JP2001053898A - Device for receiving and delivering signal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit a user to conveniently use a terminal by means of synthesizing various usage states by constituting a device to properly assign a signal from a communication line to the terminals and to receive and deliver it based on the present state of the terminal. SOLUTION: The signal receiving and delivering device is constituted to properly assign the signal from the communication line to the terminals and to receive and deliver it based on the present state of the terminal. A system receiving and delivering device 100 is connected to the communication line NET and the various terminals T and is provided with a function for receiving the signal from the line NET and receiving and delivering the received signal to the terminals T and a function for receiving the signal from the terminals and receiving and delivering the received signal to the line NET. A signal processing part 120 outputs a control signal C2, an input/output interface 130 is controlled by the control signal C2 and an optional interface included in the input/output interface 130 is selected. Thus, the signal is freely received and delivered between the optional interface and a transmission/reception interface 110.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a signal transfer device connected to a communication line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, for example, mobile PCs and mobile phones,
Various types of terminals such as in-vehicle terminals and faxes have appeared, and the types of terminals will continue to increase in the future, and it is expected that various types of terminal usage will occur.

[0003]

However, there is a problem that it is becoming difficult to integrate such various use forms and use them conveniently for the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a signal transfer device which integrates various usage forms and enables a user to use a terminal conveniently. Aim.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a signal transfer device for receiving a signal from a communication line and transferring the received signal to a terminal. Includes a plurality of terminals, and appropriately allocates and receives signals received from the communication line to the terminals based on current states of the plurality of terminals.

[0006] The problem solving means according to claim 2 of the present invention comprises:
It is further characterized in that a signal received from the communication line is converted into a signal suitable for a terminal to be delivered and delivered to the terminal.

[0007] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided:
It is further characterized in that one or more of the plurality of terminals are selected as terminals to be delivered.

[0008] The problem solving means according to claim 4 of the present invention is:
It is further characterized in that it has a function of mutually converting a voice signal and a character signal included in the signal received from the communication line when transferring the signal.

[0009] The means for solving the problem according to claim 5 of the present invention comprises:
It is further characterized in that the content of the signal received from the communication line is recognized, and one of the plurality of terminals is selected as a transfer target terminal according to the content.

[0010] The problem solving means according to claim 6 of the present invention comprises:
It further has a function of receiving a signal from the terminal and passing the signal received from the terminal to the communication line.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a signal transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the illustrated embodiment, it is assumed that the signal transfer device 100 is installed in, for example, a home or an office.

The terminal T (communication means outside the signal transfer device 100) includes a personal computer (PC), a general telephone, a mobile phone, a mobile PC, a next-generation mobile phone, a next-generation TV, a facsimile (FAX), a navigation system, and the like. There are various types such as in-vehicle terminals.

The communication line NET (signal transfer device 100)
The external communication means) may be a WAN such as a general telephone line or a LAN.

The signal transfer device 100 includes a communication line NE.
T, is connected to the various terminals T, receives a signal from the communication line NET, a function for transferring the received signal to the terminal, receives a signal from the terminal T, and transfers the received signal to the communication line NET. Has a function to deliver.

The signals transmitted and received between the communication line NET and the terminal T include audio signals (general analog audio signals), signals other than audio signals (eg, character signals, image signals, control data, etc.), Alternatively, a signal composed of an audio signal and a signal other than audio (Internet telephone, H.32
4, so-called streaming audio, etc.). Further, the signal may be either of an analog type or a digital type.

Next, the signal transfer device 100 will be described. The signal transfer device 100 includes a transmission / reception interface 110, a signal processing unit 120, and an input / output interface 130.

The transmission / reception interface 110 is for connecting the signal transfer device 100 to the communication line NET. The input / output interface 130 is for connecting the signal transfer device 100 to various terminals T.

The signal processing unit 120 outputs a control signal C2, controls the input / output interface 130 by the control signal C2, selects an optional interface included in the input / output interface 130, and transmits / receives to / from the optional interface. Signals can be freely exchanged with the interface 110.

