JP2009239806A - Portable terminal unit, voice input method of portable terminal unit and voice input program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable terminal unit for inputting voice in an optimal state from an objective sound source. <P>SOLUTION: M pieces (M is an integer of 2 or more) of microphones 11a-11f are arranged in a different position in a portable terminal 1, and a voice signal from a plurality of these microphones 11a-11f is inputted to an acoustic processing part 36 via a microphone input part 61 and a microphone switching part 62. The microphone switching part 62 selects and switches N channels (M≥N) from M pieces of voice inputs in response to the setting function application and the acoustic processing application. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device capable of performing video shooting using a camera, browsing talk while watching a screen, etc., a voice input method of a mobile terminal, and a voice input program in addition to a normal voice call.

  In recent years, mobile terminals have been multi-functionalized, and in addition to normal voice calls, video cameras using cameras, browsing conversations while watching a screen like a videophone, etc. have appeared. In a conventional portable terminal that performs only a normal voice call, the portable terminal is handled in the same way as a handset. Therefore, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a voice input is performed by a single microphone disposed at a lower portion of the portable terminal. It is limited to. However, in a portable terminal with such multi-functionality, the microphone at the bottom of the portable terminal is not always optimal for voice input.

  For example, in video shooting, shooting is performed with a camera disposed on the opposite side of the mobile terminal facing the subject, and the microphone at the bottom of the mobile terminal cannot point the microphone toward the sound source of the subject. For this reason, there is a demand for a device that allows voice input in an optimum state according to the function of the mobile terminal and the position of the sound source.

In the recording device, for example, as described in Patent Document 2, two microphones having different directivity characteristics are provided, and according to a sound source from a specific direction and a sound source from the entire direction, It is described that two microphones are used properly. However, what is described in Patent Document 2 switches two microphones in accordance with a recording mode in a recording device, and is not intended for use with a portable terminal.
JP 2007-134759 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-243597

  As described above, in a portable terminal capable of performing video shooting using a camera, browsing talk, etc. in addition to a normal voice call, satisfactory voice input cannot be performed with only one microphone at the bottom of the portable terminal. For this reason, it is desired to prepare a plurality of microphones so that voice input can be performed in an optimum state according to the function of the mobile terminal and the position of the sound source.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a portable terminal device, a portable terminal voice input method, and a voice input program capable of performing voice input in an optimal state from a target sound source. The purpose is to do.

  The present invention proposes the following items in view of the above-described problems.

  (1) The present invention relates to M microphones (M is an integer of 2 or more) arranged at different positions, and N channels (N is an integer, M ≧) from among M microphones according to the setting function application. N) has proposed a portable terminal device comprising a microphone switching unit that selects and switches a voice input.

  According to the present invention, voice input can be performed in an optimal state by selecting and switching a microphone corresponding to the function of the mobile terminal and the position of the sound source from among the M microphones arranged at different positions.

  (2) According to the present invention, in the mobile terminal device of (1), when the setting function application is a voice call application, ambient noise is removed by a noise suppression application in a normal voice call and comes to the user's mouth. A portable terminal device has been proposed in which a microphone is used for collecting sound and another microphone is used for collecting ambient noise.

  According to the present invention, when the setting function application is a voice call application, a microphone that comes to the user's mouth is selected from among M microphones arranged at different positions for collecting sound. Voice input can be performed in an optimal state.

  (3) According to the present invention, in the mobile terminal device of (1), when the setting function application is a video shooting application, it is determined by the sound source separation application which position the microphone is the main sound, and is determined as the main sound. There has been proposed a portable terminal device characterized in that the collected microphone is used for collecting sound and the other microphone is used for collecting ambient noise.

  According to the present invention, when the setting function application is video shooting, a microphone that is determined as a main sound by the sound source separation application is selected from among M microphones arranged at different positions for collecting sound. By doing so, voice input can be performed in an optimal state.

  (4) According to the present invention, in the mobile terminal device of (1), when the setting function application is a browsing talk application, it is determined by the sound source separation application which position the microphone is the main sound, and is determined as the main sound. A portable terminal characterized in that the collected microphone is used for collecting sound, the other microphone is used for collecting ambient noise, and echoes are removed from the microphone used for collecting sound by an echo suppression application. A device is proposed.

  According to the present invention, when the setting function application is browsing talk, a microphone determined as a main sound by the sound source separation application from among M microphones arranged at different positions is used for collecting sound. By selecting, voice input can be performed in an optimal state.

