JP2006295848A - Channel selection switching apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a channel selection switching apparatus capable of switching a channel to another broadcasting station where the same broadcast is aired, in accordance with a broadcasting wave reception sensitivity in a broadcasting station during a channel selection. <P>SOLUTION: A CPU 7 acquires a channel selection audio signal from a tuner A3 at the interval of a predetermined time, acquires each of audio signals of another station detected by switching a reception frequency through a tuner B5, outputs the signals to a frequency analyzer 6 in order and stores reception frequencies of the audio signals of the other station for which the degree of matching between the channel selection audio signal and each of the audio signals of the other station is higher than a predetermined reference value. A reception sensitivity of the channel selection audio signal and reception sensitivities of the audio signals of the other station at each of the stored reception frequencies are calculated and if the reception sensitivity of the channel selection audio signal is weaker than any one of the calculated reception sensitivities of the audio signals of the other station, a channel switching signal is generated and output to the tuner A3 to instruct channel switching to a channel of a radio broadcasting station corresponding to the reception frequency of the audio signal of the other station with the strongest reception sensitivity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a channel selection switching device that switches a broadcasting station being selected by a broadcast viewing device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a device for notifying the name of a broadcasting station existing in an area to which a vehicle belongs is known. For example, in the conventional apparatus, names of broadcasting stations belonging to each region are stored in advance as a list. And while always detecting the present position of a vehicle, the name of the broadcasting station which exists in the area to which the detected position belongs is searched and notified from the above-mentioned list.

  In the conventional apparatus, the name of the broadcasting station existing in the area to which the vehicle belongs is notified. However, the conventional apparatus does not consider the reception sensitivity of broadcast radio waves from each broadcast station. For this reason, when the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave from the selected broadcast station becomes weak as the vehicle progresses, the user needs to manually switch the selected broadcast station.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and performs channel selection switching to another broadcasting station that is performing the same broadcast according to the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave at the broadcasting station being selected. An object of the present invention is to provide a channel selection switching device that can perform the above-described operation.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the channel selection device according to claim 1, the broadcast viewing device continuously changes the reception frequency with the first reception means for continuously receiving the broadcast wave of the selected broadcast station. Calculating the degree of coincidence between the second receiving means for receiving the broadcast radio waves of a plurality of broadcasting stations, the broadcast radio wave received by the first receiving means, and each of the broadcast radio waves received by the second receiving means. The reception sensitivity for calculating the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception means, and the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave having a degree of match calculated by the coincidence calculation means higher than a predetermined reference value The calculation means and the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception means calculated by the reception sensitivity calculation means are compared with the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave having a matching degree higher than a predetermined reference value. Receiving broadcast radio waves received by other receiving means If the degree of coincidence is weaker than the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave that is higher than the predetermined reference value, the broadcast viewing device selects the broadcasting station that is being selected, and the degree of coincidence is higher than the predetermined reference value. And a control means for switching to a radio broadcast station.

  The broadcast viewing device selects a broadcast radio wave whose degree of coincidence with the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception means is higher than a predetermined reference value among the broadcast radio waves received by the second reception means. There is a high possibility that it is a broadcast radio wave of another broadcast station that is broadcasting the same broadcast as the inside broadcast station. In the channel selection switching device, the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception unit and the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave whose coincidence degree calculated by the coincidence degree calculation unit is higher than a predetermined reference value are obtained by the reception sensitivity calculation unit. In addition, when the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave received by the first receiving means is weaker than the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave whose degree of coincidence is higher than a predetermined reference value, the control means selects the broadcast viewing device. The broadcast station in the station is switched to a broadcast station having a broadcast radio wave whose degree of coincidence is higher than a predetermined reference value. As a result, it is possible to switch the channel selection to another broadcasting station on which the same broadcast is being performed in accordance with the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave at the selected broadcasting station.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the degree of coincidence calculation means calculates the degree of coincidence between the frequency characteristics of the broadcast radio waves received by the first reception means and the frequency characteristics of each of the broadcast radio waves received by the second reception means. , It is desirable to calculate each. By calculating the degree of coincidence between the frequency characteristics of the broadcast radio wave received by the first receiving means and the frequency characteristics of each of the broadcast radio waves received by the second receiving means, the broadcast station that is selected by the broadcast viewing device It is possible to reliably discriminate other broadcast stations where the same broadcast is being performed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the coincidence degree calculating means includes image data included in the broadcast radio wave received by the first receiving means, and image data included in each of the broadcast radio waves received by the second receiving means; The degree of coincidence may be calculated respectively. The broadcast viewing device can also select the degree of coincidence between the image data included in the broadcast radio wave received by the first receiving means and the image data included in each of the broadcast radio waves received by the second reception means. It is possible to reliably discriminate other broadcast stations that are broadcasting the same as the broadcast stations in the station.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the reception sensitivity calculation means includes the power spectrum of the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception means and the power spectrum of the broadcast radio wave whose degree of coincidence is higher than a predetermined reference value. It is desirable to calculate the reception sensitivity of broadcast radio waves. By using the power spectrum, it is possible to reliably calculate the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave received by the first receiving means and the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave having a matching degree higher than a predetermined reference value.

