EP0738994B1 - Traffic information apparatus with a message store and a vocal synthesis generator - Google Patents

Abstract

The information appts. is channelled to a module (14) which is controlled by a microprocessor (7). Temporary data is stored in a random access memory (9) and a permanent memory (8) stores vocabulary elements including a removable card (23) containing locations in a particular country. The vocabulary elements in ASCII characters are addressable by code and associated with numerical data which defines their pronunciation. The numerical data is presented to a voice synthesiser (20) which produces speech through an audio amplifier (4) and loudspeaker (5). The vocabulary elements are also shown on a display (10).

Description

• d'une mémoire de vocabulaire contenant des descriptions d'éléments de vocabulaire, dans laquelle chacune des descriptions d'éléments de vocabulaire est adressable à partir d'un numéro de code désignant un élément de vocabulaire, la mémoire contenant pour chacun des éléments de vocabulaire des données numériques qui décrivent cet élément de vocabulaire,
• et d'un générateur de synthèse vocale pour engendrer les phonèmes correspondant à l'énoncé des dits éléments de vocabulaire sous forme vocale.

The present invention as defined in the claims relates to a traffic information device provided

• a vocabulary memory containing descriptions of vocabulary elements, in which each of the descriptions of vocabulary elements is addressable from a code number designating a vocabulary element, the memory containing for each vocabulary elements digital data that describes this element of vocabulary,
• and a speech synthesis generator for generating the phonemes corresponding to the statement of said vocabulary elements in vocal form.

Such a device is for example a car radio receiver intended to receive and exploit signals called RDS / TMC, or well a route guidance device, also called navigation. It can deliver information messages on traffic or intended for guiding a vehicle in recording messages on a screen and / or delivering them by voice synthesis.

The present invention also relates to a generator module traffic information messages including or being associated with a vocabulary memory, and provided with means for read numerical data which constitute the description vocabulary elements, each of the descriptions of vocabulary elements being addressable from a code number designating a vocabulary element.

The present invention also relates to a portable card intended for use in a generation device messages, provided with a vocabulary memory containing vocabulary item descriptions, in which each of the vocabulary item descriptions is addressable from a code number designating an element vocabulary, the memory containing for each of vocabulary elements of numerical data that describe this element of vocabulary.

A text-to-speech generator is known from the document EP-A-0 059 880. According to this document, the definition of a word is supplied as ASCII characters entered sequentially, and a microcontroller interrogates a ROM memory containing pronunciation rules, for y figure out how to pronounce a character set given. A problem arises from the fact that in some languages, several different pronunciation rules apply according to words. For example in English, "gh" characters are not pronounced the same way in "rough" and in "ghost". To resolve this problem, the text-to-speech generator according to this document uses a complex ruleset which must take into account a large number of different situations, and that is different depending on language (English, German, French, etc.).

An object of the invention is to simplify generation phonemes, and decrease the memory required.

• la mémoire contient, pour au moins certains des éléments de vocabulaire, à la fois les caractères alphanumériques de cet élément de vocabulaire et une séquence de données numériques qui définit la prononciation de cet élément de vocabulaire,
• et l'appareil comporte des moyens pour lire cette séquence de données numériques dans la mémoire et la fournir au générateur de synthèse vocale.

To this end, the road information device according to the invention is remarkable in that

• the memory contains, for at least some of the vocabulary elements, both the alphanumeric characters of this vocabulary element and a sequence of digital data which defines the pronunciation of this vocabulary element,
• and the apparatus comprises means for reading this sequence of digital data in the memory and supplying it to the speech synthesis generator.

So we can among other things delete the rule set complex used in the prior art.

The invention is therefore based on the remark that, in a automotive messaging system, the number of words required is much less than the number of words in the everyday language and that, therefore, although the addition digital data that defines pronunciation practically lead to double the memory size of vocabulary elements, this is not annoying whereas this would be unacceptable in the case of a generator universal speech synthesis. What is gained in memory by removing the complex rule set is more important than the increase in the size of the vocabulary memory, in the application envisioned here.

The memory advantageously contains names of localization with both alphanumeric characters of these names and a sequence of numeric data which defines their pronunciation.

Preferably, at least part of the memory of vocabulary is contained in a removable card. The map removable contains in particular data concerning names of location points.

