JP2006166119A - Audio system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To receive sound data transmitted from a portable audio player through a wireless circuit, and to reproduce the sound data with a high quality sound by simple operation. <P>SOLUTION: When depressing of a player detection button 27 is detected by a car audio system CA where a medium is selected in a round style by short pressing a medium selection button 24, detection of the portable audio player BP capable of performing radio communication by Bluetooth (R) between its own system is tried. When the portable audio player BP is detected, address information of the detected portable audio player BP is obtained, and the obtained address information is added and registered in a medium information table 16a with a medium ID. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an audio apparatus capable of selectively outputting data from a plurality of information sources, such as an audio / video apparatus installed in a home or an in-vehicle audio apparatus.

  In general, audio / video devices installed in homes and in-car audio devices, various information sources such as CD (Compact Disc), MD (Mini Disc), DVD (Digital Video Disc) in addition to AM broadcasting and FM broadcasting. The number of models capable of handling (hereinafter referred to as media) is increasing. When this type of device is used, the user can view or listen to information data of a desired medium simply by selecting the medium, which is very convenient.

  On the other hand, as hard disks have become smaller and cheaper, hard disks have been installed in home appliances. A typical product is a hard disk-mounted audio player (hereinafter referred to as an HDD audio player) on which a large-capacity hard disk is mounted.

  However, this type of HDD audio player is generally configured to listen to music using headphones or earphones. For this reason, when the audio data stored in the HDD audio player is reproduced by, for example, an in-vehicle audio device, the HDD audio player must be connected to the in-vehicle audio device via a cable or the like, and the connection is troublesome. In addition, the cable is not preferable because it may interfere with the operation of the shift lever and the handle.

Therefore, conventionally, an FM transmitter is provided in the HDD audio player, the audio signal is FM transmitted from the HDD audio player to the FM receiver of the in-vehicle audio device, and the transmitted FM signal is received by the FM receiver of the car audio device. Thus, a technique for reproducing and outputting has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Utility Model Registration No. 3102771

  However, since the technology using the above-mentioned conventional FM transmitter has a sound quality equivalent to that of FM radio as a matter of course, it cannot be reproduced as clear sound due to noise in some places. Further, in the in-vehicle audio apparatus, a tuning operation for adjusting the reception frequency to the transmission frequency of the FM transmitter is necessary, and there is an operational problem that it takes time and effort for channel setting.

  In general, in-vehicle audio devices have a small operation panel, and it is difficult to arrange a large number of operation buttons. Therefore, a plurality of media are cyclically selected by the number of times one operation button is pressed. The selection order is fixed in advance at the time of shipment. Therefore, depending on the user, when selecting frequently selected media, it is necessary to press the operation button many times each time, and there is a problem that it takes time and effort.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to output high-quality information data of a portable player by a simple operation without using a cable or the like. Is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, an audio apparatus according to the present invention is an audio apparatus capable of selectively outputting data of a plurality of information sources registered in a menu, and includes a wireless interface adopting a short-range wireless data communication system. Using this wireless interface, a portable player capable of wireless communication with the own device is detected. When a portable player capable of wireless communication with the own device is detected, the portable player is additionally registered as a new information source in the menu.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, simply by bringing the portable player into the communication area of the wireless interface provided in the audio device, the portable player is detected in the audio device and automatically added and registered in the menu. This eliminates the need for the user to cable the portable player to the audio device, and eliminates the need for a setting operation for registering the portable player in the menu in the audio device. For this reason, it is possible to add the portable player to the menu of the audio device very easily and reproduce the information data in the audio device.

  In addition, since the short-range wireless data communication method is adopted as a wireless transmission method between the audio device and the portable player, it becomes possible to transmit the portable player information data to the audio device as digital data. As a result, it is possible to reproduce the information data of the portable player with higher quality in the audio device than in the case of using FM radio waves.

The present invention is also characterized by having the following various configurations.
In the first configuration, when the portable player is selected from a plurality of information sources registered in the menu, it is determined whether or not a wireless link can be established with the selected portable player. To do. If the result of this determination is that a wireless link can be established, information data transmitted from the portable player is received and output via the established wireless link. On the other hand, if it is determined that the radio link cannot be established as a result of the determination, another information source registered in the menu is selected and the information data is output.

