JP2004112765A - Audio and image communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an audio and image communication device capable of simultaneously transmitting an information signal of a facsimile or the like and an audio signal. <P>SOLUTION: An audio encoding part 16 encodes the audio signal. An audio decoding part 17 decodes encoded audio into an audio signal. A data composing part 7 composes image data and audio data. In accordance with a data transmission rate of a MODEM 9, an audio data transmission rate is fixed and that of images is varied. A data separating part 8 separates the encoded data into image data and audio data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a system for transmitting image data at the same time as audio, and more particularly to an audio-video communication device for converting audio into digital data for communication.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a technique for transmitting a plurality of pieces of information using a telephone line, Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-28616 introduces a technique for simultaneously transmitting other information signals while reducing the deterioration of voice quality.
[0003]
According to this prior art, as shown in FIG. 16, an information signal is transmitted in a central band portion having a flat characteristic in a telephone transmission band of 0.3 kHz to 3.4 kHz, so that the quality of the information signal can be ensured. Since the low-frequency component and the high-frequency component of the voice are left, deterioration of the voice quality can be reduced.
[0004]
FIG. 17 shows a block diagram of a conventional example. In the figure, the pass band of the band pass filter 92 and the stop band of the band stop filter 93 are the same band.
[0005]
That is, the signal component passing through the band-pass filter 92 is blocked by the band rejection filter 93, and the signal component passing through the band rejection filter 93 is blocked by the band-pass filter 92. Now, the signal output from the information transmitting / receiving device 96 enters the band-pass filter 92 via the two-wire / four-wire converter 94, where the signal components outside the information signal band are attenuated. On the other hand, the voice signal output from the voice communication device 97 enters the band rejection filter 93 via the two-wire / four-wire conversion unit 95, where the signal component in the information signal band in the band of the voice signal component is attenuated. The voice signal and the information signal which have passed through the filter as described above are added by signal components as shown in FIG.
[0006]
Conversely, when a signal as shown in FIG. 16 is transmitted through the telephone line 91, the information signal component passes through the band-pass filter 92 and is output to the information transmitting / receiving device 96 via the two-wire / four-wire converter 94. . On the other hand, the voice signal is extracted by the band rejection filter 93 and output to the voice communication device 97 via the two-wire / four-wire conversion unit 95.
[0007]
As described above, in this conventional technique, the voice signal and the information signal are frequency-multiplexed, and the information signal is transmitted and received while talking on one telephone line.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when a modulated signal whose modulation band occupies most of the transmission band of a telephone line, such as a facsimile, is transmitted as an information signal, the voice signal and the information signal are frequency-multiplexed as in the above-described conventional technique. It is difficult to transmit at the same time.
[0009]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a problem of the conventional technology and to provide an audio-visual communication device capable of simultaneously transmitting an information signal such as a facsimile and an audio signal.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An object of the present invention is to provide an audio-visual communication apparatus including a line connection unit, a data transmission / reception unit, an audio reproduction unit, an audio input unit, an image display unit, an image input unit, a communication state determination unit, and a control unit. This is achieved by:
[0011]
[Action]
The line connection means performs line connection by wire or wirelessly. The data transmitting / receiving means transmits and receives voice and image data from the line via the line connecting means. The sound reproducing means reproduces the sound data received by the data transmitting / receiving means as sound. The voice input means converts the voice to be transmitted into a voice signal and inputs the voice signal to the data transmitting / receiving means. The image display means displays the image data received by the data transmission / reception means as an image. The image input means converts an image to be transmitted into an image signal and inputs the image signal to the data transmitting / receiving means. The communication state determination means determines the communication state of the line.
[0012]
The control unit controls the transmission / reception of the image data by the data transmission / reception unit while keeping the transmission speed of transmission / reception of the audio data by the data transmission / reception unit constant according to the line state determined by the communication state determination unit. The transmission speed of the In this way, facsimile communication can be performed while talking, which is difficult with conventional techniques such as frequency multiplexing.
