JP2005123774A - Voice communication method and voice communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that application of speech speed conversion processing to a voice signal of a speech opposite party including much noise or part of which is interrupted due to a radio wave state (reception state) has resulted in sometimes causing an offensive state to the ear. <P>SOLUTION: A microprocessor 104 of a portable wireless terminal 100 reads a speech speed conversion request signal 111 from a memory 110 and transmits the signal to a transmission line 300 via a transmission / reception section 101. Upon the receipt of the speech speed conversion request signal 111, a portable wireless terminal 200 uses a speech speed conversion processing section 205 to apply speech speed conversion to a transmission voice signal obtained by pickup through a microphone 206 via an A/D converter 207. Then the transmission voice signal subjected to the speech speed conversion is transmitted to the portable wireless terminal 100 via a CODEC 202, a transmission / reception 201, and the transmission line 300. Thus, a user of the portable wireless terminal 100 can hear the voice subjected to the speech speed conversion without being affected by the reception state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a voice communication method and a voice communication device, and more particularly to a voice communication method and a voice communication device that perform speech speed conversion in a voice communication system such as a mobile phone system that is not always capable of voice communication in a good reception state. About.

  In general, it has been found that in elderly people, it is more difficult to listen to the content from fast-speaking voice than when young. For this reason, instead of finding a place where the utterance is interrupted from the input audio signal and reducing the time of this period, the voice of the utterance period is stretched on the time axis without changing the pitch, and slowly as a whole A so-called speech speed conversion technology for converting to speech has been developed, and as an application of this technology, a telephone that performs speech speed conversion processing on the voice of the other party of the incoming call has been proposed (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

  That is, in the conventional voice communication apparatus applied to the telephone described in Patent Document 1, the call partner is automatically recognized using the number display service, and the call speed set in advance for each call partner is used. The time axis of the voice signal of the recognized call partner is extended.

JP 2001-268175 A

  However, in the conventional voice communication device applied to the above-mentioned telephone, the telephone speed on the other party is converted by the telephone on the receiving side. The other party's audio signal may be noisy or partly interrupted depending on the radio wave condition (reception state). However, when speech speed conversion processing is performed on such a speech signal having a poor reception state, there is a problem that it may be difficult to hear.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a voice communication method and a voice communication apparatus capable of performing a suitable voice speed conversion regardless of a radio wave condition by performing a voice speed conversion process on a voice signal on a transmission side. The purpose is to do.

  To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an audio communication method for performing bidirectional communication of audio signals between a first terminal and a second terminal. A first step of transmitting a speech speed conversion request signal, a second step of receiving a speech speed conversion request signal by a second terminal, and a second terminal receiving the speech speed conversion request signal of And a third step of performing speech speed conversion processing on the voice signal obtained by converting the voice into an electrical signal and transmitting the voice signal to the first terminal.

  In the present invention, the second terminal that has received the speech speed conversion request signal performs the speech speed conversion process on the voice signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice into an electrical signal, and then transmits it to the first terminal. The first terminal can receive the transmission voice signal subjected to the speech speed conversion process.

  In order to achieve the above object, the second invention is a voice communication method for performing bidirectional communication of voice signals between a first terminal and a second terminal via a relay means. A first step of sending a speech rate conversion request signal from the terminal to the second terminal, a second step of receiving a speech rate conversion request signal by the relay unit, and a relay unit receiving the speech rate conversion request signal And a third step of transmitting to the first terminal after performing a speech speed conversion process on the voice signal obtained by converting the transmission voice addressed to the first terminal from the second terminal into an electrical signal. Features.

  In the present invention, the relay means that has received the speech speed conversion request signal performs speech speed conversion processing on the speech signal obtained by converting the transmitted speech addressed to the first terminal from the second terminal into an electrical signal. Since the transmission is made to the first terminal, the first terminal can receive the transmission voice signal from the second terminal subjected to the speech speed conversion processing by the relay means.

  In order to achieve the above object, a third aspect of the present invention relates to a voice communication method for performing bidirectional communication of voice signals between a first terminal and a second terminal. A first step of adding a flag indicating whether or not the transmitted voice signal is in a voice section to the transmitted voice signal transmitted to the terminal, and a second terminal transmitting the transmitted voice signal and the flag The second step of receiving, the flag detecting means for detecting the flag by the second terminal receiving the transmission voice signal and the flag, and the flag detecting means of the second terminal receiving the transmission voice signal and the flag And speech speed converting means for performing speech speed conversion only on the speech section of the received transmitted speech signal based on the flag detected by the above.