  (5) In the present invention, M microphones (M is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged at different positions, and N channels (M ≧ N) are selected from the M microphones according to the setting function application and the sound processing application. A voice input method of a portable terminal characterized by switching voice input has been proposed.

  According to the present invention, voice input can be performed in an optimal state by selecting and switching a microphone corresponding to the function of the mobile terminal and the position of the sound source from among the M microphones arranged at different positions.

  (6) In the present invention, M microphones (M is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged at different positions, and N channels (M ≧ N) are input from the M microphones according to the setting function application. A voice input program of a portable terminal for causing a computer to execute a voice input method of the portable terminal to be switched, and a step of determining a setting function application; a step of setting an acoustic processing application according to the setting function application; According to the setting function application and the sound processing application, a voice input program of a portable terminal is proposed for causing a computer to execute a step of switching voice input from the M microphones.

  According to the present invention, voice input can be performed in an optimal state by selecting and switching a microphone corresponding to the function of the mobile terminal and the position of the sound source from among the M microphones arranged at different positions.

  According to the present invention, M microphones (M is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged at different positions, and audio signals from the plurality of microphones are selected and switched according to the setting function application. Thereby, voice input can be performed in an optimum state from the target sound source for each setting application.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the constituent elements in the present embodiment can be appropriately replaced with existing constituent elements and the like, and various variations including combinations with other existing constituent elements are possible. Therefore, the description of the present embodiment does not limit the contents of the invention described in the claims.

  FIG. 1 shows an external configuration of a mobile terminal 1 to which the present invention can be applied. In this example, the portable terminal 1 has a foldable structure. FIG. 1A shows the arrangement of each part (keypad surface) on the inner side of the portable terminal 1, and FIG. The arrangement of each part (battery surface) on the outside is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, three microphones 11a to 11c are arranged inside the mobile terminal 1. A receiver 12 is disposed at the upper end of the portion that is inside the mobile terminal 1.

  In addition, a liquid crystal display 13 is disposed above a portion that is inside the mobile terminal 1. Various characters and images are displayed on the liquid crystal display 13. That is, when using the telephone, the incoming and outgoing telephone numbers and address book are displayed on the liquid crystal display 13.

  Further, when using the Internet, an Internet web screen and transmitted / received mail are displayed on the liquid crystal display 13. At the time of camera photographing, the liquid crystal display 13 is used as a viewfinder, and the photographed camera image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 13.

  A numeric keypad (including * key and # key) 14, a cursor key 15, an enter key 16, and outgoing / incoming keys 17 a and 17 b, etc. are arranged below the portion inside the mobile terminal 1. The numeric keypad 14 is used for inputting a telephone number, inputting characters when creating a mail or a telephone directory, and the like. The cursor key 15 is used to move the cursor displayed on the liquid crystal display 13 and perform various selection inputs. The decision key 16 is used for performing selection. The outgoing / incoming keys 17a, 17 are used for making outgoing / incoming calls on a telephone line. The speaker 19 is used for reproducing the voice of the other party when using the browsing talk.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, three microphones 11 d to 11 f and a camera unit 18 are arranged outside the mobile terminal 1. The camera unit 18 is used for still images and video shooting.

FIG. 2 shows an internal configuration of a main part of the mobile terminal 1 to which the present invention can be applied. In FIG. 2, the main control unit 21 is a CPU (Central
The operation of the mobile terminal is controlled.

  The program memory 22 stores various application programs such as a boot program, a basic program, a voice call application, a video shooting application, and a browsing talk application.

  The memory 23 stores various data such as various preset data, telephone directory data, mail data, telephone history, position history, action history, and photo information.

  The large-capacity memory 24 is composed of a flash memory or the like, and stores map information and moving image information used for GPS navigation.

  The operation unit 27 performs an input operation from the user. The operation unit 27 includes a numeric keypad 14, a cursor key 15, an enter key 16, outgoing / incoming keys 17a, 17b, and the like.

  The short-range communication unit 28 is connected to other peripheral devices wirelessly to transmit / receive data. As a communication method, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark) is used.

  The display unit 29 includes the liquid crystal display 13 (see FIG. 1), and the display unit 29 is used for displaying various characters and images. The display processing unit 30 performs display control of the display unit 29.

The acoustic processing unit 36 performs processing of input audio signals and output audio signals. A plurality of microphones 11 a to 11 f, a receiver 12, and a speaker 19 are provided for the acoustic processing unit 36. The sound processing unit 36 is, for example, a DSP (Digital
Signal processor), and as a sound processing application, a noise suppression application, a sound source separation application, an echo suppression application, an equalizer application, and the like can be realized.

