JP4231755B2 - Translation communication system and communication terminal device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a translation communication in which a communication terminal device at the other end receives a speech translated from a speech translation device in a communication network in communication between the communication terminal devices. The present invention relates to a system and a communication terminal device used in the translation communication system.

Conventionally, there has been a system that performs simultaneous interpretation using a translation center connected to a parent device and a plurality of child devices (see Patent Document 1). In addition, the voice data transmitted from the communication terminal device on the transmission side is routed through the speech translation device arranged in the communication network, so that the user of the communication terminal device on the reception side can hear the synthesized speech. There was a translation communication system.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-185156

  However, in the translation communication system as described in the background art, when it is set to listen to the translated synthesized speech, there is a problem that this setting cannot be changed during the call. For example, if the speaker of one of the communication terminal devices changes during the call, even if you want to talk in the original language instead of the translated synthesized speech, the call cannot be restored. It was necessary to make a call again with the setting that does not go through the speech translation device.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides a translation communication system and a communication terminal device that can switch to either the original language or the translated language while continuing the call even during the call. This is a problem.

In order to solve the above problems, a translation communication system according to the present invention provides:
First and second communication terminal devices that perform communication using the first and second time slots;
A speech translation device that is arranged in a communication network that connects the first communication terminal device and the second communication terminal device to each other, and that translates the speech source language and outputs translated character data or translation synthesized speech data;
The first communication terminal apparatus transmits voice data in the original language to the second communication terminal apparatus of the communication partner using the first time slot, and transmits the same voice data to the second communication terminal apparatus using the second time slot. Add destination information to identify the communication terminal device and send it to the speech translation device,
The speech translation apparatus is a translation communication system that translates original language speech data received in a second time slot and transmits translated character data or translation synthesized speech data to the second communication terminal device specified by the destination information. And
The first communication terminal apparatus transmits the same delay time measurement message to the second communication terminal apparatus by a first time slot within a predetermined time after establishing the connection with the second communication terminal apparatus, At the same time, the destination information for identifying the second communication terminal device by the time slot is added and transmitted to the speech translation device at the same time,
When the second communication terminal receives a delay time measurement message from the counterpart communication terminal device through the first and second time slots, the second communication terminal temporarily calculates the arrival time difference, and the original speech data. It has a data buffer part to store,
The speech translation device operates to add information on average translation delay time to the delay time measurement message when the delay time measurement message is received from the first communication terminal device;
The second communication terminal apparatus receives the original language voice data from the first communication terminal apparatus in a first time slot after a predetermined time elapses after the connection with the first communication terminal apparatus is established. In this case, the data is temporarily stored in the data buffer unit for the total time of the arrival time difference and the average translation delay time, and then output.

  In the translation communication system according to the present invention, the first communication terminal device and / or the second communication terminal device can be a wireless communication terminal device.

Moreover, the communication terminal device according to the present invention provides:
A communication terminal apparatus that performs communication using a plurality of time slots,
The same delay time measurement message is simultaneously transmitted to the communication terminal device of the other party by the first time slot and the communication of the other party is transmitted by the second time slot within a predetermined time after the connection with the communication terminal device of the communication partner is established. The destination information identifying the terminal device is added and transmitted to the speech translation device in the communication network, and the delay time measurement message transmitted from the destination communication terminal device is received in the third time slot. A delay time measurement unit that calculates a difference in arrival time when receiving a delay time measurement message to which information on the average translation delay time transmitted from the speech translation device is added in a time slot of
A data buffer unit for temporarily storing the voice data of the original language ;
When the speech data of the original language is received from the communication terminal device of the communication partner through the third time slot after elapse of a predetermined time after establishing the connection with the communication terminal device of the communication partner , It is characterized by comprising a control unit that performs control for temporarily storing in the data buffer unit for the total time of the arrival time difference and the average translation delay time.