  With this configuration, when wireless communication is possible with the portable player selected from the menu, the information data is reproduced and output as it is. On the other hand, for example, when the user does not carry the portable player or the portable player is not turned on and wireless communication is not possible, other information sources registered in the menu are not available. Is automatically selected and its information data is output instead. This eliminates the need for the user to reselect the menu, thereby improving convenience.

  The second configuration is configured to notify a message indicating that wireless communication with the portable player is impossible before outputting the information data of the other information source. As a notification means, what displays a display message on a display part or outputs a synthetic voice message loudly can be considered. In this way, the user can clearly recognize that the portable player cannot be played.

  In the third configuration, when a plurality of information sources registered in the menu are selected in a cyclic manner, the selection order of the plurality of information sources registered in the menu is changed according to a user input operation. It is configured. Thereby, it becomes possible to select a desired information source in a short time with a small number of operations for each user, and the operability can be further improved.

  That is, according to the present invention, a portable player that can be wirelessly connected is detected and automatically registered in the menu of the audio device. Therefore, it is possible to reproduce information data by connecting the portable player to the audio device wirelessly without requiring any special operation. Therefore, it is possible to provide an audio device that can output high-quality information data of a portable player through a simple operation without using a cable or the like.

FIG. 1 is an external view of an in-vehicle audio apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a car audio apparatus) which is an embodiment of an audio apparatus according to the present invention.
The front panel 1 of the car audio apparatus CA is provided with a control button group 2, a display unit 3, and a recording medium insertion unit 4. The display unit 3 is composed of a liquid crystal display (LCD), and displays, for example, the name of the selected media, the name of the song being played, and the playback time. A recording medium such as a CD or MD is removably inserted into the recording medium insertion unit 4.

  The control button group 2 includes a power switch 21, a volume control dial 22, and numeric keys 23, and further includes a media selection button 24, a forward button 25a, a return button 25b, a play / stop button 26, and a player detection button 27. The power switch 21 controls the power on / off of the car audio apparatus CA. The volume adjustment dial 22 controls the reproduction volume of the audio output by operating clockwise or counterclockwise. The numeric key 23 is used, for example, for assigning and selecting a frequency of each broadcasting station.

  The media selection button 24 is used to select an information source (media) such as CD, MD, AM broadcast, and FM broadcast. It is also used when changing the priority of media selection described later. Playback control of a recording medium such as a CD or MD is performed by a feed button 25a, a return button 25b, and a playback / stop button 26. The player detection button 27 is used for detecting a portable audio player capable of wireless communication.

  In this embodiment, a portable audio player adopting Bluetooth (registered trademark), which is one of short-range wireless data communication systems, as a wireless interface will be described as an example. Bluetooth (registered trademark) is one of the short-range wireless data communication standards using an ISM (Industry Science Medical) band, and a maximum of 8 devices can be connected within a use range of 10 m or less. These devices form a network called a piconet. One device functions as a master and the other devices function as slaves. Each device in the piconet performs connection authentication by using a unique personal identification number called a PIN (Personal Identification Number) code. In addition, in Bluetooth (registered trademark), a frequency hopping method in which a hop frequency is set to 1600 hops / sec is used as a wireless transmission method so that it operates even in a noisy environment, and wireless communication using an asynchronous connectionless channel is possible. .

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the car audio apparatus CA. The car audio apparatus CA includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 constituted by a microprocessor. A user interface 13, a playback controller 14, and a Bluetooth (registered trademark) module 16 are connected to the CPU 11 via the bus 12, and a data memory 16 and a program memory 17 are further connected.

  The user interface 13 notifies the operation information of the control button group 2 to the CPU 11 and causes the display unit 3 to display display data under the control of the CPU 11. The playback controller 14 reads recording data from a recording medium such as a CD or MD inserted in the recording medium insertion unit 4 under the control of the CPU 11. Then, the read recording data is decoded, and the decoded audio signal is output from the audio output unit 14a provided with a speaker. The Bluetooth (registered trademark) module 15 includes a Bluetooth (registered trademark) antenna 15 a and performs wireless communication with the Bluetooth (registered trademark) player BP under the control of the CPU 11.

