JP4904868B2 - Remote control device, acoustic device to be controlled, and remote control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a remote control unit for controlling an audio mixer remotely with a relatively compact portable terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The portable terminal 1 is connected to the mixer 2 via a communication network communicatively, and the mixer 2 transmits the list of a plurality of buttons 4 that an own machine has according to a request from the portable terminal 1. A user selects an arbitrary button 4 from the list acquired from the mixer 2 in the portable terminal 1. In the portable terminal 1, a button image 5 for the selected button 4 is created on a display 3. The user uses the button image 5 to control the mixer 2 remotely for the selected button 4. The portable terminal 1 may have only the data of partial buttons in the mixer 2, thus realizing the relatively compact portable terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote control device for remotely controlling an audio device such as an audio mixer, an audio device such as an audio mixer remotely controlled by a remote control device, or a software program for causing a computer to function as a remote control device. .

  Conventionally, an audio mixer has been remotely controlled from an external device (for example, a personal computer). In the conventional remote control of a mixer, a software program for remotely controlling a mixer to be controlled is installed in a personal computer (PC) that performs remote control, and the mixer to be controlled is displayed on the display of the PC. A screen for editing various operation parameters was displayed, and the mixer could be remotely controlled from the screen.

In addition, as an example of a device that remotely controls an acoustic device such as an audio mixer that has been conventionally known, there has been a device that can individually control a plurality of types of control objects using a single remote control device (Patent Document 1 below) See). According to this, a data conversion rule corresponding to each of a plurality of types of control objects is prepared in advance in the remote control device, and operation data generated in the remote control device is converted into data corresponding to the mixer type to be controlled. By automatically converting according to the conversion rules, different types of mixers could be remotely controlled individually.
JP 2004-310588 A

  However, in the prior art, when the mixer is remotely controlled from an external PC or the like, it has been assumed that the remote control device side can control all the functions of the mixer to be controlled. As is well known, the internal configuration of an audio mixer is very complicated, and the number of control elements constituting the signal processing of the mixer is very large. For this reason, in a device that starts a program for remote control of a mixer, it has been required to mount a relatively large display, a memory with a large capacity, and the like in view of the operability of editing work. Therefore, the device for remote control of the mixer is a device with relatively poor portability. In addition, it is difficult to mount all the functions of a mixer on a small portable terminal device due to the restrictions on the specifications of the portable terminal device, so this can not be applied as a device for remote control of the mixer. There wasn't.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is a remote control device for remotely controlling an audio device such as an audio mixer. The remote control device is relatively small and portable, or by the remote control device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a software program that causes an audio device to be controlled or a computer to function as the remote control device.

This invention relates to a remote control device for remotely controlling an acoustic device having a plurality of operating elements, and communication means for communicating with the acoustic device, a pair of transmitting the pairing request to the acoustic device and the ring request notification means, in response to receiving the pairing permission notice from the acoustic device, recognition means for recognizing the sound device as a controllable acoustic device, the plurality of which be possessed of the controllable acoustic device an acquisition unit for list information for presentation to a user to retrieve from the acoustic device by listing some or all of the operator, based on the acquired list information, among a plurality of operating elements that be possessed of the acoustic device Selection means for allowing the user to select any one of the operation elements, and an operation tool for creating an operation tool image for receiving an input operation by the user for the selected operation element. An image forming means, in response to said generated operation tool image input operation using the control means for remotely controlling the audio device by transmitting an operation notification to the selected operator to said controllable acoustic device And a remote control device.

In addition, the present invention is a remote control device for remotely controlling an acoustic device having a plurality of operating elements, the communication means for communicating with the acoustic device, and the plurality of operating elements included in the acoustic device. Acquisition means for acquiring from the acoustic device list information for listing and presenting a part or all of the information to the user, and any of a plurality of operators provided in the acoustic device based on the acquired list information Using the selection means for allowing the user to select the operator, an operation tool image creation means for creating an operation tool image for accepting an input operation by the user for the selected operator, and the generated operation tool image In response to an input operation, a control means for transmitting an operation notification for the selected operator to the acoustic device to remotely control the acoustic device, and a selection in the selection means For the operator, a remote control device, characterized in that it comprises an association requesting unit that notifies the sound device to store in association with該操Sakuko and ship.
Further, the present invention provides a remote control device capable of receiving and controlling a plurality of operators, communication means for communicating with the remote control device, and a pairing request from the remote control device. In response to a request from the recognizing recognition unit and the remote control device capable of receiving control, a part or all of the plurality of operators is listed and transmitted to the remote control device for list information to be presented to the user And a signal processing unit that receives an operation notification for the specific operator from the control- acceptable remote control device and executes signal processing according to the received operation notification on the acoustic signal. This is an acoustic device.

Furthermore, the present invention is a software program executed to cause a computer to function as a remote control device for remotely controlling an audio device having a plurality of operators , and communicates with the audio device to the computer A procedure for transmitting a pairing request to the acoustic device, a procedure for recognizing the acoustic device as a controllable acoustic device in response to receiving a pairing permission notification from the acoustic device, the list information for presenting a part or all of said plurality of operators be possessed of controllable audio device to the user listing the procedure obtained from the acoustic device, based on the acquired list information, wherein the plurality For selecting an arbitrary operation element from among the operation elements and an operation tool for accepting an input operation by the user for the selected operation element A step of generating an image in accordance with an input operation using the operation tool image the generated, to remotely control the audio apparatus sends the operation notification to the selected operator to said controllable acoustic device And a procedure is executed .
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software program that is executed to cause a computer to function as a remote control device for remotely controlling an audio device having a plurality of operating elements. A procedure for communicating with a device, a procedure for acquiring list information for presenting to a user a list of some or all of the plurality of operators provided in the acoustic device, and the acquired list information And a procedure for causing the user to select an arbitrary operator among the plurality of operators provided in the acoustic device, and a procedure for creating an operation tool image for accepting an input operation by the user for the selected operator And, in response to an input operation using the generated operation tool image, an operation notification for the selected operator is transmitted to the acoustic device. And procedures for remotely controlling the audio device, for the selected operator, characterized in that to execute a step of notifying the acoustic device to store in association with該操Sakuko and ship.