The above optional interface is a terminal T
Is selected based on the current state of The current state of the terminal T is, for example, whether the power of the personal computer or the next-generation TV is off or in use, the power of the mobile phone is off, or outside the so-called call area, There are various things such as whether the telephone is busy, what is called an answering machine, the data transmission rate to the terminal T is too high to make communication difficult, or the transmission path to the terminal T is crowded. . The transmission line may be a signal line directly connecting the terminal T to the signal transfer device 100, a communication line different from the communication line NET, or a LAN, It may be a WAN. The signal processing unit 120 recognizes such a current state of the terminal T, and if the terminal T intends to pass a signal from the communication line NET (this terminal T is, for example, by an interface selection method described later) Select) is powered off as described above, is busy,
When communication is difficult, another terminal T is selected. As another terminal T, for example, the user may set a priority order for selecting the terminal T in advance and select a terminal T that can currently communicate with the communication line NET according to the priority order.

The signal processor 120 recognizes the current state of the terminal T by, for example, the following two recognition methods. First, regarding the first recognition method, the signal processing unit 12
0 indicates that a response signal corresponding to a signal passed from the communication line NET to the terminal T does not return from the terminal T, or a signal is periodically transmitted to all the terminals T, The response signal corresponding to the signal is the terminal T
, The current state of the terminal T can be recognized. Next, regarding the second recognition method, the signal processing unit 120 can recognize the state of the current data transmission rate between the terminal T and the input / output interface 130 by the transmission path monitor A13 (FIG. 3) described later. .

The current state of the terminal T may be recognized by the control unit A100, for example, in the case of FIG. 3 described later.

Further, the signal processing unit 120 converts a signal passed between the transmission / reception interface 110 and an arbitrary interface of the input / output interface 130 into a signal suitable for a terminal T (object to be passed) connected to the arbitrary interface. Can be converted to That is, the signal processing unit 120 outputs the signal P from the communication line NET.
1 is received via the transmission / reception interface 110, the signal is converted into a signal P2 suitable for an arbitrary interface, and passed to the terminal T via the input / output interface 130. Conversely, the signal processing unit 120 outputs the signal P3 from the terminal T.
Via the input / output interface 130, and receives the signal P4 suitable for the communication line NET (to be transferred).
And passes it to the communication line NET via the transmission / reception interface 110.

As described above, the signal processing unit 120 appropriately switches an arbitrary interface in the input / output interface 130 by an interface selection method described later, for example, based on the current state of the terminal T as described above. select. As a result, a signal from the communication line NET can be allocated to an arbitrary terminal T appropriately selected, and a signal can be freely exchanged between the transmission / reception interface 110 and an arbitrary interface in the input / output interface 130. . Therefore, the user can conveniently use the terminal T by integrating various usage forms.

In addition, the signal processing unit 120 can convert the signal into a signal suitable for the terminal T appropriately selected, for example, by a signal conversion method described later.
Thereby, for example, even if the terminal T which passes a signal from the communication line is switched, communication can be performed from the communication line NET to the terminal T.

Next, a specific example of the predetermined processing of the signal processing unit 120 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the signal processing unit 12
0 includes an assigner 121 and a text-to-speech converter 122.

Transmission / reception interface 110 (FIG. 1)
Is controlled by a control signal C4 from the signal processing unit 120, and outputs a signal from the communication line NET to the signal P1a and the signal P1.
1b, and conversely, the signal P4a from the assigner 121
And the signal P4b from the text-to-speech converter 122 are mixed and transmitted to the communication line NET. Signal P1a and signal P1b
Corresponds to the signal P1 in FIG. 1, and includes the signal P4a and the signal P4b.
Corresponds to the signal P4 in FIG.