[0013]
【Example】
Hereinafter, a voice / facsimile simultaneous communication device will be described as a first embodiment of the voice / image communication device of the present invention. The voice / facsimile simultaneous communication device according to the present embodiment can transmit and receive a facsimile image in full-duplex while talking on a single analog telephone line. Even ordinary telephones can communicate normally.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a voice / facsimile simultaneous communication device as a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a system control unit, 2 is an operation panel, 3 is an image reading unit, 4 is an image recording unit, 5 is an image encoding unit, 6 is an image decoding unit, 7 is a data synthesizing unit, and 8 is data Separation unit, 9 is a modem, 10 is a 2-wire to 4-wire conversion unit, 11 is an off-hook detection unit, 12 is a response message generation unit, 13 is a call signal detection unit, 14 is a telephone line, 15 is a telephone, and 16 is voice coding. , 17 is a voice decoding unit, 18 is a two-wire / four-wire conversion unit, 19 is a current source, 20 is a switch, and 21 is a switch. First, each part will be described in detail.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 2, the system control unit 1 of FIG. 1 includes a CPU 110, an interface 120, a ROM 130, a RAM 140, and a bus 150. The CPU 110 operates by software stored in the ROM 130, and controls the interface 120 or the bus 150. The respective parts of the voice / facsimile simultaneous communication device of the present embodiment are controlled via this.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 3, the operation panel 2 of FIG. 1 has a transmission button 210, a reception button 220, a voice / fax simultaneous mode button 230, and a simultaneous disable LED 240, and these buttons are connected to the system control unit 1. ing.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 4, the image reading unit 3 shown in FIG. 1 includes a scanner 310 for reading a transmission original, a mechanical unit 330 for sending the original, and binarizing the image read by the scanner 310 after performing shading correction, gamma correction, and the like. In response to an instruction from the system control unit 1, the mechanical unit 330 starts taking in a transmission original, and the image processing unit 320 binarizes analog image data read by the scanner 310 and converts Output to the image encoding unit 5.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 5, the image recording unit 4 of FIG. 1 includes a thermal head 41 for recording binary image data output from the image decoding unit 6 of FIG. 42, a head controller 43 for controlling the print density of the thermal head 41 and the like.
[0019]
The image encoding unit 5 in FIG. 1 encodes the binary image data output by the image reading unit 3 according to the G3 standard of the CCITT recommendation, and outputs the binary image data to the data combining unit 7. The encoding method is, for example, MH encoding, MR encoding, or the like, and the encoding method is selected according to a command from the system control unit 1.
[0020]
The image decoding unit 6 in FIG. 1 decodes the encoded image data output from the data separation unit 8 into binary image data, and outputs the binary image data to the image recording unit 4. The decoding method is to perform MH decoding processing when the transmitting party has performed MH coding, and to perform MR decoding processing when the transmitting party has performed MR coding. Since the coding method used by the transmission partner is determined by a procedure signal described later, the decoding can be accurately performed on the receiving side.
[0021]
Note that an image storage unit is provided between the image decoding unit 6 and the image recording unit 4, the image data decoded by the image decoding unit 6 is temporarily stored, and the stored image data is output to the image recording unit 4. You may do it.
[0022]
The data synthesizing unit 7 in FIG. 1 synthesizes two encoded data output from the image encoding unit 5 and the audio encoding unit 16 and outputs the synthesized data to the modem 9. Here, the data combining method will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
[0023]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data synthesizing unit 7, where 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75 are switches, 76, 77, 78, and 79 are buffers, and 70 is a control unit. The control unit 70 operates according to a command from the system control unit 1 and controls reading and writing of FAX encoded data and audio encoded data into and from each buffer while controlling the switching of each switch. Combine. FIG. 6 shows an operation when the FAX encoded data has a data transmission speed of 9600 bps, the audio encoded data has a data transmission speed of 4800 bps, and the transmission speed of the encoded data after synthesis is 14400 bps.
[0024]
First, the control unit 70 switches the switch 71 to the buffer 76 side, writes 9600 bits of facsimile coded data input at a data transmission rate of 9600 bps to the buffer 76, and switches the switch 71 to the buffer 77 when writing to the buffer 76 is completed. Side, and 9600-bit facsimile encoded data is written to the buffer 77. Hereinafter, this operation is repeated alternately.
[0025]
Simultaneously with this operation, the control unit 70 switches the switch 72 to the buffer 78 side to write 4800 bits of audio coded data input at a data transmission rate of 4800 bps into the buffer 78, and when the writing to the buffer 78 is completed, the switch 72 Is switched to the buffer 79 side, and 4800 bits of audio encoded data are written to the buffer 79 this time. Hereinafter, this operation is repeated alternately.
[0026]
When the writing of the 9600-bit facsimile coded data into the buffer 76 is completed, the control unit 70 switches the switch 73 to the buffer 76 side and the switch 75 to the switch 73 side, and stores the data in the buffer 76. 9600-bit facsimile coded data is read at a data transmission rate of 14400 bps. When all the data in the buffer 76 is read, the switch 75 is switched to the switch 74 side and the switch 74 is switched to the buffer 78 side, and the encoded data of 4800 bits of audio written in the buffer 78 is transmitted at a data transmission rate of 14400 bps. Read with.