Because the phonetic transcription of the data of pronunciation is independent of language, the format of card can be standardized and the device is then easily adaptable to different countries, changing simply card.

It is indeed particularly for proper names that pronunciation is often problematic, for example the name of person "de Broglie" and place name "Broglie" in French are pronounced differently. Therefore, the memory advantageously contains point names of localization with both alphanumeric characters of these names and a sequence of numeric data which defines their pronunciation, and the part of memory that contains location point names installed in a removable card.

A module for generating traffic information messages according to the invention is remarkable in that it is provided with means to read from memory, for at least some of the vocabulary elements, on the one hand the characters alphanumeric of this vocabulary element, and other share a sequence of digital data that defines the pronunciation of this vocabulary element.

The module is provided with means for reading from the memory, including location point names with both the alphanumeric characters of these names and a sequence of digital data that defines their pronunciation.

A removable card according to the invention, intended to be used in a message generation device, is remarkable in that his memory contains, for at least some of the vocabulary elements, both the alphanumeric characters of this vocabulary element and a sequence of digital data that defines the pronunciation of this vocabulary element. His memory contains in particular names of location points with to both the alphanumeric characters of these names and a sequence of digital data that defines their pronunciation.

These aspects of the invention as well as other aspects more detailed will appear more clearly thanks to the following description of an embodiment constituting a nonlimiting example.

Figure 1 shows schematically a receiver car radio equipped with the invention.

Figure 2 shows in more detail the part concerned by the invention, and its connections with the rest of the device.

The following description relates to a car radio intended for receive and use so-called RDS / TMC signals. It's clear that the skilled person could adapt this description to case of a navigation or routing device, for example of a genus known as "CARIN" or "CARMINAT" or "SOCRATES", especially as the party that implements the invention may be similar in a car radio and in a navigation device.

The receiver of FIG. 1 comprises, from a antenna 1, a device 2 ("tuner") containing a circuit tuning and a frequency change circuit, followed by a device 3 containing an amplifier to intermediate frequency and a demodulator.

In the so-called RDS (Radio Data System) process, a subcarrier FM is modulated by digital signals from data, useful for the reception of different transmitters of the same chain. To process these signals, the receiver includes a decoder 13 for RDS messages.

In the case of the known process known as "TMC" (Traffic Message Channel "), traffic information messages are incorporated into certain digital fields of signals RDS, for example: "traffic jam three km before entering Paris".

To process TMC messages, the receiver has a module 14, to which the RDS data of decoder 13 is brought by a bus 21, to be analyzed and possibly memorized. To allow delivery of messages under voice form, this module 14 is also connected to a system audio amplifier 4 followed by a speaker 5. It is also connected to an input / output interface device 18 connected to a control keyboard 12 and to a display screen 10, for example liquid crystal.

• un 1^er champ, de 11 bits, contient le numéro de code d'un élément de vocabulaire (mot ou groupe de mots) décrivant un événement,
• un 2^e champ, de 16 bits, contient le numéro de code d'un élément de vocabulaire définissant la localisation concernée par l'événement en question,
• un 3^e champ, de 3 bits, contient une donnée décrivant une extension de la localisation concernée,
• un 4^e champ, de 1 bit, décrivant le sens du trajet concerné,
• un 5^e champ, de 3 bits, donnant la durée de validité du message,
• un 6^e champ, de 1 bit, indiquant s'il est recommandé ou non de prendre une déviation.

Standard TMC messages consist of several numeric data fields, received in RDS data, and which designate vocabulary elements by a code number:

• a ^1st field, of 11 bits, contains the code number of a vocabulary element (word or group of words) describing an event,
• a ^2nd field, 16 bits contain a vocabulary item code defining the location concerned by the event in question,
• 3 ^rd field, 3 bits, contains data describing an extension of the location concerned,
• a 4 ^th field, of 1 bit, describing the direction of the path concerned,
• a 5 ^th field, of 3 bits, giving the duration of validity of the message,
• a 6 ^th field, of 1 bit, indicating whether or not it is recommended to take a detour.

The content of each field must be treated in a way to express clearly what it is about. For this is planned a permanent memory, in which are stored clear information (e.g. in the form of codes ASCII characters of a message to be displayed), at addresses corresponding to the different possible contents of each field, which makes it possible to find the information to from the content of a field.