According to this invention, the remote control device transmits a pairing request to the audio device, and as a sound device capable of controlling the audio device in response to receiving a pairing permission notification from the audio device. while recognizing, by creating a manipulation tool image of the selected operator in based on the acquired list information from the acoustic device, operation notification using the operation tool image (control instruction) is the pairing ( controllable) and transmitted to the audio device to remotely control the audio apparatus. With this configuration , there is an excellent effect that the remote control device can remotely control only a specific operation element arbitrarily selected from the paired acoustic device . In addition, the remote control device is configured to store a selected controller in the sound device in association with the performance control device for a specific sound device, so that the plurality of remote control devices are the same in the same sound device. It is possible to prevent remote control from being duplicated in the operation element. In the remote control device according to the present invention, it is only necessary to store various data for remote control only for some of the operators that are the targets of remote control. Therefore, an excellent effect is achieved in that the remote control device can be realized using a portable terminal device that is small and excellent in portability.

  In addition, the present invention is not only configured and implemented as an apparatus invention, but may be configured and implemented in the form of a software program for operating a general-purpose computer or the like as the apparatus according to the present invention.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an outline of a remote control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a portable terminal device (remote control device) for remotely controlling the audio mixer, and reference numeral 2 is a mixer remotely controlled by the portable terminal 1. The portable terminal 1 is an appropriate general-purpose terminal device including the touch panel display 3, and for example, a game machine, a PDA, a tablet, or the like can be applied. The portable terminal 1 and the mixer 2 are connected so that data communication is possible via an appropriate communication network such as a wireless LAN. In FIG. 1, a configuration example of a remote control system including a plurality of mobile terminals 1 (mobile terminal α and mobile terminal β) and a plurality of mixers 2 (mixer A and mixer B) is depicted.

According to the mobile terminal 1 according to this embodiment, the user selects an arbitrary operation element 4 from the plurality of operation elements 4 included in the mixer 2, and an operation element image 5 corresponding to the selected operation element 4. It will be apparent from the following that only the mixer 2 can be remotely controlled with respect to the operator 4 corresponding to the operator image 5.
For example, “Mixer A” includes a plurality of channel strips (in the figure, four input channels “CH1” to “CH4”, two stereo channels “CHL” and “CHR”), and one master volume channel “ The mixer is provided with a fader operator for adjusting the volume level of the audio signal assigned to each channel. In the portable terminal α, the CH1 fader operator and the CH3 fader operator of the mixer A are selected as remote control targets. That is, the user can remotely control each fader operation element of CH1 and CH3 (that is, each volume level of CH1 and CH3) of the mixer A using the portable terminal α.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 1. The mobile terminal 1 includes a CPU 10, a nonvolatile memory 11, a RAM 12, a microcomputer including a timer 10 </ b> A connected to the CPU 10, a touch panel display 3, and a display control circuit 13 for controlling display on the display 3. , A screen operation detection circuit 14 for detecting an input operation on the screen of the display 3, a communication interface (communication I / F) 15 for connecting data communication with the mixer 2, and various types An operation element detection circuit 16 that detects an operation of a physical operation element group 18 including switches and the like, a recording medium slot 17 for mounting a storage medium such as a memory card, and the like are configured. It is connected via the bus 10B.

  A mobile terminal 1 according to this embodiment is connected to a communication network such as a LAN (local area network), the Internet, a telephone line, and the like via a communication I / F 15, and is connected to a mixer 2 existing on the network. Can communicate with each other. In this embodiment, the communication network is constructed by a wireless LAN as an example. As a communication method in the wireless LAN, a conventionally known appropriate communication method may be applied. For example, an ad hoc mode communication method for establishing communication between the mixer 2 and the mobile terminal 1, that is, device-to-device, An infrastructure mode communication method for establishing communication via a wireless access point can be applied. The mobile terminal 1 may be connected to the Internet via the communication I / F 15 and can communicate with other devices on the Internet.

  The microcomputer including the CPU 10 executes various programs stored in the non-volatile memory 11 or the RAM 12 to control the overall operation of the portable terminal 1 and also performs remote control of the mixer 2 as described in detail below. To run a software program. Note that various programs executed by the CPU 10 can be downloaded from a server computer on the Internet via the communication I / F 15. This makes it easy to add programs and upgrade versions. Further, as will be described in detail later, the nonvolatile memory 11 is used to store various data used for remotely controlling the operation elements provided in the mixer 2, and is appropriately rewritten such as a flash memory or an EEPROM. It may be composed of possible non-volatile memory.

  The touch panel display 3 is constituted by, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display panel) or the like, displays GUI objects such as various operation element images under the control of the display control circuit 13, and accepts an input operation by screen contact. An input operation on the display 3 is detected by the screen operation detection circuit 14 and output to the CPU 10. The user can perform most of various input operations such as parameter setting operation and various function activation instructions on the mobile terminal 1 using the display 3. In this embodiment, the display unit 3 displays an operation unit image corresponding to an arbitrary operation unit of the mixer selected by the user for remote control (see FIG. 1). You can manipulate the image.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical hardware configuration of the audio mixer 2. The mixer 2 includes a CPU 20, a ROM 21, a RAM 22, a microcomputer including a timer 20 A connected to the CPU 20, a signal processing circuit (DSP) 23, an operation element detection circuit 24, a display control circuit 25, a communication interface (communication) I / F) 26, a nonvolatile memory 27, and an external storage device 28, and the devices are connected to each other via a bus 20B.

  The mixer 2 is connected to an appropriate communication network via the communication I / F 26 and can communicate with the mobile terminal 1 existing on the network. In this embodiment, the communication network is constructed by a wireless LAN, for example, as described with reference to FIG.

