JP2006352570A - Speaker system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a speaker system capable of specifying the positional relation of its speakers with high precision in spite of simple configurations. <P>SOLUTION: An acoustic wave is emitted from one speaker out of a plurality of speaker units. The other speaker units which detect this acoustic wave report detection of the acoustic wave to the speaker unit which emits the acoustic wave. By a communication means, the other speaker units can recognize which is the speaker unit having emitted the acoustic wave. The speaker unit having emitted the acoustic wave measures its distance from each speaker unit, by measuring the time interval from the emission of the acoustic wave up to reception of the reporting. Consequently, each positional relation between the speakers can be specified with high precision in spite of simple configurations. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a speaker system that can specify the positional relationship of speakers with high accuracy.

  In recent years, audio devices are often provided with a plurality of speakers and assigned different channels. For example, a home theater system generally includes a center speaker, a front L / R speaker, and a rear L / R speaker (and a bass dedicated speaker).

  In such a device, in order to provide an optimal environment for the listener, it is necessary to perform sound field control by optimally setting the volume and delay amount of each speaker. That is, it is necessary to increase the volume of the speaker located away from the listener, and conversely, the speaker close to the listener is noisy if the volume is too high. It is also necessary to adjust the sound emission timing (delay amount) according to the position of the listener.

In order to perform the volume and sound field control as described above, it is necessary to accurately specify the positional relationship between the speakers. Therefore, a sound distribution adjustment system has been proposed in which the position of each speaker is specified using an image photographed by a camera and the volume is adjusted (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-54200 A

  The sound distribution adjustment system described in Patent Document 1 captures the entire speaker installation area with a camera and specifies the position of the speaker by image recognition. However, in order to specify the position of the speaker by image recognition as described above, a high-level image recognition technique is required. In order to recognize only the speaker from the image, a high-resolution camera that accurately captures the appearance of the speaker is necessary, and to measure the speaker distance from the image, the shape and size of the speaker must be taken into consideration. Don't be. Furthermore, even if the distance between the speaker and the listener is known, it cannot be detected in which direction they are facing, making it difficult to perform optimal sound field control.

  An object of this invention is to provide the speaker system which can pinpoint the positional relationship of a speaker with high precision, although it is a simple structure.

  The speaker system of the present invention is a speaker system comprising a plurality of speaker units, wherein the speaker unit is a microphone for inputting sound, a speaker for outputting sound, a communication means for transmitting information between the speaker units, and the operation of the speaker unit. Control means for controlling the sound, the control means emits sound waves from the speaker to another speaker unit, and the communication means emits sound waves when the microphone detects sound waves from the other speaker units. The received signal is transmitted to the speaker unit, and the control means measures the time from when the sound wave is emitted until the received signal is received, and measures the distance between the speaker units.

  In the present invention, sound waves are emitted from any one of the plurality of speaker units. The other speaker unit that has detected the sound wave notifies the speaker unit that has emitted the sound wave that the sound wave has been detected. The other speaker units can recognize which speaker unit is the speaker unit that emits the sound wave by the communication means. The speaker units that emit sound waves measure the distance between the speaker units by measuring the time from when the sound waves are emitted until the notification is received.

  The present invention is further characterized in that each of the plurality of speaker units includes a plurality of speakers and a microphone, and measures a distance between the plurality of speakers.

  In this invention, each speaker unit is provided with a plurality of speakers and microphones. Since the distance is measured between the plurality of speakers, the installation direction (direction of each other) of the speaker units can be known.

  The present invention is further characterized in that the communication means is a network interface, serial interface, or infrared transmission / reception means.

  In the present invention, a network interface, serial interface, or infrared transmission / reception means is used as the communication means between the speaker units. Since the speaker unit that has received the sound wave notifies the speaker unit that has emitted the sound wave using these communication means, time measurement can be accurately performed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, another speaker that emits a sound wave from a speaker unit and receives the sound wave transmits a reception signal, and measures the time from when the sound wave is emitted until the reception signal is received. Thus, it is possible to accurately measure the distance between the speakers, and the positional relationship between the speakers can be specified with high accuracy while having a simple configuration.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a speaker system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this speaker system includes a plurality of speaker units 1 connected to a network, a control unit 2, and a playback device 3 connected to the control unit 2. This speaker system is provided in a room or the like in the home, and each speaker unit 1 is installed, for example, near a wall.