The signal P1b is transmitted to the transmission / reception interface 1
Reference numeral 10 denotes a character signal or a voice signal which is extracted from a signal from the communication line NET. Signal P1a
Are signals extracted by the transmission / reception interface 110 from signals from the communication line NET, and are signals other than the signal P1b. If the signal P1b is a voice signal, the text-to-speech converter 122 outputs this as a text signal signal P1c. Conversely, if the signal P1b is a text signal, it outputs this as a voice signal P1c. Assigner 121
Generates a signal P2 from the signals P1a and P1c.

The signal P4c is transmitted from the assigner 121 to the signal P3.
Which is a character signal or a voice signal. The signal P4a is a signal extracted from the signal P3 by the assigner 121, and is a signal other than the signal P4c. If the signal P4c is a voice signal, the text-to-speech converter 122 outputs this as a text signal signal P4b. Conversely, if the signal P4c is a text signal, it outputs this as a voice signal P4b.

As described above, the signal processing unit 120 includes a function of mutually converting a character signal and a voice signal (character / voice mutual conversion function) when transferring a signal. A terminal (not shown) that can handle signals but cannot handle character signals and a terminal T that can handle character signals but cannot handle voice signals can communicate with each other. For example, a voice signal from the communication line NET can be converted into a character signal, and this can be sent as e-mail to the terminal T of the personal computer. Alternatively, for example, when the current state of the telephone terminal T is a so-called answering machine, the signal transfer device 100 selects the personal computer terminal T, and the communication line NE.
The voice signal from T is converted into a character signal, which is sent to the terminal T of the personal computer as electronic mail. This saves users from having to listen to their answering machines,
The contents transmitted from the communication line NET can be easily searched by the search function of the personal computer.

Next, a specific example of the assigner 121 and the text-to-speech converter 122 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the assigner 121 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the assigner 121.

The transmission / reception interface 110 receives the signal P
If 1a is analog, the signal P1a is indirectly output to the memory A2 via the AD converter A1, and if the signal P1a is digital, the signal P1a is directly output to the memory A2. The memory A2 stores the signal P1a provided indirectly or directly from the transmission / reception interface 110.

The DA converter A3 converts digital data stored in the memory A2 into analog data. On the other hand, the data recognizing unit A4 receives digital data stored in the memory A2 or a digital voice signal or a digital character signal to be described later from the character-to-speech converter 122, and recognizes the content. Hybrid A5 is memory A
2 is received via the data recognizing unit A4, and the digital data is edited so that it can communicate with the terminal T as necessary. The signal distributor A6 selects at least one of the digital data from the hybrid A5, the analog data from the DA converter A3, and the later-described analog audio signal from the text-to-speech converter 122, and outputs it as a signal P2.

The separation processing unit A7 extracts a character signal, an analog sound signal, or a digital sound signal, if any, from the signal P3 and outputs the extracted signal to the character-speech converter 122, and outputs the remaining signal P3. If the data is analog, it is indirectly output to the memory A9 via the AD converter A8,
If the remaining data of the signal P3 is digital, it is output directly to the memory A9. The memory A9 stores data provided indirectly or directly from the separation processing unit A7. The DA converter A10 converts digital data stored in the memory A9 into analog data.

Next, the text-to-speech converter 122 will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the text-to-speech converter 122. FIG. 5 is a data structure diagram showing the database shown in FIG.

The mutual conversion between characters and voice includes conversion for terminals that handle voice (hereinafter, conversion for voice terminals) and conversion for terminals that handle characters (hereinafter, conversion for character terminals). In the conversion for a voice terminal, characters are converted to voice from the communication line NET to the terminal T, and voice is converted to characters from the terminal T to the communication line NET. In the conversion for the character terminal, the voice is converted into a character from the communication line NET to the terminal T, and the character is converted into a voice from the terminal T to the communication line NET.

First, a description will be given of the case of converting characters into voice from the communication line NET to the terminal T for voice terminal conversion.