  As described in claim 5, when the control means performs the switching operation, it is desirable to notify that the operation is performed. As a result, the user can detect that the broadcasting station selected as the broadcasting viewing means has been switched by the control means.

  As described in the sixth aspect, it is desirable that the channel selection switching device is mounted on the vehicle and operates together with the broadcast viewing device. The broadcast radio wave reception sensitivity of the broadcast station that is selected by the broadcast viewing device mounted on the vehicle changes as the vehicle moves. By using this channel selection switching device, even if the broadcast sensitivity of the broadcast station being selected by the broadcasting viewing device becomes weaker along with the movement of the vehicle, the same broadcasting station is selected by the device. In broadcasting, it is possible to appropriately switch to a broadcasting station having a higher reception sensitivity of broadcasting radio waves.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a channel selection switching apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This channel selection switching device operates by being incorporated in a vehicle-mounted radio.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the antenna A1 and the antenna B2 are vehicle-mounted monopole antennas and receive each of radio waves transmitted from a plurality of radio broadcast stations. The antenna described above is not limited to a monopole antenna, and a small dipole antenna, a film antenna, or the like may be used.

  The tuner A3 is a signal processing device that detects radio waves from a selected channel (radio broadcast station) and generates an audio signal. Specifically, tuner A3 detects a radio wave of a selected channel among a plurality of radio waves received by antenna A1, and separates an audio signal contained in the radio wave and a carrier wave. Then, the separated audio signal is output to the speaker 4 to output the audio. Further, when the tuner A3 acquires the channel switching signal, the tuner A3 switches the channel being selected to the channel indicated by the signal. The tuner 3 outputs the separated audio signal as a channel selection audio signal.

  The tuner B5 is a signal processing device similar to the tuner A3. The tuner B5 detects a plurality of radio waves received by the antenna B2 in order by switching reception frequencies, and separates an audio signal and a carrier wave included in the radio waves. Each of the separated audio signals is output in turn as an audio signal of another station.

  The frequency analyzer 6 is a known spectrum analyzer, extracts frequency components (frequency characteristics) contained in the acquired channel selection audio signal and other station audio signal, and selects the channel selection audio signal and the other station audio signal in the frequency space. The degree of coincidence of is calculated.

  When an arbitrary channel is selected by the channel selection switch 8, the CPU 7 outputs a channel switching signal for instructing to switch the channel being selected to the channel to the tuner A3.