For example, the 1 ^st field (describing an event), which has 11 bits, is associated with a memory which can contain in plain text 2048 vocabulary elements (i.e. 2 ¹¹ vocabulary elements), each being found at the address defined by the content of the field. These vocabulary elements say for example "traffic jam", "work", "accident", etc.

The 2 ^nd field (describing a location), which comprises 16 bits, is associated with a memory, known as the location point memory, which can contain in the clear up to 65,536 vocabulary elements (i.e. 2 ¹⁶ vocabulary elements) which include complete data on in particular localization names, their type, the region to which they belong, the next and previous points, etc., each vocabulary element being in principle found at an address designated by the content of the field. These vocabulary elements are for example "Paris", or "Lille", or "the exit 21", etc. For each country concerned, several different databases of 65,536 elements are defined, to be chosen according to the application. The country concerned is indicated in a so-called PI code of RDS data, and the reference of the chosen database is indicated in a "system message" which is sent from time to time by each RDS / TMC transmitter.

In the ^3rd field, different types of extensions are defined. By extension is meant the fact that the event considered extends for example to the following location.

In the 4 ^th field, a bit O means for example "direction Paris → Lille", while a bit 1 would mean "direction Lille → Paris" (it is the content of field 2 which indicates that we are on a link between Paris and Lille, but the direction is not indicated there).

• une mémoire volatile 9 dite "RAM", pour le stockage de données valides à un instant donné,
• une mémoire permanente 8 pour le stockage de descriptions de vocabulaire fixées une fois pour toutes par le standard TMC en correspondance avec certains champs, par exemple le 1^er champ,
• et une mémoire 22, 23 constituée d'un lecteur 22 de carte à mémoire et d'une carte à mémoire amovible 23, par exemple de type PCMCIA, dans laquelle sont stockés plus spécialement les données correspondant au 2^e champ des données TMC c'est-à-dire, pour chacun des noms de localisations prévus pour un pays donné, son épellation par exemple en caractères ASCII, et la séquence de phonèmes qui lui correspond, ces données correspondant donc à un groupe d'usagers et/ou à une région donnés.

In FIG. 2, the module 14 comprises a microcontroller 7 which generates control signals and processes the signals which come out of the various devices, to which it is connected by an address bus 15 and by a data bus 21. The module 14 also includes several memories:

• a volatile memory 9 called "RAM", for the storage of data valid at a given instant,
• a permanent memory 8 for storing vocabulary descriptions fixed once and for all by the TMC standard in correspondence with certain fields, for example the ^1st field,
• and a memory 22, 23 consists of a 22 memory card reader and a removable memory card 23, for example of the PCMCIA type, wherein are stored in particular the data corresponding to ^2nd TMC data field c ' that is to say, for each of the localization names provided for a given country, its spelling for example in ASCII characters, and the sequence of phonemes which corresponds to it, these data therefore corresponding to a group of users and / or to a given region.

The microcontroller 7 selects and prepares data numerical, for example a series of codes each designating a phoneme, allowing a speech synthesis module 20 known per se, to generate phonemes in the form of analog signals delivered to audio amplifier 4 followed of speaker 5. For the record, a phoneme is a unit sound of a language. Document EP-A-0 059 880 teaches that in English there are 40 phonemes, but advise to use 127 "allophones", which are subsets of the phonemes, modified by their environment, which gives a more accurate representation of sounds. According to the degree of quality sought, the number of phonemes can therefore vary. Anyway, the number of different descriptions of phonemes is not very large, in general it is around a few dozen, defined in advance as "phonemes standard".

• son propre micro-contrôleur 24,
• une mémoire volatile 17 dite "RAM", entre autres pour le stockage transitoire des codes désignant chacun un phonème, venant du microcontrôleur 7 et à partir desquelles le module 20 engendre les phonèmes,
• et une mémoire permanente 16 par exemple de type dit "ROM", dans laquelle sont stockés, en correspondance avec chacun des codes désignant un phonème, des échantillons successifs d'amplitude d'un signal analogique destiné à l'amplificateur audio. Les échantillons voulus sont lus un par un par le microcontrôleur 24, à une cadence d'échantillonnage de par exemple 8kHz, puis convertis dans un convertisseur analogique-numérique 6 pour engendrer un signal analogique pour l'amplificateur audio 4.