[0027]
When all the data in the buffer 78 is read, the switch 75 is switched to the switch 73 side again and the switch 73 is switched to the buffer 77 side, and the 9600-bit facsimile encoded data written in the buffer 77 is read at a data transmission rate of 14400 bps. . When all the data in the buffer 77 is read, the switch 75 is again switched to the switch 74 side and the switch 74 is switched to the buffer 79 side, and the encoded data of 4800 bits of audio written in the buffer 79 is transmitted at a data transmission rate of 14400 bps. read out.
[0028]
When all the data in the buffer 79 is read, the switch 75 is switched to the switch 73 side and the switch 73 is switched to the buffer 76 side again, and the 9600-bit facsimile encoded data written in the buffer 76 is read at a data transmission rate of 14400 bps. . Hereinafter, similarly, such an operation is repeated until the system control unit 1 outputs an end command.
[0029]
The data synthesizing unit 7 switches the switch 71 to the buffer 76 side, the switch 73 to the buffer 76 side, and the switch 75 to the switch 73 side in accordance with a command from the system control unit 1 to buffer the input FAX encoded data. There is a facsimile mode in which the signal is directly output from the switch 75 via the switch 76. This facsimile mode is used when performing normal facsimile communication.
[0030]
1 separates the encoded data demodulated by the modem 9 into image encoded data and audio encoded data. The image encoded data is sent to the image decoding unit 6, and the audio encoded data is sent to the audio encoded data. The data is output to the decoding unit 17, respectively. Here, the data separation method will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
[0031]
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data separation unit 8, where 81, 82, 83, 84, and 85 are switches, 86, 87, 88, and 89 are buffers, and 80 is a control unit. The control unit 80 operates according to a command from the system control unit 1 and separates the encoded data synthesized by time division into FAX encoded data and voice encoded data while controlling the switching of each switch. In FIG. 7, the operation when the received encoded data of 14400 bps synthesized by time division is output at a data transmission speed of 9600 bps for the FAX encoded data and at a data transmission speed of 4800 bps for the audio encoded data, respectively. Is shown.
[0032]
First, the control unit 80 switches the switch 85 to the switch 83 and switches the switch 83 to the buffer 86, and writes 9600 bits of FAX encoded data to be input at a data transmission rate of 14400 bps into the buffer 86. When the writing to the buffer 86 is completed, the switch 85 is switched to the switch 84 side and the switch 84 is switched to the buffer 88 side, and the coded audio data input at a data transmission rate of 14400 bps is written into the buffer 88 by 4800 bits.
[0033]
When the writing to the buffer 88 is completed, the switch 85 is switched to the switch 83 side and the switch 83 is switched to the buffer 87 side, and 9600 bits of FAX encoded data input at a data transmission speed of 14400 bps are written to the buffer 87. When the writing to the buffer 87 is completed, the switch 85 is switched to the switch 84 side, and the switch 84 is switched to the buffer 89 side, and the coded audio data input at a data transmission rate of 14400 bps is written into the buffer 89 by 4800 bits. When the writing to the buffer 89 is completed, the writing to the buffer 86 is started again, and thereafter, the same operation is repeated.
[0034]
In parallel with this operation, the control unit 80 reads data from the buffers in which writing into the buffers 86, 87, 88, and 89 has been completed. For example, when the writing of 9600-bit facsimile encoded data to the buffer 86 is completed, the switch 81 is switched to the buffer 86 side to read 9600-bit facsimile encoded data at a data transmission speed of 9600 bps. When the reading is completed, the switch 81 is switched to the buffer 87 side to read the facsimile encoded data. Hereinafter, the same operation is alternately repeated.
[0035]
Alternatively, when the writing of the encoded data of 4800 bits of audio to the buffer 88 is completed, the switch 82 is switched to the buffer 88 side to read the encoded data of 4800 bits of audio at the data transmission speed of 4800 bps. When the reading is completed, the switch 82 is switched to the buffer 89 side to read the encoded audio data. Hereinafter, the same operation is alternately repeated.
[0036]
Further, the data separation unit 8 switches the switch 85 to the switch 83 side, the switch 83 to the buffer 86 side, and the switch 81 to the buffer 86 side in accordance with a command from the system control unit 1, and stores the received encoded data in the buffer 86. A facsimile mode is output from the switch 81 as it is. This mode is used when performing normal facsimile communication.
[0037]
Note that an image storage unit is provided between the data separation unit 8 and the image decoding unit 6 to store the encoded image data output from the data separation unit 8, and the stored encoded image data is transmitted to the image decoding unit 6. You may make it output.
[0038]
When a facsimile is not transmitted, that is, when facsimile encoded data does not enter from the image encoding unit 5, the contents of the buffer are read as dummy data.
[0039]
Further, in the present embodiment, the facsimile encoded data and the audio encoded data are synthesized and separated in a time-division synchronized manner, but the facsimile encoded data is not facsimile encoded data. Alternatively, a flag may be added.
