JP4207739B2 - Voice communication method, voice communication apparatus, and relay station apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a voice communication method, a voice communication apparatus , and a relay station apparatus , and more particularly to a voice communication method for performing speech speed conversion in a voice communication system such as a mobile phone system that is not always capable of voice communication in a good reception state. And a voice communication apparatus and a relay station apparatus .

  In general, it has been found that in elderly people, it is more difficult to listen to the content from fast-speaking voice than when young. For this reason, instead of finding a place where the utterance is interrupted from the input audio signal and reducing the time of this period, the voice of the utterance period is stretched on the time axis without changing the pitch, and slowly as a whole A so-called speech speed conversion technology for converting to speech has been developed, and as an application of this technology, a telephone that performs speech speed conversion processing on the voice of the other party of the incoming call has been proposed (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

  That is, in the conventional voice communication apparatus applied to the telephone described in Patent Document 1, the call partner is automatically recognized using the number display service, and the call speed set in advance for each call partner is used. The time axis of the voice signal of the recognized call partner is extended.

JP 2001-268175 A

  However, in the conventional voice communication apparatus applied to the above-mentioned telephone, the telephone speed on the other party is converted by the telephone on the receiving side. The other party's audio signal may be noisy or partly interrupted depending on the radio wave condition (reception state). However, when speech speed conversion processing is performed on such a speech signal having a poor reception state, there is a problem that it may be difficult to hear.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points. A voice communication method, a voice communication apparatus , and a relay that can perform a suitable voice speed conversion regardless of a radio wave condition by performing a voice speed conversion process on a voice signal on a transmission side. An object is to provide a station apparatus .

In order to achieve the above object, a first invention is a voice communication method for performing bidirectional communication of voice signals between a first terminal and a second terminal provided with a first speech speed conversion processing means. A first step of sending a speech rate conversion request signal from the first terminal to the second terminal, a second step of receiving a speech rate conversion request signal by the second terminal, and a speech rate conversion When the second terminal that has received the request signal is provided with the second speech speed conversion processing means, after transmitting the speech speed conversion OK signal to the first terminal, the second speech speed conversion processing means A third step of performing speech rate conversion processing on the speech signal obtained by converting the transmitted speech into an electrical signal and transmitting the speech signal to the first terminal, and the first terminal transmits the speech rate after the speech rate conversion request signal is transmitted. Fourth step of detecting whether or not the conversion OK signal is a timeout that cannot be received even after a predetermined time has elapsed. , Upon detection of a timeout in the fourth step includes the audio signal a second terminal receiving sent, and a fifth step of subjecting the speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion means It is characterized by that.

In the present invention, the second terminal that has received the speech speed conversion request signal performs the speech speed conversion process on the voice signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice into an electrical signal, and then transmits it to the first terminal. The first terminal can receive the transmission voice signal subjected to the speech speed conversion process. Also, in the present invention, when the first terminal detects a timeout that cannot be received even after a predetermined time elapses after the speech speed conversion request signal is transmitted, the received transmission voice signal of the second terminal is received. On the other hand, since the speech speed conversion process is performed, the received speech signal can be subjected to the speech speed conversion even when the second terminal does not have the speech speed conversion processing function.

In order to achieve the above object, the second invention is a reception level determination for determining whether or not the reception level at the first terminal of the audio signal transmitted by the second terminal is equal to or lower than a set level. The fifth step further includes a first step for the received audio signal transmitted by the second terminal only when the reception level determination step determines that the reception level is greater than the set level. When the speech speed conversion processing means performs the speech speed conversion processing and it is determined that the reception level is lower than the set level, the speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion processing means is forcibly turned off. Features. In the present invention, when the reception state of the first terminal is bad, the speech speed conversion process at the first terminal is forcibly turned off. Therefore, the speech speed conversion process is performed because the reception state is bad, It is possible to prevent the transmission voice of the second terminal on the transmission side from becoming difficult to hear.

