JP5316283B2 - Acoustic signal processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform mirroring an engine without substantially interrupting or breaking outputs of audio signals. <P>SOLUTION: A region (transmission channel) having the same size in an audio signal region 102 of a transmission frame is allocated to each of an active engine C and a standby engine D. The active engine C reads input signals written in regions A, B and F by an input device, performs signal processing, and writes output signals into a region C of the transmission frame. The standby engine D reads the input signals written in the regions A, B and F by the input device, performs the same signal processing as that of the engine C, and writes output signals into a region D of the transmission frame. When an OSF flag of the active engine C is indicative of a normal state, an output device reads the output signals from the region C and outputs the output signals, but when the OSF flag is indicative of an abnormal state, the output device reads the output signals from the region D and outputs the output signals. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an acoustic signal processing system having a function of transmitting an acoustic signal between a plurality of devices in substantially real time.

  Conventionally, as a configuration of a digital mixer, it is known that a console operated by an operator and an engine that performs signal processing such as mixing processing are separated, and a mixing system is configured by connecting the engine to the console. It has been known that by connecting two engines to such a mixing system, mirroring of the engine is realized and a so-called fault tolerant mixing system is constructed (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). In this case, usually one of the two engines is used as the main signal processor and the other is used as the backup engine. When an abnormality occurs in the engine in use (the main signal processor), the backup engine I was switching. The engine can be switched automatically when an abnormality occurs in the engine that is normally used, or in accordance with an instruction from the operator.

  It is also known to construct a fault tolerant system in a general computer system such as a WWW (World Wide Web) server, an online system, or a router. As a method for realizing a fault-tolerant system in a general computer system, for example, a device that performs normal processing and a device that backs up the device are prepared in the system, and the device that is used during normal operation is prepared. There was a way for backup equipment to take over the operation when a problem occurred.

  Conventionally, there has been known an audio network capable of transmitting a plurality of channels of audio signals (audio signals) between a plurality of devices (nodes) connected via a network. As a technique for realizing such an audio network, for example, CobraNet (registered trademark), EtherSound (registered trademark), and the like are known (see Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 below).

  For example, in Patent Document 2 below, a plurality of devices (nodes) are connected using an Ethernet (registered trademark) standard network cable, and a “transmission frame” carrying an acoustic signal is connected to the network at each sampling period. In addition, a configuration of an acoustic signal processing system that transmits an audio signal between a plurality of nodes by making a circuit between all the nodes is disclosed. According to an acoustic signal processing system to which such an audio network technology is applied, several hundred channels of audio signals can be transmitted between a plurality of nodes in substantially real time using a plurality of transmission channels included in a transmission frame. It was possible. Also, Ethernet (registered trademark) control data can be transmitted simultaneously with the transmission of the audio signal by the transmission frame.

  As an embodiment of such an acoustic signal processing system, for example, a large-scale mixing system used for a concert venue, a theater, a music production studio, a private broadcast, or the like, or audio between a communication unit including a microphone and a sound system is used. An intercom communication system that performs signal communication, an effect imparting system that imparts an effect to an acoustic signal such as a musical instrument performance, or a multi-track recording / reproducing system that can simultaneously record / reproduce a plurality of acoustic signals can be considered.

JP 2003-101442 A JP 2008-072347 A

“What is CobraNet (TM)”, [online], Valcom Co., Ltd., [Search June 23, 2009], Internet <URL: http://www.balcom.co.jp/cobranet.htm >> “EtherSound” (Overview), [online], Bestec Audio, Inc., [Search June 23, 2009], Internet <http://www.bestecaudio.com/download/EtherSound_Overveiw.pdf>

  However, in the fault-tolerant mixing system described in Patent Document 1, an input device and an output device for acoustic signals (audio signals) must be connected to the two engines with the same wiring. Don't be. In other words, it is necessary to physically duplicate the wiring for transmitting the acoustic signal, and the wiring is troublesome.

  Further, as described in Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2, in the case of constructing an acoustic signal processing system for transmitting an acoustic signal between a large number of nodes, a method for effectively constructing a fault tolerant system Is not known. For example, even if a technique used in a normal network device such as a WWW server is applied to an acoustic signal processing system, it takes time to take over the operation of the device in which the problem has occurred to the backup device. While performing the process of switching the main body to a backup device, there is a problem that the transmission of acoustic signals is interrupted.

  In particular, in an acoustic signal processing system used in an environment where a large number of listeners listen to music, such as live performance venues, music festival venues, or various event venues, it is important to continue outputting acoustic signals. For this reason, when mirroring a device such as an engine, it is required to allow the backup device to take over the operation with almost no interruption of the acoustic signal (without interruption of the sound). However, conventionally known mirroring techniques cannot obtain sufficient performance to meet the above demands when applied to such an acoustic signal processing system.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in an acoustic signal processing system having a function of transmitting an acoustic signal between a plurality of devices in substantially real time, even if an abnormality occurs in some devices. An object of the present invention is to allow the processing to be continued without substantially interrupting the output of the acoustic signal.

  The present invention comprises a plurality of devices and an audio network connecting the plurality of devices, the transmission frame having a storage area for storing data to be transmitted / received between the plurality of devices, the plurality of frames for each predetermined period. An acoustic signal processing system that circulates between the plurality of devices, wherein each of the plurality of devices is capable of reading data from and writing data to a specific area in a storage area of the transmission frame. As the plurality of devices, input means for inputting an acoustic signal from the outside, and input signal writing for writing the acoustic signal input by the input means to the first storage area of the transmission frame as an input signal to the acoustic signal processing system An input device having means, and first reading means for reading an input signal from the first storage area; First signal processing means for performing signal processing on the input signal read by the first reading means, and first input of the input signal processed by the first signal processing means to the second storage area of the transmission frame as a first output signal A first signal processing device having first output signal writing means, first state data writing means for writing first state data indicating whether its own state is normal or abnormal to a third storage area of the transmission frame; A second reading means for reading an input signal from the storage area; a second signal processing means for performing the same signal processing as the first signal processing means on the input signal read by the second reading means; and the second signal processing means. A second signal processing device having second output signal writing means for writing the processed input signal as a second output signal in the fourth storage area of the transmission frame When the first state data reading means for reading the first state data from the third storage area and the first state data read by the first state data reading means indicate normal, the second state data An output signal reading means for reading the first output signal from the storage area and reading the second output signal from the fourth storage area when the read first state data indicates an abnormality; and the output signal reading means An acoustic signal processing system including at least an output device having output means for outputting an output signal read out by the outside.

  The input device inputs an acoustic signal from the outside, and writes the input acoustic signal in the first storage area of the transmission frame by the input signal writing means. The first signal processing device performs signal processing on the input signal read from the first storage area by the first signal processing means, and writes the result of the signal processing to the second storage area of the transmission frame by the first writing means. In addition, the first signal processing device writes the first state data indicating its own operation state in the third storage area of the transmission frame by the first state data writing means. On the other hand, the second signal processing device performs the same signal processing as the first signal processing means by the second signal processing means on the input signal read from the first storage area, so that it is the same as the first output signal. A second output signal is generated, and the generated second output signal is written to the fourth storage area of the transmission frame by the second writing means. The output device can detect whether the state of the first signal processing device is normal or abnormal based on the first state data read from the third storage area. When the first state data indicates normality (when the first signal processing device is normal), the output device reads the output frame from the second storage area of the transmission frame by the output signal reading means and the output means. One output signal is read and output to the outside. Therefore, the first signal processing device functions as an “active engine” that is the main component of signal processing, and the second signal processing device is a backup “standby engine”. On the other hand, when the first state data indicates abnormality (when abnormality occurs in the first signal processing device), the output device reads out the fourth storage area of the transmission frame by the output signal reading unit and the output unit. The second output signal is read and output to the outside. Thereby, instead of the first signal processing device, the second signal processing device is switched to the “operational engine”.

  In the acoustic signal processing system of the invention, the second signal processing device further writes second state data indicating whether the state of the second signal processing device is normal or abnormal in the fifth storage area of the transmission frame. And the output device further includes second state data reading means for reading second state data from the fifth storage area, and the first state data indicates an abnormality. However, if the second state data read from the fifth storage area indicates an abnormality, the second output signal can be configured not to be output to the outside.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transmission frame comprising a plurality of devices and an audio network connecting the plurality of devices, and having a storage area for storing data to be transmitted and received between the plurality of devices. An acoustic signal processing system that circulates between the plurality of devices at predetermined intervals, wherein each of the plurality of devices can read and write data to a specific area in the storage area of the transmission frame. In the acoustic signal processing system, the plurality of devices include an input unit for inputting an acoustic signal from the outside, and an acoustic signal input by the input unit as an input signal to the acoustic signal processing system. An input device having input signal writing means for writing to the storage area; and reading an input signal from the first storage area. First reading means, first signal processing means for performing signal processing on the input signal read by the first reading means, and input signal processed by the first signal processing means as a first output signal of the transmission frame. A first signal processing device having a first output signal writing means for writing to the second storage area; a second reading means for reading an input signal from the first storage area; and an input signal read by the second reading means in the first Second signal processing means for performing the same signal processing as one signal processing means, and second output signal writing means for writing the input signal processed by the second signal processing means as a second output signal in the third storage area of the transmission frame. A second signal processing device, an instruction input means for an operator to input a switching instruction of the signal processing device, and input by the instruction input means A control device having a switching command writing means for writing a switching command corresponding to the designated instruction to the fourth storage area of the transmission frame, a switching command reading means for reading the switching command from the fourth storage area, and the switching command When there is not, the first output signal is read from the second storage area, and when the switching command is given, the output signal reading means for reading the second output signal from the third storage area and the output signal reading means An acoustic signal processing system comprising at least an output device having output means for outputting a read output signal to the outside.