  The noise suppression application is an application for suppressing and removing ambient noise. The sound source separation application is an application for specifying the direction of the target sound and recording the target sound. The echo suppression application is an application for suppressing an echo that interferes with a call. The equalizer application is an application for adjusting voice and voice quality.

  The radio unit 33 transmits and receives radio waves to and from the base station. Any communication method may be used as the communication method. The communication control unit 34 controls signals communicated with the base station.

The camera unit 18 performs camera shooting. The camera unit 18 includes an optical system 37 such as a lens and a CCD (Charge).
And an imaging unit 38 formed of an image sensor such as Coupled Device). For the camera unit 18, a video signal processing unit 39 for processing an image signal of the image sensor is provided.

  The GPS function unit 41 receives radio waves from a plurality of satellites and coordinates the current location. The RFID reader 42 performs near field communication when using electronic money or the like.

  As described above, in the mobile terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention, the camera unit 18 is provided, and in addition to a normal voice call, video shooting using the camera and browsing talk while watching the screen can be performed. .

  In the portable terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention, the microphones 11a to 11c are arranged on the inner side, and the microphones 11d to 11f are arranged on the outer side. The plurality of microphones 11a to 11f can be switched which microphone is used according to the setting function application of the portable terminal.

  That is, FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the mobile terminal 1 is provided with M microphones 11a to 11f (M is an integer equal to or greater than 2, here 6) at different positions, and the plurality of microphones 11a. To 11f are input to the acoustic processing unit 36 via the microphone input unit 61 and the microphone switching unit 62. The microphone switching unit 62 selects and switches N channels (M ≧ N) from M audio inputs in accordance with the setting function application and the sound processing application.

  The acoustic processing unit 36 can realize a noise suppression application A1, a sound source separation application A2, an echo suppression application A3, an equalizer application A4, and the like as acoustic applications.

  In addition to the normal voice call application B1, the main control unit 21 can perform setting function applications such as a video shooting application B2 using the camera unit 18 and a browsing talk application B3 while viewing the screen.

  When the setting function application is set by the main control unit 21, the acoustic conditions for the acoustic processing unit 36 are designated in accordance with this, the acoustic processing application performed by the acoustic processing unit 36 is set, and the microphone input unit 61 and the microphone switching are set. The unit 62 is controlled.

  For example, when the setting function application is a normal voice call application B1, it is desirable to be able to clearly record the voice of the user who is calling and to remove the voice other than the user and the ambient noise. For this purpose, it is effective to remove the ambient noise using the acoustic application as the noise suppression application A1. Therefore, when the ambient noise is removed by a noise suppression application in a normal voice call, the microphone 11a at the user's mouth is used for voice collection, and the other microphone (s) are collected for ambient noise. For use.

  In the case where the setting function application is a video shooting application B2 using a camera, it is desired that the sound of the video shooting subject can be clearly recorded. For this purpose, it is effective to remove the ambient noise using the noise suppression application A1. In addition, it is desired that the direction of the target sound is specified by the sound source separation application A2, and a microphone directed in the target direction among a plurality of microphones mounted in the camera direction is used for recording.

  Therefore, in video shooting, the sound source separation application A2 determines which position of the microphone is the main sound. When the noise suppression application A1 removes ambient noise, among the microphones 11a to 11f, the microphone determined to be the main sound is used for sound collection, and the other microphone (one or more) is used as ambient noise. For sound collection.

  When the setting function application is the browsing talk application B3, it is desirable that the voice of the user who is making a call can be clearly recorded. For this purpose, it is effective to remove ambient noise with the noise suppression application A1. In the case of the browsing talk application B3, it is desirable that the voice of the other party of the call output from the speaker 19 of the mobile terminal 1 does not affect the call function.

  For this purpose, the echo suppression application A3 is effective. In addition, it is desired that the direction of the target sound is specified by the sound source separation application A2, and a microphone directed in the target direction among a plurality of microphones mounted in the camera direction is used for collecting sound. Therefore, in the browsing talk application B3, the sound source separation application A2 determines which position of the microphone is the main sound.

  When the noise suppression application A1 removes ambient noise, among the microphones 11a to 11f, the microphone determined to be the main sound is used for sound collection, and the other microphone (one or more) is used as ambient noise. For sound collection. Then, the echo suppression application A3 is used for the microphone used for sound collection.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing of the embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 4, the main control unit 21 determines whether the setting function application is a normal voice call application B1 (step S1). If the setting function application is a normal voice call application B1, the main control unit 21 performs acoustic The acoustic application of the processing unit 36 is set to the noise suppression application A1 (step S2), the microphone 11a coming to the user's mouth is used for collecting sound, and the other microphones are used for collecting ambient noise (step S3). .

