is" according to the pause time T2. There is a possibility of including a feeling of unnaturalness between the two. In this case, a part of the text data of the sentence received before the pause time T2 is buffered, for example, in the text / voice converter 18 and the text / voice converter 31 shown in FIG. 1, and after the pause time T2. The system waits until the remaining text data of the received sentence is completed, and converts the text data into an audio signal when the sentence unit is reached. That is, the text data of “Consultation” received before the suspension time T2 in FIG. 4 is buffered, and the text data of “Available” is received after the suspension time T2 elapses. Is converted into an audio signal. In addition, since there is silence for each sentence unit, on the wireless transmission side, silence time data indicating the speech pause period is added after the text data and transmitted, so the wireless reception side receives silence time data. Thus, it is possible to recognize the end of reception of text data of one sentence. Then, the buffered received text data is converted into an audio signal based on the silent identification of the silent time data, and voice output in units of sentences becomes possible.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of voice signal transmission / reception according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The voice input on the wireless transmission side, the voice-to-text conversion, the wireless transmission, and the wireless reception side for the same voice contents as in FIGS. Regarding text-to-speech conversion and voice output, the correspondence between the transmission processes of text data and silent time data is indicated by arrows. In the wireless transmission section, the transmission time T1 and the pause time T2 are repeated, and the wireless transmission side converts the speech signal into text data in units of words, and the correspondence is indicated by an arrow together with the silent time data. As shown in the figure, wireless transmission is performed, and when the wireless receiving side receives text data, the received text data for a time corresponding to the pause time T2 is buffered and then converted into a voice signal. As a result, the wireless transmission side converts the data into text data in units of words and sequentially transmits them at the transmission time T1, and at the pause time T2, buffers the text data and waits for transmission before the next transmission time. At T1, the buffered text data is sequentially transmitted.

  On the wireless receiving side, as described above, the first received text data is buffered for a time corresponding to the pause time T2, and then the received text data is sequentially converted into a voice signal. The playback sound is not interrupted and can be continuously played back as a series of sentences. In this case, the buffer memory for buffering the text data may have a capacity that can store the estimated amount of received text data during the relatively short pause time T2, so that a small-capacity buffer memory is used as the text / speech conversion unit 18,. It is also possible to make it 31. Therefore, even if the wireless handset 1 (see FIG. 1) is provided with a hands-free function including the speaker 16 and the microphone 17, even if the wireless transmission band is narrow and there are restrictions on intermittent transmission and reception, Calls between can be made.

It is explanatory drawing of Example 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the audio | voice signal transmission / reception of Example 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the specific example of audio | voice signal transmission / reception of Example 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the specific example of audio | voice signal transmission / reception of Example 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the specific example of audio | voice signal transmission / reception of Example 3 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the emergency call system of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wireless cordless handset 2 Emergency call device 3 Emergency call center 4 Network 11 Emergency button 12 Control part 13 Wireless transmission part 14 Wireless reception part 15 Power supply part 16 Speaker 17 Microphone 18 Text / voice conversion part 19 Voice / text conversion part 21 Emergency button DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 Wireless transmitter part 23 Wireless receiving part 24 Control part 25 Wired control part 26 Speaker 27 Microphone 28 Hands-free control part 29 Power supply part 30 Voice | text conversion part 31 Text | voice conversion part

Claims (2)

A wireless slave unit including an emergency button and a wireless transmission / reception unit, a wireless transmission / reception unit between the wireless slave unit, an emergency notification device including an emergency button, a hands-free call function, and a wired transmission / reception function; In an emergency call system equipped with an emergency call center that performs emergency call processing by connecting via a network,
The wireless handset includes a text / speech conversion unit that converts text data received from the emergency call device into a speech signal, a speaker that performs speech output using the speech signal converted by the text / speech conversion unit, and speech input A voice signal / text conversion unit for converting the voice signal from the microphone into text data and transmitting it to the emergency call device,
The emergency call device includes a voice signal / text data converter for converting a voice signal from the emergency call center into text data and transmitting the text data to the wireless slave unit; and text data from the wireless slave unit as a voice signal A text-to-speech conversion unit for converting to and sending to the reporting center ,
The text-to-speech conversion unit of the wireless slave unit and the emergency call device buffers the sentence-corresponding text data divided by the suspension time of the wireless transmission until the suspension time elapses, and continuous speech in sentence units. An emergency call system characterized by having a configuration for converting to a signal . The text-to-speech conversion unit of the wireless slave unit and the emergency call device has a configuration for holding the received text data for a certain period of time, and a configuration for converting the text data held by the unit into at least a word-unit speech. emergency call system according to claim 1, characterized by comprising.

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