JP2017022785A - Telephone call device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a telephone call device that can easily perform functionality expansion while reducing the manufacturing cost.SOLUTION: A master unit includes only first interface units 13 and 14 having a relatively low price at the main body 1 thereof, and an expansion interface unit 22 having a relatively high price is incorporated in an expansion unit 2A. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared with a case where two kinds of interfaces of low and high prices are provided in the main body 1. In addition, an expansion unit (for example, an external expansion unit 2B) which is connectable to the first interface unit 14 can be expanded without adding the built-in expansion unit 2A. The expansion can be performed by connecting an expansion interface unit 22 of an external expansion unit 2B to the expansion interface unit 22 of the built-in expansion unit 2A housed in the housing 18 of the main body 1. Therefore, the functionality expansion can be performed in spite of the main body 1 being provided with only one type of interface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a call device used for intercom calls in a detached house or a housing complex.

  As a conventional communication device, there is a master unit in an intercom system described in Patent Document 1. This master unit has an intercom function for intercom calls with intercom slave units, as well as control and monitoring functions for housing equipment, security functions for crime prevention and disaster prevention, etc., which are necessary to realize each function. It has multiple types of interfaces.

  For example, one interface (connection unit) is used to transmit and receive audio signals and video signals to and from an interphone handset and a sensor camera. Another interface (connection unit) is for transmitting and receiving signals to and from air conditioners and electric locks of JEM-A standards. Furthermore, another interface (connector) is for connecting an external handset (handset).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-310614 (see paragraph 0013 and FIGS. 2 and 3)

  By the way, in the conventional example described in Patent Document 1, various devices can be added (connected) by providing a plurality of types of interfaces as described above. However, not all devices are connected to the parent device and may not be added at all. In other words, the conventional example described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the manufacturing cost is high because many types of interfaces are provided regardless of the frequency of use. On the other hand, if the types of interfaces are reduced, it will be difficult to add various devices to realize various functions, and the usability will be reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily realize function expansion while reducing manufacturing costs.

  The communication device of the present invention includes a main body and one or more types of expansion units connected to the main body, and the main body transmits transmission means for transmitting an audio signal via a transmission path, and a speaker emits. Call means for converting voice to the voice signal and outputting to the transmission means, and converting the voice signal output from the transmission means to sound and controlling the transmission means and the call means And a main body for communicating with the first interface means, wherein the plurality of types of extension units comprises a first interface means for interfacing communication between the extension unit and the control means. Interface means, expansion interface means for communicating with a communication method different from the main body interface means, the main body interface means and the expansion Characterized in that it comprises a relay means for relaying data between the interface means in common.

In the communication device, the main body includes a housing that stores the transmission unit, the communication unit, the control unit, and the first interface unit, and the housing has a storage space for storing the specific expansion unit. The specific expansion unit includes the main body interface unit connected to the first interface unit, and the expansion interface unit includes the expansion interface unit of another expansion unit other than the specific expansion unit. It is preferable to be connected.

  In this communication device, it is preferable that the plurality of types of expansion units include an external expansion unit that is installed outside the housing and in which the main body interface unit is connected to the first interface unit.

  In this communication device, the external expansion unit is preferably a telephone handset for communication.

  In this communication device, the other extension unit is preferably a wireless device that performs wireless communication using radio waves as a medium.

  In this communication device, the other extension unit is preferably a measuring instrument that measures the amount of electricity, gas, tap water, and the like used.

  Since the communication device of the present invention includes only the relatively inexpensive first interface means in the main body and the relatively expensive expansion interface means in the expansion unit, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. However, there is an effect that the function expansion can be easily realized.

1 is a block diagram of an embodiment (intercom base phone) of a communication device according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the arrangement configuration same as the above. It is a figure which shows the arrangement configuration same as the above. It is a figure which shows the arrangement configuration same as the above. It is a figure which shows the arrangement configuration same as the above. It is a figure which shows the arrangement configuration same as the above.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the technical idea of the present invention is applied to a communication device (interphone master unit) constituting an intercom system for a house will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the interphone master unit (hereinafter abbreviated as “master unit”) according to the present embodiment includes a main body 1 and a plurality of types of expansion units 2A and 2B. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the main | base station of this embodiment is the intercom cordless handset (entrance cordless handset) installed in the exterior entrance of a dwelling unit, or the intercom cordless handset (lobby intercom) installed in the common entrance of an apartment house. Connected via transmission line. The intercom handset includes a speaker, a microphone, and an imaging device that images a visitor. However, since such an intercom handset is conventionally known, detailed illustration and description of the configuration are omitted.