In order to achieve the above object, the third invention provides bidirectional audio signals between the first terminal and the second terminal via the relay means having the first speech speed conversion processing means. A first step of transmitting a speech rate conversion request signal from the first terminal to the second terminal, and a second step of the relay means receiving the speech rate conversion request signal. The relay means that has received the speech speed conversion request signal determines whether the second terminal has the second speech speed conversion processing means, and the relay means performs the third step by the third step. When it is determined that the second terminal does not include the second speech speed conversion processing means, the first terminal is used to convert the voice transmitted from the second terminal to the first terminal into an electrical signal. The fourth step of transmitting to the first terminal after performing the speech speed conversion processing by the speech speed conversion processing means. When the relay means determines that the second terminal has the second speech speed conversion processing means in the third step, the second terminal does not operate the first speech speed conversion processing means. The voice signal obtained by converting the voice transmitted to the first terminal into an electrical signal is subjected to the relay transmission of the voice signal subjected to the voice speed conversion processing by the second voice speed conversion processing means as it is to the first terminal. And 5 steps.
In the present invention, only when the relay means that has received the speech speed conversion request signal determines that the second terminal does not have the second speech speed conversion processing means, the second terminal sends the address to the first terminal. Since the voice signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice into an electrical signal is subjected to the voice speed conversion process and then transmitted to the first terminal, the first terminal is subjected to the voice speed conversion process by the relay means. The transmission voice signal from the terminal can be received.

To achieve the above object, the fourth invention, in the audio communication apparatus for performing bidirectional communication of voice signals between the mating terminals, and operation means for performing speech speed conversion processing request, the operation A speech speed conversion request signal for requesting the counterpart terminal or the relay means to perform speech speed conversion processing on the transmitted voice signal of the counterpart terminal based on the speech speed conversion processing request by the means. A speech speed conversion request signal transmission means for transmitting the speech speed, a detection means for detecting whether or not a speech speed conversion OK signal can be received even if a predetermined time elapses after the speech speed conversion request signal is transmitted, A receiving means for receiving a voice signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice into an electrical signal, and a speech speed conversion process for performing a speech speed conversion process on the voice signal received by the receiving means only when the timeout is detected by the detecting means. Means and Characterized in that it has.

In order to achieve the above object, in addition to the configuration of the fourth invention, the fifth invention is a reception that determines whether or not the reception level of the audio signal received by the receiving means is equal to or lower than a set level. The speech speed conversion processing means further includes a level determination means, which performs speech speed conversion processing on the received audio signal only when the reception level is higher than the level set by the reception level determination means. When is below the set level, the speech speed conversion process is forcibly turned off. In the present invention, when the reception state is bad, the speech speed conversion can be prevented from being performed.

In order to achieve the above object, the sixth invention is provided in a bidirectional audio signal transmission path between the first terminal and the second terminal, and performs relay processing of the audio signal. In the station apparatus, a speech speed conversion request signal detecting means for detecting a speech speed conversion request signal included in a transmission signal of a terminal of the speech speed conversion request source among the first terminal and the second terminal, and a speech speed conversion request When the speech speed conversion request signal is detected by the signal detection means, it is determined whether the terminal to which the speech speed conversion is requested among the first terminal and the second terminal has the first speech speed conversion processing means. And a speech speed conversion request transmitted from the speech speed conversion request destination terminal when it is determined by the determination means that the terminal of the speech speed conversion request destination does not include the first speech speed conversion processing means. The speech speed conversion process is performed on the voice signal converted from the transmitted voice addressed to the original terminal. When the speech speed conversion requesting terminal determines that the speech speed conversion request destination terminal has the first speech speed conversion processing means, the speech speed conversion request destination terminal Receiving means for receiving a speech signal obtained by performing speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion processing means on the speech signal obtained by converting the transmitted speech addressed to the terminal of the speed conversion request source to electrical signal; A speech signal that has been subjected to speech speed conversion processing by the speech speed conversion processing means, or a speech signal that has been subjected to speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion processing means received by the reception means is transmitted to the terminal requesting speech speed conversion. And a transmission means .

