JP2012212970A - Voice communication device, voice communication system, and voice communication method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice communication device, a voice communication system, and a voice communication method and program which, when performing half duplex communication by radio communication, can avoid collisions of upstream and downstream voice data in a limited bandwidth.SOLUTION: The voice communication device is a device to perform half duplex communication by radio communication to and from a counter terminal. While voice data to be received from the counter terminal is being output from the local device, it enables voice data to be sent to the counter terminal to be input. And, during output from the local device of voice data to be received from the counter terminal, it keeps the input voice data saved in memory and, when it has finished receiving voice data from the counter terminal, sends to the counter terminal a request for control to ensure that voice data will not be transmitted from the counter terminal; thereafter, it transmits the saved voice data to the counter terminal.

Description

  The present invention relates to a voice communication device, a voice communication system, a voice communication method, and a program for realizing wireless communication of voice data.

  As an audio communication system that transmits and receives audio data between a plurality of terminals, for example, doorphones and intercoms installed in buildings and houses are known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In such a voice communication system, full-duplex communication (simultaneous communication) is possible by adopting wired communication. In order to realize full-duplex communication by wireless communication, there is a method of switching the communication direction in time division and apparently simultaneous communication, but the switching operation is complicated and the input data that is shredded is reproduced without a sense of incongruity For this purpose, it is necessary to use a communication method with a wide bandwidth such as a wireless LAN. However, even if a wireless LAN is used, simultaneous communication may not be possible if the amount of data to be communicated increases. On the other hand, as a method for realizing full-duplex communication by wireless communication, it is conceivable to cope by duplexing transmission-only and reception-only communication means, but this is not practical because of cost. For the above reasons, when wireless communication is adopted in a voice communication system, half-duplex communication (alternate communication) using the same frequency band for voice data transmission / reception is adopted.

JP 2000-224319 A JP 2007-228392 A

  An example of a short-range wireless communication standard that realizes half-duplex communication is zigbee. When this zigbee is used for, for example, a door phone to perform both video and audio communication, the ratio of the bandwidth used for video communication and audio communication is about 10: 1, and video is preferentially communicated ( (The reason why the rate of voice communication is small is that securing bandwidth on both the uplink and downlink of voice communication causes waste). Since zigbee has a narrow original bandwidth, the bandwidth used for voice communication is further narrowed by the above ratio. Therefore, there is a possibility that collision between uplink and downlink voice data frequently occurs and voice communication cannot be established.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a voice communication device capable of avoiding a collision between uplink and downlink voice data in a limited bandwidth when performing half-duplex communication by wireless communication. An object is to provide a voice communication system, a voice communication method, and a program.

  In order to achieve such an object, the voice communication apparatus of the present invention is a voice communication apparatus that performs half-duplex communication by radio communication with the opposite terminal, and sends voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the own apparatus. While outputting, it is possible to input voice data to be transmitted to the opposite terminal, and during the output of the voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the own device, the input voice data is stored, After receiving the voice data from the opposite terminal, send a request to the opposite terminal to control the voice data not to be transmitted from the opposite terminal, and then save the saved voice data to the opposite terminal. Is transmitted.

  The voice communication system of the present invention is characterized in that voice data is communicated between the voice communication apparatuses of the present invention.

  The voice communication method of the present invention is a voice communication method of a terminal that performs half-duplex communication by wireless communication with an opposite terminal, and the terminal outputs voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the own terminal. The voice data to be transmitted to the opposite terminal can be input while the voice data received from the opposite terminal is being output to the outside of the terminal. After the reception of the voice data is completed, a request for controlling the voice data to be transmitted from the opposite terminal is transmitted to the opposite terminal, and the saved voice data is sent to the opposite terminal. It is characterized by transmitting.

  The program of the present invention is a program that is executed by a computer of a terminal that performs half-duplex communication by wireless communication with an opposite terminal, and outputs audio data received from the opposite terminal to the computer. During the process of inputting the voice data to be transmitted to the opposite terminal, and during the output of the voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the own terminal, the process of saving the input voice data, and the opposite terminal After receiving the audio data from the remote terminal, send a request to the opposite terminal to control the transmission of the audio data from the opposite terminal, and then send the saved voice data to the opposite terminal. And the process of transmitting.