  Further, the CPU 7 switches the channel selected by the tuner A3 to another channel on which the same broadcast is being performed. Specifically, the CPU 7 acquires a channel selection audio signal from the tuner A3 at predetermined time intervals, acquires each of the other-station audio signals detected by the tuner B5 by switching the reception frequency, and sequentially selects the frequency analyzer 6. Output to. After that, the degree of coincidence between the channel selection audio signal and the other station audio signal calculated in order by the frequency analyzer 6 is acquired, and the received frequency of the other station audio signal whose acquired coincidence is higher than a predetermined reference value, that is, The reception frequency of the radio wave of another radio broadcast station that is likely to perform the same broadcast as the radio broadcast station of the radio wave including the selected audio signal is stored. Further, the CPU 7 determines the reception sensitivity of the selected audio signal and the other station audio signal at each stored reception frequency from the power spectrum of the selected audio signal and the power spectrum of the other station audio signal at each stored reception frequency. The reception sensitivity is calculated. When the reception sensitivity of the calculated channel selection audio signal is weaker than any of the calculated reception sensitivities of the other station audio signals, the CPU 7 determines the radio broadcast station corresponding to the reception frequency of the other station audio signal having the highest reception sensitivity. A channel switching signal for instructing channel switching to the channel is generated and output to the tuner A3. If the calculated reception sensitivity of the selected audio signal is stronger than any of the calculated other station audio signals, the channel switching signal is not generated and output.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart relating to processing in which the channel selection switching apparatus of the present embodiment switches the channel being selected by the tuner A3 to another channel on which the same broadcast is being performed. The processing of this flowchart is executed every predetermined time.

  In step 201, the CPU 7 acquires a channel selection audio signal from the tuner A3. In step 202, the tuner B5 acquires the other-station audio signal detected by switching the reception frequency. In step 203, the channel selection audio signal acquired in step 201 and the other station audio signal acquired in step 202 are output to the frequency analyzer 6. As a result, the frequency analyzer 6 calculates the degree of coincidence between the frequency component of the selected audio signal and the frequency component of the other-station audio signal.

  In step 204, the degree of coincidence between the channel selection audio signal output in step 203 and the other station audio signal is acquired from the frequency analyzer 6. In step 205, it is determined whether or not the degree of coincidence acquired in step 204 is higher than a predetermined reference value. If it is higher than the predetermined reference value, the process proceeds to step 206, where the reception frequency of tuner B4 when the other-station audio signal is acquired in step 202 is stored, and the process proceeds to step 207. If it is lower than the predetermined reference value, the process proceeds to step 207.

  In step 207, it is determined whether or not the degree of coincidence has been calculated by acquiring all the other-station audio signals at the respective reception frequencies from the tuner B4. If all the other-station audio signals at the respective reception frequencies are acquired from the tuner B4 and the degree of coincidence is calculated, the process proceeds to step 208. If not, the process returns to step 202 and the above process is repeated.

  In step 208, the reception sensitivity of each signal is calculated from the power spectrum of the selected audio signal and each other-station audio signal at each reception frequency stored in step 206. In step 209, it is determined whether or not the reception sensitivity of the channel selection audio signal calculated in step 208 is lower than the reception sensitivity of any other station audio signal calculated in step 208. If the reception sensitivity of the selected audio signal is weaker than any one of the other station audio signals, the process proceeds to step 210. If the reception sensitivity of the selected audio signal is higher than the reception sensitivity of any other station audio signal, the process is terminated.

  In step 210, a channel switching signal for switching the channel to the radio broadcasting station corresponding to the reception frequency of the other-station audio signal having the strongest reception sensitivity is generated and output to the tuner A3. In step 211, a guidance voice to the effect that the channel selected by tuner A3 has been switched is output from speaker 4 via tuner A3, and the process is terminated. As a result, the user can detect that the channel selected by the tuner A3 has been switched.