The buffer memory B7 stores a character signal from the transmission / reception interface 110 (here, the signal P in FIG. 2).
1b) is received and stored. The phrase segmentation unit B8 uses Japanese,
Grammar database DB4 in which grammar such as English is registered
And a dictionary database DB5 in which other character strings corresponding to a certain character string (for example, kanji corresponding to kana, another language corresponding to Japanese (for example, English), homonyms, opposite words, etc.) are registered. While referring to the buffer memory B7.
The character signal stored in is decomposed for each phrase. Then, the control of the sound conversion processing unit B9 is clause decomposition unit B8, "A", "Ku" phoneme database DB1 and registered the speech segment, such as "Hello", characters that have meaningful such as "Hello" The character signal in the buffer memory B7 is converted into a speech signal for each phrase while referring to the speech database DB2 in which the columns are registered. At this time, for example, a Japanese character signal may be translated and converted into an English voice signal, or a voice signal of a male voice or a female voice may be converted in addition to the voice quality of the transmission source. The buffer memory B10 stores this audio signal and outputs it as a digital audio signal, and also outputs it as an analog audio signal via the DA converter B11. The digital audio signal and the analog audio signal are supplied to the data recognition unit A4 and the signal distributor A6 in FIG. 3 as described above, respectively, as the signal P1c.

Further, the segmentation section B8 refers to a related database DB3 for associating databases, and
When the content of the character signal recognizes, for example, a keyword "Chinese sound effect", the voice conversion processing unit B9 converts the voice signal into a voice signal of a dora sound (the dora sound is registered in the voice database DB2). Alternatively, the voice conversion processing unit B9 forms a syllable by combining data such as vowels and consonants registered in the voice database DB2 under the control of the phrase decomposition unit B8. As described above, the speech conversion processing unit B9 may be controlled by the keyword recognized by the phrase decomposition unit B8.

Next, a description will be given of a case where voice is converted into characters from the terminal T to the communication line NET for voice terminal conversion.

If the signal P3 includes an analog audio signal, the separation processing unit A7 (FIG. 3) converts this audio signal into an AD converter B
1 indirectly to the buffer memory B2 as a signal P4c, and if the signal P3 includes a digital audio signal, this audio signal is directly sent to the buffer memory B2 as a signal P4c.
Output as The buffer memory B2 stores an audio signal supplied indirectly or directly from the transmission / reception interface 110. Next, the conversion processing unit B3 converts the audio signal (data) stored in the buffer memory B2 into a phoneme signal corresponding to Japanese, for example, using a known method (for example, cepstrum conversion or the like). Next, the phoneme recognition unit B4 uses a well-known method (for example, hidden Markov or the like).
Is used to recognize the contents of the phoneme segment signal converted by the conversion processing unit B3. The character string conversion unit B5 receives a character signal from the conversion processing unit B3 via the phoneme recognition unit B4, refers to the dictionary database DB5, and is controlled by the conversion processing unit B3 to convert the character signal into a sentence. For example, if the conversion processing unit B3 is converting a speech signal into a Japanese phoneme signal, the character signal is determined based on Japanese grammar, and for example, punctuation is inserted at an appropriate place, The character signal is formatted like a letter. Alternatively, the character string conversion unit B5 may translate a Japanese character signal into an English character signal. The buffer memory B6 stores the character signals that have been sentenced by the character string conversion unit B5. Buffer memory B
Here, the character signal in 6 is output as the signal P4b in FIG.

When the phoneme recognizing section B4 refers to the voice database DB2 and recognizes that the character signal converted by the buffer memory B2 is a keyword such as "in English", the conversion processing section B3 converts the voice signal into English. Is converted to a phoneme signal. As described above, the conversion processing unit B3 may be feedback-controlled by the keyword recognized by the phoneme recognition unit B4.

Next, a description will be given of a case in which characters are converted into voices from the terminal T to the communication line NET with respect to the conversion for the text terminal.