From the codes of these standard phonemes, the voice synthesis module 20 supplies the desired analog signals to the audio amplifier 4 followed by the loudspeaker 5. This module 20 comprises inter alia:

• its own microcontroller 24,
• a volatile memory 17 called "RAM", inter alia for the transient storage of the codes each designating a phoneme, coming from the microcontroller 7 and from which the module 20 generates the phonemes,
• and a permanent memory 16, for example of the so-called "ROM" type, in which are stored, in correspondence with each of the codes designating a phoneme, successive samples of amplitude of an analog signal intended for the audio amplifier. The desired samples are read one by one by the microcontroller 24, at a sampling rate of for example 8 kHz, then converted into an analog-digital converter 6 to generate an analog signal for the audio amplifier 4.

When a TMC message arrives, the microcontroller 7 receives the contents of the fields from the RDS decoder 13, and writes them to memory 9. For display on the screen 10 and / or the voice transmission of this message , the microcontroller 7 extracts from memory 9 at least the contents of fields 1, 3, 4 which it interprets in a known manner, inter alia by reading in memory 8 the constituents of the message to be produced to announce the corresponding event, under the form for example of codes describing the corresponding statements. Then the microcontroller extracts from memory 9 the 2 ^nd field, it deduces therefrom an address in memory 23 by means of which it reads from this memory on the one hand the spelling of the corresponding location name and on the other hand the phonemes the constituent. It inserts the spelling in the appropriate places in the message to be displayed to announce the event, and the phonemes in the suitable places in the sequence of the phoneme codes which it supplies to the generator 20.

Claims (8)

1. Traffic information apparatus provided

   with a vocabulary memory (23) containing descriptions of vocabulary elements, and in which each of the descriptions of vocabulary elements is addressable on the basis of a code number designating a vocabulary element, the memory (23) containing, for each of the vocabulary elements, numerical data which describe this vocabulary element,

   and with a speech synthesis generator (20) for producing the phonemes corresponding to the utterance of the said vocabulary elements in speech form,

   characterized in that

   the memory contains, for at least some of the vocabulary elements, the alphanumeric characters of this vocabulary element and also a sequence of numerical data which defines the pronunciation of this vocabulary element,

   and the apparatus comprises means (7, 21) for reading this sequence of numerical data from the memory and supplying it to the speech synthesis generator (20).
2. Traffic information apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the memory contains names of location points together with the alphanumeric characters of these names and also a sequence of numerical data which defines their pronunciation.
3. Traffic information apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that at least part of the vocabulary memory is contained in a removable card (23).
4. Traffic information apparatus according to Claim 3, characterized in that the removable card (23) contains the data relating to the names of location points.
5. Module for generating traffic information messages which comprises or is associated with a vocabulary memory (23) and is provided with means for reading therefrom numerical data (7, 21) which constitute the description of vocabulary elements, each of the descriptions of vocabulary elements being addressable on the basis of a code number designating a vocabulary element, characterized in that it is provided with means for reading from the memory (23), for at least some of the vocabulary elements, on the one hand the alphanumeric characters of this vocabulary element, and on the other hand a sequence of numerical data which defines the pronunciation of this vocabulary element.
6. Module for generating traffic information messages according to Claim 5, characterized in that it is provided with means for reading, from the memory, names of location points together with the alphanumeric characters of these names and also a sequence of numerical data which defines their pronunciation.
7. Portable card (23) intended to be used in an apparatus for generating messages (14), and provided with a vocabulary memory containing descriptions of vocabulary elements, and in which each of the descriptions of vocabulary elements is addressable on the basis of a code number designating a vocabulary element, the memory (23) containing, for each of the vocabulary elements, numerical data which describe this vocabulary element, characterized in that its memory contains, for at least some of the vocabulary elements, the alphanumeric characters of this vocabulary element and also a sequence of numerical data which defines the pronunciation of this vocabulary element.
8. Portable card (23) according to Claim 7, characterized in that its memory contains names of location points together with the alphanumeric characters of these names and also a sequence of numerical data which defines their pronunciation.

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