  The operator can input a switching instruction of the signal processing device from the control device. A switching command corresponding to the input switching instruction is transmitted to at least the output device. The output device reads out the first output signal from the second storage area and outputs it to the outside when there is no switching command by the output signal reading means and the output means, but when the switching command is given, the output device outputs the third output signal. The second output signal is read from the storage area and output to the outside.

  According to the present invention, when the first state data indicates an abnormality, the output device simply switches the read source of the output signal from the second storage area to the fourth storage area. It is possible to switch from the device to the second signal processing device (mirroring the signal processing device). Therefore, in the process of switching the signal processing device, the output signal output from the output device is hardly interrupted (sound interruption is several milliseconds or less), and the mirroring of the signal processing device can be realized quickly with simple processing. Has an effect. The present invention is suitable for implementing a mirroring function in an acoustic signal processing system that is required to continue outputting acoustic signals, such as a mixing system used in a live performance venue.

  Further, the second state data indicating the state of the second signal processing device is also configured to be output, so that the second state read from the fifth storage area even when the first state data indicates an abnormality. If the status data indicates an abnormality, the second output signal is not output to the outside. Thereby, it is possible to prevent an abnormal sound signal from being output.

  In addition, the first signal processing device can be switched to the second signal processing device in response to a switching instruction manually input by the operator. There is an excellent effect that the mirroring of the signal processing device can be realized quickly in the processing.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the mixing system which is embodiment of the acoustic system which concerns on this invention, Comprising: (a) is a figure explaining the transmission path of "twin operation", (b) is "single operation" The figure explaining the transmission route of. The figure explaining the structure of the transmission frame which flows through the audio network of FIG. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the electric hardware hardware constitutions of each apparatus which comprises a mixing system, (a) is the hardware constitutions of a console, (b) is a 1st engine and a 2nd engine, (c ) Shows the hardware configuration of the I / O device. The block diagram explaining the hardware constitutions of the network I / O which each apparatus comprises. The block diagram explaining the process which the frame process part of FIG. 4 performs. The block diagram explaining the flow of the audio signal processing in the mixing system of FIG. 2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining characteristics of a FAST mode, in which FIG. 1A is a diagram for explaining a state of transmission channel assignment of an acoustic signal area to each device, and FIG. (C) is a diagram for explaining the input and output operations of an audio signal (waveform data) when the operational engine is abnormal. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining characteristics of an ECONOMY mode, in which (a) is a diagram for explaining a state of transmission channel assignment of an acoustic signal region to each device when an operation engine is normal, and (b) is an operation system. The figure explaining the operation | movement of the input and output of an audio signal (waveform data) when an engine is normal, (c) is a mode of the allocation of the transmission channel of the acoustic signal area | region with respect to each apparatus at the time of an operational system abnormality FIG. 4D is a diagram for explaining the input and output operations of audio signals (waveform data) when the operational engine is abnormal. The figure explaining the item of a mirroring setting. The flowchart which shows the process which the control microcomputer of each apparatus performs according to flag output on / off setting. The flowchart which shows the regular operation | movement check process which the control microcomputer of an engine performs in the case of FAST mode. The flowchart which shows the regular flag check process which the control microcomputer of an output device performs in the case of FAST mode. The flowchart which shows the process which the control microcomputer of a console performs when engine switching operation is performed by the operator in the case of FAST mode. The flowchart which shows the process which the control microcomputer of an output device performs when the switching command according to the engine switching operation by an operator is received in the case of FAST mode. The flowchart which shows the periodic operation check process which the control microcomputer of an engine performs in the case of ECONOMY mode. The flowchart which shows the regular flag check process which the control microcomputer of an output device performs in the case of ECONOMY mode. The flowchart which shows the regular flag check process which the control microcomputer of a standby system engine performs in the ECONOMY mode. The flowchart which shows the process which the control microcomputer of a console performs when engine switching operation is performed by the operator in the ECONOMY mode. The flowchart which shows the process which the control microcomputer of an operation system engine performs when the A write prohibition command according to the engine switching operation by an operator is received in the ECONOMY mode. The flowchart which shows the process which the control microcomputer of a standby system engine performs when the A write permission command according to the engine switching operation by an operator is received in the ECONOMY mode.

  Hereinafter, a mixing system as an embodiment of an acoustic signal processing system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Overall configuration of mixing system>
FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating the configuration of a mixing system.
The mixing system shown in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of system component devices (nodes) and an audio network 7 that connects the devices, and as a plurality of devices, a mixing console (device B) 1 on which an operator performs various operations, A first mixing engine (device C) 2 and a second mixing engine (device D) 3 that perform signal processing such as mixing processing on an audio signal, and an audio signal that inputs an audio signal from the outside or outputs an audio signal to the outside I / O devices (I / O devices (devices A, E and F)) 4 to 6 are included.

  The plurality of devices 1 to 6 that construct the mixing system jointly perform signal processing related to audio signal mixing processing. That is, the console 1 serves as a control device for controlling the operation of the entire system and remotely controlling the devices 2 to 6, and gives instructions according to operations received from the operator to the other devices 2 to 6 via the audio network 7. By transmitting, control of signal processing in the engines 2 and 3 and path control for transmitting and receiving audio signals between the devices are performed. The other devices 2 to 6 operate based on instructions given from the console 1. Further, the operator monitors various data such as signal processing contents (parameter values and the like) executed by the engines 2 and 3 and input / output levels of audio signals in the I / O devices 4 to 6 on the console 1. can do.

  The audio network 7 is a ring-type network formed by sequentially connecting the devices 1 to 6 using an Ethernet (registered trademark) standard network cable. In the transmission method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 072347), various data including audio signals of a plurality of channels can be transmitted in units of “transmission frames”.

  Any one of the devices 1 to 6 connected to the audio network 7 becomes a master node, creates a “transmission frame” at every predetermined sampling period, and sends the created transmission frame to the network 7. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the device F (third I / O device 6) to which the reference sign (M) is added is a master node.

  All the devices other than the master node are slave nodes, and perform a transfer process of receiving the transmission frame from the audio network 7 and transmitting the transmission frame to the audio network 7 based on a predetermined network clock. By appropriately setting the size of one transmission frame based on conditions such as the sampling period and the communication speed (transmission bandwidth) of the network 7, the transmission frame transmitted from the master node is within one sampling period. One round can be made between all the devices 1 to 6 connected to the ring network 7. Therefore, a plurality of channels of audio signals (waveform data) placed on the transmission frame can be transmitted between the plurality of devices 1 to 6 in substantially real time.

  The master node functions as a device that generates the transmission frame, and also functions as a word clock master of a word clock that synchronizes the timing of the sampling period for processing the waveform data in each device on the network 7. Each device serving as a slave node synchronizes with the timing at which reception of one transmission frame is started, and generates a word clock that defines a sampling period for processing waveform data, thereby adjusting the processing timing of waveform data. , And synchronized with the timing of the sampling period (word clock) in the master node.

<< Transmission path of transmission frame >>
In FIG. 1A, an arrow connecting the devices indicates a transmission path of the transmission frame, and the direction of the arrow indicates the transfer direction of the transmission frame. The devices 1 to 6 each include two sets of a reception interface and a transmission interface that perform communication in one direction, and a pair of reception interfaces and transmission interfaces of two adjacent devices are connected by a network cable.

  For example, between the device A (I / O device 4) and the device B (console 1), the reception interface of the device A and the transmission interface of the device B are connected by one communication cable, and the reception interface of the device B The transmission interface of apparatus A is connected by another communication cable. Similarly, two communication cables are used between the device A (I / O device 4) and the device F (I / O device 6) drawn at both ends of the row of the devices 1 to 6 shown in FIG. Connected. In this way, by connecting two adjacent devices in sequence, two ring-shaped transmission paths for transmitting transmission frames in opposite directions are formed as shown in FIG. The transmission frame generated by the master node (device F) circulates through all devices in the order of devices F → A → B → C → D → E → F in one of the two transmission paths, In the path, all devices are circulated in the order of devices F → E → D → C → B → A → F. In the present specification and drawings, the operation of transmitting a transmission frame through such a duplexed transmission path is referred to as “twin operation”. The mixing system of FIG. 1A can be operated in “twin operation” when the system is operating normally (“(1) twin operation” in FIG. 1).

  In a mixing system operating in “twin operation”, one of the devices in the system (for example, device D) is present on the network 7 because the power is turned off or the cable is disconnected, etc. If it does not occur (“(2) Power off”), the two ring-shaped transmission paths are disconnected at the location of the device (device D) when the absence occurs. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the devices C and E adjacent to the disconnected device D become the return end (loopback (LB)) of the transmission path, Between the devices, one ring-shaped transmission path with each loopback as both ends is formed. In this transmission path, the transmission frame generated by the master node F circulates through five devices in the order of devices F → A → B → C → B → A → F → E → F (shown in FIG. 1B). “(3) Single operation”).