  The communication terminal device according to the present invention can be a wireless communication terminal device.

  According to the translation communication system and the communication terminal device of the present invention, the user of the communication terminal device can switch to either the original language or the translated language while continuing the call even during the call.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a translation communication system according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 are diagrams which are referred to for describing a translation communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the translation communication system according to the present embodiment, a speech translation apparatus 6 is arranged in a wired communication network 4 including a plurality of base stations 2. Each of a plurality of simplified portable telephones 8 (PHS: Personal Handyphone System) corresponding to the communication terminal apparatus performs wireless transmission and reception with the base station 2 having the best radio wave condition.

  Each base station 2 performs transmission / reception with the simplified mobile phone 8 at a specific frequency different from that of the adjacent base station 2 in order to prevent interference with the adjacent base station 2. Even if one base station 2 uses two or more different specific frequencies instead of only one specific frequency, these are mutually different from the frequencies used by other adjacent base stations 2. To be different.

  Transmission / reception between the base station 2 and the simplified mobile phone 8 is performed by a digital time division multiple access method (TDMA method), and in particular, both transmission and reception are performed at the same frequency. A time division duplex system (TDD system) is employed.

  That is, in order to allow the base station 2 to assign a plurality of channels (lines) to one frequency, a transmission / reception time frame having a predetermined time length is assigned to a time slot (period) of the number of channels to be assigned to that frequency. ). In the PHS system, transmission and reception are equally divided into 4 slots. The first half of each transmission / reception time frame is assigned to the transmission slot from the base station 2 to the simple mobile phone 8 in each channel, and the second half is assigned to the reception slot from the simple mobile phone 8 to the base station 2. It is supposed to be.

  On the other hand, when transmitting a signal such as audio data to the base station 2, the simplified mobile phone 8 time-compresses the information such as the audio for each time length corresponding to the transmission / reception time frame, and converts the information into one time. By pushing into the slot and transmitting, the base station 2 can receive at the reception time of the time slot corresponding to the channel used for transmission / reception with the simplified mobile phone 8. On the contrary, when the simple mobile phone 8 receives from the base station 2, the signal pushed into the transmission time of the time slot corresponding to the channel is expanded to the time length of the transmission / reception time frame. ing.

  In the translation communication system according to the present embodiment, transmission / reception is performed in two channels using two time slots. For example, it is assumed that one of the two time slots used for transmission by the simplified mobile phone 8 is a first time slot and the other is a second time slot.

  The two channels may exist at the same frequency in one base station 2 or may exist at different frequencies. In addition, these two channels may be transmitted / received by different base stations 2.

  As shown in FIG. 1, two calls, a first time slot and a second time slot, are used for a call between two simple mobile phones 8, and either one of the simple mobile phones is used. The voice data in the original language issued by the user from 8 is transmitted to the other simplified mobile phone 8 which is the other party by the first time slot (route of broken line arrow A in FIG. 1).

  In addition, each of these simple mobile phones 8 adds destination information for specifying the destination simple mobile phone 8 to the same voice data as the voice data transmitted in the first time slot, The second time slot is used for transmission to the speech translation apparatus 6 of the communication network (the route indicated by the broken arrow B or C in FIG. 1). As the other party information added to the voice data, the telephone number of the simple mobile phone 8 of the other party is used.

  When the speech translation device 6 receives the speech data of the original language and the destination information by the second time slot, first, the speech translation device 6 recognizes the speech data of the original language and converts it into character data of the original language. Next, after the character data of the original language is automatically translated to create translated character data, translation synthesized speech data based on synthesized speech is created based on the translated character data. Then, the speech translation device 6 is configured to transmit the created translated speech data to the simplified mobile phone 8 specified by the destination information by the second time slot (in FIG. 1, the broken line arrow C or Route B).

  Accordingly, the destination simple mobile phone 8 receives the original language voice data through the first time slot and receives the translated voice data through the second time slot. One of them is selected by and can be output from the speaker.