  The CPU 20 executes various software programs stored in the ROM 21 or the RAM 22, performs overall operation control of the mixer 2, and controls communication with the portable terminal 1. The RAM 22 is used for temporary storage of various data, and is provided with a current memory area for storing current setting values of various parameters of the mixer. The nonvolatile memory 27 is used for storing various data used for receiving remote control by the portable terminal 1 as will be described in detail later. The nonvolatile memory 27 is composed of an appropriately rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory or an EEPROM. You can do it. Note that a nonvolatile memory 27 may be used in place of the ROM 21 in the microcomputer. Further, the external storage device 28 may be configured by an appropriate external storage medium such as a hard disk device (HDD), a compact disk (CD-ROM or the like), a magneto-optical disk (MO), a DVD or the like.

  An operator group 29 is connected via an operator detection circuit 24. The operator group 29 is a variety of operators arranged on the operation panel (console) of the mixer 2, and includes various operations such as a fader operator that is operated by sliding and a knob-type operator that is operated rotationally. Many children are included. The user can use the operator group 29 to set various parameters, give instructions to start various functions, and the like. A display 30 is connected via the display control circuit 25. The display device 30 is constituted by, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display panel) or the like, and is disposed on the operation panel. The user reads a window corresponding to the various functions of the mixer 2 on the display 30 and uses the GUI on the window read on the display 30 to set the entire mixer and set parameters for each function. Is possible.

  The input signal I / F 31 includes an AD converter, an amplifier, and the like, and is an interface that converts an acoustic signal input from another acoustic device 32 into a digital signal and imports it into the mixer 2 (DSP 23). The acoustic signal output from the mixer 2 (DSP 23) is converted into an analog signal via an output signal I / F 33 including a DA converter and output to another acoustic device 34. The CPU 20 causes the DSP 23 to reflect the contents of various parameter setting operations by the user by giving the DSP 23 instructions based on various parameter settings performed by the user using the GUI on the operator group 29 to the display 30. . The DSP 23 performs signal processing based on an instruction given from the CPU 20 on an acoustic signal (digital signal) input from another acoustic device 32 via the input signal I / F 32, and the result of the signal processing Is output to the other acoustic device 34 via the output signal I / F 33. Thereby, arbitrary signal processing (mixing processing, effect applying processing, etc.) is performed on the acoustic signal input from the other acoustic device 32.

  The user performs processing (pairing establishment processing) for specifying a mixer to be remotely controlled by the portable terminal 1 in the portable terminal 1 having the above-described configuration, and further, an operator to be controlled in the selected mixer. A process (operator association process) for arbitrarily selecting is performed. Thereby, it can be set so that only a specific operation unit of a specific mixer is remotely controlled by a certain portable terminal.

Hereinafter, procedures of the “pairing establishment process” and the “operator association process” will be described.
In this embodiment, mutual authentication between the mobile terminal 1 and the mixer 2 (identifying the communication partner) for remote control is referred to as “pairing”. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a “pairing establishment process” process for identifying the mixer 2 to be controlled by the mobile terminal 1. 4A shows processing performed on the portable terminal 1 side, and FIG. 4B shows processing performed on the mixer 2 side. In the following description, the process on the mobile terminal 1 side shown in (a) and the process on the mixer 2 side shown in (b) will be described in parallel.

  In the mobile terminal 1, the user performs an appropriate input operation for requesting selection of a pairing partner mixer. In response to this user operation input, the portable terminal 1 starts the pairing establishment process. In step S <b> 1 of FIG. 4A, the mobile terminal 1 inquires of each mixer existing in the network whether each mixer supports remote control by the mobile terminal 1. This inquiry is made with respect to a local range such as within a radio wave reach range in a wireless LAN, or within a subnet range in the Internet or the like. In addition, this inquiry may be broadcast to all devices in the network all at once, or may be made to sequentially inquire each of the devices in the network.

  On the mixer 2 side, in step S2 of FIG. 4B, the inquiry transmitted from the portable terminal 1 side in step S1 is received. If the mixer is compatible with the remote control by the portable terminal 1, in step S3, the portable device 1 responds to the portable terminal 1 and responds to the portable terminal 1 in response to the portable terminal 1. And the identification information of the own device and the device information of the own device are transmitted to the portable terminal 1. Thereby, information for specifying the mixer 2 is provided to the mobile terminal 1 that has made the inquiry. Here, the identification information of the mixer 2 is ID information unique to this unit on the communication network, and for example, a MAC address (MediaAccessControl address) assigned to the communication I / F 26 (wireless LAN card or the like) can be used. . Further, the device information of the mixer 2 is information for identifying the machine by a model name or the like. On the other hand, a mixer or other device of a model that does not support remote control by the mobile terminal 1 does not need to respond to an inquiry from the mobile terminal 1 or notifies that its own device is an incompatible device. May be.

  In step S4 of FIG. 4A, the portable terminal 1 receives the response transmitted from the mixer 2 in step S3, and the identification information and device information of the mixer 2, and in step S5, in step S4. All the mixers 2 that have received the response are displayed as a list on the display unit 3 as pairing partner candidates. The user can select a desired mixer 2 as a pairing partner from the list of pairing partner candidates. The pairing partner candidate list is, for example, a list of device information (model name, etc.) of each mixer 2 received in step S4.

  In step S6 of FIG. 4A, the portable terminal 1 notifies the pairing request to the mixer 2 selected by the user in step S5, that is, the remote control of the mixer 2 and the selection. The identification information of the own device and the device information of the own device are transmitted to the mixer 2. Thereby, the information for specifying the portable terminal 1 is provided to the mixer 2 selected as the pairing partner. The identification information of the portable terminal 1 is ID information unique to this machine on the communication network, and for example, the MAC address of the communication I / F 15 (wireless LAN card or the like) can be used. Further, the device information of the mobile terminal 1 is information for specifying the machine by, for example, a model name.

  In step S7 of FIG. 4B, the mixer 2 receives the pairing request transmitted from the portable terminal 1 in step S6 and the identification information and device information of the portable terminal 1. In step S8, the mixer 2 receives the reception request. Based on the device information of the mobile terminal 1, it is determined whether or not to permit pairing with the mobile terminal 1 that has made the pairing request. Here, it is determined whether to allow pairing with the mobile terminal 1 based on the device information of the mobile terminal 1, but not limited to this, the user is inquired whether to allow pairing. Alternatively, the permission may be granted unconditionally without performing the permission / non-permission judgment here.