The buffer memory B7 receives and stores the character signal signal P4c from the assigner 121 (here, the digital character signal output from the separation processing unit A7 in FIG. 3). The phrase decomposition unit B8, the voice conversion processing unit B9, the buffer memory B10, and the DA converter B11 operate in the same manner as the voice terminal conversion. Thus, the character signal is output from the buffer memory B10 and the DA converter B11 as a digital audio signal and an analog audio signal, respectively. Here, the digital audio signal and the analog audio signal are output as the signal P4b in FIG.

Next, a description will be given of a case where voice is converted into characters from the communication line NET side to the terminal T side regarding the conversion for the text terminal.

If the signal from the communication line NET includes an analog audio signal, the transmission / reception interface 110 indirectly outputs the audio signal as a signal P1b to the buffer memory B2 via the AD converter B1. If this signal includes a digital audio signal, this audio signal is directly output to the buffer memory B2 as the signal P1b. Conversion processing unit B3, phoneme recognition unit B4, character string conversion unit B
5. The buffer memory B6 operates similarly to the voice terminal conversion. Thereby, the audio signal is transferred to the buffer memory B6.
Is output as a digital character signal. Here, this digital character signal is given to the data recognition unit A4 in FIG. 3 as described above.

Next, the above-described interface selection method will be described.

For example, the setting control section A11 (FIG. 3) may appropriately select an arbitrary interface in the input / output interface 130 according to the control signal C1 (FIG. 1) from the communication line NET. For example, the setting control unit A11
Determines that the control signal C1 from the communication line NET is a specific source, selects the telephone interface 133 to which the mobile phone is connected. Thus, signals can be freely exchanged between the transmission / reception interface 110 and the telephone interface 133. When the setting control unit A11 knows that the control signal C1 from the communication line NET is to be transmitted to the television terminal T, the setting control unit A11 selects the wired interface 131 to which the television is connected. As a result, signals can be freely transferred between the transmission / reception interface 110 and the wired interface 131 connected to the television.

The setting control section A11 may appropriately select an arbitrary interface in the input / output interface 130 according to the contents recognized by the data recognition section A4. For example, when the data recognizing unit A4 recognizes that the digital data stored in the memory A2 includes image data for a personal computer, the setting control unit A11 switches the wired interface 131 to which the personal computer is connected. select. Thus, signals can be exchanged between the transmission / reception interface 110 and the wired interface 131. Alternatively, when the data recognizing unit A4 recognizes that the digital data stored in the memory A2 includes the map data for the in-vehicle terminal T, the setting control unit A11 causes the in-vehicle terminal T to transmit the radio wave. The wireless interface 132 connected by is selected. by this,
Signals can be transferred between the transmission / reception interface 110 and the wireless interface 132.

The setting control section A11 includes a phoneme recognition section B
4 (FIG. 4), an arbitrary interface in the input / output interface 130 may be appropriately selected. For example, the phoneme recognizing unit B4 refers to the phoneme segment database DB1 or the voice database DB2, and recognizes the keyword of the character signal converted by the buffer memory B2, for example, "with a mobile phone". Then, the telephone interface 133 to which the mobile phone is connected is selected. Thus, signals can be freely exchanged between the transmission / reception interface 110 and the telephone interface 133. Further, the phoneme recognition unit B4 is provided in the buffer memory 7
May be recognized. Accordingly, the setting control unit A11 selects an arbitrary interface in the input / output interface 130 according to the content recognized by the phoneme recognition unit B4 (here, a character signal given from the assigner 121 or the transmission / reception interface 110). be able to.

The setting control section A11 may select any two or more interfaces in the input / output interface 130 at the same time. The number of terminals T to be selected at the same time is set in advance by a user, for example. That is, signals may be exchanged between a total of three or more of two or more interfaces in the input / output interface 130 and the transmission / reception interface 110. Thereby, the same content from the communication line NET can be broadcast to two or more terminals T as necessary.

The transmission / reception interface 110 and the input / output interface 130 are controlled by the timer A12.
A time limit may be set for the transfer of a signal to or from any of the interfaces. As in the above example, the transfer of signals between the transmission / reception interface 110 and the wired interface 131 connected to the television can be restricted, for example, at night (for example, from 6:00 pm to midnight).