  In the present invention, the second terminal that has received the transmission voice signal and the flag detects the flag from the reception signal, and based on the detected flag, the speech speed is only applied to the received transmission voice signal in the voice section. Since the conversion is performed, it is possible to prevent the speech speed conversion outside the voice section.

  In order to achieve the above object, the fourth invention provides an operation for making a speech speed conversion processing request in a voice communication apparatus that performs two-way communication of voice signals with a counterpart terminal via a relay means. And a speech speed conversion request signal for requesting the partner terminal or the relay means to perform speech speed conversion processing on the transmitted voice signal of the partner terminal based on the speech speed conversion processing request by the means and the operating means. And a speech speed conversion request signal transmitting means for transmitting the message. In this invention, it is possible to request the other party terminal or the relay means for the speech speed conversion process for the transmitted voice signal of the other party terminal.

  In order to achieve the above object, a fifth aspect of the invention is a voice communication device that performs bidirectional communication of voice signals with a counterpart terminal, and receives a signal transmitted from the counterpart terminal, A speech speed conversion request signal detecting means for detecting a speech speed conversion request signal from the received signal, and a speech speed conversion processing means for performing a speech speed conversion process on the transmitted voice signal when the speech speed conversion request signal is detected. And a transmission means for transmitting the transmission voice signal subjected to the speech speed conversion by the speech speed conversion processing means to the partner terminal. In the present invention, when the speech speed conversion request signal is received, the transmitted voice signal subjected to the speech speed conversion can be transmitted to the counterpart terminal.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a voice for relaying a voice signal, provided in a bidirectional voice signal transmission path between the first terminal and the second terminal. In the communication apparatus, a speech speed conversion request signal detecting means for detecting a speech speed conversion request signal included in a transmission signal of a terminal of the speech speed conversion request source among the first terminal and the second terminal, and a speech speed conversion request When a speech speed conversion request signal is detected by the signal detection means, a speech that performs speech speed conversion processing on a speech signal transmitted to the terminal that requests the speech speed conversion among the first terminal and the second terminal It is configured to include a speed conversion processing means and a relay means for relaying the transmission voice signal subjected to the speech speed conversion by the speech speed conversion processing means and transmitting it to the terminal that requested the speech speed conversion.

  In this invention, when the voice communication apparatus that performs the relay process detects the speech speed conversion request signal included in the transmission signal of the terminal that requests the speech speed conversion, the speech communication apparatus of the first terminal and the second terminal Speech speed conversion processing can be performed on the voice signal transmitted to the terminal requesting the speed conversion.

  According to the present invention, speech speed conversion can be performed with priority on the transmission side, so that the user of the terminal on the reception side listens to the voice whose speech speed has been converted without being affected by the radio wave condition (reception state) of the transmission path. Even if the user is an elderly person, the voice of the other party can be easily heard.

  Further, according to the present invention, the relay means that has received the speech speed conversion request signal performs speech speed conversion processing on the speech signal obtained by converting the transmitted speech addressed to the first terminal from the second terminal into an electrical signal. Since the first terminal can receive the transmission voice signal from the second terminal subjected to the speech speed conversion processing by the relay means by performing transmission to the first terminal after applying the first terminal, Any of the two terminals can listen to the voice subjected to the speech speed conversion processing using the existing terminal having no speech speed conversion function.