  The speaker unit 1 includes a plurality of speakers and a microphone (see FIG. 2), and the output (channel, volume, etc.) of each speaker unit 1 is controlled by the control unit 2.

  The control unit 2 receives audio data of musical sounds from the playback device 3, and allocates and distributes channels to each speaker unit 1 via a network. Further, the operation of each speaker unit 1 is controlled. Note that the speaker unit 1 that has received the audio data includes a D / A converter as necessary.

  The playback device 3 is a so-called audio device, acquires audio data, and supplies it to the control unit 2. For example, the playback device 3 may be a playback device that reads and plays audio data from a medium such as a CD or DVD, or may be a playback device that receives and plays audio data from a network (Internet).

  The speaker system according to the present invention measures the positional relationship of the speaker units with high accuracy using sound waves, and optimally distributes audio data from the playback device according to the positional relationship of each speaker unit. .

  Hereinafter, a speaker system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the speaker unit. As shown in FIG. 1, the speaker unit 1 includes a plurality of microphones 11, a plurality of speakers 12, an infrared transmission / reception unit 13, a communication unit 14, and a control unit 15.

  A microphone 11, a speaker 12, an infrared transmission / reception unit 13, and a communication unit 14 are connected to the control unit 15. The communication unit 14 is connected to the control unit 2 via a network. The control unit 15 controls the operation of the speaker unit 1 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 2. The control unit 15 receives audio data from the control unit 2 and supplies the audio data to the speaker 12. The control unit 15 D / A converts the audio data and supplies it as an audio signal. The speaker 12 emits a musical sound according to the audio signal input from the control unit 15. The microphone 12 inputs the input sound to the control unit 15, and the control unit 15 can determine that the sound is input to the microphone 12. The control unit 15 can also transmit the input voice to the control unit 2.

  The communication unit 14 is an interface for communicating information with the control unit 2 or another speaker unit. For example, a network interface for connecting to the control unit 2 or another speaker unit 1 via a LAN. The connection may be made by a wired LAN or by a wireless LAN. The communication unit 14 may be a serial interface or the like.

  The infrared transmission / reception unit 13 transmits and receives infrared rays between the speaker units 1. The control unit 15 instructs the infrared transmission / reception unit 13 to transmit infrared rays, and the infrared transmission / reception unit 13 transmits the infrared rays from the other speaker units 1 to the control unit 15.

  Among the plurality of speaker units 1, any one speaker unit is a master, and the other speaker units are slaves. The master and the slave may be easily switched and set with a dip switch or a jumper pin.

  When the speaker unit 1 is turned on, the control unit 15 of the master and slave speaker units 1 performs the following operations. The control unit 15 of the slave speaker transmits a measurement start signal to the master speaker. When receiving this, the control unit 15 of the master speaker emits a sound wave for measurement from the speaker 12 and simultaneously starts a counter to measure time. Any sound wave for measurement may be used, but a sine wave or the like having a frequency outside the audible range.

  The microphone 11 of the slave speaker receives this and transmits it to the control unit 15. Note that, when the measurement start signal is transmitted to the master speaker, the control unit 15 operates only one of the plurality of microphones 12 of the slave speaker, and does not operate the other microphones 12. When receiving the measurement sound wave, the control unit 15 transmits a signal notifying that the sound wave has arrived from the infrared transmission / reception unit 13 to the master speaker. In addition, you may make it transmit via the communication part 15 instead of the infrared transmission / reception part 13. FIG.

  When the control unit 15 of the master speaker receives a signal notifying that the sound wave has arrived from the infrared transmission / reception unit 13, the control unit 15 stops the counter. Thereafter, the time from when the sound wave is emitted until it arrives is calculated from the counter, and the distance between the slave speaker and the master speaker is calculated. In this way, the distance between the speakers is measured.

  By performing the above operation between each speaker and microphone, it is possible to measure the distance between all the speaker units, and also know the direction in which the speaker unit is installed from the position of each speaker. .