[0040]
In the description of the data synthesizing unit 7 and the data separating unit 8, the transmission speed of the facsimile encoded data is 9600 bps, and the transmission speed of the voice encoded data is 4800 bps. However, other data transmission speeds may be used. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the facsimile data transmission speed is varied according to the data transmission speed of the modem 9, and the voice data transmission speed is fixed at 4800 bps. In FIG. 8, when the data transmission speed of the modem 9 is 14400 bps, the facsimile data transmission speed is 9600 bps, 1200 bps is 7200 bps, 9600 bps is 4800 bps, 7200 bps is 2400 bps, and 4800 bps is encoded voice data. The system control unit 1 controls the data synthesizing unit 7 and the data separating unit 8 so that only the operation is performed.
[0041]
As shown in FIG. 9, the modem 9 in FIG. 1 includes an interface 91, a DSP (digital signal processor) 92, a D / A (digital / analog converter) 93, and an A / D (analog / digital converter) 94. Input and output of data to and from the data synthesizing unit 7 and the data separating unit 8 are performed via the interface 91. The DSP 92 includes an arithmetic unit for signal processing, a ROM, a RAM, a control register, and the like, and operates by software stored in the ROM in advance.
[0042]
Here, the function of the DSP 92 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 32bis modulator / demodulator, 922. 32 modulator / demodulator, 923 is V.32. 17 modulator / demodulator, 924 is V.17. 29 modulator / demodulator, 925 is V.29. 27ter modulator / demodulator, 926 is V.27ter. 21 is a modulation / demodulation unit, 927 is a tone signal generation unit, 928 is a tone signal detection unit, and 929 is a control unit. Here, V. 32 bis, V.I. 32, V, 17, V. 29, V.I. 27ter, V.I. 21 is the name of the standard relating to the modulation and demodulation method of the CCITT recommendation.
[0043]
In FIG. 10, the DSP 92 inputs and outputs control data to and from the system control unit 1 via the control unit 929. 32 bis, V.I. 32, V.I. 17, V.I. 29, V27ter, V.I. 21 modulation and demodulation methods can be switched. The data transmission rate of these modulation and demodulation systems is any of 14400 bps, 12000 bps, 9600 bps, 7200 bps, 4800 bps, 2400 bps, and 300 bps. 32 and V32bis, full-duplex operation is possible. In the simultaneous communication of the voice facsimile simultaneous communication device of this embodiment, the V.V. 32bis and V.I. 32 modulation and demodulation methods are used, and simultaneous communication as shown in FIG. 11 is possible.
[0044]
In FIG. 11, when a transmission signal composed of FAX data and voice data time-division multiplexed by the data synthesizing unit 7 is transmitted from the calling side to the called side, the same receiving signal may be received from the called side at the same time. it can. Further, the tone signal generator 927 can generate a tone signal of an arbitrary frequency, and can generate a facsimile CNG signal (intermittent tone of 1100 Hz) under the control of the system controller 1. The tone signal detection unit 928 can detect the frequency designated by the system control unit 1 via the control unit 929, and notifies the system control unit 1 via the control unit 929 at the time of detection. Can detect facsimile CNG signals, busy sounds (intermittent sounds at 400 Hz), and the like.
[0045]
1 outputs a modulated signal output from the modem 9 to the telephone line 14 via the switch 20, or outputs a modulated signal transmitted by the telephone line 14 to the modem 9. .
[0046]
The response message generator 12 shown in FIG. 1 is composed of a ROM in which voice is recorded and an IC dedicated to voice reproduction, reproduces voice data read from the ROM in accordance with a command from the system controller 1, 14 is output. This voice message is a response message that says, "I'm just away, so please call me later. If you're a facsimile, press the send button after the signal tone."
[0047]
1 detects an on-hook / off-hook of the telephone 15 and notifies the system controller 1 of the detection result. The paging signal detector 13 in FIG. 1 monitors the paging signal on the telephone line 14, and when the paging signal is detected, notifies the system controller 1 of the detection of the paging signal.
[0048]
The audio encoding unit 16 in FIG. 1 converts the analog audio signal output from the two-line / four-line conversion unit 18 into digital data by performing A / D conversion, and then encodes the encoded audio signal. Output to the combining unit 7. In the present embodiment, an ADPCM system in which the sampling frequency is 2400 Hz and the number of quantization bits is 2 bits is used as the audio coding system. Therefore, the data transmission speed of the voice encoded data is 4800 bps. It should be noted that another audio coding method such as PCM or DPCM may be used, and the transmission speed of the coded audio data does not need to be 4800 bps.