  According to the present invention, when half-duplex communication is performed by wireless communication, it is possible to avoid collision between uplink and downlink audio data in a limited bandwidth.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the audio | voice communication apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram explaining an example at the time of operation | movement of the audio | voice communication apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram explaining an example at the time of operation | movement of the audio | voice communication apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an image figure explaining the operation example of the audio | voice communication system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments (embodiments) for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  The voice communication apparatus according to the present embodiment is a terminal that performs half-duplex communication with an opposite terminal (terminal that is a communication partner) according to the short-range wireless communication standard (either portable or fixed type). ). An example of the hardware configuration of the voice communication apparatus of this embodiment is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the voice communication apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an I / F 1, a system bus 2, an A / D converter 3, a D / A converter 4, a CODEC (AAC) 5, and a RAM (Random Access Memory). , CPU (Central Processing Unit) 7, wireless unit 8, CPIO 9, microphone 10, speaker 11, button 12, and LED 13. An example of the short-range wireless communication standard adopted by the wireless unit 8 is zigbee. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a display unit (display) or the like for displaying a video exchanged with sound may be provided.

  Next, an operation example of the voice communication apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. Here, communication between voice communication apparatuses having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is taken as an example, and these voice communication apparatuses are referred to as terminal A and terminal B. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of the terminal A, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of the terminal B. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of both the terminal A and the terminal B. Each step in FIGS. 2 and 3 corresponds to each step in FIG. 4 (for example, “S4” in FIG. 2 means the same operation as “S4” in FIG. 4). Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4.

  First, it is assumed that both terminals A and B are in a “speaking right idle state (standby)”. The right to speak is a right that allows voice to be transmitted to the opposite terminal using a predetermined bandwidth. The terminal that does not have the right to speak is in a state of receiving the voice transmitted from the opposite terminal having the right to speak, and is controlled so that the voice cannot be transmitted to the opposite terminal. The right to speak moves by requesting each terminal. The above-mentioned speaking right vacant state means a state where the own terminal does not have the right to speak, and a state where voice transmission / reception is not performed at the own terminal. In addition, there are “speaking being acquired (sending)” and “speaking right being released (receiving)”. The acquisition of the right to speak means a state in which the terminal has the right to speak and a state in which voice is transmitted from the terminal to the opposite terminal. When the floor is open, it means that the terminal does not have the floor and that the terminal is receiving voice from the opposite terminal. In the terminals A and B, for example, the CPU 7 always knows whether the terminal itself is in a speaking right idle state, a speaking right is being acquired, or a speaking right is being released.

  Here, at the terminal A, the operator X presses the button 12 and then utters “Who is it?” Toward the microphone 10 and releases the pressed button 12 when the utterance ends (S1, S2). ). This button 12 is a button to be pressed when the operator wants to input his / her voice to the terminal A.

  When the CPU 7 of the terminal A detects an input (pressing) on the button 12 (S3), it transmits a request to acquire a right to speak to the terminal B via the wireless unit 8 (S4). Here, as an example, the transmission timing of the request to acquire the right to speak by the CPU 7 is assumed to be an input to the button 12, but the present invention is not limited to this. As another example, it is good also as a case where the input of the sound volume more than a predetermined threshold with respect to the microphone 10 is detected. In this case, since the operator does not need to press the button 12 when speaking, the button 12 may not be provided on the terminal.

  In addition, the voice “How is it?” Uttered while the operator X is pressing the button 12 is input from the microphone 10 in the terminal A (S2), and at the same time, the A / D converter 3 performs A / D (Analog / Digital) converted and stored in the RAM 6 as a live sound source buffer (S5). The raw sound source buffer is compressed by the CODEC 5 and stored in the RAM 6 as a compressed sound source buffer (S6). In the live sound source buffer and the compressed sound source buffer shown in FIG. 2, for example, the buffer 1 becomes the audio data “How is it?”. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of raw sound source buffers and compressed sound source buffers are stored in the RAM 6, and each of these buffer data is audio data input while the button 12 is pressed. Alternatively, the sound data is input to the microphone 10 at a volume equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold.

  The message acquisition request transmitted from the terminal A is received by the terminal B. In the terminal B, when the CPU 7 receives the speech acquisition request from the terminal A via the wireless unit 8 (S7), the current state of the terminal itself is the speech right empty state, so the speech acquisition request is granted. A permission notice is returned to the terminal A via the wireless unit 8 (S8). At this time, the CPU 7 of the terminal B transitions from the speaking right idle state to the right to release the speaking right. By this transition, the terminal B is in a state of receiving the voice from the terminal A, and is controlled so that the voice cannot be transmitted to the terminal A.

  In the terminal A, when the CPU 7 receives the permission notification from the terminal B via the wireless unit 8 (S9), the CPU 7 transitions from the speaking right idle state to the acquisition of the speaking right. With this transition, terminal A enters a state of transmitting voice to terminal B. Then, the CPU 7 controls to start transmitting the compressed sound source buffer stored in the RAM 6 to the terminal B (S10). By this control, the compressed sound source buffer stored in the RAM 6 is transmitted to the terminal B via the wireless unit 8 in the order stored in the RAM 6, for example (S11).