  As described above, in the mixing system according to the present embodiment, even if a part of the transmission path of the twin operation is disconnected at one device (however, a device other than the master node) on the network 7, a single operation is performed. It is possible to maintain a transmission path that circulates transmission frames throughout the system using the above-described path. Therefore, even when one of the devices connected to the network 7 no longer exists, the other devices can continue the operation of transmitting the transmission frame throughout the system without being disconnected from the network 7.

<Engine mirroring>
Further, the mixing system of the present embodiment includes two engines, a first mixing engine 2 and a second mixing engine 3, as shown in FIG. 1A, and the two engines are selectively switched. System operation mode (engine mirroring) is possible. When engine mirroring is performed, the two engines 2 and 3 are set to perform the same mixing processing on the same audio signal, and one of them is an “operational engine” used as a main body of signal processing in the mixing system. (The first signal processing device), and the other is a backup engine ("standby system engine" (second signal processing device)) that stands by without participating in the signal processing.

  The original “active engine” was used by using the “standby engine” as a new operational engine when an abnormality occurred in the operation of the “active engine” due to the mirroring function of the engine. Signal processing can be continued with the new operational engine. In addition, as described above, even when one device on the network is absent, the entire system can continue to transmit the transmission frame by a single operation. That is, in the mixing system according to the present embodiment, it is possible to continue the operation of transmitting the transmission frame in the entire system and continue the signal processing for the audio signal even when the operation engine is absent. is there.

  In the mixing system according to the present embodiment, as will be described later, two operation modes of “FAST mode” and “ECONOMY mode” can be set when performing engine mirroring. The “FAST mode” is characterized in that the engine is switched without interrupting the output of audio signals from the I / O device 4, 5 or 6. The “ECONOMY mode” is characterized in that it saves the amount of storage area (transmission channel) of the audio signal in the transmission frame used for mirroring.

<< Configuration of transmission frame >>
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a transmission frame transmitted through the audio network 7. The transmission frame has a plurality of storage areas for storing various data such as audio signals. The transmission frame includes a preamble 100, a management data CD storage area 101, an acoustic signal area 102 capable of storing audio signals of a plurality of channels, an Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103, an ITP area 104, and a meter area 105 in order from the head side. , An NC area 106 and a frame check sequence (FCS) area 107 for storing an error check code of the frame. Note that the size of each area (bandwidth of each area) shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and the size ratio of each area on the drawing does not correspond to the amount of data stored in that area.

  In the preamble 100, an SFD (Start Frame Delimiter) and the like are described together with a preamble defined by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.3. In the present invention, since the routing of the transmission frame in the system is performed not by the device address but by the physical connection of the device by the cable, the “destination address” of the transmission frame is not necessary. Further, since the size of the transmission frame is a predetermined fixed size, the “data size” of the transmission frame is also unnecessary. In the CD storage area 101, data (transmission frame number or sample) delay value for managing data included in the transmission frame is described. In the present embodiment, OSF flags (first state data and second state data) described later are written in the CD storage area 101.

  The acoustic signal area 102 is an area used for transmitting an audio signal, and has a plurality of predetermined transmission channels (for example, 256 channels). The transmission channel can store digital audio signals (waveform data) sampled at a predetermined sampling frequency for each channel in one transmission channel. Each transmission channel is assigned a continuous channel number in order from the head side of the acoustic signal area 102. Each device connected to the network 7 is assigned in advance with one or a plurality of transmission channels into which the device writes audio signals. The assignment of the acoustic signal area 102 to each device will be described later.

  The Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103, the ITP area 104, the meter area 105, and the NC area 106 are areas for storing data other than audio signals exchanged between the devices 1 to 6 via the audio network 7. A normal Ethernet (registered trademark) frame is transmitted by the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103. A normal Ethernet (registered trademark) frame has a destination address, a transmission source address, and a data size following the preamble and SFD described above, followed by variable-length data, and ends with an FCS for error check. The destination address and the source address are MAC (Media Access Control) addresses unique to the network I / O of each device. Note that a broadcast address destined for all devices can also be designated as the destination address. In this system, various control data transmitted for one apparatus to remotely monitor or control another apparatus are all transmitted in the Ethernet (registered trademark) frame format. The Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 stores various control data (Ethernet (registered trademark) data) such as remote control data transmitted from the console 1. When transmitting data larger than the size that can be written in the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 of one transmission frame, as is well known, the transmission side divides the data into partial data smaller than the size that can be written, and receives it. The original data is restored by combining a plurality of partial data in a predetermined order on the side. The meter area 105 stores level display meter data for displaying the input / output volume level of each audio signal of each device on the console 1 (control device). The NC area 106 stores data indicating the network configuration of the audio network 7.

  The FCS 47 is an area that stores an error check code for detecting a frame error, which is defined by IEEE 802.3. The reason why the area 105 for storing the data for the level display meter and the NC area 106 for storing the data shown in the network configuration are provided is to constantly transmit the data. The details of the network technology using the transmission frame described above are described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-094587, so please refer to that.

<< Hardware configuration of each device >>
FIGS. 3A to 3C are block diagrams for explaining the hardware configuration of each device constituting the mixing system, in which FIG. 3A is a hardware configuration of the console 1, and FIG. Hardware configurations of the O apparatuses 4 to 6, (c) show the hardware configurations of the first engine 2 and the second engine 3, respectively.

<Common configuration for each device>
3A to 3C, CPUs 11, 20, 30, memories 11, 21, 31, including ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory), an audio signal interface (“A IO” (hereinafter “A IO”) Audio I / O ")) 12, 22, 32, network interface (" N I / O ", hereinafter" network I / O ") 13, 23, 33, and computer interface (" PC IO ") 14, 24, Reference numeral 34 denotes a component common to the devices 1 to 6. Each component of each device is connected to the CPU 10, 20, 30 via the CPU buses 18, 26, 37. The CPUs 10, 20, and 30 of the respective devices execute control programs stored in the ROMs of the memories 11, 21, 31, respectively, and are based on biweekly setting data and various parameters stored in the RAMs of the memories 11, 21, 31. To control the overall operation of each device.

  The audio I / Os 12, 22, and 32 are input means for inputting an analog or digital audio signal from an input source externally connected to each device, or output means for outputting an analog or digital audio signal to an externally connected output destination. It is an interface that functions as The input source is any device that inputs an input signal (audio signal) to the mixing system, such as a musical instrument or a music playback device. The output destination is any device that is the output destination of the output signal (audio signal) of the mixing system, such as an amplifier, a recording device, or a headphone for monitoring. The audio I / Os 12, 22, and 32 will be described in detail when the I / O device in FIG.

  The network I / Os 13, 23, and 33 are interfaces for connecting each device to the audio network 7. The network I / Os 13, 23, and 33 have a transfer function for receiving a transmission frame from the upstream of the route and transmitting it downstream. It functions as a reading means for reading various data such as an audio signal from the area and a writing means for writing various data such as an audio signal to a specific area of the transmission frame. Details of the network I / Os 13, 23, and 33 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The audio I / O 12, 22, 32 of each device and the network I / O 13, 23, 33 are connected by audio buses 19, 27, 38, and the audio I / O 12, 22, 32 and network I / O 13 are connected. , 23, and 33, digital audio signals (waveform data) of a plurality of channels are time-division-transmitted one sample at a time based on the sampling period, and an Ethernet (registered trademark) frame is transmitted in parallel therewith. it can. The audio I / O and the network I / O synchronize the timing of the sampling cycle for processing the waveform data by a known technique using a word clock. That is, any one of the audio I / O and the network I / O becomes a word clock master, and other than the master becomes a slave, and the slave generates a word clock at a timing synchronized with the word clock generated by the master. The waveform data is processed at the timing of the sampling period based on the above.

  Further, the computer interfaces 14, 24, and 34 of each device are ordinary Ethernet (registered trademark) standard interfaces for connecting a personal computer (PC) to each device. The PC externally attached to the device via the PC interface 14, 24, 34 is not only between the directly connected device but also with another device via the audio network 7 to which the device is connected. However, the Ethernet (registered trademark) frame can be transmitted, and the Ethernet (registered trademark) frame is used as a control device (similar to the console 1) for remotely controlling each device 1 to 6 of the mixing system. Operate.

<Console configuration>
3A, the console 1 includes a display unit (P display) 15 provided on the operation panel, a panel operation unit (P operation unit) 16 for receiving various operations by the operator, and a volume level of the audio signal of each channel. A volume level adjusting operator (electric F) 17 for adjusting the sound level is provided. The display unit 15 is a display such as a liquid crystal display, for example, and displays various information based on a display control signal given from the CPU 10 via the CPU bus 18. The panel operation element 16 is a large number of operation elements arranged on the operation panel. The volume level adjusting operator 17 is an operator for adjusting the volume of the audio signal, and the operation position of the knob unit is electrically controlled based on the drive signal supplied from the CPU 10, so-called “electric fader”. Consists of.