In the present invention, a relay station apparatus that performs relay processing is, when detecting a speech speed conversion request signal included in the transmission signal in the speech speed conversion request source terminal, story of the first terminal and a second terminal It is determined whether or not the terminal of the speed conversion request destination includes the first speech speed conversion processing means, and when it is determined that the terminal of the speed conversion request destination includes the first speech speed conversion processing means, The voice signal subjected to the speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion processing means is relayed and transmitted as it is to the voice signal obtained by converting the transmission voice addressed to the terminal of the speech speed conversion request source to the first signal. When it is determined that the speech speed conversion processing means is not provided, the speech speed converted by the second speech speed conversion processing means included in the speech signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice of the speech speed conversion request destination into an electrical signal. since to send audio signal subjected to the processing, the end of the transmission request destination And when a bad radio wave condition of between can be prevented from becoming Kikizurai state poor rather quality Doing speech speed converting a terminal of the speech speed conversion request destination.

  According to the present invention, speech speed conversion can be performed with priority on the transmission side, so that the user of the terminal on the reception side listens to the voice whose speech speed has been converted without being affected by the radio wave condition (reception state) of the transmission path. Even if the user is an elderly person, the voice of the other party can be easily heard.

  Further, according to the present invention, the relay means that has received the speech speed conversion request signal performs speech speed conversion processing on the speech signal obtained by converting the transmitted speech addressed to the first terminal from the second terminal into an electrical signal. Since the first terminal can receive the transmission voice signal from the second terminal subjected to the speech speed conversion processing by the relay means by performing transmission to the first terminal after applying the first terminal, Any of the two terminals can listen to the voice subjected to the speech speed conversion processing using the existing terminal having no speech speed conversion function.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, when the radio wave condition between the relaying device and the transmission request destination terminal is poor, the speech speed conversion is performed by the relaying device, so that the speech rate conversion requesting terminal can speak. If speed conversion is performed, it is possible to prevent the sound quality from becoming poor and difficult to hear.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the voice communication apparatus of the present invention, in voice communication such as a cellular phone, information indicating that the transmission is performed after converting the speech speed to the other party's terminal or relay facility is sent, and the transmission side regarding the other party's utterance is sent. The terminal or relay equipment performs transmission after converting the speech speed, and receives it to allow the speech speed converted voice to be heard.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a voice communication system using a first embodiment of a voice communication apparatus according to the present invention. In the voice communication system shown in FIG. 1, portable wireless terminals 100 and 200 are connected via a transmission path 300 in a state where bidirectional communication is possible. The portable wireless terminal 100 is a voice communication apparatus according to the present embodiment, and has a configuration substantially similar to that of the portable wireless terminal 200. Each of the mobile radio terminals 100 and 200 performs transmission / reception units 101 and 201 that perform transmission / reception by performing signal processing such as modulation / demodulation for transmission on the audio signal, and reduce the amount of information for the audio signal to be transmitted. In order to transmit, codec (CODEC) 102, 202 that performs high-efficiency encoding by encoding and decodes and decodes the received high-efficiency encoded audio signal is provided.

  In addition, the portable wireless terminals 100 and 200 are operation units 103 and 203 that are numeric keys and buttons for inputting desired information, and a micro that performs overall control of the entire terminal based on signals from the operation units 103 and 203. Processors 104 and 204 and speech speed conversion processing units 105 and 205 connected to the respective CODECs 102 and 202 and performing speech speed conversion processing as necessary are provided.

  The speech speed conversion processing units 105 and 205 are connected to microphones 106 and 206 via AD converters 107 and 207, and are connected to speakers 109 and 209 via DA converters 108 and 208. . Voices uttered by the users of the portable wireless terminals 100 and 200 are collected by the microphones 106 and 206 and converted into analog voice signals that are electrical signals, converted into digital voice signals by the AD converters 107 and 207, and spoken speed. The data is input to the conversion processing units 105 and 205. On the other hand, the other party's voice is output in the form of a digital voice signal from the speech speed conversion processing units 105 and 205, converted into an analog voice signal by the DA converters 108 and 208, and subjected to electro-acoustic conversion by the speakers 109 and 209, and the user. The content of the conversation is transmitted by being generated as sound so that the user can hear it.