  When the setting function application is not a voice call, the main control unit 21 determines whether or not the setting function application is a video shooting application B2 (step S4). If the setting function application is the video shooting application B2, the main control unit 21 sets the sound application of the sound processing unit 36 to the sound source separation application A2, and determines at which position the sound source that is the main sound is present (step S5).

  Then, the acoustic application of the acoustic processing unit 36 is set to the noise suppression application A1 (step S6), and among the microphones 11a to 11f, the microphone determined to be the main sound is used for collecting sound, and the other microphones are used for ambient noise. The sound is collected (step S7).

  When the setting function application is not video shooting, the main control unit 21 determines whether the setting function application is the browsing talk application B3 (step S8). If the setting function application is the browsing talk application B3, the main control unit 21 sets the sound application of the sound processing unit 36 to the sound source separation application A2 (step S9), and determines in which position the sound source that is the main sound is present.

  Then, the acoustic application of the acoustic processing unit 36 is set to the noise suppression application A1 (step S10), and among the microphones 11a to 11f, the microphone determined to be the main sound is used for collecting sound, and the other microphones are used for ambient noise. For the sound collection (step S11), the echo suppression application A3 is operated as the sound application of the sound processing unit 36 (step S12), and the echo suppression process is performed.

  In the above-described example, the three microphones 11a to 11c are arranged inside the folding portable terminal, and the three microphones 11d to 11f are arranged outside the portable terminal 1. However, in the present invention, two microphones are used. The above microphones may be arranged in any way.

  FIG. 5 is an arrangement example of the microphones 11 in a foldable portable terminal. FIG. 6 shows an arrangement example of the microphones 11 in a slide type mobile terminal. FIG. 7 shows an arrangement example of the microphone 11 in a straight type portable terminal. In addition, various microphone arrangements are possible.

  As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of microphones are arranged at different positions, and the sound input from the plurality of microphones is switched according to the setting function application. Thereby, voice input can be performed in an optimal state from the target sound source.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  The source application program and the sound processing application program are provided on a computer-readable recording medium such as a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, or a CD-ROM. The source program may be transmitted from a computer system to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium.

  Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. The source program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

It is the front view and back view used for description of the external appearance structure of the portable terminal of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram used for description of the internal structure of the portable terminal of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram used for description of the voice input of the portable terminal of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart used for description of the voice input of the portable terminal of embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of arrangement | positioning of the microphone in the portable terminal of embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of arrangement | positioning of the microphone in the portable terminal of embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of arrangement | positioning of the microphone in the portable terminal of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: mobile terminal 11, 11a-11f: microphone 12: receiver 18: camera unit 19: speaker 21: main control unit 61: microphone input unit 62: microphone switching unit

Claims (6)

M microphones (M is an integer of 2 or more) arranged at different positions;
A microphone switching unit that selects and switches an N-channel (M ≧ N) audio input from the M microphones according to a setting function application;
A portable terminal device comprising:   When the setting function application is a voice call application, the ambient noise is removed by a noise suppression application in a normal voice call, the microphone that comes to the user's mouth is used for voice collection, and the other microphone is the ambient noise. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the portable terminal device is used for collecting sound.   When the setting function application is a video shooting application, it is determined by the sound source separation application which microphone is the main sound, the microphone determined to be the main sound is used for collecting sound, and other microphones are used. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the portable terminal device is used for collecting ambient noise.   If the setting function application is a browsing talk application, the sound source separation application determines which microphone is the main sound, the microphone determined to be the main sound is used for sound collection, and other microphones are used. 2. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the microphone is used for collecting ambient noise, and further, echo is removed from the microphone used for collecting sound by an echo suppression application. M microphones (M is an integer of 2 or more) are placed at different positions.
A voice input method of a portable terminal, wherein voice input of N channels (M ≧ N) is switched from the M microphones according to a setting function application and a sound processing application. A voice input method for a portable terminal in which M microphones (M is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged at different positions and N channel (M ≧ N) voice inputs are switched from the M microphones according to a setting function application. A voice input program for a portable terminal for causing a computer to execute
Determining a setting function application;
Setting a sound processing application according to the setting function application;
Switching audio input from the M microphones according to the setting function application and the acoustic processing application;
A voice input program of a portable terminal for causing a computer to execute.

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