  On the other hand, the data memory 16 is composed of a storage medium such as a RAM or a hard disk that can be written and read as needed, and includes a media information table 16a. In the media information table 16a, identification information (hereinafter referred to as media ID) of supported media and information indicating the selection priority of these media are stored in association with each other. When the media type is Bluetooth (registered trademark) player BP, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) address is stored in association with the media ID of the Bluetooth (registered trademark) player BP. FIG. 3 shows an example of storage information in the media information table 16a.

  The program memory 17 stores a player registration program 17a, a media playback control program 17b, and a priority change program 17c as new control programs according to the present invention. The player registration program 17a is executed in response to pressing of the player detection button 27, and detects a Bluetooth (registered trademark) player BP that can wirelessly communicate with the car audio device CA.

The media playback control program 17b controls playback of the media selected by a short press operation of the media selection button 24. This media playback control is executed in response to pressing of the feed button 25a, the return button 25b, and the play / stop button 26.
The priority change program 17c is executed by detecting a long press operation of the media selection button 24, and the media specified by the combination of the short press operation of the media selection button 24 and the press of the play / stop button 26 thereafter. The priority order is stored in the media information table 16a.

The operation of the car audio apparatus CA configured as described above will be described.
(1) Registration operation of portable audio player
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the registration procedure of the portable audio player in the car audio apparatus CA shown in FIG.
When newly registering a portable audio player in the car audio apparatus CA, the user first presses the player detection button 27 provided on the front panel 1. Note that the operation of the player detection button 27 may be omitted by providing the car audio device CA with a function for constantly detecting a portable audio player.

  When the user interface 13 detects that the player detection button 27 is pressed, the CPU 11 of the car audio apparatus CA executes the player registration program 17a. First, in order to detect a portable audio player BP that can be connected, an inquiry command is transmitted from the Bluetooth (registered trademark) module 15 via the Bluetooth (registered trademark) antenna 15 a in step S4a.

  Next, in step S4b, it is determined whether or not there is a portable audio player that responds to the transmitted Inquiry command. If the portable audio player BP is detected by this determination, the CPU 11 proceeds to step S4c and acquires the address (AD1) of the detected portable audio player BP. Then, the media information table 16a stores the detected media ID (BT1) of the portable audio player BP and the acquired address (AD1) with a media selection priority “7”. By this registration operation, for example, “BT1” is stored in the media information table 16a as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the response from the portable audio player BP is not detected as a result of the determination in the step S4b, the process is ended as it is.

  Similarly, when another portable audio player BP ′ is detected in the same manner, the media ID (BT2) of the detected portable audio player BP and the above-mentioned acquisition are performed, for example, as shown in FIG. The address (AD2) is stored in the media information table 16a with the media selection priority “8” attached. That is, a plurality of portable audio players BP can be registered in the menu as independent media.

(2) Playback operation of portable audio player
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a playback control procedure and processing contents of the portable audio player BP in the car audio apparatus CA shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the user selects “BT1” by short pressing the media selection button 24 and presses the play / stop button 26. Then, when the CPU 11 of the car audio apparatus CA detects the operation for reproduction via the user interface 13, it executes the media reproduction control program 17b as follows.

  That is, first, an inquiry command is transmitted in step S5a. Subsequently, in step S5b, it is determined whether or not there is a response from the portable audio player BP to the inquiry command. In this determination, if a responding portable audio player BP is detected, the process proceeds to step S5c to acquire the address of the responding portable audio player BP. In step S5d, the media selection table 16a is accessed to read the address (AD1) of the selected media (BT1). Then, it is determined whether or not the read address (AD1) matches the acquired address.

  As a result of the determination, if they match, the process proceeds to step S5e, where a connection request is transmitted and communication is started. Thus, the audio data transmitted from the portable audio player BP via the wireless link is received by the Bluetooth (registered trademark) module 15 via the Bluetooth (registered trademark) antenna 15a, decoded by the playback controller 14, and then output as audio. The loudspeaker is output from the speaker of the unit 14a.