  Further, according to the present invention, the second terminal that has received the transmission voice signal and the flag detects the flag from the reception signal, and based on the detected flag, the second terminal receives voice for the received transmission voice signal. Since the speech speed conversion is performed only in the section to prevent the speech speed conversion outside the speech section, the processing load is reduced as compared with the case where the first terminal on the transmission side has the speech speed conversion processing function. In addition, even if the reception state is bad, the second terminal can perform the speech speed conversion process only in the voice section, and can prevent the malfunction of the speech speed conversion process.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the voice communication apparatus of the present invention, in voice communication such as a cellular phone, information indicating that the transmission is performed after converting the speech speed to the other party's terminal or relay facility is sent, and the transmission side regarding the other party's utterance is sent. The terminal or relay equipment performs transmission after converting the speech speed, and receives it to allow the speech speed converted voice to be heard.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a voice communication system using a first embodiment of a voice communication apparatus according to the present invention. In the voice communication system shown in FIG. 1, portable wireless terminals 100 and 200 are connected via a transmission path 300 in a state where bidirectional communication is possible. The portable wireless terminal 100 is a voice communication apparatus according to the present embodiment, and has a configuration substantially similar to that of the portable wireless terminal 200. Each of the mobile radio terminals 100 and 200 performs transmission / reception units 101 and 201 that perform transmission / reception by performing signal processing such as modulation / demodulation for transmission on an audio signal, and reduce the amount of information on the audio signal to be transmitted. In order to transmit, codec (CODEC) 102, 202 that performs high-efficiency encoding by encoding and decodes and decodes the received high-efficiency encoded audio signal is provided.

  In addition, the portable wireless terminals 100 and 200 are operation units 103 and 203 that are numeric keys and buttons for inputting desired information, and a micro that performs overall control of the entire terminal based on signals from the operation units 103 and 203. Processors 104 and 204 and speech speed conversion processing units 105 and 205 connected to the respective CODECs 102 and 202 and performing speech speed conversion processing as necessary are provided.

  The speech speed conversion processing units 105 and 205 are connected to microphones 106 and 206 via AD converters 107 and 207, and are connected to speakers 109 and 209 via DA converters 108 and 208. . Voices uttered by the users of the portable wireless terminals 100 and 200 are collected by the microphones 106 and 206 and converted into analog voice signals that are electrical signals, converted into digital voice signals by the AD converters 107 and 207, and spoken speed. The data is input to the conversion processing units 105 and 205. On the other hand, the voice of the other party is output in the form of a digital voice signal from the speech speed conversion processing units 105 and 205, converted into an analog voice signal by the DA converters 108 and 208, and subjected to electro-acoustic conversion by the speakers 109 and 209. The content of the conversation is transmitted by being generated as sound so that the user can hear it.

  In addition, the portable wireless terminal 100 has a memory 110 connected to the microprocessor 104, and a speech speed conversion request signal 111 is read from the memory 110 under the control of the microprocessor 104, and is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 101 to the transmission path 300. Wirelessly transmitted. As a result, the speech speed conversion request can be transmitted to the portable radio terminal 200 on the other side.

  In FIG. 1, the portable radio terminal 200 does not have a memory corresponding to the memory 104, but the portable radio terminal 200 may have the same function. The specification of the speech speed conversion request signal 111 may be determined so that it can be identified by defining it on the signal format in transmission / reception.

  Here, basically, if the portable wireless terminal on the side receiving the speech speed conversion request (portable wireless terminal 200 in the example of FIG. 1) has a speech speed conversion function, a request signal is sent to the other party and the speech speed is converted. The portable wireless terminal (the portable wireless terminal 100 in the example of FIG. 1) that receives the converted signal does not have to have a speech speed conversion function.

  However, if both the mobile wireless terminals 100 and 200 that perform communication have the speech speed conversion processing units 105 and 205, it is possible to cope with when the other party wants to convert the speech speed. If the other party's portable wireless terminal does not have a speaking speed conversion function even though a request for converting the speaking speed is issued, an application can be made such that the other party's voice is converted at the receiving side.

  Although not shown, each of the mobile radio terminals 100 and 200 is provided with a display unit for displaying various information, and displays the telephone number of the other party who is calling or the radio wave reception status as a bar graph or the like. The situation accompanying the communication such as displaying with is displayed. In addition, by inputting a transmission signal from the microprocessors 104 and 204 to the transmission / reception units 101 and 201, the portable wireless terminals 100 and 200 are connected to the other terminal or a relay facility such as a base station (not shown) in the transmission path 300. Information such as telephone numbers and various control signals can be transmitted.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 taking as an example the case where a speech speed conversion request is output from the portable wireless terminal 100. First, the microprocessors 104 and 204 monitor whether or not a speech speed conversion request operation has been performed (step S101). Here, since the user of the portable wireless terminal 100 operates the speech speed conversion request using the operation unit 103, the microprocessor 104 detects the speech speed conversion request operation and reads the speech speed conversion request signal 111 from the memory 110. Is transmitted to the transmission / reception unit 101 and wirelessly transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 101 to the transmission path 300 (step S102).