  The operator uses the display unit 15 of the console 1, the panel operator 16, and the volume level adjustment operator 17 to set values of various parameters related to signal processing executed by the engines 2 and 3, and to set mirroring described later. In addition, various operations such as an engine switching instruction can be input. A detection signal corresponding to the operation of the panel operator 16 or the like is supplied to the CPU 10 via the CPU bus 18. Based on the supplied detection signal, the CPU 10 controls the operation of the console 1 itself and generates control data for remotely controlling other devices. Control data generated by the CPU 10 is supplied to the network I / O 13 via the CPU bus 18 and is written in the transmission frame in the network I / O 13.

<< Configuration of I / O device >>
In the I / O device of FIG. 3B, the audio I / O 22 inputs / outputs an analog input unit that inputs an analog audio signal, an analog output unit that outputs an analog audio signal, or a digital audio signal (waveform data). It has at least one function of a digital input / output unit. The audio I / O 22 may be configured by an I / O card mounting slot and a card type device mounted in the slot. The operator can arbitrarily change the configuration of the audio I / O 22 within a limit range such as the number of slots for installing I / O cards.

  The analog input unit includes, for example, a plurality of analog input terminals such as an XLR terminal and a phone terminal and an AD conversion circuit, and converts analog audio signals of a plurality of channels supplied from an input source connected to the input terminals for each sampling period. Are converted into digital audio signals (waveform data) and output to the audio bus 27.

  The analog output unit includes a plurality of analog output terminals such as an XLR terminal and a phone terminal and a DA conversion circuit, and converts a plurality of channels of digital audio signals (waveform data) taken from the audio bus 27 into analog audio for each sampling period. The signal is converted into a signal and output to an output destination connected to the output terminal.

  The digital input / output unit includes, for example, a plurality of digital audio terminals such as an AES / EBU terminal and an ADAT (registered trademark) terminal, and inputs waveform data from an input source connected to the digital audio terminal for each sampling period. Alternatively, waveform data is output to an output destination connected to the digital audio terminal.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the I / O device includes a simple user interface (simple UI) 25. The simple UI 25 is a simple user interface including a power switch, an LED indicator for operation check, and the like.

<Engine configuration>
As shown in FIG. 3C, the engines 2 and 3 are provided with a signal processing unit (DSP (Digital Signal Processing) unit) 35 that performs signal processing on the audio signal. The DSP unit 35 may be configured by one DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or may be configured by a plurality of DSPs interconnected by a bus, and the signal processing may be distributed by a plurality of DSPs. . The DSP unit 35 is connected to the audio I / O 32 and the network I / O 33 via the audio bus 38, and a plurality of channels are provided for each sampling period between the DSP unit 35, the audio I / O 32, and the network I / O 33. The waveform data can be transmitted and received.

  The DSP unit 35 is supplied with waveform data (audio signals) of a plurality of channels fetched from the network I / O 33 and the audio I / O 32 via the audio bus 38 for each sampling period, and via the CPU bus 37. Then, control data is supplied from the CPU 30. The control data is data corresponding to the operation related to the mixing process performed by the operator in the console 1 and is received from the console 1 via the audio network 7. The DSP unit 35 executes processing based on various microprograms for each sampling period, and obtains signal processing corresponding to the parameter value corresponding to the operation input by the operator from the console 1 from the audio bus 38. Perform on channel waveform data. The waveform data of a plurality of channels subjected to signal processing by the DSP unit 35 is supplied to the network I / O 33 or the audio I / O 32 via the audio bus at every sampling period.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, the engines 2 and 3 include a simple user interface (simple UI) 36. The simple UI 36 is a power switch, an LED indicator for operation check, or the like.

<< Configuration of network I / O >>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical hardware configuration of the network I / Os 13, 23, and 33 provided in the console 1, the engines 2 and 3, and the I / O devices 4 to 6. As shown in FIG. 4, the network I / Os 13, 23, and 33 include one set of the first receiving unit 40 and the first transmitting unit 41, another set of the second receiving unit 42 and the second transmitting unit 43, and a frame. The processing unit 44, the control microcomputer (“control microcomputer”) 45, the audio signal reception FIFO 46 and the audio signal transmission FIFO 47 connected to the audio bus 19, 27 or 38, and the CPU bus 18, 26 or 37 A control data reception FIFO 48 and a control data transmission FIFO 49 are provided.

  The control microcomputer 45 is a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and is connected to the frame processing unit 44 and the CPU bus 18, 26, or 37 so as to be able to transmit and receive data. The CPU of the control microcomputer 45 executes a control program stored in the ROM or RAM, and controls the overall operation of the network I / O. Further, the control microcomputer 45 monitors the operation of the main CPU 10, 20 or 30 of the apparatus connected via the CPU bus 18, 26 or 37, and an abnormality occurs in the main CPU 10, 20 or 30. In addition, it is possible to perform processing for notifying other devices on the network 7 to that effect.

  One set of the first receiver 40 and the first transmitter 41 is connected to one adjacent device by a network cable, and one set of the second receiver 42 and the second transmitter 43 is another adjacent by a network cable (See FIG. 1 (a)). The receivers 40 and 42 demodulate digital data from the electrical signal or optical signal based on the network clock extracted from the electrical signal or optical signal propagating through the network cable, and are transmitted from the upstream of the transmission path. Data constituting the existing transmission frame is sequentially supplied to the frame processing unit 44. The transmission units 41 and 43 modulate the digital data supplied from the frame processing unit 44 into an electric signal or an optical signal using a network clock as a carrier and output the modulated digital data from the network cable. Thereby, the data of the transmission frame is sequentially transmitted downstream in the path.

  As long as the network physical layer of the receivers 40 and 42 and the transmitters 41 and 43 has a bandwidth that can transmit a transmission frame of a predetermined size within one sampling period, it is possible to use any conventionally known communication method. An interface for performing data communication may be configured. As an example, a physical layer of the well-known 1 Gbps Ethernet (registered trademark) standard satisfies the above-described capability requirement.

  The frame processing unit 44 performs processing for capturing transmission frame data supplied via the reception units 40 and 42 and processing for writing data into the transmission frame, while transmitting the received transmission frame to the transmission unit 41, Output to 43. That is, transmission frames input from the upstream of the route via the receiving units 40 and 42 are sequentially transferred to the downstream of the route via the transmitting units 41 and 43 through the frame processing unit 44. However, in the process in which the transmission frame passes through the frame processing unit 44, the frame processing unit 44 performs data fetching and writing processing on the transmission frame.

  The transmission frame is basically transferred by transmitting a transmission frame input from the first reception unit 40 from the second transmission unit 43 and a transmission frame input from the second reception unit 42 to the first transmission. This is performed for two routes output from the unit 41. However, in a device that is a folded end (loopback) of a path when performing a single operation, a path for transmitting a transmission frame input from the first receiver 40 from the first transmitter 41 or a second receiver The transmission frame input from 42 is transferred using any one of the paths for outputting from the second transmission unit 43.

  Each of the FIFOs 46 to 49 is a first-in, first-out buffer that reads in order from the previously written data. In the frame processing unit 44, the data to be written to the transmission frame Used for temporary storage of data taken from a transmission frame.

  The audio signal reception FIFO 46 is a buffer for storing a plurality of channels of digital audio signals (waveform data) captured from the transmission frame by the frame processing unit 44. The waveform data of a plurality of channels stored in the audio signal reception FIFO 46 is supplied to other components (audio I / O, DSP, etc.) in the apparatus via the audio bus 19, 27 or 38 for each sampling period. Is done.

  The audio signal transmission FIFO 47 is a buffer for storing waveform data of a plurality of channels to be written in a transmission frame. The audio signal transmission FIFO 47 is supplied with waveform data of a plurality of channels supplied via the audio bus 19, 27 or 38 for each sampling period.

  The control data reception FIFO 48 is data fetched from the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 of a transmission frame at a sampling period, or control data (Ethernet (registered trademark) frame formed based on the data). ). The control data stored in the control data reception FIFO 48 is read out by the main CPU 10, 20 or 30 of the device via the CPU bus 18, 26 or 37, and used for control of the entire system or control of the device. The

  The control data transmission FIFO 49 is a buffer for storing control data to be written in the transmission frame. In the transmission FIFO 49, control data (Ethernet (registered trademark) frame) to be transmitted by the main CPU 10, 20 or 30 of the apparatus via the CPU bus 18, 26 or 37 is written. The CPU 10, 20 or 30 receives the control data not only when the control data to be transmitted in the device is generated but also when the control data is not addressed to the device (others). The control data is also written in the transmission FIFO 49 as control data to be transmitted.

<Processing performed by the frame processing unit>
FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining various data reading and writing processes performed by the frame processing unit 44 when the transmission frame passes. Each of the blocks 80 to 91 represents data write processing or data read processing. The frame processing unit 44 performs a data write process and a data read process corresponding to each of the blocks 80 to 91. The processing corresponding to each block is performed independently of the processing of other blocks.

  The A writing process 80 is a process for writing waveform data of a plurality of channels stored in the audio signal transmission FIFO 47 into a specific area (transmission channel) in the acoustic signal area 102 of the transmission frame. The frame processing unit 44 of each device includes a plurality of transmission ports, and a plurality of transmission channels (transmission channel group) secured by the device are assigned to each transmission port one by one. In the A writing process 80, the waveform data corresponding to the transmission port to which the transmission channel is assigned is transmitted at the timing when each transmission channel area secured by the apparatus passes through the transmission frame of each sampling period. Write to an area (transmission channel) and rewrite the stored contents of that area. Thereby, each apparatus can transmit the transmission frame in which the waveform data is newly written downstream in the path.