  In addition, the portable wireless terminal 100 has a memory 110 connected to the microprocessor 104, and a speech speed conversion request signal 111 is read from the memory 110 under the control of the microprocessor 104, and is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 101 to the transmission path 300. Wirelessly transmitted. As a result, the speech speed conversion request can be transmitted to the portable radio terminal 200 on the other side.

  In FIG. 1, the portable radio terminal 200 does not have a memory corresponding to the memory 104, but the portable radio terminal 200 may have the same function. The specification of the speech speed conversion request signal 111 may be determined so that it can be identified by defining it on the signal format in transmission / reception.

  Here, basically, if the portable wireless terminal on the side receiving the speech speed conversion request (portable wireless terminal 200 in the example of FIG. 1) has a speech speed conversion function, a request signal is sent to the other party and the speech speed is converted. The portable wireless terminal (the portable wireless terminal 100 in the example of FIG. 1) that receives the converted signal does not have to have a speech speed conversion function.

  However, if both the mobile wireless terminals 100 and 200 that perform communication have the speech speed conversion processing units 105 and 205, it is possible to cope with when the other party wants to convert the speech speed. If the other party's portable wireless terminal does not have a speaking speed conversion function even though a request for converting the speaking speed is issued, an application can be made such that the other party's voice is converted at the receiving side.

  Although not shown, each of the mobile radio terminals 100 and 200 is provided with a display unit for displaying various information, and displays the telephone number of the other party who is calling or the radio wave reception status as a bar graph or the like. The situation accompanying the communication such as displaying with is displayed. In addition, by inputting a transmission signal from the microprocessors 104 and 204 to the transmission / reception units 101 and 201, the portable wireless terminals 100 and 200 are connected to the other terminal or a relay facility such as a base station (not shown) in the transmission path 300. Information such as telephone numbers and various control signals can be transmitted.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 taking as an example the case where a speech speed conversion request is output from the portable wireless terminal 100. First, the microprocessors 104 and 204 monitor whether or not a speech speed conversion request operation has been performed (step S101). Here, since the user of the portable wireless terminal 100 operates the speech speed conversion request using the operation unit 103, the microprocessor 104 detects the speech speed conversion request operation and reads the speech speed conversion request signal 111 from the memory 110. Is transmitted to the transmission / reception unit 101 and wirelessly transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 101 to the transmission path 300 (step S102).

  Subsequently, the microprocessor 104 waits for the speech speed conversion OK signal to be sent from the partner portable wireless terminal 200 (step S103). This operation is performed by sending a reception signal from the transmission / reception unit 101 to the microprocessor 104 and monitoring the microprocessor 104.

  That is, when the portable radio terminal 200 on the other side receives the above speech speed request signal 111 via the transmission path 300 and the microprocessor 204 confirms the reception, the microprocessor 204 sends a speech speed conversion OK signal from a memory (not shown). The transmission / reception unit 201 causes the transmission / reception unit 201 to wirelessly transmit the speech speed conversion OK signal to the mobile wireless terminal 100 that is the request source of the speech speed conversion. Similarly to the speech speed conversion request signal 111, the “speech speed conversion OK signal” may be determined so that it can be specified on the signal format.

  When the microprocessor 104 confirms that the speech speed conversion OK signal has been sent from the other party, the processing is terminated by appropriately displaying an expression indicating that the speech speed is being converted on the display unit, and the like. Terminal users start conversations. In this case, even if the radio wave condition (reception state) is bad, the voice signal whose speech speed has already been converted is transmitted from the transmitting-side portable wireless terminal 200 and is received, so that it is affected by the radio wave condition (reception state). The user of the portable wireless terminal 100 can hear the voice whose voice speed has been converted without any problem, and even if the user is an elderly person, the voice of the other party can be easily heard.

  On the other hand, if the microprocessor 104 cannot confirm the reception of the speech speed conversion OK signal, has it received "speech speed conversion non-correspondence information" from the counterpart portable radio terminal 200 or has timed out? Monitor (step S104), and when the "speech speed conversion non-correspondence information" is received or timed out, it is determined that the other party's portable wireless terminal 200 cannot respond to the request for speech speed conversion, and As a good measure, speech speed conversion is performed on the received voice signal by the speech speed conversion processing unit 105 built in the portable wireless terminal 100 (step S105).