  Subsequently, the microprocessor 104 waits for the speech speed conversion OK signal to be sent from the partner portable wireless terminal 200 (step S103). This operation is performed by sending a reception signal from the transmission / reception unit 101 to the microprocessor 104 and monitoring the microprocessor 104.

  That is, when the portable radio terminal 200 on the other side receives the above speech speed request signal 111 via the transmission path 300 and the microprocessor 204 confirms the reception, the microprocessor 204 sends a speech speed conversion OK signal from a memory (not shown). The transmission / reception unit 201 causes the transmission / reception unit 201 to wirelessly transmit the speech speed conversion OK signal to the mobile wireless terminal 100 that is the request source of the speech speed conversion. Similarly to the speech speed conversion request signal 111, the “speech speed conversion OK signal” may be determined so that it can be specified on the signal format.

  When the microprocessor 104 confirms that the speech speed conversion OK signal has been sent from the other party, the processing is terminated by appropriately displaying an expression indicating that the speech speed is being converted on the display unit, and the like. Terminal users start conversations. In this case, even if the radio wave condition (reception state) is bad, the voice signal whose speech speed has already been converted is transmitted from the transmitting-side portable wireless terminal 200 and is received, so that it is affected by the radio wave condition (reception state). The user of the portable wireless terminal 100 can hear the voice whose voice speed has been converted without any problem, and even if the user is an elderly person, the voice of the other party can be easily heard.

  On the other hand, if the microprocessor 104 cannot confirm the reception of the speech speed conversion OK signal, has it received "speech speed conversion non-correspondence information" from the counterpart portable radio terminal 200 or has timed out? Monitor (step S104), and when the "speech speed conversion non-correspondence information" is received or timed out, it is determined that the other party's portable wireless terminal 200 cannot respond to the request for speech speed conversion, and As a good measure, speech speed conversion is performed on the received voice signal by the speech speed conversion processing unit 105 built in the portable wireless terminal 100 (step S105).

  In this case, if it is better not to perform speech speed conversion because of poor reception, for example, it is possible to force the speech speed conversion to be turned off when the reception level falls below a certain level. It is. The “speech speed conversion non-correspondence information” is determined so that it can be specified on the signal format, similarly to “speech speed conversion request information” and “speech speed conversion OK information”.

  Speak speed conversion non-compliant information is not equipped with a speech speed conversion function due to cost, etc., but should be able to be transmitted in a terminal that can respond only to a request for conversion of speech speed. . However, in communication with terminals produced in the past in which such definition of speech speed conversion information itself has not been made or with telephone company terminals that do not support this function, speech speed conversion OK information and talk Information that does not support speed conversion is never sent.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, if there is no response after a certain period of time in step S104, it is determined that the counterpart terminal is not compatible. In step S104, if the reception of the speech speed conversion non-correspondence information cannot be confirmed and is not timed out, the process returns to step S103 and waits for the reception of the speech speed conversion OK information again.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a voice communication system using the second embodiment of the voice communication apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. In the voice communication system shown in FIG. 3, the other party's portable wireless terminal 200 that is communicating is subjected to speech rate conversion processing and transmitted, but in the present embodiment, the transmission path is not the other party terminal 200. In the relay equipment such as the base station 400 in the middle, a speech speed conversion processing function is provided, and speech speed conversion processing is performed on a voice signal coming from the other party in response to a speech speed conversion request.

  That is, the mobile radio terminals 120 and 210 do not have a speech rate conversion processing unit, and the speech rate conversion processing unit 404 is provided in the base station 400 that is a relay facility. The base station 400 includes a repeater 401 that relays a signal transmitted between the mobile wireless terminal 120 and the mobile wireless terminal 210, a speech speed conversion request signal detection unit 402 that detects a speech speed conversion request signal, and a relay. A decoder 403 that decodes the high-efficiency encoded speech signal received by the device 401, a speech speed conversion processing unit 404 that performs speech speed conversion processing on the speech signal from the decoder 403, and the speech signal subjected to speech speed conversion. The encoder 405 performs high-efficiency encoding again.