  In addition, as will be described later, the speech translation apparatus 6 adds the partner information separately from both the simple mobile phones 8 within a predetermined time after the communication is established between the two simple mobile phones 8. A delay measurement message described later is received. When the speech translation device 6 receives this delay measurement message, it does not perform speech recognition or translation, and adds information on a predetermined average translation delay time to the data of the delay measurement message. Based on the destination information of the delay measurement message, the simple mobile phone 8 that has transmitted the delay measurement message is transmitted to the other simple mobile phone 8.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the simplified mobile phone 8 according to the present embodiment. The simple mobile phone 8 includes a communication unit 10 that performs wireless communication, an operation unit 12, a display unit 14 such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), a speaker 16, a microphone 18, and a conventional mobile phone. The control part 20 which controls these is provided. Since the communication unit 10, the operation unit 12, the display unit 14, the speaker 16, and the microphone 18 operate in the same manner as a conventional general simple mobile phone, description thereof is omitted.

  Further, unlike the conventional general mobile phone, the mobile phone 8 according to the present embodiment is provided with a delay time measuring unit 22 in parallel between the communication unit 10 and the control unit 20, A data buffer unit 24 is provided between the speaker 16 and the control unit 20.

  The delay time measurement unit 22 starts communication with the other party's simplified mobile phone 8 after communication is established between itself and the other party's simple portable phone 8, and the voice data As described below, the delay measurement messages are transmitted / received to / from each other within a predetermined time before transmitting / receiving.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the code of the simple mobile phone 8 that performs the call operation is denoted by “8a”, and the code of the simple mobile phone 8 that performs the call operation is denoted by “8a”. 8b ".

  The delay time measuring unit 22 of the simple mobile phone 8 establishes a connection with the other mobile phone 8b if the mobile phone 8a is the simple mobile phone 8a from which the mobile phone has made a call. Then, the same delay time measurement message is transmitted simultaneously by the first and second time slots via the communication unit 10. The delay time measurement message based on the first time slot is transmitted to the partner mobile phone 8b without passing through the speech translation device 6, and the delay time measurement message based on the second time slot is transmitted to the speech translation device 6. The data is transmitted to the simple mobile phone 8b of the other party.

  Further, the delay time measuring unit 22 of the simplified mobile phone 8a that has performed the call operation sends the same delay time measurement message transmitted from the called simplified mobile phone 8b that is the destination. Each of the third time slot and the fourth time slot is used for reception. The arrival time difference is calculated and added to the delay time measurement message received by the arrival time difference and the fourth time slot. Information on the average translation delay time is output to the control unit 20.

  On the other hand, in the case of the simple mobile phone 8b that the incoming call is received, the delay time measuring unit 22 is the same as the first simple mobile phone 8a that has performed the call operation, When the same delay time measurement message is received by the second time slot, the arrival time difference is calculated, and information on the arrival time difference and the average translation delay time is output to the control unit 20 and the call operation is performed. The same delay time measurement message is simultaneously transmitted to the other simple mobile phone 8a by the third and fourth time slots.

  Next, the arrival time difference received from the delay time measurement unit 22 and the average translation of each of the control units 20 of the simple mobile phone 8a that performs the call operation and the simple mobile phone 8b that receives the call Based on the delay time, the total time is calculated.

  Then, when the original speech data received in the first time slot is output by the speaker 16, the control unit 20 outputs the original speech data to the data buffer unit by the total time of the arrival time difference and the average translation delay time. 24 is controlled so as to be output after being temporarily stored.

  For this reason, when the operation of switching from the state in which the original language speech data received in the first time slot is output from the speaker 16 to the output of the translation synthesized speech data received in the second time slot is performed. Alternatively, when the switching operation is performed in reverse, the contents of the conversation can be synchronized to maintain consistency.