[0049]
The audio decoding unit 17 shown in FIG. 1 decodes the encoded audio data input from the data separation unit 8 at a data transmission rate of 4.8 kbps in the same ADPCM system as when encoding, and converts the encoded audio data into an analog audio signal. The signal is output to the two-wire / four-wire conversion unit 18.
[0050]
When the switch 21 is switched to the two-wire / four-wire conversion unit 18 in FIG. 1, the two-wire / four-wire conversion unit 18 outputs the voice signal output from the voice decoding unit 17 to the telephone 15 via the switch 21. Alternatively, an audio signal input from the telephone 15 via the switch 21 is output to the audio encoding unit 16.
[0051]
The current source 19 in FIG. 1 is for supplying a current to the telephone 15 through the same signal path as the above-mentioned voice signal when the switch 21 is switched to the two-wire / four-wire conversion unit 18 side. Thus, even if the telephone 15 is connected to the two-wire / four-wire conversion unit 18 side, it can operate normally. The switch 21 in FIG. 1 switches whether or not to perform simultaneous voice facsimile communication, and is initially connected to the telephone line 14 side.
[0052]
Next, a connection operation in the case where the voice facsimile simultaneous communication devices of the present embodiment communicate with each other will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the side on which the voice / fax simultaneous mode button 230 of the operation panel 2 is pressed first is referred to as a master side, and the communication partner thereof is referred to as a slave side.
[0053]
In FIG. 12, the master who has pressed the voice / fax simultaneous mode button 230 of the operation panel 2 in the line connection state sends out an identification signal composed of an 800 Hz tone signal. This identification signal has the same configuration as that of the CNG signal of the facsimile standard recommended by CCITT, and has a frequency of 800 Hz only. The slave detecting this identification signal returns a DIS signal (indicating function information owned by a signal using V.21 channel 2 of CCITT recommendation) in the same manner as a normal facsimile. The master side that has received the DIS signal returns a DCS signal (indicating function information to be selected by a signal using V.21 channel 2 of CCITT recommendation).
[0054]
This function information indicates the data transmission speed, coding method, resolution, and the like corresponding to a normal facsimile, and the same configuration as that of a normal facsimile is adopted in the voice facsimile simultaneous communication device of the present embodiment. It is a voice facsimile simultaneous communication device, and V.4 of CCITT recommendation is used as a modulation and demodulation method. 32bis or V.I. 32, using a modulation / demodulation method of 32, an ADPCM method with a sampling frequency of 2400 Hz and a 2-bit quantization bit rate, and a facsimile image coding method with an MH coding method. connect.
[0055]
At this time, there is no need to press the voice / FAX simultaneous button 230 on the slave side, and in this procedure, the system controller 1 on the slave side recognizes that it is in the voice / facsimile simultaneous communication mode. If the slave, which is the communication partner, is not a voice facsimile simultaneous communication device, there is no response to the identification signal, so the system controller 1 on the master side recognizes that the slave, which is the communication partner, is not a voice facsimile simultaneous communication device. it can.
[0056]
Now, after the communication function is determined by these procedure signals, the master side starts a training sequence. This training sequence is for changing the data transmission speed of the modem 9 according to the line status of the telephone while performing equalization of the line distortion in the modem 9 and the like. Transmits a fixed pattern and checks for errors. If there are many data errors, the data transmission speed is reduced and training is performed again.
[0057]
In the case of a general facsimile, although it depends on the function of the communication partner, V.1 of CCITT recommendation is used. In the case of having a communication function of V.17, a transmission speed of 14,400 bps is also used. In the case of having a communication function of V.29, a transmission speed of 9600 bps is also used. In the case of having a communication function of 27 ter, training is started from a transmission speed of 4800 bps.
[0058]
On the other hand, in the voice / facsimile simultaneous communication apparatus according to the present embodiment, V.11 of CCITT recommendation is used. Training starts from the modulation / demodulation method of the 32bis standard. In other words, if there are many data errors in training at a transmission speed of 14400 bps, the communication speed is reduced to 12000 bps. If there are many errors even at 12000 bps, V.1 of CCITT recommendation is used. Training is performed at a 9600 bps transmission rate of a modulation / demodulation system of 32 standards. If there are many errors even at 9600 bps, the transmission speed is further reduced to 7200 bps.
[0059]
In the case of this embodiment, when there are many data errors even at 7200 bps, the system control unit 1 in FIG. 1 turns on the simultaneous disabling LED 240 on the operation panel 2 to inform the user that simultaneous voice facsimile communication is not possible. To let you know. Then, the transmission speed is further reduced to 4800 bps, and if there is little data error at 4800 bps, communication using only voice is performed.
[0060]
Training is performed from the master side to the slave side, and is not performed from the slave side to the master side. Therefore, the data transmission speed determined on the master side is also used on the slave side, and the data transmission speed is always the same on the master side and the slave side.