  Thus, the method of measuring the distance between speakers will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating position measurement between speaker units. As shown in the figure, a plurality of (two in the figure) microphones 11 and a plurality of speakers 12 are provided on the front surface of the speaker unit 1. As described above, the master speaker can measure the distance from the slave speaker. Here, the distance between each speaker 11 of the master speaker and one microphone 12 of the slave speakers is measured.

  In the drawing, W is the distance between the center position of one speaker 11 and microphone 12 of the master speaker and the center position of the other speaker 11 and microphone 12. The distance between the center position of one speaker 11 and microphone 12 of the master speaker and the center position of speaker 11 and microphone 12 of the slave speaker is D1, and the center position of the other speaker 11 and microphone 12 of the master speaker and the slave speaker. The distance from the center position of the speaker 11 and the microphone 12 is D2. The internal angle of the vertex drawn between W and D1 is θ. This θ can be obtained by the following cosine theorem.

  Here, the center position coordinate of the master speaker is (0, 0). Then, the position coordinates (X1, Y1) at which the center positions of the speaker 11 and the microphone 12 of the slave speaker exist are expressed by the following equations.

  Thus, the speaker unit 1 of the master speaker can measure the center positions of the speaker 11 and the microphone 12 of the slave speaker.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a plurality of position measurements between speaker units. As shown in the figure, the position of the other speaker 11 of the slave speaker and the center position of the microphone 12 can also be measured. Here, the position coordinates (X2, Y2) at which the other speaker 11 of the slave speaker and the center position of the microphone 12 exist can be obtained in the same manner as the above-described calculation, thereby the center position coordinates (X3, X3) of the slave speaker. Y3) is represented by the following equation.

  In this way, the positional relationship between the master speaker and the slave speaker can be specified.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing angle measurement of the slave speaker unit. As shown in the figure, the angle φ formed by the parallel line on the front surface of the slave speaker and the vertical line on the front surface of the master speaker is expressed by the following equation.

  In this way, the angle of the slave speaker with respect to the master speaker can be specified. Further, the orientation of the slave speaker (whether it is tilted rightward or leftward toward the master speaker) can be specified from the relationship between the position coordinates (X1, Y1) and the position coordinates (X2, Y2). For example, in the installation mode shown in FIG. 5A, the slave speaker is inclined leftward toward the master speaker (the slave speaker is present on the right side of the master speaker). The relationship between the coordinate Y1 and the position coordinate Y2 is Y2-Y1 <0. In the installation mode shown in FIG. 5B, the slave speaker is tilted rightward toward the master speaker. In this case, the relationship between the position coordinate Y1 and the position coordinate Y2 is Y2-Y1> 0. Therefore, the installation direction of the slave speaker can be specified from the values of the angle φ and Y2-Y1.

  As described above, the master speaker can measure the distance from the slave speaker, and can further measure the direction in which the slave speaker is installed. In the above example, an example in which a measurement start signal and a signal notifying that a sound wave has arrived has been transmitted / received via infrared or a network, but a signal notifying that a sound wave has reached via a network is transmitted / received. In this case, the measurement time is corrected in consideration of the delay time in the transmission path.

  The speaker system of the present invention can be applied as follows. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating position measurement according to an application example of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a remote controller 4 is present in front of the master speaker. The remote controller 4 is carried by a listener, and the remote controller 4 includes a microphone and an infrared transmitter. Moreover, you may provide the wireless LAN interface for network connection.

  The remote controller 4 transmits a measurement start signal to the control unit 15 of the master speaker. The measurement start signal may be transmitted using infrared rays, or may be transmitted via a network when a wireless LAN interface is provided. The control unit 15 of the master speaker that has received the measurement start signal emits a sound wave for measurement from the speaker 12, and simultaneously starts a counter to measure time. In this example, any measurement sound wave may be used, but a sine wave or the like having an audible frequency is used.

  When receiving the measurement sound wave, the remote controller 4 transmits a signal notifying that the sound wave has arrived to the master speaker using infrared rays. In this case, it may be transmitted using infrared rays or may be transmitted via a network.