  Next, based on FIG. 3, operations of the calling-side simplified mobile phone 8a, the called-side simplified portable phone 8b, and the translation device 6 will be described. When the user of the calling-side simplified mobile phone 8a performs an outgoing call operation on the called-side simplified portable phone 8b, the communication unit 10 of the simplified portable phone 8a Using the time slot (arrows a, b, and c in FIG. 3) and the second time slot (arrows d, e, f, and g in FIG. 3), the called-side simplified mobile phone 8b is called.

  When the communication connection between the calling-side simplified mobile phone 8a and the called-side simplified mobile phone 8b is established, the delay time measuring unit of the calling-side simplified mobile phone 8a performs the first and second delays. The same delay measurement message is transmitted simultaneously by the time slot (arrows h and k in FIG. 3). The delay measurement message by the first time slot arrives at the called mobile phone 8b without passing through the speech translation device 6 (arrows h, i, j in FIG. 3). The delay measurement message by the second time slot is sent to the mobile phone 8b on the called side with the information of the average translation delay time passed through the speech translation device (in FIG. 3, arrows k, l, m, n).

  In the mobile phone 8b on the called side, the delay time measuring unit 22 calculates the arrival time difference of the delay measurement message and outputs the difference to the control unit 20, while the second mobile phone 8a on the calling side is connected to the mobile phone 8a on the calling side. The same delay measurement message is transmitted simultaneously by the third and fourth time slots (arrows p and s in FIG. 3). The delay measurement message by the third time slot arrives at the call-type simplified mobile phone 8a without passing through the speech translation device 6 (arrows p, q, r in FIG. 3). The delay measurement message in the fourth time slot passes through the speech translation apparatus 6 and is attached with information on the average translation delay time and arrives at the caller's simplified mobile phone 8a (in FIG. 3, arrows s and t , U, v).

  In the calling-side simplified mobile phone 8a, the delay time measuring unit 22 calculates the arrival time difference of the delay measurement message and outputs it to the control unit 20 in the same manner as the called-side simplified portable phone 8b.

  Such mutual transmission / reception of the delay measurement message is performed after communication is established between the calling-side simplified mobile phone 8a and the called-side simplified portable phone 8b. Performed within a predetermined time before performing. After the elapse of a predetermined time, the calling-side simplified mobile phone 8a and the called-side simplified portable phone 8b mutually transmit and receive the original language voice data using the first and third time slots. At the same time, the speech data of the original language is transmitted and the translation synthesized speech data is received by the second and fourth time slots.

  Then, both the calling-side simplified mobile phone 8a and the called-side simplified portable phone 8b can select either the original language speech data or the translation synthesized speech data and output it from the speaker 16. When the source language audio data is to be output, the control unit 20 temporarily stores the difference in arrival time of the delay measurement message and the total time of the average translation delay time in the data buffer unit 24 and then outputs to the speaker 16. The content of the conversation is synchronized and consistent even when an operation is performed to output translation synthesized speech data from the state in which the speech data of the original language is output, or even when an operation to switch to the reverse is performed. Can be kept.

  According to such a translation communication system and the simplified mobile phone 8, it is possible to switch to either the original language or the translated language while continuing the call even during the call.

  In addition, both the original language and the translated language are output from the speaker when the conversation is switched, so even if the original language and the translated language are switched during the call, Consistency can be maintained.

  In the translation communication system and the communication terminal device according to the present embodiment, either the original language speech data or the translation synthesized speech data is selected and output from the speaker 16. Two speakers 16 of the telephone 8 may be provided and both may be output simultaneously.

  In the translation communication system and the communication terminal device according to the present embodiment, the speech translation device 6 transmits the translation synthesized speech data based on the speech data of the original language, and the simplified mobile phone 8 that has received the speech is the speaker. However, the speech translation device 6 outputs the translated character data based on the speech data of the original language, and the simplified mobile phone 8 that receives the translated character data outputs it to the display unit 14. It may be.