  When the pairing is permitted (Yes in Step S8), the identification information and device information of the portable terminal 1 received in Step S7 are written in the “pairing device list” held by the mixer 2 in Step S9. The pairing device list is a list describing information for specifying the portable terminal 1 that has been paired in the mixer 2, and is stored in the nonvolatile memory 27 (see FIG. 3) of the mixer 2. Thereby, in the mixer 2, the identification information and device information of the portable terminal 2 for which pairing has been established are stored in a nonvolatile manner. The detailed configuration of the pairing device list will be described later. In step S10, the mixer 2 transmits a pairing permission notification to the portable terminal 1 that has made the pairing request.

  On the other hand, when the pairing is not permitted (no in step S8), in this embodiment, in step S11, the mixer 2 transmits a pairing non-permission notification to the portable terminal 1 that has made the pairing request. With this non-permission notification, the portable terminal 1 may be prompted to select another mixer, or the pairing establishment process may be stopped.

  In step S12 of FIG. 4A, the portable terminal 1 receives the pairing permission transmitted from the mixer 2 in step S10. In step S13, the identification received in step 4 for the pairing partner mixer 2 Information and device information are written in the “pairing device list” held by the mobile terminal 1. The pairing device list held by the mobile terminal 1 is a list describing information for specifying the mixer 2 that has been paired in the mobile terminal 1, and the nonvolatile memory 11 of the mobile terminal 1 (see FIG. 2). Is remembered. Thereby, in the portable terminal 1, the identification information and apparatus information of the mixer 2 with which pairing was established are memorize | stored non-volatilely. The detailed configuration of the pairing device list will be described later.

  Pairing is established between the portable terminal 1 and an arbitrary mixer 2 by the pairing establishment process shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). By establishing the pairing, mutual authentication is performed between the portable terminal 1 and the pairing partner mixer 2, and the mixer 2 to be remotely controlled by the portable terminal 1 can be identified.

  In the portable terminal 1 and the mixer 2 with which pairing has been established, information for identifying a pairing partner device is added to the pairing-in-device list held by each of them (the processing in steps S9 and S13). 5A is a configuration example of the pairing device list 6 held by the portable terminal 2, and FIG. 5B is a configuration example of the pairing device list 7 held by the mixer. As an example, FIG. 1 shows what is held by the portable terminal β, and FIG. 1B shows what is held by the mixer A shown in FIG. 5A and 5B, pairing partner identification information and device information are recorded in the pairing device lists 6 and 7, and these pieces of information are stored for each device by an index number (index). It is managed. As described above, the identification information is ID information unique to each device on the network, such as a MAC address for each device, for example, and this is a code composed of a combination of numbers and characters as illustrated in the figure. . The device information is, for example, a model name. In (a), in the pairing device list 6 of the mobile terminal β, “mixer A” is index number “1” and “mixer B” is index number “2” as the model name of the pairing partner mixer. Are recorded respectively. Also, in (b), in the pairing device list 7 of the mixer A, “mobile terminal α” is index number “1” and “mobile terminal β” is indexed as the mobile terminal model name of the pairing partner. It is recorded in the number “2”.

Next, an example of the “operator association process” will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6A shows processing performed on the portable terminal 1 side, and FIG. 6B shows processing performed on the pairing partner mixer 2 side of the portable terminal 1.
In the mobile terminal 1, the user performs an appropriate input operation for instructing a selection request for an operator to be remotely controlled. In response to this input operation, the “operator association process” in FIG. In step S14 of FIG. 6 (a), the mobile terminal 1 is based on the pairing device list 6 held by its own device, and lists all mixers (for example, its own pair) that are its pairing counterparts. (List of model names of all mixers that are ring partners) is displayed on the display 3. The user selects a desired mixer from the list displayed on the display 3. When the user selects a desired mixer, an operator selection request is sent to the pairing partner mixer 2 to request transmission of the “specification information” of the pairing partner mixer 2 (step S15). The mixer 2 that has received the operator selection request from the portable terminal 1 starts the process of FIG. 6B, and transmits its own specification information to the paired partner portable terminal 1 in step S16. To do.

  The specification information of the mixer 2 is list information for listing and presenting to the user a part or all of the operator group 29 provided in the mixer 2 that is a pairing partner, and data that can satisfy at least the use application, That is, any data may be used as long as the mobile terminal 1 can present to the user a list that serves as a reference for the user to select and specify an arbitrary operation element from the operation element group 29. In this embodiment, the specification information includes elements such as identification information of each operation element included in the operation element group 29 of the mixer 2, the type of each operation element, the number of operation elements, and the set value variable range of each operation element. Data. The data format may be, for example, text data describing the above various specification elements. The identification information of each operator is an ID number unique to each operator in the mixer 2. The type of each operator is, for example, information specifying the type of the operator by means of a “fader operator”, “knob type operator”, “button type switch”, etc., and a name that can specify each operator, for example, “ It is assumed that the name includes a name of “controller of channel CH1”. In the mixer 2, the specification information of the own device may be collected and created in advance and stored in an appropriate memory such as the ROM 21 or the nonvolatile memory 27, or the operation information from the portable terminal 1 may be stored. Processing for collecting and creating the specification information of the own device may be performed in response to the selection request.

  Note that the specification information is not limited to data listing all the operator groups 29 included in the mixer 2 as in the above example, but only for a specific type of operator group determined in advance. Various variations such as data describing the type / name, data describing only the number of equipment for each type of operator, and data appropriately combining the various elements described above can be considered. In addition, with reference to an “operator association list” to be described later, information indicating whether or not it is already designated as a target for remote control of another portable terminal may be added to the specification information. In addition, by adding image information representing a reduced view or schematic diagram of the operation panel portion of the mixer 2 or the operation element group 29 to the specification information, the operation panel portion or the operation element group 29 is reduced at the time of selecting an operation element described later. An image representing a diagram or a schematic diagram may be displayed on the display 3 so that an arbitrary operator can be selected by a click operation or a drag operation on the displayed image.