  When the control unit 15 of the master speaker receives a signal notifying that the sound wave has arrived from the infrared transmission / reception unit 13, the control unit 15 stops the counter. Thereafter, the time from when the sound wave is emitted until it arrives is calculated from the counter, and the distance between the remote controller 4 and the master speaker is calculated. In this way, the distance from the remote controller 4 is measured. By measuring the distance from the remote controller 4, the exact position of the listener can be specified.

  Information on the position and direction between the speakers measured as described above is transmitted from the control unit 15 of the master speaker to the control unit 2. The control unit 2 assigns and distributes a channel to each speaker unit 1 according to the installation position and direction of each speaker unit 1 and controls the volume and delay amount of each speaker. In particular, when the speaker unit 1 is configured by a speaker array in which a plurality of speakers are arranged in a matrix (or line or honeycomb), the sound beam can be controlled by individually controlling the gain and delay amount of the speakers. Control can be performed. For example, when sound is first output from the speaker at the end and sound is sequentially output from the adjacent speaker with a predetermined delay time, the synthesized wavefront of these sounds is tilted according to the delay time, so the sound beam is obliquely Can be directed, and can direct the sound beam to the listener.

  By controlling the channel, volume, and delay amount of each speaker, an optimal sound field can be formed for the listener. That is, the control unit 2 considers that the listener is present at a predetermined position in front of the master speaker, and supplies the rear channel sound to the speaker unit 1 installed at a position facing the master speaker. The sound of the R channel is supplied to the speaker unit 1 installed in the right direction of the listener, and the sound of the L channel is supplied to the speaker unit 1 installed in the left direction. Also, the volume of the speaker unit 1 far from the listener's position is increased, or conversely, the volume of the speaker unit 1 that is too close is decreased. In addition, when the speaker unit 1 is not directed toward the listener (deviation from the front axis direction), an audio beam is directed toward the listener.

  Further, as shown in the application example, when the position of the listener can be accurately specified, the sound field can be controlled to be more optimal at the position of the listener.

  By using the speaker system of the present invention, for example, in a home theater system, an optimal sound field is automatically formed according to the installation position of each speaker unit. In addition, when the speaker system of the present invention is used as a playback device (such as an Internet telephone) that receives and reproduces audio data from a network, the sound field control associates the position information of the sound distribution source with the position information of the speaker unit. Can also be done. For example, when the sound is distributed from the northeast direction, the sound is emitted from the speaker unit located in the northeast direction, as if the sound is emitted from the northeast.

  Next, the operation of the speaker unit will be described in detail. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the master speaker, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the slave speaker.

  In FIG. 7, this operation is started when the power of the speaker system is turned on. Note that the listener may be able to select to perform this operation (measurement mode) manually. First, registration information is acquired from a slave speaker (s10). The registration information is information indicating the presence of each slave speaker, and is transmitted from each speaker unit 1. By receiving this, the master speaker can recognize the number of speaker units in the speaker system. The registration information is stored in a memory (not shown) built in the speaker unit 1 of the master speaker. Further, it may be transmitted to the control unit 2 and stored in the control unit 2.

  It is determined whether or not the received registration information has been registered in the memory (s11). If it has not been registered, registration information is registered in the memory (s12). If registered, the process proceeds to the next process without performing the process of s12. Thereafter, the position detection information of the speaker unit measured in the past stored in the memory is read and transmitted to the slave speaker (s13). However, since the position detection information of the speaker unit is not stored when the power is first turned on, this processing is not performed.

  After the position detection information is transmitted to the slave speaker, it is determined whether a start signal is received from the slave speaker (s14). If the start signal is not transmitted from the slave speaker, the process is repeated from obtaining the registration information.

  When a start signal is transmitted from the slave speaker and received, the measurement sound wave is emitted from the speaker 11 and the counter is started (s15). As described above, sound waves are emitted from any speaker 11 of the speaker unit 1 of the master speaker. Thereafter, a sound wave arrival signal indicating that the sound wave has arrived is transmitted from the slave speaker that has detected this sound wave, and this is received and the counter is stopped (s16). Thereby, the distance to the slave speaker is measured. After receiving the sound wave arrival signal, the slave speaker is notified that the measurement is completed (s17). This notification may also be transmitted using the infrared transmitter / receiver 13 or may be transmitted via a network.