The main body 1 includes a control unit 10, a transmission processing unit 11, an audio processing unit 12, a plurality of (two in the illustrated example) first interface units 13 and 14, a video processing unit 15, a display unit 16, an operation input unit 17, and a housing. 18, a microphone 120, a speaker 121, and the like. The sound collected by the microphone 120 is converted into an electrical signal (sound signal), and an analog sound signal (transmitted sound signal) output from the microphone 120 is input to the sound processing unit 12. The voice processing unit 12 converts the transmission voice signal input from the microphone 120 into a digital voice signal (transmission voice data). In addition, an analog voice signal (received voice signal) output from the voice processing unit 12 is input to the speaker 121, and a voice (received voice) is emitted from the speaker 121.

  The voice processing unit 12 includes a voice switch and an echo canceller. That is, the voice processing unit 12 processes the digital received voice signal input from the transmission processing unit 11 and the digital transmission voice signal, thereby suppressing howling and echo and realizing a good hands-free call. To do. A digital transmission voice signal processed by the voice processing unit 12 is output to the transmission processing unit 11.

  The display unit 16 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and a drive circuit that drives the display device to display an image (none is shown). The video processing unit 15 reconstructs the original video from the video signal (video data) output from the transmission processing unit 11 and causes the display unit 16 to display the reconstructed video.

  The control unit 10 includes hardware such as a CPU and a memory, and various programs (software) executed by the CPU. The operation input unit 17 has an input device such as a touch panel or a push button switch, and accepts various operation inputs by operating the input device, and outputs an operation signal corresponding to each operation input to the control unit 10. . For example, a response button (not shown) is provided on the front surface of the housing 18, and when the response button is pressed, an operation input is received by the operation input unit 17 and a response operation signal is output. When an operation signal is input from the operation input unit 17, the control unit 10 executes processing (described later) according to each operation signal.

  The transmission processing unit 11 divides the control signal (control data) created by the control unit 10 to create a packet (control packet), and the transmission voice signal (transmission voice data) also created by the voice processing unit 12 ) To create a packet (voice packet). Further, the transmission processing unit 11 encodes the control packet and the voice packet, converts (modulates) the encoded bit string into an electric signal, and sends the electric signal to a transmission path (not shown). The transmission processing unit 11 converts (demodulates) an electric signal flowing through the transmission path into a bit string and decodes a packet (audio packet, control packet, video packet) from the demodulated bit string. Note that the transmission processing unit 11 discards the packet if the address of the decrypted packet does not match its own address, and decrypts the data included in the data field of the packet if the address matches. If the decoded data is video data (video signal), it is output to the video processing unit 15, if it is control data (control signal), it is output to the control unit 10, and if it is audio data (audio signal), audio is output. The data is output to the processing unit 12.

  The first interface units 13 and 14 are communication circuits that perform well-known SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) communication. SPI communication is characterized by low wiring and low price instead of low speed and short communication distance. However, the first interface units 13 and 14 may be configured by an interface other than the SPI, for example, a communication circuit that performs I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) communication.

  The housing 18 is made of a box-shaped synthetic resin molding, and houses the above-described parts 10 to 17 therein. The housing 18 has a storage space (hereinafter referred to as a unit storage space) for storing a specific expansion unit (built-in expansion unit 2A).

On the other hand, the two types of expansion units 2A and 2B include a signal processing unit 20, a main body interface unit 21, and an expansion interface unit 22 as common components. The main body interface unit 21 includes a communication circuit that performs SPI communication, and is connected to the first interface unit 13 of the main body 1 via the communication line L1. The longest distance of the communication line L1 is in the range of several tens of centimeters to several meters.