  The compressed sound source buffer transmitted from the terminal A is stored in the RAM 6 after being received by the wireless unit 8 in the terminal B (S12). Thereafter, the compressed sound source buffer is decompressed by the CODEC 5 and stored in the RAM 6 as a raw sound source buffer (S13), and then the D / A conversion unit 4 performs the D / A (Digital / Analog) conversion by the D / A conversion unit 4. (S14) and output from the speaker 15 (S15). That is, a voice “How is it?” By the operator X is output from the speaker 15 of the terminal B.

  Here, in the terminal B, while the voice “How is it?” Is being output from the speaker 15, the operator Y can input the voice. For example, at the terminal B, the operator Y presses the button 12 and then utters “It is a courier service” toward the microphone 10 and releases the pressed button 12 when the utterance ends (S16, S17).

  When the CPU 7 of the terminal B detects an input (pressing) on the button 12 (S18), since the state of the terminal itself is releasing the floor, the CPU 7 waits for the transmission of the floor acquisition request to the terminal A.

  In addition, the voice “courier service” uttered while the operator Y is pressing the button 12 is input from the microphone 10 at the terminal B (S17), and at the same time, the A / D conversion unit 3 performs the A / D conversion. The converted data is stored in the RAM 6 as a live sound source buffer (S19). The raw sound source buffer is compressed by the CODEC 5 and stored in the RAM 6 as a compressed sound source buffer (S20). In the live sound source buffer and the compressed sound source buffer shown in FIG. 3, for example, the buffer 1 is the voice data “It is a home delivery”.

  In the terminal A that is acquiring the right to speak, when the CPU 7 detects that all transmissions of the compressed sound source buffer stored in the RAM 6 have been completed (S21), the CPU 7 transits from the right to speak to the state where the right to speak is not obtained. Then, the CPU 7 transmits to the terminal B via the wireless unit 8 a speech right availability notification for notifying the opposite terminal that the terminal is in a speech right idle state (S22).

  When the CPU 7 of the terminal B receives the speaking right availability notification from the terminal A via the wireless unit 8 (S23), it waits for the transmission of the right to acquire the speaking right to the terminal A. A request to acquire a right to speak is transmitted to terminal A (S24). At this time, the CPU 7 of the terminal B transitions from the state of speaking right release to during the acquisition of the right of speaking.

  When the CPU 7 of the terminal A receives the request for acquiring the right to speak from the terminal B (S25), the CPU 7 makes a transition from the free state to the right to speak. By this transition, the terminal A enters a state of receiving the voice from the terminal B, and is controlled so that the voice cannot be transmitted to the terminal B.

  The CPU 7 of the terminal B that has acquired the right to speak is controlled to start transmission of the compressed sound source buffer stored in the RAM 6 to the terminal A (S26). By this control, the compressed sound source buffer stored in the RAM 6 is transmitted to the terminal A via the wireless unit 8 in the order stored in the RAM 6, for example (S27).

  The compressed sound source buffer transmitted from the terminal B is stored in the RAM 6 after being received by the wireless unit 8 in the terminal A (S28). Thereafter, the compressed sound source buffer is decompressed by the CODEC 5 and stored in the RAM 6 as a raw sound source buffer (S29), and then D / A converted by the D / A converter 4 by the D / A converter 4 (S30). Is output from the speaker 15 (S31). That is, a voice “It is a courier service” by the operator Y is output from the speaker 15 of the terminal A.

  In the terminal B that is acquiring the right to speak, when the CPU 7 detects that all transmissions of the compressed sound source buffer stored in the RAM 6 have been completed (S32), the CPU 7 transits from the right to speak to the state where the right to speak is not obtained. Then, the CPU 7 transmits a speaking right availability notification to the terminal A via the wireless unit 8 (S33).

  When the CPU 7 of the terminal A receives the speaking right availability notification from the terminal B via the wireless unit 8 (S34), the CPU 7 recognizes that the terminal B is in the speaking right empty state, and at the own terminal, speaks to the terminal B. Since there is no waiting for transmission of the right acquisition request, the state shifts from the right to speak to the state where the right to speak is empty. Then, the CPU 7 transmits a speaking right availability notification to the terminal B via the wireless unit 8 (S35).

  The CPU 7 of the terminal B receives the speaking right availability notification from the terminal A via the wireless unit 8 (S36), and recognizes that the terminal A is in the speaking right empty state. Thus, a series of operations is completed.