  In this case, if it is better not to perform speech speed conversion because of poor reception, for example, it is possible to force the speech speed conversion to be turned off when the reception level falls below a certain level. It is. The “speech speed conversion non-corresponding information” is determined so that it can be specified on the signal format, similarly to the “speech speed conversion request information” and “speech speed conversion OK information”.

  Speak speed conversion non-compliant information is not equipped with a speech speed conversion function due to cost, etc., but should be able to be transmitted in a terminal that can respond only to a request for conversion of speech speed. . However, in communication with terminals produced in the past in which such definition of speech speed conversion information itself has not been made or with telephone company terminals that do not support this function, speech speed conversion OK information and talk Information that does not support speed conversion is never sent.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, if there is no response after a certain period of time in step S104, it is determined that the counterpart terminal is not compatible. In step S104, if the reception of the speech speed conversion non-correspondence information cannot be confirmed and is not timed out, the process returns to step S103 and waits for the reception of the speech speed conversion OK information again.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a voice communication system using the second embodiment of the voice communication apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. In the voice communication system shown in FIG. 3, the other party's portable wireless terminal 200 that communicates with the voice communication is subjected to the speech speed conversion process, but in this embodiment, the transmission path is not the counterpart terminal 200. In the relay equipment such as the base station 400 in the middle, a speech speed conversion processing function is provided, and speech speed conversion processing is performed on a voice signal coming from the other party in response to a speech speed conversion request.

  That is, the mobile radio terminals 120 and 210 do not have a speech rate conversion processing unit, and the speech rate conversion processing unit 404 is provided in the base station 400 that is a relay facility. The base station 400 includes a repeater 401 that relays a signal transmitted between the mobile wireless terminal 120 and the mobile wireless terminal 210, a speech speed conversion request signal detection unit 402 that detects a speech speed conversion request signal, and a relay. A decoder 403 that decodes the high-efficiency encoded speech signal received by the device 401, a speech speed conversion processing unit 404 that performs speech speed conversion processing on the speech signal from the decoder 403, and the speech signal subjected to speech speed conversion. The encoder 405 performs high-efficiency encoding again.

  Note that the base station 400 performs wireless communication directly with one of the portable wireless terminals 120 and 210 located in the wireless zone. Further, although other relay equipment such as a base station other than the base station 400 is provided on the transmission path between the portable wireless terminals 120 and 210, the illustration is omitted for convenience.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The speech rate conversion request signal detection unit 402 of the base station 400 determines whether the speech rate conversion request signal is included in the voice signal transmitted and received by the base station 400 from the repeater 401. Monitoring is performed from among signals supplied to 402. Then, when the speech speed conversion request signal detection unit 402 detects that the speech speed conversion request signal addressed to the mobile radio terminal 120 to 210 is included in the relay signal, the speech speed conversion request signal detection unit 402 A command is issued to transmit the speech signal addressed to the mobile wireless terminal 120 from the mobile communication terminal 210 for communication after performing the speech speed conversion process.

  Receiving this, the repeater 401 once decodes the supplied audio signal addressed to the portable wireless terminal 120 by the decoder 403 and then performs the speech speed conversion processing by the speech speed conversion processing unit 404. Furthermore, the speech signal after the speech speed conversion processing is re-encoded by the concoder 405 and led to a process of outputting a highly efficient encoded speech signal. Send.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the speech speed conversion is performed at the time of relaying, the speech speed conversion function is provided in the portable wireless terminal 210 of the other party who wants to convert the speech speed as in the first embodiment. There is an advantage that the equipment of the base station 400 can cope even when there is not.

  However, according to this method, speech speed conversion is performed on the transmitting side from the base station 400 to the portable wireless terminal 120 that receives speech speed converted speech, and good speech speed conversion is performed regardless of the reception state. However, if the radio wave condition from the other party's portable wireless terminal 210 to the other party's base station is bad, the sound quality is rather difficult to hear if speech speed conversion has already been performed between the other party's base stations. It is possible that it has become.