  The extension interface unit 22 includes a communication circuit that performs serial communication in conformity with the conventionally known RS-485 standard. RS-485 standard serial communication is faster (maximum communication speed is 10 Mbps) and longer communication distance (maximum cable length is 1.2 km) than SPI communication. have. However, the extension interface unit 22 may be configured by other types of interfaces as long as the communication speed and the wiring length comparable to those of the RS-485 can be secured.

  The signal processing unit 20 performs signal processing (signal conversion) for relaying data between the two types of interface units 21 and 22.

  Furthermore, a specific expansion unit (hereinafter referred to as a built-in expansion unit) 2A includes the above-described parts 20 to 22 in a case (not shown) made of a box-shaped synthetic resin molded body. The unit 18 is stored in a unit storage space provided in the housing 18.

  In addition to the signal processing unit 20, the main body interface unit 21, and the expansion interface unit 22, these expansion units 2A and 2B include components for realizing various functions.

  For example, the built-in expansion unit 2A has a function (child unit) for making a call between an interphone slave unit (entrance slave unit) different from an interphone slave unit (entrance slave unit) connected to the transmission processing unit 11 via a transmission path. Equipment extension function) and a function for realizing an extension call (extension call function) with another call device installed in the same dwelling unit. However, since the extension function and the extension call function can be realized by a conventionally known technique, the detailed illustration and description of the configuration are omitted.

  On the other hand, another type of expansion unit (hereinafter referred to as an external expansion unit) 2B includes, for example, a telephone handset (handset) for calls, a wireless device that performs wireless communication using radio waves, electricity and gas, It is equipped with components for realizing the functions of a measuring instrument that measures the amount of tap water used.

The external extension unit 2B ₁ having the function of a handset includes a microphone and a speaker. The signal processing unit 20 performs signal processing on the electrical signal output from the microphone to generate a transmission voice signal, and transmits the transmission voice signal from the main body interface unit 21 to the first interface unit 14 of the main body 1. In addition, the signal processing unit 20 performs signal processing on the received voice signal received by the main body interface unit 21 from the first interface unit 14 of the main body 1 and causes the speaker to ring. That is, the frequency band of the audio signal is sufficiently narrower than the frequency band of the video signal, and the transmitter / receiver is installed near the main body 1, so that the wiring length may be short (eg, several tens of centimeters). Therefore, in the external extension unit 2B ₁ having the function of a handset, the main body interface section 21 is connected to the first interface section 14 of the main body 1 and is installed in the vicinity of the main body 1 (see FIG. 2).

The signal processing unit 20 of the external extension unit 2B ₂ having a radio function corresponds to, for example, a low-power radio station defined by the Radio Law, and includes an antenna for wireless communication, a modulation / demodulation circuit, and the like. The signal processing unit 20 processes a signal demodulated from the radio wave received by the antenna and transmits the signal from the expansion interface unit 22 to the expansion interface unit 22 of the built-in expansion unit 2A via the communication cable L2. The signal processing unit 20 modulates a signal received by the extension interface unit 22 from the extension interface unit 22 of the built-in extension unit 2A, and transmits the modulated signal as a radio wave from the antenna.

The external expansion unit 2B ₃ having the function of a measuring instrument includes an electric energy measuring unit that measures the electric consumption (electric energy), a gas usage measuring unit that measures the usage of gas (city gas or propane gas), A tap water measuring unit that measures the amount of tap water used is provided. For example, the electric energy measuring unit measures the current for each branch circuit of the residential distribution board with a current sensor, and calculates the electric energy (including instantaneous electric power and integrated electric energy) based on the measured value of the current sensor. The calculation result is converted into an electric signal and output to the signal processing unit 20. The gas usage measurement unit inputs a pulse signal corresponding to the gas usage from a gas meter installed by the gas company, calculates the gas usage measurement from the pulse signal and converts the calculation result into an electrical signal for signal processing To the unit 20. The tap water measurement unit inputs a pulse signal corresponding to the amount of tap water usage from a tap water meter installed by the municipal water department, calculates the measured value of tap water usage from the pulse signal, and converts the calculation result into an electrical signal. The signal is converted and output to the signal processing unit 20. In addition, the signal processing unit 20 performs signal processing on an electrical signal output from the power amount measurement unit, the gas usage measurement unit, or the tap water measurement unit, and performs an extension interface unit 22 of the built-in extension unit 2A from the extension interface unit 22. Via the communication cable L2.