  In step S <b> 17 of FIG. 6A, the mobile terminal 1 displays a list of controls provided in the pairing partner mixer 2 on the display 3 based on the specification information acquired from the mixer 2. Thereby, the user can select an arbitrary operation element among a plurality of operation elements included in the mixer 2 as the pairing partner. In step S <b> 18, when the portable terminal 1 accepts selection of an operator by the user, in step S <b> 19, the portable terminal 1 transmits an “association request” including the identification information of the selected operator to the pairing partner mixer 2.

  In step S20 of FIG. 6B, the mixer 2 receives the “association request” transmitted from the portable terminal 1 in step S19 and the identification information of the selected operator. In step S 21, the operator selected by the user is assigned to the remote control target of the portable terminal 1 by referring to the “operator association list” held by the own device based on the received identification information of the operator. In other words, it is determined whether or not the operator is already assigned as a remote control target of another portable terminal. If the operator selected by the user can be assigned to the remote control target of the portable terminal 1 (yes in step S20), the mixer 2 displays the identification information of the operator selected by the user in step S22. Write to the "operator association list" to be retained. The “operator association list” held by the mixer 2 manages the assignment of the operator group 29 provided to the own device to the portable terminal for each operator (which operator is under the control of which portable terminal). This list is stored in the nonvolatile memory 27 of the mixer 2 (see FIG. 3). Thereby, in the mixer 2, the identification information of the operation element assigned as a target for remote control by the portable terminal 1 is stored in association with the portable terminal 1 in a nonvolatile manner. In step S <b> 23, the mixer 2 responds to the portable terminal 1 that has transmitted the “association request” that the “operator association” is completed.

  On the other hand, when the operator selected by the user cannot be assigned to the remote control target of the portable terminal 1 (no in step S21), the mixer 2 ends the “operator association process”. This is the case, for example, when the operator is already assigned as a target for remote control of another portable terminal. This prevents a plurality of portable terminals from being assigned to the same operator.

  In step S24 of FIG. 6 (a), the portable terminal 1 receives the completion of “association of operation elements” from the mixer 2, and in step S25, the portable terminal 1 sets the current parameter setting values for the operation elements selected by the user to the mixer 2 Process to get from. On the other hand, the mixer 2 reads the current parameter setting value of the operation element from the current area of the RAM 22 in step S26 of FIG. 6B, and sends the read current parameter setting value to the portable terminal 2. Send to. In step S <b> 27, the portable terminal 1 performs a process of acquiring operation element image information corresponding to the operation element selected by the user from the mixer 2. On the other hand, the mixer 2 transmits operation element image information corresponding to the operation element to the portable terminal 1 in step S28. This manipulator image information is data for displaying on the display a manipulator image that simulates a physical manipulator included in the mixer 2, and is image information in an appropriate format such as a bitmap format. Good. The portable terminal 1 stores the acquired operator image information in the nonvolatile memory 11 in a nonvolatile manner. As described above, in this embodiment, processing is performed so that image information is individually acquired from the mixer 2 for the operator selected by the user. Since the operator image information has a relatively large amount of data, the data amount can be reduced by selecting necessary image information and providing it to the portable terminal 1 as in this embodiment. Further, since image information is transmitted only for the selected operator, the communication load is small.

  In step S <b> 29 of FIG. 6A, on the mobile terminal 1, an operation element image based on the acquired operation element image information is displayed on the touch panel display 3. That is, the CPU 10 gives an instruction to the display control circuit 13 and generates an operation element image (GUI object) based on the operation element image information on the touch panel display 3. This functions as an operation tool image for accepting a user input operation on the portable terminal 1 for the operator selected by the user.

  For example, in the portable terminal α shown in FIG. 1, the CH1 and CH3 fader operators 4 provided in the mixer A are assigned, so the touch panel display 3 corresponds to the CH1 and CH3 fader operators 4. Two fader operation element images 5 are displayed. As shown in FIG. 1, the fader operation element image 5 is a GUI object imitating the form of the physical fader operation element 4 included in the mixer 2, and the display position of the display object corresponding to the operation knob portion (movable element). The parameter set value can be changed by moving the slide up and down. In step S29, it may be processed so that the operation knob portion of the operator image is displayed at a position corresponding to the current value of the parameter acquired in step S27.

  In step S <b> 30, information (operator specifying information) for specifying the associated operator is written in the “operator association list” held by the mobile terminal 1. The operator association list held by the mobile terminal 1 is a list for managing the operators assigned to the remote control target by the own device, and is stored in the nonvolatile memory 11 (see FIG. 2). Thereby, in the portable terminal 1, the operation element assigned as the object of remote control can be stored in association with the mixer 2 including the operation element in a nonvolatile manner.

With the processing of FIG. 6 described above, an arbitrary operator to be remotely controlled is specified in the mobile terminal 1, and an operator image corresponding to the specified operator is displayed on the touch panel display 3. The user can remotely control the parameter setting value corresponding to the operator to be remotely controlled using the operator image displayed on the display 3.
In the mobile terminal 1, the variable range of the parameter setting value based on the operator image is defined based on the data of the setting value variable range of the operator included in the specification information.

  FIG. 7A is a configuration example of “operator association list 8” held by the portable terminal 1, and FIG. 7B is a configuration example of “operator association list 9” held by the mixer 2. As an example, 1) shows what is held by the portable terminal β shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1B shows what is held by the mixer A shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the operator association list 8 held by the mobile terminal 1 refers to the associated operator as information for specifying the mixer including the operator, as shown in FIG. Stored in the non-volatile memory 11 of the index number of the pairing device list 6, the identification information of the associated operator, the name of the associated operator, and the operator image information corresponding to the operator ( Address) is recorded, and these pieces of information are managed for each operator by an index number (index). Based on this operator association list 8, the portable terminal 1 can specify the operator assigned as the target of remote control and the mixer to which the operator belongs.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, in the operator association list 9 held by the mixer 2, the mobile terminal assigned to each operator is associated with the identification information of each operator included in the own device. The index number of the pairing device list 7 of FIG. 5B referred to as information to be identified is recorded. The mixer 2 can identify the mobile terminal assigned to each operator by referring to the index number recorded in the operator association list 9.