  Note that the base station 400 performs wireless communication directly with one of the portable wireless terminals 120 and 210 located in the wireless zone. Further, although other relay equipment such as a base station other than the base station 400 is provided on the transmission path between the portable wireless terminals 120 and 210, the illustration is omitted for convenience.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The speech rate conversion request signal detection unit 402 of the base station 400 determines whether the speech rate conversion request signal is included in the voice signal transmitted and received by the base station 400 from the repeater 401. Monitoring is performed from among signals supplied to 402. Then, when the speech speed conversion request signal detection unit 402 detects that the speech speed conversion request signal addressed to the mobile radio terminal 120 to 210 is included in the relay signal, the speech speed conversion request signal detection unit 402 A command is issued to transmit the speech signal addressed to the mobile wireless terminal 120 from the mobile communication terminal 210 for communication after performing the speech speed conversion process.

  Receiving this, the repeater 401 once decodes the supplied audio signal addressed to the portable wireless terminal 120 by the decoder 403 and then performs the speech speed conversion processing by the speech speed conversion processing unit 404. Furthermore, the speech signal after the speech speed conversion processing is re-encoded by the concoder 405 and led to a process of outputting a highly efficient encoded speech signal. Send.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the speech speed conversion is performed at the time of relaying, the speech speed conversion function is provided in the portable wireless terminal 210 of the other party who wants to convert the speech speed as in the first embodiment. There is an advantage that the equipment of the base station 400 can cope even when there is not.

  However, according to this method, speech speed conversion is performed on the transmitting side from the base station 400 to the portable wireless terminal 120 that receives speech speed converted speech, and good speech speed conversion is performed regardless of the reception state. However, if the radio wave condition from the other party's portable wireless terminal 210 to the other party's base station is bad, the sound quality is rather difficult to hear if speech speed conversion is already performed between the other party's base stations. It is possible that it has become.

  Therefore, as a further developed embodiment of the present embodiment, when the partner terminal device supports speech speed conversion, the partner terminal device performs speech speed conversion processing on the voice signal from the partner side. It is also conceivable that the base station performs the speech speed conversion only when the counterpart device does not support the speech speed conversion. Also, when audio signals are transmitted through a plurality of base stations, when the speech speed is converted at a certain base station, a flag to that effect is added and transmitted, and at other base stations when that flag is detected You may make it cancel speech speed conversion.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the base station 400 requires equipment for speech rate conversion processing, but this equipment pays a special fee as a facility usage fee in addition to a normal mobile phone usage fee. It is assumed that only the user can use it, and it is also possible to perform the speech speed conversion after confirming that this billing is performed for the telephone requesting the speech speed conversion.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in FIGS. 1 and 3, the communication partner of the portable wireless terminals 100 and 120 has been described as the portable wireless terminals 200 and 210. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any one of the portable wireless terminals 100 and 120 and the communication partner terminal may be a fixed telephone terminal. In this case, the transmission line 300 includes a mobile radio communication network and a public line network.

  In addition, instead of having a speech speed conversion function, the transmitting terminal adds a flag indicating whether or not it is a voice section, and transmits it. The receiving terminal detects the voice of the voice section in which the flag is detected. Speech speed conversion processing may be performed on the signal. When the radio wave condition (reception condition) is poor, it is difficult to understand whether or not it is a voice section due to the noise superimposed on the received signal, and the speech speed may be converted in sections other than the voice section. However, in this example, since the speech section can be identified by the receiving terminal with the flag transmitted with enhanced error resilience so that it can be detected even if noise is superimposed, even if noise is superimposed during transmission, This is because a malfunction (unsuitable operation) of the speed conversion process can be prevented.

  This can reduce the burden on the transmission side (processing capacity and power consumption) as compared to the case where speech speed conversion is performed on the transmission side. In addition, as a transmission method of the above-described flag, a method of transmitting with a flag indicating whether or not a voice section is transmitted at a constant period, a method of transmitting with a flag indicating the start and end of a voice section, etc. There is.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the base station 400 is provided with equipment for speech speed conversion processing, but the equipment for speech speed conversion processing is not a base station, but other relay facilities such as an exchange station. May be provided. Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the speech speed conversion request signal 111 has been described as being read from the memory 110, but based on the signal from the operation unit 103, the microprocessor 104 itself generates by calculation without using the memory 110. The generated speech speed conversion request signal 111 may be wirelessly transmitted to the transmission line 300 via the transmission / reception unit 101.