  As described above, in the channel selection switching device according to the present embodiment, the CPU 7 acquires the channel selection audio signal from the tuner A3 at every predetermined time, and each of the other-station audio signals detected by the tuner B5 by switching the reception frequency. Acquired and output to the frequency analyzer 6 in order. Then, the degree of coincidence between the selected audio signal and the other station audio signal calculated in order by the frequency analyzer 6 is acquired, and the received frequency of the other station audio signal whose acquired coincidence is higher than a predetermined reference value is stored. To do. Then, from the power spectrum of the selected audio signal and the power spectrum of the other station audio signal at each stored reception frequency, the reception sensitivity of the selected audio signal and the reception of the other station audio signal at each stored reception frequency. If the received sensitivity of the selected channel audio signal is weaker than any of the calculated reception sensitivities of each other station's audio signal, the radio corresponding to the reception frequency of the other station's audio signal with the highest reception sensitivity is calculated. A channel switching signal for instructing channel switching to the broadcasting station channel is generated and output to the tuner A3. As a result, the channel to be selected by the tuner can be switched to the channel of another radio broadcast station on which the same broadcast is being performed, in accordance with the radio wave reception sensitivity of the channel being selected by the tuner A3. It becomes possible.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The channel selection switching device according to the present embodiment operates by being incorporated in a vehicle-mounted TV, and an image indicated by an image signal separated by the tuner A3 and an image signal included in TV radio waves from other TV broadcasting stations. The degree of coincidence with the image shown is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the tuner A3 switches the channel being selected to another channel. The point mentioned above is the point of this embodiment.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the channel selection switching apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the tuner A3 is a signal processing device that detects TV radio waves of a selected channel and generates an image signal and an audio signal. Specifically, the tuner A3 detects the TV radio wave of the selected channel among the plurality of TV radio waves received by the antenna A1, and separates the image signal and audio signal included in the radio wave from the carrier wave. Then, the separated image signal is output to the monitor 9 for image display, and the separated audio signal is output to the speaker 4 for audio output. The tuner A3 also outputs the separated image signal as a channel selection image signal.

  The tuner B5 detects a plurality of TV radio waves received by the antenna B2 in order by switching the reception frequency, separates an image signal, an audio signal, and a carrier wave included in the radio waves, and each of the separated image signals. Output sequentially as other station image signals.

  The image recognition device 10 is composed of a known computer, and calculates the degree of coincidence between the image indicated by the acquired channel selection image signal and the image indicated by the acquired other station image signal.

  As in the case of the above-described embodiment, the CPU 7 switches the channel selected by the tuner A3 to another channel on which the same broadcast is being performed. Specifically, the CPU 7 acquires a channel selection image signal from the tuner A3 at predetermined time intervals, acquires each of the other station image signals detected by the tuner B5 by switching the reception frequency, and sequentially selects the image recognition device 10. Output to. Thereafter, the degree of coincidence between the image indicated by the channel selection image signal and the image indicated by each other station image signal, which is sequentially calculated by the image recognition device 10, is acquired, and the obtained degree of coincidence is higher than a predetermined reference value. The reception frequency of the station image signal, that is, the reception frequency of the TV radio wave of another TV broadcast station that is likely to perform the same broadcast as the TV broadcast station of the TV radio wave including the selected image signal is stored. Further, the CPU 7 determines the reception sensitivity of the selected image signal and the other station image signal at each stored reception frequency from the power spectrum of the selected image signal and the power spectrum of the other station image signal at each stored reception frequency. The reception sensitivity is calculated. When the reception sensitivity of the calculated channel selection image signal is weaker than any of the calculated reception sensitivities of the other station image signals, the CPU 7 determines the TV broadcast station corresponding to the reception frequency of the other station audio signal having the highest reception sensitivity. A channel switching signal for instructing channel switching to the channel is generated and output to the tuner A3. If the calculated reception sensitivity of the selected channel image signal is stronger than any of the calculated other station image signals, the channel switching signal is not generated and output.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as in the case of the first embodiment described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart relating to processing in which the channel selection switching device of the present embodiment switches the channel being selected by the tuner A3 to another channel on which the same broadcast is being performed. The processing of this flowchart is the same as that in the flowchart of FIG. 2 of the first embodiment described above, the channel selection audio signal is read as the channel selection image signal, the other station audio signal is read as the other station image signal, and the frequency analyzer 6 is By replacing it with the image recognition device 10 and replacing the radio broadcast station with a TV broadcast station, the processing is the same as that in the flowchart of FIG.

  As described above, in the channel selection switching device according to the present embodiment, the degree of coincidence between the image indicated by the channel selection image signal and the image indicated by each of the other station image signals is calculated, and the channel selected by the tuner A3 is changed to another channel. Decide whether to switch to a channel. In this way, the vehicle-mounted TV can reliably determine the TV broadcast station that is broadcasting the same broadcast as the selected TV broadcast station, and the channel according to the reception sensitivity of the TV radio wave including the selected image signal. It is possible to switch between.