  For example, in FIG. 7A, the operator association list 8 held by the portable terminal β (see FIG. 1) includes a fader operator (index number) of the master volume of the key A that is the target of remote control by the portable terminal β. "1") and information about the fader operator (index number "2") of the master volume of the mixer B are recorded. Further, in the operator association list 9 held by the mixer A (see FIG. 1) in FIG. 7B, the index number of the portable terminal α corresponding to the operators of the operator identification information “1” and “3”. However, the index number of the portable terminal β is shown corresponding to the operator of the operator identification information “7”.

  Next, an example of the procedure of parameter setting processing according to the operation of the operator image displayed on the touch panel display 3 of the mobile terminal 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 8A shows processing performed on the mobile terminal 1 side. (B) shows processing performed on the mixer 2 side of the remote control target (pairing partner).

  The process of FIG. 8A is a process of starting repeatedly at every predetermined start cycle after the operator image information is generated on the touch panel display 3 in step 29 of FIG. 6A. Then, when the operation element image is operated on the touch panel display 3 (yes in step S31), the process proceeds to step S32. In step S32, referring to the operator association list 8 (see FIG. 7A) held by the own device, the mixer 2 corresponding to the operated operator image is identified, and the identified mixer 2 is identified. The parameter setting value corresponding to the operation amount detected in the display 3 and the operator identification information of the operator corresponding to the operator image are notified.

  The process on the mixer 2 side shown in FIG. 8B also serves as an operation detection process for the physical operator on the operation panel, and is activated repeatedly at predetermined activation cycles. In step S33, it is determined whether or not there is an operation notification from the portable terminal 1. If no operation notification has been received (NO in step S33), it is determined in step S34 whether or not an actual operator group arranged on the operation panel of the own device is operated. With the processing configurations of step S33 and step S34, priority is given to remote control by the portable terminal 1.

  When an operation notification is received from the mobile terminal 1 (Yes in step S33), based on the operation amount notified from the mobile terminal 1, or when an actual operation operation on the operation panel is detected ( In step S34 (yes), the contents of the operation performed by the user are reflected on the DSP 23 based on the detected operation amount (step S35). That is, the CPU 20 of the mixer 2 updates the parameter setting value in the DSP 23 by giving the DSP 23 an instruction according to the operation amount notified from the portable terminal 1 or the operation amount according to the operation on the operation panel. Thus, the parameter setting value on the mixer 2 side is updated according to the parameter setting performed by the user using the portable terminal 1. When the operation element provided in the mixer 2 is a type in which the operation position can be electrically controlled by driving the motor, the operation element performed by the user is reflected on the DSP 23 according to the operation contents. The operation position may be electrically controlled.

  In step S36 of FIG. 8B, the mixer 2 refers to the operator association list 9 (see FIG. 7B), and associates the operator whose parameter setting value has been updated in step S36 with the portable terminal 1. If it is related, the update of the parameter setting value is notified to the portable terminal 1 of the pairing partner. Therefore, when the operator assigned to the remote control target of the mobile terminal 1 is operated on the operation panel, the mobile terminal 1 is notified of the update of the parameter setting value corresponding to this.

After receiving the update of the parameter setting value from the pairing partner mixer 2 (yes in step S37 in FIG. 8A), the portable terminal 1 is based on the update content data received from the mixer 2 in step S38. The display mode of the parameter setting value and the operation element image (for example, the slide position of the fader type operation knob portion) is updated. That is, in this embodiment, unless an update notification is received from the mixer 2, the operation performed on the portable terminal 1 is not reflected on the portable terminal 1.
With the above processing, it is possible to remotely control an arbitrary operator provided in the mixer 2 using the portable terminal 1.

  The release of “operator association (remote control target operation assignment)” can be executed from any device as long as the portable terminal 1 and the mixer 2 are being paired. You can specify release individually for each. Moreover, if pairing of the portable terminal 1 and the mixer 2 is cancelled | released, all the operation element correlation between both will be cancelled | released. Further, the result of canceling the association with the operator is also reflected in the nonvolatile storage, that is, the corresponding items in the operator association lists 8 and 9 in both the portable terminal 1 and the mixer 2 are deleted.

  In addition, the pairing cancellation between the portable terminal 1 and the mixer 2 can also be executed from any device as long as the portable terminal 1 and the mixer 2 are being paired, and the cancellation result is non-volatile. In other words, the corresponding items in the pairing device lists 6 and 7 in both the portable terminal 1 and the mixer 2 are deleted.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the user selects an arbitrary operation element from the plurality of operation elements included in the mixer 2, and only the operation element image corresponding to the selected operation element is stored in the mobile terminal 2. The arbitrarily selected operator provided in the mixer 2 can be remotely controlled using the operator image displayed on the display 3 and displayed on the display 3 of the portable terminal 2. In the portable terminal 1, only a part of the controls of the mixer 2 are targeted for remote control, and various data (manipulator image 5 and a pairing device list) corresponding to some of the controls of the remote control target. 6 and 7 and the contents of the operator association lists 8 and 9), and it is not necessary to install a dedicated remote control program in the mixer 2. Therefore, the terminal device for remote control of the mixer 2 can be realized using the portable terminal device 1 that is small and excellent in portability. Therefore, for example, in a concert venue, the operator of the mixer 2 can perform remote control of the mixer 2 using the portable terminal 1 at an arbitrary position depending on the situation without being restricted by the installation position of the mixer 2. become able to. In addition, since only a minimum operation element image corresponding to a necessary part (operation element) selected by the user is generated on the display device 3, a display device with a relatively small display screen area provided in the mobile terminal 1 is provided. 3 is easy to work and has excellent operability. Further, in the mobile terminal 1, only the selected operator is controlled, so that it is possible to prevent other operators from being subjected to undesired editing.