  Therefore, as a further developed embodiment of the present embodiment, when the partner terminal device supports speech speed conversion, the partner terminal device performs speech speed conversion processing on the voice signal from the partner side. It is also conceivable that the base station performs the speech speed conversion only when the counterpart device does not support the speech speed conversion. Also, when audio signals are transmitted through a plurality of base stations, when the speech speed is converted at a certain base station, a flag to that effect is added and transmitted, and at other base stations, the flag is detected. You may make it cancel speech speed conversion.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the base station 400 requires equipment for speech rate conversion processing, but this equipment pays a special fee as a facility usage fee in addition to a normal mobile phone usage fee. It is assumed that only the user can use it, and it is also possible to perform the speech speed conversion after confirming that this billing is performed for the telephone requesting the speech speed conversion.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in FIGS. 1 and 3, the communication partner of the portable wireless terminals 100 and 120 has been described as the portable wireless terminals 200 and 210. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any one of the portable wireless terminals 100 and 120 and the communication partner terminal may be a fixed telephone terminal. In this case, the transmission line 300 includes a mobile radio communication network and a public line network.

  In addition, instead of having a speech speed conversion function, the transmitting terminal adds a flag indicating whether or not it is a voice section, and transmits it. The receiving terminal detects the voice of the voice section in which the flag is detected. Speech speed conversion processing may be performed on the signal. When the radio wave condition (reception condition) is bad, it is difficult to understand whether the voice section is present or not due to the noise superimposed on the received signal, and the speech speed may be converted even in sections other than the voice section. However, in this example, since the speech section can be identified by the receiving terminal with the flag transmitted with enhanced error resilience so that it can be detected even if noise is superimposed, even if noise is superimposed during transmission, This is because a malfunction (unsuitable operation) of the speed conversion process can be prevented.

  This can reduce the burden on the transmission side (processing capacity and power consumption) as compared to the case where speech speed conversion is performed on the transmission side. In addition, as a transmission method of the above-described flag, a method of transmitting with a flag indicating whether or not a voice section is transmitted at a constant period, a method of transmitting with a flag indicating the start and end of a voice section, etc. There is.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the base station 400 is provided with equipment for speech speed conversion processing, but the equipment for speech speed conversion processing is not a base station, but other relay facilities such as an exchange station. May be provided. Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the speech speed conversion request signal 111 has been described as being read from the memory 110, but based on the signal from the operation unit 103, the microprocessor 104 itself generates by calculation without using the memory 110. The generated speech speed conversion request signal 111 may be wirelessly transmitted to the transmission line 300 via the transmission / reception unit 101.

  The voice communication method and voice communication apparatus of the present invention can be applied particularly to devices and services in a telephone system such as a mobile phone.

It is a block diagram of the audio | voice communication system using 1st Embodiment of the audio | voice communication apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart for operation | movement description of FIG. It is a block diagram of the audio | voice communication system using 2nd Embodiment of the audio | voice communication apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100, 120, 200, 210 Portable wireless terminal 101, 201 Transceiver 102, 202 Codec (CODEC)
103, 203 Operation unit 104, 204 Microprocessor 105, 205, 404 Speech rate conversion processing unit 110 Memory 111 Speech rate conversion request signal 300 Transmission path 400 Base station 401 Repeater 402 Speech rate conversion request signal detection unit 403 Decoder 405 Encoder

Claims (6)