  On the other hand, if there is no response to the inquiry command in the determination in step S5b, or if the acquired address does not match the address of the selected media stored in the media information table 16a in the determination in step S5d, step The process proceeds to S5f. In step S5f, the next medium (“BT2” in this example) is selected as a reproduction candidate according to the priority order stored in the media information table 16a. Then, similarly to the case where the portable audio player BP of the address BT1 is selected, the wireless link establishment process with the portable audio player BP of the address BT2 is executed according to the steps S5a to S5e, and the wireless link Is established, audio data reproduction processing of the portable audio player BP at the address BT2 is subsequently performed.

  If the wireless link with the portable audio player BP at the address BT2 cannot be established, the next priority medium is selected in step S5f, and the playback control is executed. Further, when the medium with the lowest priority cannot be reproduced, the medium with the first priority is selected and the reproduction control is executed. Thereafter, until a reproducible medium is found in the same manner, the media are sequentially selected according to the priority order and the reproduction is attempted.

(3) Priority change operation in media selection
Next, an operation for changing the priority order of media that are selected cyclically by pressing the media selection button 24 shortly will be described.
As described above, since the media selection priority is in accordance with the priority stored in the media information table 16a, the media selection button 24 is pressed the number of times corresponding to the priority when the media whose priority is positioned backward is to be played. Have to do and the operation is cumbersome. However, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the user can arbitrarily change the priority order of the media registered in the menu.

When the user presses the media selection button 24 for a long time, the CPU 11 detects this long pressing operation by the user interface 13 and executes the priority change program 17c as follows.
That is, in the priority setting mode, the CPU 11 of the car audio apparatus CA selects and displays each medium according to the priority stored in the media information table 16a every time a short press of the media selection button 24 is detected. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, “MD” being selected on the display unit 3 is displayed surrounded by a broken line. In this state, when the user interface 13 detects that the play / stop button 26 is pressed, the priority of “MD” is changed to the first (1) and the media information table 16a is updated. Thereafter, similarly, by repeating the above operation for all media, the priority order is updated and stored in the media information table 16a.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when the press of the player detection button 27 is detected in the car audio device CA in which the media is selected cyclically by the short press of the media selection button 24, the self-device is detected. Attempts to detect a portable audio player BP capable of wireless communication by Bluetooth (registered trademark). When the portable audio player BP is detected, the address information of the detected portable audio player BP is acquired, and the acquired address information is additionally registered in the media information table 16a together with the media ID. .

  Therefore, according to this embodiment, for example, the portable audio player BP brought into the vehicle is simply brought into the communication area of the Bluetooth (registered trademark) module 15 included in the car audio device CA, and the portable audio player BP is installed in the car audio device CA. Is detected and automatically registered as a new medium in the menu. This eliminates the need for the user to connect the portable audio player BP to the car audio device CA with a cable, and also eliminates the need for a setting operation for registering the portable audio player BP in the menu in the car audio device CA. Therefore, the portable audio player BP can be reproduced on the car audio device CA in addition to the menu of the car audio device CA very easily.

  In addition, since Bluetooth (registered trademark) is adopted as a wireless transmission method between the car audio device CA and the portable audio player BP, the audio data of the portable audio player BP is transferred to the car audio device CA as digital data. As a result, the audio data of the portable audio player BP can be reproduced with higher quality in the car audio apparatus CA than when FM radio waves are used.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the portable audio player BP registered in the menu is selected by the user, it is determined whether or not a wireless link can be established with the selected portable audio player BP. . If the result of this determination is that a wireless link cannot be established, the next medium is selected and its audio data is reproduced and output according to the priority order registered in the menu.

  Therefore, for example, when wireless communication is not possible because the user does not carry the portable audio player BP, or the power is not turned on even if it is carried, the priority registered in the menu is the next. Is automatically selected and the data is reproduced and output instead. This eliminates the need for the user to reselect the menu, thereby improving convenience.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the selection priority order of media stored in the media information table 16a can be arbitrarily changed. For this reason, it is possible to select and play back frequently-played media easily and in a short time with a small number of operations. This effect is extremely effective in further improving the convenience for the user in the audio apparatus according to the present invention in which a large number of media can be registered in the menu.