As described above, the control unit A100 composed of the setting control unit A11, the timer A12, and the transmission line monitor A13 described later communicates between the transmission / reception interface 110 and an appropriately selected interface in the input / output interface 130. The signal can be freely transferred.

In addition to the signal conversion method using the character-to-speech converter 122, a signal conversion method using the hybrid A5 may be used. The hybrid A5 converts a signal according to the performance and environment of the terminal T. For example, the transmission line monitor A13 detects a data transmission rate (included in the control signal C3 in FIG. 1) between the terminal T and the input / output interface 130. When the setting control unit A11 determines that normal communication cannot be performed because the data transmission rate is high, the setting control unit A11 controls the hybrid A5 so as to reduce the data transmission rate. The hybrid A5 converts the signal from the data recognizing unit A4 and outputs the converted signal to the signal distributor A6 so that the data transmission rate decreases accordingly.
As a result, the data transmission rate is reduced, and communication between the terminal T and the input / output interface 130 can be performed normally. Alternatively, input / output interface 1
When sending a moving image from 30 to a mobile phone, the setting control unit A11
Is used to reduce the number of moving image data (for example, to reduce 30 moving images per second to 10 frames per second).
Control. The hybridizer A5 thins out the moving image signal from the data recognizing unit A4 and outputs the signal to the signal distributor A6. As described above, the data transmission rate can be reduced by reducing the number of frames of the moving image, and communication between the mobile phone and the input / output interface 130 can be performed normally.

As described above, since the signal can be converted into a signal suitable for an object to be transferred by the hybrid device A5 and the character-to-speech converter 122, the user can conveniently use the terminal T by integrating various use modes. be able to.

[0057]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a signal from a communication line is appropriately allocated to and delivered to a terminal based on the current state of the terminal. As a result, the user can conveniently use the terminal by integrating various usage forms.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, communication between the communication line and the terminal can be performed even when the terminal that passes a signal from the communication line is switched.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a signal from a communication line can be broadcast to a plurality of terminals as needed.

According to the invention described in claim 4, for example,
Communication between a terminal that can handle only one of text and voice and the communication line side can be performed.

According to the invention described in claim 5, a terminal can be appropriately selected according to the content of a signal from a communication line. In particular, in the case according to claim 4, the terminal can be appropriately selected by a character signal or a voice signal.

According to the invention described in claim 6, two-way communication between the terminal and the communication line becomes possible. Moreover, claim 5
In this case, another terminal can be appropriately selected according to the content of the signal to be transferred.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a signal transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a signal processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an assigner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a text-to-speech converter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a data structure diagram showing a database according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 100 signal transfer device, 110 transmission / reception interface, 120 signal processing unit, 130 input / output interface, T terminal, NET communication line

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) MM06 NN01 NN11 NN22 NN23 NN25 NN34 PP01 QQ01 QQ07 QQ10 TT02 UU19 UU20

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A signal transfer device for receiving a signal from a communication line and transferring the received signal to a terminal, wherein the terminal includes a plurality of terminals, and receives the signal received from the communication line, A signal transfer device, which appropriately allocates and transfers the terminal to a plurality of terminals based on the current state of the plurality of terminals. 2. The signal transfer apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising converting a signal received from the communication line into a signal suitable for a terminal to be transferred and transferring the signal to the terminal. 3. The signal transfer device according to claim 1, further comprising selecting one or more of the plurality of terminals as a terminal to be transferred. 4. The signal transfer apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a function of mutually converting a voice signal and a character signal included in the signal received from the communication line when transferring the signal. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: recognizing a content of the signal received from the communication line, and selecting one of the plurality of terminals as a transfer target terminal according to the content. Or the signal transfer device according to 4. 6. The signal transfer according to claim 1, further comprising a function of receiving a signal from the terminal and transferring the signal received from the terminal to the communication line. apparatus.