A first terminal and the voice communication method for performing two-way communication of voice signals between a second terminal having a first voice speed conversion processing means,
A first step of sending a speech speed conversion request signal from the first terminal to the second terminal; a second step of receiving the speech speed conversion request signal by the second terminal;
When the second terminal that has received the speech speed conversion request signal includes second speech speed conversion processing means , the second terminal transmits the speech speed conversion OK signal to the first terminal, and then A third step of performing speech speed conversion processing on the voice signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice into an electrical signal by the speech speed conversion processing means, and then transmitting to the first terminal ;
A fourth step of detecting whether or not the first terminal has a timeout that cannot be received even after a predetermined time has elapsed after transmitting the speech speed conversion request signal;
When the time-out is detected in the fourth step, a fifth step of performing speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion processing means on the received voice signal transmitted by the second terminal. voice communication method which comprises and. A reception level determination step of determining whether or not a reception level at the first terminal of the audio signal transmitted by the second terminal is equal to or lower than a set level;
In the fifth step, only when the reception level determination step determines that the reception level is higher than the set level, the fifth step receives the second audio signal transmitted from the second terminal. The speech speed conversion processing is performed by the first speech speed conversion processing means, and when it is determined that the reception level is equal to or lower than the set level, the speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion processing means is forcibly performed. The voice communication method according to claim 1, wherein the voice communication method is turned off. A voice communication method for bi-directional communication of voice signals through a relay means having a first speech speed conversion processing means between a first terminal and a second terminal,
A first step of sending a speech rate conversion request signal from the first terminal to the second terminal;
A second step in which the relay means receives the speech rate conversion request signal;
A third step in which the relay means that receives the speech speed conversion request signal determines whether or not the second terminal includes second speech speed conversion processing means;
When the relay means determines in the third step that the second terminal does not have the second speech speed conversion processing means , transmission from the second terminal to the first terminal A fourth step of transmitting to the first terminal after performing a speech speed conversion process on the speech signal obtained by converting the speech into an electrical signal by the first speech speed conversion processing unit ;
When the relay means determines in the third step that the second terminal has the second speech speed conversion processing means, the first speech speed conversion processing means is not operated, In the second terminal, the speech signal obtained by converting the speech signal addressed to the first terminal into an electrical signal is subjected to speech rate conversion processing by the second speech rate conversion processing unit as it is. And a fifth step of relay transmission to the terminal . In the speech communication apparatus for performing bidirectional communication of voice signals between the terminal on the other end,
An operation means for making a speech speed conversion processing request;
Based on the speech speed conversion processing request by the operation means, the speech speed conversion that requests the counterpart terminal or the relay means to perform speech speed conversion processing on the speech signal of the counterpart terminal. A speech rate conversion request signal transmitting means for transmitting a request signal;
Detecting means for detecting whether or not it is a timeout that cannot be received even if a predetermined time elapses after the speech speed conversion request signal is transmitted;
Receiving means for receiving an audio signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice of the counterpart terminal into an electrical signal;
Only when the time-out is detected by the detection means, the speech speed conversion processing means for performing a speech speed conversion process on the voice signal received by the reception means;
A voice communication apparatus comprising: A reception level determination means for determining whether a reception level of the audio signal received by the reception means is equal to or lower than a set level;
The speech speed conversion processing means performs speech speed conversion processing on the received voice signal only when the reception level determination means determines that the reception level is higher than the set level, and receives the reception speed. The voice communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when it is determined that the level is equal to or lower than the set level, the speech speed conversion process is forcibly turned off. In a relay station apparatus that is provided in a bidirectional audio signal transmission path between a first terminal and a second terminal and performs a relay process of the audio signal,
A speech speed conversion request signal detecting means for detecting a speech speed conversion request signal included in a transmission signal of the terminal of the speech speed conversion request source among the first terminal and the second terminal;
When the speech speed conversion request signal is detected by the speech speed conversion request signal detection means, the terminal of the speech speed conversion request destination among the first terminal and the second terminal performs a first speech speed conversion process. Determining means for determining whether or not a means is provided;
The speech speed conversion request transmitted from the speech speed conversion request destination terminal when the determination means determines that the terminal of the speech speed conversion request destination does not include the first speech speed conversion processing means. Second speech rate conversion processing means for performing speech rate conversion processing on a speech signal obtained by converting the transmitted speech addressed to the original terminal into an electrical signal;
When the determination means determines that the terminal of the speech speed conversion request destination is provided with the first speech speed conversion processing means, the terminal of the speech speed conversion request destination is addressed to the terminal of the speech speed conversion request source. Receiving means for receiving a voice signal subjected to speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion processing means for a voice signal obtained by converting the transmitted voice of
The speech signal that has been subjected to the speech speed conversion processing by the second speech speed conversion processing means, or the speech signal that has been subjected to the speech speed conversion processing by the first speech speed conversion processing means that has been received by the receiving means. A relay station apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit to a conversion request destination terminal .

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