  The A capture process 81 is a process for capturing waveform data from the acoustic signal area 102 of the transmission frame and storing it in the audio signal reception FIFO 46. The frame processing unit 44 of each device includes a plurality of reception ports, and a reception channel indicating one transmission channel for receiving waveform data is set in each reception port. In the A capture process 81, waveform data is captured from the transmission channel area at the timing when the transmission channel area indicated by the reception channel set in each reception port of the transmission frame for each sampling period passes. The captured waveform data is stored in the reception FIFO 46. Thereby, the waveform data written in the acoustic signal area 102 of the transmission frame by another device can be captured.

  The E writing process 82 is a process for writing the control data (Ethernet (registered trademark) frame) accumulated in the control data transmission FIFO 49 to the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 of the transmission frame. As described above, the control data (Ethernet (registered trademark) data) is control data for remote control, information on the connection status and operation status of each device, and the like. Transmission of control data is managed by a token passing method, and data can be written in the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 of a transmission frame only in a device having one authority (token) in the network 7. Therefore, when performing the E writing process 82, the frame processing unit 44 performs the E writing process 82 after the apparatus acquires the write authority for the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103. When the size of the control data stored in the control data transmission FIFO 49 is larger than the size that can be written in the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 of one transmission frame, the control data of the FIFO 49 is less than the size that can be written. Write in multiple partial data.

  The E fetch process 83 is a process for forming control data based on the data fetched from the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 of the transmission frame and storing the control data in the Ethernet (registered trademark) data reception FIFO 48. The frame processing unit 44 of each device takes in the data of the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 of the transmission frame by the E fetch process 83, and if the fetched data is all of the control data, it fetches the data as it is. When the data is partial data of control data, partial data sequentially transmitted in a plurality of transmission frames are collected to form all of the control data, and an error check is performed based on the FCS described in the control data. If an error is detected, the control data is discarded. If no error is detected, whether the destination address of the control data is addressed to the device or a PC connected to the device. To be judged. If it is not addressed to the device or the PC connected to the device, the control data is discarded. If it is addressed to the device or the PC connected to the device, the control data is received as a control data reception FIFO 48. And the reception of control data is notified to the main CPU 10, 20 or 30 of the apparatus. Upon receiving the notification, the main CPU 10, 20 or 30 reads out the control data from the control data reception FIFO 48. When the destination address is addressed to the device, the main CPU 10, 20 or 30 controls the entire system based on the read control data. If the destination address is addressed to an external PC, the read control data is transferred to the PC.

  The OSF writing process 84 and the OSF fetch process 85 are a write process and a fetch process related to the OSF flag. “OSF” is an acronym for “Operation State Flag”. The OSF flag is a flag (first state data and second state data) indicating the normal or abnormal binary operation state of the flag transmission source engines 2 and 3, and the operation state of the engine will be described later. A value indicating “abnormal” is set when the abnormal requirement is met, and a value indicating normal is set otherwise.

  The OSF writing process 84 is a process for writing an OSF flag in the CD area 101 in the transmission frame, and is performed only by the frame processing unit 44 of the engines 2 and 3. The OSF capturing process 85 is a process of capturing the OSF flag from the CD area 101 of the transmission frame, and this is performed in each device connected to the network 7. Each device can determine whether the state of the engine that is the transmission source of the OSF flag is normal or abnormal by capturing the OSF flag of the transmission frame.

  The CD writing process 85 is a process for writing data other than the OSF flag in the CD area 101 of the transmission frame. The CD capture process 86 is a process for capturing data other than the OSF flag from the CD area 101 of the transmission frame. The ECC writing process 87 is a process for writing the error check code for the transmission frame output this time by the master node into the FCS 47 of the transmission frame. The ECC fetch process 88 is a process for fetching an error check code from the FCS 47 of the transmission frame. The frame processing unit 44 of the slave node determines whether the transmission frame is normal based on the fetched error check code, and discards the transmission frame if there is an error.

  In addition to the data shown in the drawing, the frame processing unit 44 of each device performs writing and reading processing for data in the ITP area, meter area, NC area, and the like (in FIG. 89 ”and“ other import processing 90 ”).

<Flow of signal processing in mixing system>
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the flow of signal processing in the mixing system shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the console 1, the first I / O device 4, and the third I / O device 6 are used as input devices for writing an external audio signal (input signal) to the transmission frame as an input signal to the system. Further, the console 1, the first I / O device 4, and the second I / O device 5 serve as output devices that take in audio signals (output signals) mixed by the engines 2 and 3 from the transmission frame and output them externally. Used. The engines 2 and 3 themselves are also used as input devices for inputting external input signals as input signals to the system, and as output devices for outputting audio signals mixed by the engines 2 and 3 to the outside. Used. Although the mixing system includes two mixing engines 2 and 3, only one block indicating the engine is depicted in FIG. This is because the practical signal processing operation is performed only by one of the two engines 2 and 3 (operational engine).

  In FIG. 6, dotted arrows indicate the flow of audio signals between the devices 1 to 6 and the audio network 7, and solid arrows indicate the audio signals performed via the audio buses 19, 27, and 38 in each device. Show the flow. As described above, the acoustic signal area 102 of the transmission frame has a storage area for a predetermined plurality of transmission channels (for example, 256 channels), and the audio network 7 transmits audio signals for 256 channels simultaneously. Can do. Each of the devices 1 to 6 exclusively reserves one or a plurality of transmission channels used by the device for transmitting audio signals from all 256 channels in advance (for example, when connected to the network 7). Thus, the audio signal can be transmitted on the audio network 7 using the transmission channel secured by itself.

  In the input devices 1, 4, and 6, the audio input units 60 to 62 (“Ai (c)”, “Ai (# 1)”, and “Ai (# 3)” are the audio I / Os 12 and 22 in FIG. The input device is connected to an external input source for each input terminal, and the control device receives inputs from a plurality of input terminals of the audio input units 60 to 62 to the patch units 50 to 52. The “patch” basically assigns an output destination to the input source of the audio signal, and assigns the audio signal of the input source to its output destination. (Route setting) Each output destination can be assigned to only one input source and cannot be assigned to two input sources at the same time. Out If the destination is not assigned to any input source, a silent signal (zero level signal) is output to the output destination. The setting (reception setting) indicating the transmission channel to be transmitted is included.By dynamically changing the reception channel of the reception port, the number of reception ports required by the device can be reduced. Each device secures a plurality of transmission channels, and the plurality of secured transmission channels are set as transmission channels statically to a plurality of transmission ports. (Transmission setting) is not included A plurality of channels input from the outside via a plurality of input terminals of the audio input units 60 to 62 The analog audio signal is converted into a digital audio signal (waveform data) for each sampling period, and the network I / O 13 is connected via the audio buses 19 and 27 for each sampling period based on the patch settings of the patch units 50 to 52. , 23. At this time, each of the plurality of transmission ports of the network I / O 13, 23 has a plurality of transmission channels secured by the input device for transmission frames received at each sampling period. The operation of the audio input units 60 to 62 corresponds to an input unit, and the operation of the patch units 50 to 52 including the network I / Os 13 and 23 corresponds to an input signal writing unit.

  The control device performs patch setting for allocating the waveform data of the transmission channel in the transmission frame to the input channel of the input channel unit 63 in the subsequent stage for the input patch unit 53 of the mixing engines 2 and 3. The patch setting includes a reception setting indicating the brain channel that the engines 2 and 3 should receive, and a path setting for supplying the received signal of the transmission channel (one reception port) to a desired input channel. It is. When mirroring is performed, the input patch units 53 of the engines 2 and 3 respectively assign waveform data of the same transmission channel to input channels (input channels having the same channel number) having a corresponding relationship in each engine. The network I / O 33 of the engines 2 and 3 uses one or a plurality of channels of waveform data written by the input devices 1, 4, and 6 based on the reception setting of the input patch unit 53 from the transmission frame received at each sampling period ( Input signal), and the input signal of one or a plurality of channels is realized in the DSP unit 35 via the audio bus 38 for each sampling period based on the path setting of the input patch unit 53. Supply to a plurality of input channels of the hot water channel section 63. The operation of the input patch unit 53 including the network I / O 33 of the engines 2 and 3 corresponds to a first reading unit and a second reading unit.

  The input channel unit 63 has a plurality of signal processing channels (input channels), and is input for each input channel based on various parameters for controlling the volume, frequency, effect, etc. set by the control device. The processed waveform data is subjected to signal processing including level adjustment, equalizing, effect addition, and the like, and the processed audio signal is output to the mixing bus 64. The mixing bus 64 is composed of a plurality of bus lines. For each bus line, one or a plurality of channels of waveform data supplied from the input channel unit 63 are mixed, and the mixed result is output to the output channel unit 65. The output channel section 65 has a plurality of signal processing channels (output channels) corresponding to each bus line, and various parameters for controlling the volume, frequency, effect, etc. set by the control device for each output channel. Based on this, signal processing such as level adjustment is performed on the waveform data output from the corresponding bus line. The input channel unit 63, the mixing bus 64, and the output channel unit 65 are realized by processing of a microprogram executed by the DSP unit 35 (see FIG. 3C) of the engines 2 and 3. The operations of the DSP unit 35 of the engines 2 and 3 correspond to first signal processing means and second signal processing means.