[0061]
As described above, the data transmission speed is determined, the voice / facsimile simultaneous communication mode is entered, and the voice / facsimile simultaneous communication is performed by changing the ratio of the voice / facsimile data transmission speed according to the determined communication speed. The data transmission speed and the transmission speeds of voice and facsimile are as described above.
[0062]
When the telephone is ended and the telephone 15 is on-hook in FIG. 1, the off-hook detecting unit 11 detects that the telephone 15 is on-hook and notifies the system control unit 1. The system control unit 1 having received this performs a post-procedure using the modem 9. Although the procedure after this will be described later, if the facsimile image is being transmitted even if the off-hook detecting unit 11 detects the on-hook of the telephone set 15, the system control unit 1 continues until the image transmission is completed. Operate without performing post-procedures.
[0063]
Here, the post-procedure will be described. In a normal facsimile, a normal facsimile is composed of an EOP signal indicating that all originals have been transmitted, an MCF signal indicating normal reception, a DCN signal indicating a line disconnection command, and the like. This is a procedure for confirming that signal transmission / reception has been completed and disconnecting the line. In the voice / facsimile simultaneous communication device of this embodiment, the system control unit 1 operates so as to perform the post-procedure only when both the call and the facsimile are completed.
[0064]
Next, the operation when the communication partner is a normal telephone will be described. In FIG. 1, the switch 21 is initially connected to the telephone line 14 side. Now, the telephone 15 is off-hook to make a call to the communication partner. When the communication partner comes out, the line is connected and a call is made. Conversely, when a call is received, the telephone 15 is connected to the telephone line 14 in the initial state, so that the bell of the telephone 15 rings and when the telephone 15 is off-hook, the line is connected and the telephone is in a talking state. Thus, when the communication partner is a telephone, it is possible to make a normal telephone call.
[0065]
Next, the operation when the communication partner is a normal facsimile machine will be described. To receive a call during a call, the user presses the receive button 220 on the operation panel 2. Upon receiving this, the system control unit 1 transmits the V.V. After performing facsimile procedural communication using the modem 21 demodulator 926, V.21 communication is performed in the same manner as a normal facsimile. 27ter or V.I. A facsimile image signal is received by the 29 modulation / demodulation method. At this time, the data separation unit 8 is in the above-described facsimile mode, and outputs the facsimile image encoded data output from the modem 9 to the image decoding unit 6 as it is. The image data decoded by the image decoding unit 6 enters the image recording unit 4 and is printed on a recording paper 44.
[0066]
When transmitting during a call, the transmission button 210 on the operation panel 2 is pressed. When the transmission button 210 is pressed, the system control unit 1 sends a CNG signal using the tone signal generation unit 927 of the modem 9 and waits for a facsimile procedure signal from the communication partner. When the procedural communication ends, the image data read by the reading unit 3 is coded by the image coding unit 5 and enters the data synthesizing unit 7. At this time, the data synthesizing unit 7 is in the above-described facsimile mode, and outputs the encoded image data to the modem 9 as it is. The modem 9 converts the coded image data into V.V. data like a normal facsimile. 17 or V. 29 or V.I. The signal is modulated by the modulation / demodulation method determined by the procedural communication among the 27ters, and is output to the telephone line 14 via the two-wire / four-wire converter 10 and the switch 20.
[0067]
Next, an operation of receiving a normal facsimile when the user is away will be described. When the communication partner makes a call, the bell of the telephone 15 rings, and at the same time, the call signal detector 13 detects the call signal and notifies the system controller 1. When the system control unit 1 continues to detect the calling signal for a predetermined time, it closes the switch 20 and connects the line. If the telephone 15 is off-hook during this time, the call signal is no longer detected, so that the system control unit 1 does not close the switch 20 and can communicate normally.
[0068]
Now, after the system controller 1 closes the switch 20 and connects the line, the system controller 1 instructs the response message generator 12 to generate a response message. The response message generator 12 sends a response message via the switch 20 stating that "I am just out of the office, so please call me later. For facsimile, please press the send button after the signal tone." Output to the telephone line 14. Thereafter, a facsimile procedure signal is transmitted from the modem 9, and the operation is the same as that of a normal facsimile.
[0069]
As described above, simultaneous voice communication is possible when the communication partner is a voice facsimile simultaneous communication device capable of transmitting facsimile while talking, and when the communication partner is a normal telephone, normal communication is performed. Is possible. Further, even when the communication partner is a normal facsimile, facsimile transmission / reception is possible.
[0070]
In addition, since only the facsimile transmission speed is changed without changing the voice transmission speed according to the communication speed, simultaneous communication can be performed while maintaining a constant call quality.