  Further, in the translation communication system and communication terminal apparatus according to the present embodiment, as a communication terminal apparatus, a time division multiple access scheme that performs both transmission and reception with a base station at the same frequency is used. Although the present invention is applied to a simple mobile phone using a scheme (TDD scheme), it is a time division multiple access scheme similar to this embodiment, and frequency division duplexing is performed in which transmission and reception with a base station are performed at different frequencies. The present invention may be applied to a communication terminal device such as a mobile phone using a system (FDD system) or a telephone connected to a digital system wired communication line such as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network).

It is a block diagram which shows the translation communication system which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the simplified mobile phone 8 shown in FIG. 1. It is a time chart figure which shows the procedure until the simple portable telephones 8a and 8b calculate the total time of arrival time difference and average translation delay time.

Explanation of symbols

2 Base station 4 Communication network 6 Speech translation device 8, 8a, 8b Simplified mobile phone 10 Communication unit 12 Operation unit 14 Display unit 16 Speaker 18 Microphone 20 Control unit 22 Delay time measurement unit 24 Data buffer unit

Claims (4)

First and second communication terminal devices that perform communication using the first and second time slots;
A speech translation device that is arranged in a communication network that connects the first communication terminal device and the second communication terminal device to each other, and that translates the speech source language and outputs translated character data or translation synthesized speech data;
The first communication terminal apparatus transmits voice data in the original language to the second communication terminal apparatus of the communication partner using the first time slot, and transmits the same voice data to the second communication terminal apparatus using the second time slot. Add destination information to identify the communication terminal device and send it to the speech translation device,
The speech translation apparatus is a translation communication system that translates original language speech data received in a second time slot and transmits translated character data or translation synthesized speech data to the second communication terminal device specified by the destination information. And
The first communication terminal apparatus transmits the same delay time measurement message to the second communication terminal apparatus by a first time slot within a predetermined time after establishing the connection with the second communication terminal apparatus, At the same time, the destination information for identifying the second communication terminal device by the time slot is added and transmitted to the speech translation device at the same time,
When the second communication terminal receives a delay time measurement message from the counterpart communication terminal device through the first and second time slots, the second communication terminal temporarily calculates the arrival time difference, and the original speech data. It has a data buffer part to store,
The speech translation device operates to add information on average translation delay time to the delay time measurement message when the delay time measurement message is received from the first communication terminal device;
The second communication terminal apparatus receives the original language voice data from the first communication terminal apparatus in a first time slot after a predetermined time elapses after the connection with the first communication terminal apparatus is established. In this case, the translation communication system is characterized in that this is temporarily stored in the data buffer unit for the total time of the arrival time difference and the average translation delay time and then output.   The translation communication system according to claim 1, wherein the first communication terminal device and / or the second communication terminal device is a wireless communication terminal device. A communication terminal apparatus that performs communication using a plurality of time slots,
The same delay time measurement message is simultaneously transmitted to the communication terminal device of the other party by the first time slot and the communication of the other party is transmitted by the second time slot within a predetermined time after the connection with the communication terminal device of the communication partner is established. The destination information identifying the terminal device is added and transmitted to the speech translation device in the communication network, and the delay time measurement message transmitted from the destination communication terminal device is received in the third time slot. A delay time measurement unit that calculates a difference in arrival time when receiving a delay time measurement message to which information on the average translation delay time transmitted from the speech translation device is added in a time slot of
A data buffer unit for temporarily storing the voice data of the original language ;
When the speech data of the original language is received from the communication terminal device of the communication partner through the third time slot after elapse of a predetermined time after establishing the connection with the communication terminal device of the communication partner , A communication terminal apparatus comprising: a control unit that performs control of temporarily storing the data in the data buffer unit for a total time of the arrival time difference and the average translation delay time.   The communication terminal device according to claim 3, which is a wireless communication terminal device.

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