  The control device performs patch setting for assigning the waveform data of each output channel of the output channel unit 65 to the transmission channel of the transmission frame for the output patch unit 54. The waveform data (output signal) of each output channel signal-processed by the DSP unit 35 is transmitted to the network I / O 33 via the audio bus 38 for each sampling period based on the patch setting of the output patch unit 54. Supplied to the port. Each of the plurality of transmission ports of the network I / O 33 writes the supplied waveform data in a specific area (transmission channel set for the transmission port) in the acoustic signal area 102 of the transmission frame for each sampling period. The operation of the output patch unit 54 including the network I / O 33 of the engines 2 and 3 corresponds to a first output signal writing unit and a second output signal writing unit. As will be described later, in the FAST mode, both the engines 2 and 3 write the output signal to the transmission frame, and in the ECONOMY mode, only one of the engines 2 and 3 writes the output signal to the transmission frame.

  The engines 2 and 3 are also provided with their own (local) audio input unit 66 (Ai (Lo) and audio output unit 76 (Ao (Lo)). 3 corresponds to the audio I / O 32 of Fig. 3. The audio signal input from each input terminal of the local audio input unit 66 and converted into an analog signal is taken from the transmission frame of the audio network 7. Similarly to the audio signal, it can be supplied to a desired input channel of the input channel unit 63 based on the path setting of the input patch unit 53. The audio signal output from each output channel of the output channel unit 65 is Similarly to the audio signal written in the transmission frame, the output patch unit 54 Based on the setting, it can be supplied to digital-to-analog conversion to the desired output terminal of the local audio output unit 76.

  The control device connects the waveform data of the transmission channel of the transmission frame to the plurality of output terminals of the audio output units 70 to 73 in the subsequent stage for the patch units 55, 56 and 57 of the output devices 1, 4, 5. Set the patch. The patch setting includes a reception setting indicating a transmission channel to be received by the output devices 1, 4 and 5, and a path setting for supplying an audio signal of the received transmission channel (one reception port) to a desired output terminal. Is included. The audio output units 70 to 72 (“Ao (c)”, “Ao (# 1)”, and “Ao (# 2)”) output functions (audio I / O) of the audio I / Os 12 and 22 in FIG. And each output terminal is connected to an external output destination. In the network I / Os 13 and 23 of the output devices 1, 4, and 5, a plurality of channels written by the engines 2 and 3 are written from the transmission frame received at each sampling period based on the reception settings of the patch units 55 to 57. The waveform data (output signal) is captured, and the captured output signals of the plurality of channels are output from the audio output units 70 to 72 via the audio buses 19 and 27 for each sampling period based on the path settings of the patch units 55 to 57. Supply to multiple output terminals. In the plurality of output terminals of the audio output units 70 to 72, the supplied waveform data of the plurality of channels is converted into an analog audio signal and output every sampling period. The operations of the patch units 55 to 57 including the network I / Os 13 and 23 correspond to output signal reading means, and the operations of the audio output units 70 to 72 correspond to output means.

In summary, the input devices 1, 4, and 6 are configured to apply a plurality of channels of audio signals input from an external input source via the audio input units 60 to 62 to the patch units 50 to 52, respectively. On the transmission channel of the transmission frame. The engines 2 and 3 take in the input signals of a plurality of channels from the transmission frame based on the patch setting of the input patch unit 53, and input the input signals by the input channel unit 63, the mixing bus 64 and the output channel unit 65. Then, the signal processing such as mixing processing is performed, and the output signals of the plurality of channels subjected to the signal processing are respectively written in the transmission channels of the transmission frame based on the patch setting of the output patch unit 54. The output devices 1, 4, and 5 take in the output signals of a plurality of channels from the transmission frame based on the patch settings of the patch units 55 to 57, and output them to external output destinations via the audio output units 70 to 73.
Note that a plurality of transmission channels secured by the device are statically set as transmission channels in a plurality of transmission ports of the network I / O of the devices 1 to 6, and the transmission channels are actually used. Even when there is no transmission (that is, when no transmission patch is set for the transmission channel), a silent signal (zero level signal) having a volume level of zero is placed on the transmission channel and the silent signal is transmitted to the network. 7 to send. As described above, each of the patch units 50 to 57 in FIG. 6 includes an input source (not shown) that supplies a zero level signal to an output destination that is not assigned to the input source.

《Patch setting over network》
As described above, in this mixing system, not only the engines 2 and 3 but also all the devices are provided with the patch portions 50 to 57. This is because an audio signal is transmitted from the input source to the output destination through the audio network 7 by effectively using a limited number of transmission channels. The operator can perform patch setting over the audio network 7 using the user interface of the control device (console 1 or PC). In the patch setting over the audio network 7, the operator sets a patch from an input source of one device to an output destination of another device (for example, setting of connection between one input terminal of the input device and one input channel of the engine). ) And transmission channel assignment is done automatically by the system, so the operator does not need to consider this. A procedure for performing patch setting over the network will be briefly described with reference to an example in which an input source connected to an input device and an input channel of an engine are connected.

  (1) On console 1 (control device), a patch setting is performed in which one input terminal of one input device is used as an input source, and one input channel of engines 2 and 3 is assigned as one output destination to that input source. When this is done, transmission connection data indicating that an audio signal from the input source should be transmitted is set for the input device having the input source. The transmission connection data includes data for specifying the input source of the audio signal. In addition, in the engines 2 and 3 having the input channel to be connected, data of reception connection indicating that the audio signal from the input source should be received and supplied to one input channel is set. The reception connection data includes data for specifying the input source and data for specifying the input channel that is the connection partner of the input source. In this embodiment, since the mirroring of the two engines 2 and 3 is performed, the same reception connection data is set in each engine 2 and 3.

  (2) The control device, for any one of the patch units 50 to 52 of the input device having the input source, out of the transmission channels reserved by the device based on the contents of the set transmission connection Is assigned to the transmission connection, and patch setting is performed to assign the transmission port of the assigned transmission channel to the input source specified by the data of the transmission connection. As a result, the specified input source signal is written to the one unused transmission channel of the transmission frame by the assigned transmission port. The input device sets the input source and the transmission channel number written by the transmission port assigned to the input source, and notifies this data to all devices connected to the audio network 7. As a result, all the other devices can know which input source audio signal is included in the transmission channel.

  (3) The control device, for the input patch unit 53 of the engine 2 or 3 as a connection partner, the setting content of the reception connection and the notification content (input source and transmission channel) from the input device having the input source. Based on a set of information for identifying the transmission channel number of the input source audio signal, setting one reception port to receive the identified transmission channel, and receiving the reception channel Patch setting for assigning an input channel specified by the data of the reception connection to the port is performed. Thereby, the audio signal of the specified transmission channel is supplied to the specified input channel. That is, the two engines 2 and 3 each receive waveform data (audio signal) from the same transmission channel, and the acquired waveform data corresponds to an input channel (same channel number) corresponding to each engine. Input channel).

  By the above (1) to (3), the audio signal input from the external input source to the input device is supplied to one input channel of the engines 2 and 3 via the audio network 7. The procedure for connecting the output channels connected to the output channels of the engines 2 and 3 and the output terminals of the output devices 1, 4, and 5 through the network 7 is as described in (1) to (3) above. The “input source” of the input device as the input source may be read as the “output channel” of the engine, and the “input channel” of the engine as the connection partner may be read as the output device “output destination”. Further, when the input source of the input device is connected to the output destination of the output device via the network 7, in the above (1) to (3), the “input source” of the input device is read as it is, and the connection partner engine The “input channel” may be read as the output device “output destination”.

《FAST mode》
FIGS. 7A to 7C are diagrams for explaining the characteristics of the “FAST mode”. (A) shows how each device is assigned to each transmission channel in the acoustic signal area 102 in the transmission frame shown in FIG. 2 (which device secures which transmission channel). 7A to 7C, the alphabet characters correspond to the alphabet characters assigned to each device in FIG. 7A to 7C, assuming that the device C (first engine 2) is an “active engine” and the device D (second engine 3) is a “standby engine”. Yes.

  In (a), an area where an alphabet character is shown indicates an area (storage area) of a transmission channel assigned to a device corresponding to the alphabet character. The size of each region (the bandwidth of each region) corresponds to the number of transmission channels secured by each device. The area C is a storage area allocated to the device C (first engine 2). The areas A, B, and F are storage areas assigned to the corresponding apparatus A (first I / O apparatus 4), apparatus B (console 1), and apparatus F (third I / O apparatus 6), respectively. . These areas C, A, B, and F are continuously secured from the head side (left side in the figure) of the acoustic signal area 102. On the other hand, the storage area D allocated to the device D (second engine 3) is exceptionally secured on the rear side (right side in the drawing) of the acoustic signal area 102. An area that is not allocated to any device remains as an “empty area”. When any device requests a new transmission channel from the master node, the master node allocates a part or all of the free area to the device, and the device (Transmission channel) is secured. In (a), the reason why the area of the device E (second I / O device) is not secured is that in the present embodiment, a configuration of a system in which the device E is used only as an output device is assumed. (See FIG. 6).