Note that the mixer 2 may be set so as to be linked (followed) by the operation of one operation element and to be affected by other operation elements. For example, when the left and right stereo signals are distributed to two channels, the volume levels (fader controls) of the two channels are often set to be linked. When such interlocking setting is made, parameter update by interlocking is valid on both the portable terminal 1 side and the mixer 2 side. That is, when the operator associated with the portable terminal 1 is affected by the interlocking setting, it is preferable to perform a process of notifying the portable terminal 1 of the fact in step S36 of FIG.
For example, when two operation element images corresponding to the operation element set to be linked are generated on the portable terminal 1 side, and one of the operation element images is operated, the mixer 2 sets the 2 corresponding to the link setting in step S35. One parameter is updated, and in step S36, an update notification is made for the two operators set to be linked. As a result, the portable terminal 1 updates the parameter setting values and the image display for the two operators (that is, the one not operated by the display device 3).

  In the process of FIG. 8B, when the operator assigned to the remote control target of the mobile terminal 1 is actually operated on the operation panel, the parameter setting value is updated accordingly. However, the operation assigned to the remote control target of the mobile terminal 1 may be actually invalidated on the operation panel. In this case, the operation element assigned to the mobile terminal 1 may not be reflected in the signal processing unit 23 on the operation panel, or the operation element assigned to the mobile terminal 1 may be You may make it exclude from the operation detection object in step S34.

Further, in the process shown in FIG. 8 (a), from the reception of the setting value update notification from the mixer 2 in step S 3 7, and updates the display of the operating images portable terminal 1 in step S 3 8 However, as an example of a change in the processing, when it is not necessary to reflect the operation on the operation panel of the mixer 2 to the portable terminal 1, the operation element in the portable terminal 1 is not received without receiving the setting value update notification from the mixer 2. The operation content of the image operation may be immediately reflected in the display mode of the operator image of the mobile terminal 1.

  Further, in the processing example shown in FIG. 8, an example of real-time control in which the operation content is notified to the mixer 2 every time one operator image (one parameter) is operated in the mobile terminal 1 is shown. . The parameter setting process is not limited to real-time control as described above, and may be controlled in non-real time. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a non-real-time control example as another example of the parameter setting process. This process is also activated repeatedly at predetermined activation intervals after the operator image information is generated on the touch panel display 3 in step 29 in FIG.

  In this example, when operation of the operator image on the portable terminal 1 is detected (yes in step S39), the current setting value of the parameter corresponding to the operator and the display mode of the operator image are displayed in step S40. The update is performed based on the operation content detected in step S39. In the example of non-real-time control shown in FIG. 9, a confirmation operation by the user is accepted in step S41. When this confirmation operation is performed (yes in step S41), the operation content of the operator image performed on the mobile terminal 1 side in step S42 is notified to the pairing partner mixer 2. In this step S42, the pairing partner mixer 2 may be notified of the operation amount for all the operation element images assigned to the own device, or the operation amount has changed since the previous notification. Notification may be performed only for the operator image. As described above, in the processing configuration example of the non-real time control shown in FIG. 9, after the user operates the plurality of operation element images on the portable terminal 1 side, the plurality of operation contents can be collectively reflected on the mixer 2 side. it can. Note that, also in the non-real-time control process illustrated in FIG. 9, the update content data in the mixer 2 may be returned to the mobile terminal 1 side.

  In the example of the system configuration shown in FIG. 1, an example in which a fader operator that adjusts the volume level is selected as an operator to be remotely controlled by the portable terminal 1 is described. It may be something like this. Moreover, in the said Example, although the example which selects the object of remote control by the portable terminal 1 per operator was shown, as a unit selected as the object of remote control of the portable terminal 1, it is not restricted to the above, A mixer Any unit may be selected as long as it is only a part of the two functions. For example, one channel strip or a certain effector may be selected as one functional element. Even in such a case, it can be considered that a plurality of operators related to one functional element, such as a channel strip and an effector, are respectively selected as targets for remote control of the mobile terminal 1. That is, in the operator list that the mobile terminal 1 presents to the user in step 17 of FIG. 6A described above, an option that allows a plurality of operators to be selected for each function may be included.

  In the above embodiment, the operator image is acquired from the mixer (step S27). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the operation element image that the portable terminal 1 has in advance may be used for remote control of the mixer. When the operation element image that the portable terminal 1 has in advance is used, the above step S27 is used. In this case, information specifying the type of the operator may be acquired from the mixer, and the type of operator image corresponding to the acquired information specifying the type of operator may be used.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the touchscreen type display 3 shall be comprised in the portable terminal 1, the display 3 may not be a touchscreen type, In that case, the operation element image displayed on the display 3 is displayed. The operation may be performed using other appropriate operation means such as a mouse or a keyboard. Moreover, in the said Example, the operation element image (GUI object) which simulates the operation element selected as the object of remote control of the portable terminal 1 as an operation tool image for accepting user input operation in the portable terminal 1. Although the example which produces | generates on the indicator 3 was shown, it is not restricted to this, For example, the name of the selected operation element and the numerical value of the parameter setting value corresponding to the operation element are displayed, and the user can input the numerical value. There may be. That is, the display form of the operation tool image on the mobile terminal 1 and the input operation method thereof may use a conventionally known appropriate technique.

  In the above embodiment, the mixer 2 is a digital mixer including the digital signal processing circuit 23 (see FIG. 3). However, the mixer 2 is not limited to this, and is an analog audio mixer including an analog signal processing circuit. You may apply the remote control which concerns on this invention with respect to the model provided with the electric fader.

  In the above embodiment, various data using the remote control according to the present invention, that is, the pairing device list and the association operator list are stored in the nonvolatile memory 11 in the portable terminal 1 and in the mixer 2. Each of the non-volatile memories 27 is recorded in the non-volatile memory 27, for example, when the battery of the mobile terminal 1 is exhausted or when the power of the mobile terminal 1 or the mixer 2 is turned off due to work interruption or the like. There is an advantage that various data stored in 11 or 27 is retained. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other appropriate rewritable storage means may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the audio mixer is described as an example of the audio device. However, the present invention is not limited to the audio mixer, and may be applied to an appropriate audio device such as an effector or an audio signal processing engine. .

  In the above-described embodiments, the present invention is configured and implemented as an apparatus invention. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a method or program for operating a general-purpose terminal device as a remote control apparatus according to the present invention. The present invention may be configured and implemented in the form of, and the present invention also includes a method or program for realizing functions corresponding to remote control by the remote control device in the mixer.