[0071]
Furthermore, since the call is terminated first at the time of simultaneous communication and the line is not disconnected even if the telephone is hooked off, the user can make a call without being aware of facsimile communication.
[0072]
Next, an audio-video simultaneous communication transceiver will be described as a second embodiment of the audio-video communication device of the present invention.
[0073]
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a voice / image simultaneous communication transceiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 13, 22 is a microphone, 23 is a speaker, 24 is a wireless unit, 25 is an antenna, 26 is an operation panel, 27 is an image input unit, 28 is an image display unit, 29 is a camera, 30 is a monitor, and 31 is system control. , 32 is an image encoding unit, and 33 is an image decoding unit. In addition, the voice encoding unit 16, the voice decoding unit 17, the data synthesizing unit 7, the data separating unit 8, and the modem 9 operate in the same manner as in the case of the voice facsimile simultaneous communication device of the first embodiment. Description is omitted.
[0074]
The operation panel 26 in FIG. 13 has a communication button 261, a confirmation button 262, and a setting switch 263, as shown in FIG. Here, each time the communication button 261 is pressed, the communication state and the non-communication state are alternately switched, and it is not necessary to keep pressing the button 261 during communication. On the other hand, regarding the confirmation button 262, when confirming the image captured by the camera 29 on the monitor 30, it is necessary to keep pressing the button 262. That is, the confirmation function operates only while the confirmation button 262 is pressed. The setting switch 263 is a slide-type switch that mechanically turns on and off, and is used for setting a master device and a slave device.
[0075]
The system control unit 31 of FIG. 13 has the same configuration as the system control unit 1 of the first embodiment, and incorporates software for an audio / video simultaneous communication transceiver. The audio encoding unit 16 in FIG. 13 encodes the audio signal of the microphone 22 by the same ADPCM method as in the first embodiment, and outputs it to the data synthesizing unit 7. The audio decoding unit 17 in FIG. 13 converts the encoded audio data output by the data separation unit 8 into an analog audio signal and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 23 as in the first embodiment.
[0076]
The image input unit 27 in FIG. 13 converts an analog video signal input from the video camera 29 into digital data and outputs the digital data to the image encoding unit 32. The image encoding unit 32 in FIG. 13 performs DCT transform, performs scalar quantization, and performs Huffman encoding, and then outputs the encoded image data to the data combining unit 7. In this embodiment, DCT transform, scalar quantization, and Huffman coding are used. However, it may be performed by another orthogonal transform method or vector quantization, or motion compensation may be performed.
[0077]
The encoded image data encoded by the image encoding unit 32 is combined with the encoded audio data encoded by the audio encoding unit 16 in the data synthesizing unit 7 in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The data is output to the modem 9.
[0078]
The image display unit 28 in FIG. 13 converts the image data output from the image decoding unit 33 into an analog video signal, adds a synchronizing signal and the like, and outputs it to the monitor 30. The monitor 30 displays the received image.
[0079]
The image decoding unit 33 in FIG. 13 decodes the encoded image data output from the data separation unit 8 and outputs the decoded image data to the image display unit 28. The decoding method is the same as that of the image encoding unit 32, and performs Huffman decoding and inverse DCT.
[0080]
The modulation / demodulation signal of the modem 9 is input / output to / from the radio unit 24. That is, the modulation signal of the modem 9 is modulated to a high frequency by the radio unit 24 and output as a radio wave via the antenna 25. The received signal demodulated by the radio unit 24 is input to the modem 9 and demodulated into encoded data.
[0081]
The wireless unit 24 in FIG. 13 has two high-frequency modulation / demodulation units, and is capable of wireless full-duplex communication.
[0082]
When the confirmation button 262 on the operation panel 26 is pressed, the system control unit 31 switches the switches 34 and 35 so that the output of the image encoding unit 32 can be input to the image decoding unit 33. Thus, the user can check his / her own image captured by the camera 29 on the monitor 30. When the confirmation button 262 is released, the switch 34 switches to the data synthesizing unit 7 side, and the switch 35 switches to the data separating unit 8 side.
[0083]
Now, the operation of the audio-video simultaneous communication transceiver will be described with reference to FIG. The audio-video simultaneous communication transceiver of the present embodiment is configured to perform communication on two frequencies of a first channel and a second channel which are set in advance, and a device transmitting on the first channel communicates with the master side. Become. The distinction between the master side and the slave side is made in advance by the setting switch 263.
[0084]
When the communication button 261 is pressed, the system control unit 31 checks the setting of the setting switch 263, and sends out the carrier on the first channel on the master side and on the second channel on the slave side.