  In (a), two areas C and D for the engine reserved for mirroring are indicated by hatching. When engine mirroring in the “FAST mode” is performed, the active engine C and the standby engine D are set to perform the same mixing processing on the same audio signal, and therefore the engine C is included in the acoustic signal area 102. And the same amount (number of transmission channels) of region C and region D are secured for each of engine D. In other words, in the “FAST mode”, the transmission channel of the acoustic signal area 102 is additionally used for the output signal of the standby engine that is not substantially used. However, by assigning a transmission channel to the standby engine in advance, as described later, when the engine is mirrored (when the standby engine is switched to the operational engine), the sound is not interrupted quickly. The engine can be switched.

  FIGS. 7B and 7C are diagrams for explaining how the input / output state of the audio signal changes between the devices 1 to 6 due to the engine mirroring function in the “FAST mode”. (B) shows a state where the active engine C is normal (normal), and (c) shows a state where the standby engine D is switched to the active engine when an abnormality occurs in the active engine C ( (When abnormal). In (b) and (c), bands C, A, B, F and D extending substantially in parallel to the rows of blocks 1 to 6 indicating the devices A to F are the devices C, A, B, F and D Regions C, A, B, F, and D (see FIG. 7A) of the acoustic signal region 102 assigned to are shown. In this network, an audio signal written by one device to a transmission channel can be captured by any other device, so the bands indicating the regions C, A, B, F, and D are all the devices A to A. It is drawn in the length over F.

<Normal operation engine>
Each of the input devices A, B, and F (first I / O device 4, console 1 and third I / O device 6) receives audio signals (input signals) input from a plurality of input terminals, respectively, in the patch unit 50. , 51, 52 based on the patch settings, write to multiple transmission channels in regions A, B, and F (downward white arrows extending from devices A, B, and F to bands A, B, and F). Engines C and D (first and second engines 2 and 3) respectively capture audio signals from a plurality of transmission channels in regions A, B, and F through a plurality of reception ports and supply them to a plurality of input channels ( (Upward open arrows extending from bands A, B, and F to devices C, D).

  The engines C and D respectively process the captured input signals by the DSP unit 35, and process the signal-processed audio signals (output signals) of a plurality of output channels based on the patch settings of the output patch 54, respectively. Are written in a plurality of transmission channels in the areas C and D assigned to the. Since the active engine C and the standby engine D perform the same signal processing on the same audio signal, the audio signals written in the areas C and D are exactly the same. Further, in the patch setting, audio signals of a plurality of output channels are written at the same positions in the area C and the area D. As a result, the arrangement of the plurality of audio signals becomes the same in the regions C and D, and the configuration for switching the corresponding output signals of the engines C and D on the output device side at the time of mirroring described later is simplified. Can do.

  The output devices A, B, and E (first I / O device 4, console 1 and second I / O device 5) are written in the area C based on the patch settings of the patch units 55, 56, and 57, respectively. Of the output signals of the active engine C, the signals necessary for each one are selectively received by a plurality of reception ports and output to the connected output terminals (upward solid lines from the region C to the devices A, B and E) Arrow). As a result, an output signal obtained as a result of signal processing by the operational engine C is output from each output device, B, and E. Note that the output signal of the standby engine D written in the region D may be received simultaneously using another receiving port in the output devices A, B, and E (from the region D to the devices A, B, Upward dotted arrow to E). In this case, the engine is switched by changing the route setting of the output terminals of the patches 55, 56, and 57 in the output devices A, B, and E from the reception port in the C region to the corresponding reception port in the D region. It is done by changing.

<When the operational engine is abnormal>
When an abnormality occurs in the operational engine C, the patch settings (reception settings) of the patch units 55, 56, and 57 are changed in the output devices A, B, and E, so that the output devices A, B, and F The area of the transmission channel from which the output signal is captured is changed from area C to area D. That is, as shown in (c), the output devices A, B, and E selectively take in necessary signals among the output signals of the engine D written in the region D, and external devices connected to the output devices A, B, and E respectively. To the output destination (upward solid arrow from the region D to the devices A, B, E). Here, if a plurality of reception channels of each device can be set with an offset from a common base channel, a plurality of output signals of engine C and engine D in regions C and D are written. Since the arrangement of the plurality of transmission channels is the same as each other, simply changing the base channel from the first channel in the region C to the first channel in the region D allows the same audio signals as the plurality of audio signals captured from the region C to be obtained from the region D. Can be captured.

  In the output devices A, B, and E, by switching the source of the output signal from the region C to the region D, the output signal obtained as a result of signal processing by the original standby engine D is changed to each output device, B, and E will be output. As a result, the original standby engine D functions as an operational engine thereafter. In (c), the area D is shaded to indicate that the area D is the source of the output signal that is actually used. Note that the output signal of the engine C written in the area C may be simultaneously received by the output devices A, B, and E using different reception ports (from the area C to the devices A, B, and E). Upward dotted arrow). The original operational engine C functions as a standby engine thereafter.

  As described above, in the “FAST mode”, one of the output signals of the first engine 2 (engine C) and the second engine 3 (engine D) is selected and output on the output devices A, B, and E sides. This makes it possible to switch the engine used as the operational engine (the signal processing subject of the mixing system). In the course of the engine switching process, the transmission channel assignments for the first engine 2 (engine C) and the second engine 3 (engine D) do not change. It is not necessary to perform processing such as change. Further, the processing performed by the output devices A, B, and E is simple processing that only switches the output signal capture source. Therefore, according to the “FAST mode”, the engine can be switched with almost no interruption in the output of the audio signal from the output device (sound interruption is several milliseconds or less).

<< About automatic engine switching (OSF flag) >>
The engine can be switched automatically according to the state of the operational engine C. In this embodiment, the active engine C and the standby engine D output OSF flags (first state data and second state data) in order to realize automatic switching according to the engine state. .

  In (b) and (c), dotted lines drawn along the bands indicating the regions C and D indicate the OSF flags output by the engines C and D, respectively. Each of the engines C and D periodically checks whether its own operating state is normal or abnormal, and uses the CD writing process 86 to write the OSF flag corresponding to the check result in the CD storage area 101 of the transmission frame. . In this embodiment, an example is given in which the OSF flags of the two engines C and D are written in a common storage area (a CD storage area 101 as an example).

  All the devices A to F in the mixing system acquire the OSF flag written in the transmission frame by the engines C and D using the CD capture processing 87, and according to the OSF flag, the active engine C and the standby Normality / abnormality of each operation state of the system engine D can be detected. Each of the output devices A, B, and E selects an output signal of the standby engine D and outputs it when the OSF flag of the operational engine C indicates an abnormality, so that it can be used as an operational engine. (The signal processing subject of the mixing system) can be switched. That is, each of the output devices A, B, and E can select and output one of the output signals of the operation system engine C or the standby system engine D according to the OSF flags of the engines C and D. Note that the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which both the active engine and the standby engine output the OSF flag, and at least only the active engine may output the OSF flag.

<About manual engine switching>
In addition, the engine can be switched not only automatically according to the OSF flag, but also according to an instruction from the operator. When the operator inputs an engine switching instruction on the console 1 (device B), an engine switching command (control data) addressed to all devices 1 to 6 (destination address is a broadcast address) is transmitted to the console 1 (device B). It is written in the Ethernet (registered trademark) area 103. The output devices A, B, and E can select and output one of the output signals of the engine C or the engine D in response to receiving the switching command written in the transmission frame. Therefore, mirroring for switching the main subject of signal processing from the active engine C to the standby engine D can also be performed by a switching instruction according to the operation of the operator. The switching instruction input by the operator may be simply an instruction to switch between the active engine and the standby engine, or may be an instruction to specify an engine to be used as the active engine.

<< ECONOMY mode >>
Next, the feature of the “ECONOMY mode” will be described with reference to FIGS. (A) is a figure explaining the mode of allocation of each apparatus with respect to the transmission channel of the acoustic signal area | region 102 when the operation system engine C is operate | moving normally, (b) is the operation system engine C It is a figure explaining the mode of transmission of the audio signal between the apparatuses 1-6 at the time of operating normally. (C) shows the allocation of each device to the transmission channel in the acoustic signal area 102 when an abnormality occurs in the operation engine C (when the engine used as the signal processing main body is switched to the standby engine D). It is a figure explaining a mode, (d) is a figure explaining a mode of transmission of an audio signal between devices 1-6 when abnormality occurs in engine C.

<Normal operation engine>
In the case of the “FAST mode” described above, the storage area C and the area D in which the audio signal is written are allocated to the active engine C and the standby engine D in advance, whereas the “ECONOMY mode” is used. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), when the operational engine C is normal, the standby engine is assigned only to the operational engine C by assigning the region C (shaded portion in the drawing) of the sound signal region 102 to the operational engine C. The area of the sound signal area 102 is not assigned to D.

  As shown in (b), when the operational engine C is normal, each of the input devices A, B, and F (the first I / O device 4, the console 1, and the third I / O device 6) has a plurality of input terminals. Is written in a plurality of transmission channels in the regions A, B, and F based on the patch settings of the patch units 50, 51, 52 (from the devices A, B, and F to the bands A, Downward white arrows extending to B and F). Engines C and D (first and second engines 2 and 3) receive audio signals (input signals) from a plurality of transmission channels in areas A, B, and F based on the patch settings of the input patch 53. And supply to a plurality of input channels (upward white arrows extending from bands A, B, and F to devices C, D).