  The voice communication method and voice communication apparatus of the present invention can be applied particularly to devices and services in a telephone system such as a mobile phone.

It is a block diagram of the audio | voice communication system using 1st Embodiment of the audio | voice communication apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart for operation | movement description of FIG. It is a block diagram of the audio | voice communication system using 2nd Embodiment of the audio | voice communication apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100, 120, 200, 210 Portable wireless terminal 101, 201 Transceiver 102, 202 Codec (CODEC)
103, 203 Operation unit 104, 204 Microprocessor 105, 205, 404 Speech rate conversion processing unit 110 Memory 111 Speech rate conversion request signal 300 Transmission path 400 Base station 401 Repeater 402 Speech rate conversion request signal detection unit 403 Decoder 405 Encoder

Claims (6)

In a voice communication method for performing bidirectional communication of voice signals between a first terminal and a second terminal,
A first step of sending a speech rate conversion request signal from the first terminal to the second terminal;
A second step in which the second terminal receives the speech rate conversion request signal;
The third step in which the second terminal that has received the speech speed conversion request signal performs speech speed conversion processing on the voice signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice into an electrical signal and then transmits the voice signal to the first terminal. A voice communication method comprising: and. In a voice communication method of performing two-way communication of a voice signal between a first terminal and a second terminal via a relay unit,
A first step of sending a speech rate conversion request signal from the first terminal to the second terminal;
A second step in which the relay means receives the speech rate conversion request signal;
The relay means that has received the speech rate conversion request signal performs speech rate conversion processing on the speech signal obtained by converting the speech transmitted to the first terminal from the second terminal into an electrical signal. And a third step of transmitting to the first terminal. In a voice communication method for performing bidirectional communication of voice signals between a first terminal and a second terminal,
A first step of transmitting a transmission voice signal transmitted from the first terminal to the second terminal with a flag indicating whether or not the transmission voice signal is in a voice section;
A second step in which the second terminal receives the transmitted voice signal and flag;
The second terminal that has received the transmission voice signal and the flag detects flag, and flag detection means
The second terminal that has received the transmission voice signal and the flag performs the voice speed conversion means for performing the voice speed conversion on the received transmission voice signal only in the voice section based on the flag detected by the flag detection means. A voice communication method comprising: and. In a voice communication apparatus that performs bidirectional communication of voice signals with a counterpart terminal via a relay means,
Operation means for making a speech speed conversion processing request;
Based on the speech speed conversion processing request by the operation means, the speech speed conversion that requests the counterpart terminal or the relay means to perform speech speed conversion processing on the speech signal of the counterpart terminal. A speech communication apparatus, comprising: a speech rate conversion request signal transmitting means for transmitting a request signal. In a voice communication apparatus that performs two-way communication of voice signals with a partner terminal
A speech rate conversion request signal detecting means for receiving a signal transmitted from the counterpart terminal and detecting a speech rate conversion request signal from the received signal;
When detecting the speech speed conversion request signal, speech speed conversion processing means for performing a speech speed conversion process on the transmitted voice signal;
A voice communication apparatus comprising: a transmission unit that transmits a transmission voice signal subjected to the voice speed conversion by the voice speed conversion processing unit to the partner terminal. In a voice communication apparatus that is provided in a bidirectional voice signal transmission path between a first terminal and a second terminal and performs relay processing of the voice signal,
A speech speed conversion request signal detection means for detecting a speech speed conversion request signal included in a transmission signal of a terminal of the speech speed conversion request source among the first terminal and the second terminal;
When the speech speed conversion request signal is detected by the speech speed conversion request signal detection means, a speech signal to the speech speed conversion requesting terminal of the first terminal and the second terminal is transmitted. Speaking speed conversion processing means for performing speaking speed conversion processing,
A voice communication apparatus comprising: a relay unit that relays a transmission voice signal that has been converted by the voice speed conversion processing unit and transmits the signal to a terminal that requests the voice speed conversion.

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