  Thereafter, it is determined whether remeasurement is necessary (s18). Since the master speaker manages the number of speakers 11 provided in the speaker units 1 of each slave speaker when the registration information is acquired, the master speaker remeasures when the distances of the speakers 11 of all the speaker units 1 are measured. If there is an unmeasured speaker 11, a start signal transmission request is notified to the corresponding slave speaker (s19), and the process is repeated from the determination of whether or not the start signal is received (s19 → s14). ). If it is determined that remeasurement is not necessary, the operation is terminated.

  In FIG. 8, the slave speaker starts this operation when the power of the speaker system is turned on, like the master speaker. Further, the listener may be able to select to perform this operation (measurement mode) manually. First, registration information is transmitted to the master speaker (s20), and position detection information is acquired from the master speaker (s21).

  With reference to the position detection information received by the master speaker, it is determined whether or not position detection has already been completed (s22). If it is determined that the position has been detected, the operation is terminated. If it is determined that the position has not been detected, a start signal is transmitted to the master speaker (s23). Further, only the microphone 12 to be measured is turned on, and the microphone 12 not to be measured is turned off (s24). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the measurement sound wave is input from the master speaker to the microphone 12 (s25). If the measurement sound wave is not received, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has passed (s26), and if it has passed, the process ends with an error (s27). If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the determination is repeated (s26 → s25). When the error ends, the master speaker may be notified that the sound wave for measurement has not been received, and the master speaker that has received the notification may display an error, or the control unit 2 may display an error. .

  If it is determined that the sound wave for measurement has been received, a sound wave arrival signal is transmitted to the master speaker (s28), and the master speaker is notified that the measurement has been completed and is received (s29). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not re-measurement is necessary (s30). If re-measurement is necessary, the process is repeated from the determination of whether or not position detection has been completed. When a start signal transmission request is notified from the master speaker that requires remeasurement, it may be determined that remeasurement is necessary, or it may be determined whether the slave speaker has measured all of its own speakers 11 or not. It may be. If it is determined that remeasurement is not necessary, the operation is terminated.

  The position detection operation described above may be performed every time the power is turned on, or the result of detection once may be stored in a memory so that the position detection operation is not performed when the power is turned on next time.

  As described above, in the speaker system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the sound wave for measurement is emitted from the speaker unit of the master speaker, and the speaker unit of the slave speaker that receives the sound wave transmits the sound wave arrival signal. By measuring the time from the time when the sound wave is emitted until the time when the sound wave arrival signal is received, the distance between the speakers can be accurately measured. Therefore, it is possible to specify the positional relationship of the speakers with high accuracy while having a simple configuration.

The block diagram which showed the structure of the speaker system which concerns on embodiment of this invention Block diagram showing the configuration of the speaker unit Diagram showing position measurement between speaker units Figure showing multiple position measurements between speaker units Figure showing angle measurement of slave speaker unit The figure which showed the position measurement based on the application example of this invention Flow chart showing the operation of the master speaker Flow chart showing operation of slave speaker

Explanation of symbols

1-speaker unit 2-control unit 3-reproducing device 11-microphone 12-speaker 13-infrared transmission / reception unit 14-communication unit 15-control unit

Claims (3)

A speaker system comprising a plurality of speaker units,
The speaker unit is
Microphone to input audio,
A speaker that outputs audio,
Communication means for transmitting information between speaker units;
Control means for controlling the operation of the speaker unit;
With
The control means emits a sound wave from the speaker to another speaker unit,
The communication means transmits a reception signal to a speaker unit that emits a sound wave when the microphone detects a sound wave from another speaker unit,
The said control means is a speaker system which measures the time after emitting a sound wave to receiving a received signal, and measures the distance between speaker units. Each of the plurality of speaker units includes a plurality of speakers and a microphone,
The speaker system according to claim 1, wherein each distance is measured between a plurality of speakers.   The speaker system according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit is a network interface, a serial interface, or an infrared transmission / reception unit.

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