Since the external expansion unit 2B ₂ having a radio function has a large amount of data communication with the main body 1 and a high transmission speed, the expansion interface unit 22 is connected to the expansion interface of the built-in expansion unit 2A via the communication cable L2. The unit 22 is connected. The external expansion unit 2B ₂ may be installed in the vicinity of the main body 1 as shown in FIG. 2, for example, or installed in a place away from the main body 1 as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. May be.

In addition, the external expansion unit 2B ₃ having the function of a measuring instrument is installed near a residential distribution board, gas meter, or water meter, and it is highly possible that the distance from the main body 1 will be more than a dozen meters. The interface unit 22 is connected to the expansion interface unit 22 of the built-in expansion unit 2A via the communication cable L2. The external extension unit 2B ₂ is installed at a location away from the main body 1, for example, as shown in FIG.

  Here, the external extension unit 2B is not limited to the above-described three types. Further, the arrangement relationship between the external extension unit 2B and the main body 1 is not limited to that shown in FIGS. For example, three types of external extension units 2B may be installed near the main body 1 as shown in FIG. 5, or two types of external extension units 2B may be installed near the main body 1 as shown in FIG. In addition, one type of external expansion unit 2B may be installed at a location away from the main body 1. The vicinity of the main body 1 may be located not only on the left side of the housing 18 of the main body 1 but also on the right side or on the top and bottom as shown in FIGS.

Thus, the communication device (master) of the present embodiment includes only the relatively inexpensive interface (first interface units 13 and 14) in the main body 1, and the relatively expensive interface (expansion). Interface section 22) is provided in the built-in expansion unit 2A. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared with the case where both the low-priced interface and the high-priced interface are provided in the main body 1. Moreover, the expansion unit (for example, the external expansion unit 2B ₁ ) that can be connected to the first interface unit 14 can be expanded without adding the built-in expansion unit 2A. If the built-in expansion unit 2A is housed in the housing 18 of the main body 1, the external expansion unit 2B is connected by connecting the expansion interface unit 22 of the external expansion unit 2B to the expansion interface unit 22 of the built-in expansion unit 2A. Can be added. Therefore, although the main body 1 has only one type of interface, it is possible to easily realize the function expansion.

1 Body 2A Expansion unit (Built-in expansion unit)
2B expansion unit (external expansion unit)
10 Control unit (control means)
11 Transmission processor (transmission means)
12 Voice processing unit (calling means)
13 1st interface part (1st interface means)
14 1st interface part (1st interface means)
20 Signal processor (relay means)
21 Interface section for main body (interface means for main body)
22 Interface section for expansion (interface means for expansion)

Claims (4)

A communication device having a main body connected to the first expansion unit,
The body is
Transmission means for transmitting an audio signal via a transmission line;
Call means for converting a voice emitted by a speaker into the voice signal and outputting the voice signal to the transmission means, and converting the voice signal output from the transmission means into a voice and ringing;
Control means for controlling the transmission means and the call means;
First interface means for interfacing communication between the first extension unit and the control means;
The first expansion unit is
Main body interface means for communicating with the first interface means;
Compared with the communication of the main body interface means, a communication method with a large amount of data communication, or an expansion interface means for communicating with a communication method satisfying at least one of a communication method with a high transmission speed,
A call device comprising: relay means for relaying data between the main body interface means and the extension interface means. The main body includes a housing that houses the transmission means, the call means, the control means, and the first interface means,
The housing has a storage space for storing the first extension unit;
The main body interface means of the first extension unit is connected to the first interface means;
2. The call device according to claim 1, wherein the expansion interface unit of the first expansion unit is connected to an expansion interface unit of the second expansion unit. The second expansion unit is
3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the communication device is an external expansion unit installed outside the housing.   4. The call device according to claim 2, wherein the second extension unit is a wireless device that performs wireless communication using radio waves as a medium.

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