The conceptual diagram for demonstrating the outline | summary of the remote control system which concerns on one Example of this invention. The block diagram which shows the electrical hardware structural example of the portable terminal device (remote control device) which concerns on the Example. The block diagram which shows the electrical hardware structural example of the digital mixer which concerns on the Example. (A), (b) is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the "pairing establishment process" which concerns on the Example. (A) is a configuration example of a “pairing device list” held by the portable terminal device, and (b) is a configuration example of a “pairing device list” held by the mixer. (A), (b) is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the "operator correlation process" which concerns on the Example. (A) is a configuration example of an “operator association list” held by the portable terminal device, and (b) is a configuration example of an “operator association list” held by the mixer. (A), (b) is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the "parameter setting process" which concerns on the Example. The flowchart which is an example of a change of the above-mentioned FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable terminal device, 2 Mixer, 3 Touch panel display, 4 Mixer operation element, 5 Operation element image, 6 Pairing apparatus list held by portable terminal apparatus, 7 Pairing apparatus list held by mixer, 8 Operator association list held by the portable terminal device, 8 Operator association list held by the mixer, 10, 20 CPU, 11, 27 Non-volatile memory, 21 ROM, 12, 22 RAM, 15, 26 Communication interface

Claims (12)

A remote control device for remotely controlling an acoustic device having a plurality of operators,
Communication means for communicating with the acoustic device,
A pairing request notification means for transmitting a pairing request to the acoustic device;
Recognizing means for recognizing the sound device as a controllable sound device in response to receiving the pairing permission notification from the sound device;
An acquisition unit for list information for presentation to a user to retrieve from the acoustic device by listing some or all of the plurality of operators be possessed of the controllable acoustic device,
Based on the acquired list information, a selection unit that allows a user to select an arbitrary operation element among a plurality of operation elements included in the acoustic device;
An operation tool image creating means for creating an operation tool image for accepting an input operation by a user for the selected operator;
Control means for transmitting an operation notification for the selected operator to the controllable audio device in response to an input operation using the generated operation tool image and remotely controlling the audio device. Features remote control device. A remote control device for remotely controlling an acoustic device having a plurality of operators,
Communication means for communicating with the acoustic device;
Obtaining means for obtaining from the acoustic device list information for listing and presenting a part or all of the plurality of operators provided in the acoustic device to the user;
Based on the acquired list information, a selection unit that allows a user to select an arbitrary operation element among a plurality of operation elements included in the acoustic device;
An operation tool image creating means for creating an operation tool image for accepting an input operation by a user for the selected operator;
Control means for transmitting an operation notification for the selected operator to the acoustic device in response to an input operation using the generated manipulation tool image, and remotely controlling the acoustic device;
Association request means for notifying the acoustic device to store the operation element selected by the selection means in association with the own device ;
A remote control device comprising: In the operation tool image creation unit, the remote control according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a means for obtaining image information corresponding to the selected operating element by the selection means from the front Kion sound device apparatus.   4. The storage device according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing operation element specifying information for specifying an operation element selected by the selection means in a non-volatile manner. The remote control device described in 1. Wherein, any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that to transmit in real time operation notification in accordance with an input operation using the operation tool image the generated for the previous Kion sound device A remote control device according to claim 1. It said control means further comprises a determination means for accepting an input confirmation operation, in response to the input determination operation, the operation notification in accordance with an input operation using the operation tool image the generated for the previous Kion sound device 5. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the remote control device performs non-real time control of transmission. Multiple controls,
A communication means for communicating with the remote control device;
Recognizing means for recognizing the remote control device as a remote control device capable of receiving control in response to a pairing request from the remote control device;
In response to a request from the remote control device capable of accepting the control, a means for transmitting a list information to be presented to the user by listing a part or all of the plurality of operators, to the remote control device;
A signal processing unit that receives an operation notification for the specific operation element from the remote control device capable of receiving control and performs signal processing on the acoustic signal according to the received operation notification; Sound device. A software program executed to cause a computer to function as a remote control device for remotely controlling an audio device having a plurality of operating elements, the computer program comprising :
A step of communicating with the sound device,
Sending a pairing request to the acoustic device;
In response to receiving a pairing permission notification from the acoustic device, a procedure for recognizing the acoustic device as a controllable acoustic device;
A step of acquiring the list information for presentation to a user by listing some or all of the plurality of operators be possessed of the controllable acoustic device from the acoustic device,
A procedure for selecting an arbitrary operation element from the plurality of operation elements based on the acquired list information;
A procedure for generating an operation tool image for accepting an input operation by a user for the selected operator;
In response to an input operation using the operation tool image the generated, the send operation notification to the selected operator to said controllable acoustic device be executed and procedures for remotely controlling the audio device A featured program. A software program executed to cause a computer to function as a remote control device for remotely controlling an audio device having a plurality of operating elements, the computer program comprising:
Communicating with the acoustic device;
A procedure for obtaining from the acoustic device list information for listing and presenting a part or all of the plurality of operators provided in the acoustic device to the user;
Based on the acquired list information, a procedure for causing the user to select an arbitrary operation element among a plurality of operation elements included in the acoustic device;
A procedure for creating an operation tool image for accepting an input operation by a user for the selected operator;
In response to an input operation using the generated operation tool image, a procedure for transmitting an operation notification for the selected operator to the acoustic device to remotely control the acoustic device;
A procedure for notifying the acoustic device to store the selected operator in association with the own device;
A program characterized by having executed. In the procedure of generating the operation tool image program according to claim 8 or 9, characterized by further comprising the steps of acquiring image information corresponding to the selected operating element, from the front Kion sound device . In the procedure of the remote control, any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that sending in real time operation notification in accordance with an input operation using the operation tool image the generated for the previous Kion sound device the program according to. In the procedure of the remote control, further comprising the steps of accepting an input confirmation operation, in response to the input determination operation, over the previous Kion sound device operation notification in accordance with an input operation using the operation tool image the generated program according to any of claims 8 to 11, characterized by performing non-real-time control of transmitting Te.

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