  Incidentally, in the conventional car audio device, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, media selection is performed in a fixed order of FM → AM → TV → DVD → MD → CD → FM →. However, if an external portable audio player BP is to be reproduced, the media selection button must be pressed seven times, which is troublesome.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, when the portable audio player BP cannot be detected, or when a disc such as a CD, MD, or DVD is not inserted, the media may not be displayed as a menu. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when there is no content in CD and DVD and BT1 cannot be detected, these are excluded and other media are called MD → TV → AM → FM → BT2 → MD →. Display cyclically in order. For this reason, only media that can always be played is displayed as a menu, which improves user convenience.

  In the above embodiment, the player detection button 27 is provided to detect the Bluetooth (registered trademark) audio player. However, for example, the car audio apparatus CA is turned on at a predetermined period. You may comprise so that a portable audio player may be detected automatically. Then, the user may be notified by a synthesized voice message or the like that a portable audio player that can be played back has been added.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, in the registration process of the portable audio player, the media IDs BT1, BT2, BT3,... For identifying the portable audio player BP are automatically generated and registered. The media ID or address may be freely set by a predetermined operation using the button group 2.
Furthermore, information representing each medium displayed on the display unit can be displayed by replacing it with an icon instead of a name such as FM, AM, TV, DVD, MD, or CD. Further, these icons may be freely selected or registered by the user.

  Furthermore, in the playback control of the portable audio player, the detection process of the portable audio player BP by the Inquiry command may be omitted and direct communication may be started. Further, it may be configured so that the user can select in advance whether or not the portable audio player BP is detected by the inquiry command.

  Furthermore, although the car audio apparatus CA has been described as an example in the above embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to an audio apparatus fixedly installed indoors or a portable type audio apparatus. Further, the audio device may have a function of reproducing computer data such as video data and text data in addition to a function of reproducing only audio data.

  In addition, the type and number of media to be supported, the configuration of the front panel 1 and the buttons to be used, the configuration of the media information table 16a stored in the data memory 16 and the items to be stored, the processing procedure and processing contents of each program, Various types of short-range wireless data communication systems can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In short, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine suitably the component covering different embodiment.

1 is an external view showing a configuration of a front portion of a car audio device that is an embodiment of an audio device according to the present invention. The block diagram which shows the function structure of the car audio apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows the structure of the media information table provided in the data memory shown in FIG. The flowchart which shows the registration procedure of the portable audio player in the car audio apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and its processing content. 2 is a flowchart showing a playback control procedure and processing contents of a portable audio player in the car audio apparatus shown in FIG. 1. The figure which shows the 1st example of the media selection in the car audio apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows the 2nd example of the media selection in the car audio apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the conventional media selection.

Explanation of symbols

  CA ... car audio device, 1 ... front panel, 2 ... control button group, 21 ... power switch, 22 ... volume control dial, 3 ... display part, 4 ... recording medium insertion part, 23 ... numeric key, 24 ... media selection button 25a ... Send button, 25b ... Return button, 26 ... Play / Stop button, 27 ... Player detection button, 11 ... CPU, 12 ... Bus, 13 ... User interface, 14 ... Playback controller, 14a ... Audio output unit, 15 ... Bluetooth (registered trademark) module, 15a ... Bluetooth (registered trademark) antenna, BP ... portable audio player, 16 ... data memory, 16a ... media information table, 17 ... program memory, 17a ... player registration program, 17b ... media playback control Program, 17c: Priority change program.

Claims (4)

In an audio device capable of selectively outputting information data of a plurality of information sources registered in a menu,
A wireless interface employing a short-range wireless data communication system;
Detecting means for detecting a portable player capable of wireless communication with the device using the wireless interface;
And an additional registration unit for additionally registering the portable player as a new information source in the menu when a portable player capable of wireless communication with the device is detected by the detection unit. An audio device characterized by. Means for determining whether a wireless link can be established with the selected portable player when the portable player is selected from a plurality of information sources registered in the menu;
Means for receiving and outputting information data transmitted from the portable player via the established wireless link when it is determined that the wireless link can be established;
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for selecting another information source registered in the menu and outputting the information data when it is determined that the wireless link cannot be established. Audio equipment.   3. The audio apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for informing a message that a wireless link cannot be established with the portable player prior to output of information data of the other information source. . When a plurality of information sources registered in the menu are selected in a cyclic manner,
2. The audio apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing a selection order of a plurality of information sources registered in the menu according to a user input operation.

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