[0085]
When the wireless connection operation is completed, the master transmits an identification signal. The slave receiving this transmits the DIS signal, while the master transmits the DCS signal. These signals are the same as the identification signals described in the first embodiment, and operate similarly. Thereafter, training is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and after determining the data transmission rate, the encoded data obtained by synthesizing the encoded audio data and the encoded image data is transmitted and received. When the communication button 261 is pressed, the system control unit 31 stops the generation of the carrier from the wireless unit 24, and the communication ends.
[0086]
Here, from the transmission of the identification signal to the training, during the normal operation, it is performed only when the communication button 261 is pressed to start the communication, but it is determined that the data error of the modem 9 has increased during the simultaneous voice and image communication. When the control unit 31 recognizes, the operation is started again from the transmission of the identification signal in the same manner as when the communication is started. Alternatively, when the data transmission rate is not the maximum, the operation starts from the transmission of the identification signal in the same manner as at the start of the communication even when good communication is obtained in a predetermined time.
[0087]
As described above, after the voice is encoded, the image data is synthesized and modulated, and then transmitted and received by the wireless unit 24, it is possible to provide a voice simultaneous communication transceiver in which an image can be viewed during a call. In addition, when the condition of the radio wave is poor or the condition of the radio wave deteriorates during communication, the data transmission speed is reduced, so that efficient communication according to the condition of the radio wave is possible. It is.
[0088]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention uses a high-speed modem capable of full-duplex communication to synthesize and transmit coded voice and image data. It was difficult to perform image communication while talking. Further, by making the data transmission speed of the image constant while making the data transmission speed of the audio constant according to the state of the line, the quality of the audio can be kept constant.
[0089]
Further, by providing a wireless unit, a wireless communication device that allows an image to be viewed while talking can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a voice facsimile simultaneous communication device as a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a system control unit in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an external view showing a configuration of an operation panel of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading unit in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image recording unit in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a data synthesizing unit in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a data separation unit in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of transmission / reception data according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the modem of FIG. 1;
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing functions of the DSP of FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a signal at the time of voice facsimile simultaneous communication in FIG. 1;
FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram for describing an operation of simultaneous voice facsimile communication in FIG. 1;
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an audio-visual simultaneous communication transceiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the audio-video simultaneous communication transceiver of FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the audio / video simultaneous communication in FIG. 13;
FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation principle of the related art.
FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... System control part, 5 ... Image coding part, 6 ... Image decoding part, 7 ... Data synthesis part, 8 ... Data separation part, 9 ... Modem, 16 ... Speech coding part, 17 ... Speech decoding part, Reference numeral 24 denotes a wireless unit, 27 denotes an image input unit, and 28 denotes an image display unit.

Claims (4)

An audio-visual communication device capable of transmitting and receiving voice and image, a line connecting means for making a wired or wireless line connection, and a data transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving voice and image data from the line via the line connecting means, Voice reproducing means for reproducing the voice data received by the data transmitting / receiving means as voice; voice input means for converting voice to be transmitted into a voice signal and inputting the data to the data transmitting / receiving means; Image display means for displaying the image data as an image, image input means for converting an image to be transmitted into an image signal and inputting the data to the data transmission / reception means, communication state determination means for determining the communication state of the line, The transmission speed of the voice data at the time of transmission / reception by the data transmission / reception means is set to one according to the state of the line determined by the communication state determination means. While the audio-video communication apparatus characterized by comprising a control unit for controlling so as to change the transmission rate at the time of transmission and reception by the data communication means of the image data. An audio-visual communication device capable of transmitting and receiving audio and images, a line connection unit that performs line connection by wire or wireless, and a data reception unit that receives audio and image data from the line via the line connection unit, Voice reproducing means for reproducing the voice data received by the data receiving means as voice, image displaying means for displaying the image data received by the data receiving means as an image, and a communication state for determining a communication state of the line A receiving unit that receives the image data by the data receiving unit while keeping a transmission rate of the audio data received by the data receiving unit constant according to a line state determined by the communication state determining unit. An audio-visual communication device, comprising: a control unit that controls the transmission speed of the audio-video communication. An audio-visual communication device capable of transmitting and receiving audio and images, a line connection unit that performs line connection by wire or wireless, and a data transmission unit that transmits voice and image data from the line via the line connection unit, Voice input means for converting a voice to be transmitted to a voice signal and inputting the data to the data transmitting means; image input means for converting an image to be transmitted to an image signal and inputting the data signal to the data transmitting means; Communication state determination means for determining a state, and the transmission speed of the image data is kept constant at the time of transmission of the voice data by the data transmission means according to the state of the line determined by the communication state determination means. An audio-visual communication device, comprising: a control unit that controls a transmission speed at the time of transmission by a data transmission unit. The audio image according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit performs control so as to reduce the transmission speed of the image data when the communication state determination unit determines that the communication state is poor. Simultaneous communication device.

Images