  In the first embodiment described above, by extracting the frequency component in each of the selected audio signal and the other station audio signal, another radio that performs the same broadcast as the radio broadcast station of the radio wave including the selected audio signal is used. The other station audio signal of the broadcasting station was determined. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the phase change in each of the selected audio signal and the other-station audio signal is extracted, and the other-station audio signal that best matches this is extracted from other radio stations that perform the same broadcast. It may be determined that the signal is a station voice signal.

  In the second embodiment described above, by calculating the degree of coincidence between the image indicated by the selected image signal and the image indicated by each other station image signal, the TV broadcast station of the TV radio wave including the selected image signal Other station image signals of other TV broadcasting stations that are performing the same broadcast were determined. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image change degree with the passage of time of the channel selection image signal and the image change degree in each of the other station image signals are calculated. You may discriminate | determine from the other station image signal of the other TV station which performs the same broadcast.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the reception sensitivity of each radio wave is calculated from the power spectrum of radio waves and TV radio waves. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the reception sensitivity of each radio wave may be calculated by calculating the amplitude intensity and energy density of the radio wave and the TV radio wave.

  The channel selection switching device according to each of the embodiments described above is applied to a vehicle-mounted radio and a vehicle-mounted TV. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and if the radio and TV are mounted on a mobile body, this device is used. It can be suitably used. However, it should be noted that the most preferable case is the case where it is used for a vehicle-mounted radio and a vehicle-mounted TV.

  The channel selection switching devices of the above-described embodiments each exhibit a sufficient effect even when used alone, but by using them in combination, a further sufficient effect can be achieved.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the channel selection switching apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart relating to processing for switching a channel being selected by tuner A to another channel on which the same broadcast is being performed in the channel selection switching apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the channel selection switching apparatus in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. In the channel selection switching apparatus of the second embodiment, it is a flowchart relating to a process of switching a channel being selected by tuner A to another channel on which the same broadcast is being performed.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Antenna A
2 ... Antenna B
3 Tuner A
4 ... Speaker 5 ... Tuner B
6 ... Frequency analyzer 7 ... CPU
8 ... Channel selection switch 9 ... Monitor 10 ... Image recognition device

Claims (6)

A first receiving means for continuously receiving broadcast radio waves of a broadcast station being selected by the broadcast viewing device;
A second receiving means for changing the reception frequency and receiving broadcast waves from a plurality of broadcasting stations;
A degree of coincidence calculation means for calculating the degree of coincidence between the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception means and each of the broadcast radio waves received by the second reception means;
Reception sensitivity calculation means for calculating the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception means and the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave having a matching degree calculated by the matching degree calculation means higher than a predetermined reference value;
The reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception unit calculated by the reception sensitivity calculation unit is compared with the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave having a degree of coincidence higher than a predetermined reference value. If the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave received by the receiving means is weaker than the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave whose degree of coincidence is higher than a predetermined reference value, the broadcast viewing device selects the broadcast station being selected. And a control means for switching to a broadcast station of a broadcast radio wave whose matching degree is higher than a predetermined reference value. The degree of coincidence calculation means calculates the degree of coincidence between the frequency characteristics of the broadcast radio waves received by the first reception means and the frequency characteristics of each of the broadcast radio waves received by the second reception means. The channel selection switching device according to claim 1, wherein: The degree-of-matching calculation means determines the degree of matching between the image data included in the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception means and the image data included in each of the broadcast radio waves received by the second reception means, respectively. The channel selection switching device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the channel selection switching device is calculated. The reception sensitivity calculation means calculates the reception sensitivity of each broadcast radio wave from the power spectrum of the broadcast radio wave received by the first reception means and the power spectrum of the broadcast radio wave whose matching degree is higher than a predetermined reference value. The channel selection switching device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the channel selection switching device is calculated. The channel selection switching device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when the switching operation is performed, the control unit notifies that the operation is performed. The channel selection switching device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the channel selection switching device is mounted on a vehicle and operates together with the broadcast viewing device.

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