  In terminal B, even if voice is input from microphone 10 while the voice data from terminal A is being output to the speaker, if there is a lot of voice data transmitted from terminal A, the right to speak is not transferred to terminal B, and input is performed. Is not transmitted to terminal A. Therefore, there is a possibility that the talk will not be engaged. As a means for solving this, for example, the CPU 7 measures the time (for example, the time after compression) after the audio data input from the microphone is stored in the RAM 6, and the measured time is a predetermined time (predetermined in advance). The audio data may be automatically deleted without being transmitted to the opposite terminal when the time has passed (setting can be arbitrarily changed by the user). In that case, the operator may be notified by screen display or the like that the input voice data has been deleted.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a voice communication device that performs half-duplex communication by wireless communication with an opposite terminal, and outputs voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the own device. The voice data to be transmitted to the opposite terminal can be input while the voice data received from the opposite terminal is being output to the outside of the device. After the reception of the audio data is completed, a request for controlling the audio data not to be transmitted from the opposite terminal is transmitted to the opposite terminal, and the stored audio data is transmitted to the opposite terminal. Therefore, when half-duplex communication is performed by wireless communication (for example, short-range wireless communication standard), it is possible to avoid collision between uplink and downlink audio data in a limited bandwidth. .

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, it is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

  For example, the operation in the above-described embodiment can be executed by hardware, software, or a combined configuration of both.

  When executing processing by software, a program in which a processing sequence is recorded may be installed and executed in a memory in a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware. Or you may install and run a program in the general purpose computer which can perform various processes.

  For example, the program can be recorded in advance on a hard disk or a ROM (Read Only Memory) as a recording medium. Alternatively, the program is stored on a removable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), an MO (Magneto Optical) disc, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a magnetic disc, and a semiconductor memory. It is possible to store (record) temporarily or permanently. Such a removable recording medium can be provided as so-called package software.

  The program may be wirelessly transferred from the download site to the computer in addition to being installed on the computer from the removable recording medium as described above. Or you may wire-transfer to a computer via networks, such as LAN (Local Area Network) and the internet. The computer can receive the transferred program and install it on a recording medium such as a built-in hard disk.

  In addition to being executed in time series in accordance with the processing operations described in the above embodiment, the processing capability of the apparatus that executes the processing, or a configuration to execute in parallel or individually as necessary Is also possible.

  In addition, the system described in the above embodiment can be configured to have a logical set configuration of a plurality of devices or to mix the functions of each device.

1 I / F
2 System bus 3 A / D converter 4 D / A converter 5 CODEC
6 RAM
7 CPU
8 Radio section 9 GPIO
10 Microphone 11 Speaker 12 Button 13 LED

Claims (8)

A voice communication device that performs half-duplex communication by wireless communication with an opposite terminal,
While outputting voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the device, it is possible to input voice data to be transmitted to the opposite terminal,
While outputting audio data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the device, the input audio data is stored,
After the reception of audio data from the opposite terminal is completed, a request for controlling the audio data not to be transmitted from the opposite terminal is transmitted to the opposite terminal, and the stored audio A voice communication device transmitting data to the opposite terminal.   2. The voice communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a predetermined time has elapsed after storing the input voice data, the voice data is deleted without being transmitted to the opposite terminal. Save a plurality of the input audio data,
3. The voice communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when transmitting to the opposite terminal, the plurality of stored voice data is transmitted to the opposite terminal in the order of saving. 4. The input voice data is
It is either a voice input while a button included in the voice communication apparatus is operated or a voice input from a microphone included in the voice communication apparatus at a volume equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold. The voice communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The voice communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein zigbee is used as the wireless communication standard.   6. A voice communication system, wherein voice data communication is performed between the voice communication apparatuses according to claim 1. A voice communication method of a terminal that performs half-duplex communication by wireless communication with an opposite terminal,
The terminal
While outputting voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the own terminal, it is possible to input voice data to be transmitted to the opposite terminal,
While outputting the voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the terminal, the input voice data is stored,
After the reception of audio data from the opposite terminal is completed, a request for controlling the audio data not to be transmitted from the opposite terminal is transmitted to the opposite terminal, and the stored audio A voice communication method comprising transmitting data to the opposite terminal. A program to be executed by a computer of a terminal that performs half-duplex communication by wireless communication with an opposite terminal,
In the computer,
A process of inputting voice data to be transmitted to the opposite terminal while outputting voice data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the own terminal;
During the output of the audio data received from the opposite terminal to the outside of the own terminal, a process of storing the input audio data;
After the reception of audio data from the opposite terminal is completed, a request for controlling the audio data not to be transmitted from the opposite terminal is transmitted to the opposite terminal, and the stored audio A process of transmitting data to the opposite terminal;
A program characterized by having executed.

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