  In the engines C and D, the same patch setting is performed on the output patch 54, respectively. The operational engine C performs signal processing on the captured input signal by the DSP unit 35, and outputs a plurality of signal-processed audio signals (output signals) of a plurality of output channels based on the patch setting. Write to the transmission channel. On the other hand, the standby engine D performs signal processing on the captured input signal by the DSP unit 35. However, since the transmission frame area (transmission channel) is not secured, the patch setting is invalidated and the signal processing is performed. The operation of writing audio signals (output signals) of a plurality of output channels to the transmission frame is not performed.

  The output devices A, B, and E (the first I / O device 4, the console 1, and the second I / O device 5) write in the area C based on the patch settings of the patch units 55, 56, and 57, respectively. Of the output signals of the operational engine C thus selected are selectively received by a plurality of receiving ports and output to the connected output terminals (upward from the region C to the devices A, B, E) Solid arrows). As a result, an output signal obtained as a result of signal processing by the operational engine C is output from each output device A, B, E.

<When the operational engine is abnormal>
When an abnormality occurs in the operational engine C, the engine used as the signal processing subject is switched from the operational engine C to the standby engine D. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8C, the area C allocated to the engine C is reassigned to the engine D. In other words, the operational engine C up to that point in time disables the patch setting of the output patch 54, stops writing the audio signal to the area C, and releases the area C allocated to itself. Then, the master node (device F) of the network 7 is notified that the area has been released. On the other hand, the standby engine D up to that point makes a request to the master node to secure an area of the same size as that of the original operational engine C, and responds to the permission response from the master node. Thus, an area of a predetermined size released by the original operational engine C is secured. Thereby, the area allocated to the engine C is reassigned to the engine D. As shown in FIG. 8C, the area D newly reassigned to the engine D has the same position and the same size as the area C assigned to the engine C in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8D, the engine D that has become the active engine secures the area D, and then enables the patch setting of the output patch 54 to enable a plurality of signals processed by its own DSP unit 35. The operation of writing the audio signal (output signal) of the output channel to the plurality of transmission channels in the allocated region D is started (downward solid arrow from the engine D to the region D). Each of the output devices A, B, and E selectively takes in necessary signals among the output signals of the operational engine D written in the area D based on the patch settings of the patch units 55, 56, and 57, Output to multiple output terminals (upward arrow from region D to devices A, B and E). Here, the area D to be assigned to the engine D is the same area as the area C that has been assigned to the engine C, and the patch setting of the output patch 54 is the same for the engine C and the engine D. The plurality of audio signals written to D are the same including the arrangement thereof. Therefore, in the output devices A, B, and E, the same audio signal as the audio signal captured from the area C shown in (b) is obtained without changing the patch settings of the patch units 55, 56, and 57 before and after the engine switching. , (D).

  As a result, an output signal obtained as a result of signal processing by the engine D that has newly become an operational engine is output from the output devices B, and E. On the other hand, the engine C, which has become a standby engine, takes in the input signals from the input devices A, B, and F, but does not write the output signal that is the signal processing result in the transmission frame.

  Note that the patches 55, 56, and 57 of the output devices A, B, and E are used when each transmission channel set for reception is not secured in any device (and therefore no audio signal is written). The reception setting and path setting relating to the transmission channel are invalidated, and a silence signal is supplied to the connected input channel. Therefore, the audio signal output to the outside is automatically muted during the engine switching process, and when the engine switching is completed, the mute is automatically canceled and the audio signal output to the outside resumes. Is done. That is, in the “ECONOMY mode”, the output of the audio signal to the outside is interrupted during the engine switching process (several seconds to several tens of seconds).

  As described above, in the “ECONOMY mode”, the area secured by the operational engine C (first engine 2) is reassigned to the standby engine D (second engine 3) to be used as the operational engine. The engine (the main body of signal processing of the mixing system) can be switched. In the case of the “ECONOMY mode”, the transmission channel of the acoustic signal area 102 is not allocated to both the engines C and D in advance, but the area (transmission channel) of the acoustic signal area 102 is only assigned to the operating engine at that time. ), The engine mirroring can be performed without wasting the transmission channel of the acoustic signal region 102. In this case, while changing the assignment of the transmission channel, the output of the audio signal is interrupted (sound breakage occurs). However, if such a sound breakout is allowed to occur, the transmission channel can be saved. The advantage is great.

<< About automatic engine switching (OSF flag) >>
In the “ECONOMY mode”, the engine can be automatically switched according to the OSF flag as long as at least the operating engine outputs the OSF flag. In FIG. 8B, the operational engine C writes an OSF flag indicating its own operating state in the CD area 101 of the transmission frame (dotted line along the area C in the figure). When an abnormality occurs in the operational engine C, the operational engine C outputs an OSF flag indicating the abnormality, stops writing the audio signal, and releases the area C. Each output device A, B, and E mutes the output of the audio signal to the outside in response to the reception of the OSF flag indicating an abnormality in the engine C. The standby engine D waits for the area reserved by the operational engine C in the acoustic signal area 102 of the transmission frame to be released in response to the reception of the OSF flag indicating the abnormality. An area is secured, and writing of an audio signal to the secured area is started (FIG. 8D). Then, the engine D writes an OSF flag indicating its own operating state in the CD area 101 of the transmission frame as a new operational engine (dotted line along the area D in the figure). In response to the reception of the OSF flag indicating that the engine D is normal, the output devices A, B, and E cancel the output mute of the audio signal and start outputting the output signal of the engine D. Thereby, the engine used as the operational engine (the main body of signal processing of the mixing system) can be switched according to the OSF flag. 8B and 8D show a configuration example in which only the active engine outputs the OSF flag, this is not limiting, and both the active engine and the standby engine output the OSF flag. It may be configured to.

<About manual engine switching>
The engine switching in the “ECNOMY mode” is not only automatically performed according to the OSF flag, but can also be performed according to an instruction from the operator. When the operator inputs an engine switching instruction at the console 1 (device B), an engine switching command (control data) is written into the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 of the transmission frame at the console 1, so that the automatic switching is performed. By the same processing as in the above case, the active engine at that time stops writing the audio signal and releases the area, and the standby engine at that time secures the area and starts writing the audio signal. The output devices A, B, and E mute the output of the audio signal to the outside until the engine switching is completed, and cancel the mute when the output is completed. Thereby, the engine used as the operational engine (the main body of signal processing of the mixing system) can be switched according to the OSF flag. The switching instruction input by the operator may be simply an instruction to switch between the active engine and the standby engine, or may be an instruction to specify an engine to be used as the active engine.

《Mirroring setting》
An operator of the mixing system can set a plurality of items related to mirroring from the console 1 (control device). Items for setting mirroring are listed in FIG. 9 as an example. In the mirroring setting item, an OSF flag output function for setting whether to output an OSF flag from the engine is turned on / off, and the operation of the main CPU 30 that controls the engine by the network microcomputer 45 is checked. On / off setting of watchdog function, on / off setting of engine switching function (mirroring function), network I / O control microcomputer 45 notifies main CPU abnormality to other devices, and notification from other devices There are on / off setting of the CPU notification function to be received and setting of the operation mode of mirroring (selection of either FAST mode or ECONOMY mode).

  Next, FIGS. 10 to 20 show flowcharts of processing executed jointly by the main CPUs 10, 20, and 30 and the control microcomputer 45 of the network I / O in each apparatus. When the above-described mirroring setting items are set by the operator, the console 1 (control device) writes the set content in a transmission frame and transmits it to all devices connected to the mixing system. All apparatuses take in mirroring setting data (on / off, etc.) from the transmission frame and perform necessary processing in the apparatus according to the setting contents. Thereby, the content of the mirroring setting performed in the console 1 is reflected in each apparatus of the mixing system.

<< OSF flag output function setting >>
FIG. 10 shows that when the on / off setting of the OSF flag output function, which is one of the mirroring setting items, is changed, the CPU 30 of the engines 2 and 3 and the control microcomputer 45 of the network I / O 33 perform jointly. It is a flowchart which shows a process. This process is executed when the mirroring operation mode is set to either the FAST mode or the ECONOMY mode.

  When the operator changes the on / off setting of the OSF flag output function on the console 1 (control device), the changed on / off setting value is written in the transmission frame under the control of the CPU 10. In the network I / O 33 of the engines 2 and 3, the frame processing unit 44 captures the set value written in the transmission frame by the E capture processing 83. Then, the CPU 30 of the engines 2 and 3 writes the fetched setting value of the OSF flag output function in the RAM of the memory 31 and transmits it to the control microcomputer 45 (step S1). When the set value is ON (“ON” in step S2), the control microcomputer 45 sets the OSF flag write permission in the frame processing unit 44 (step S3). On the other hand, when the set value is off (“off” in step S2), the engine control microcomputer 45 sets the OSF flag write prohibition in the frame processing unit 44 (step S4).

  Since the OSF flag is used when the mirroring function is on (during the mirroring operation), the OSF flag output function of each engine is always set to on. The reason why the user can set the OSF flag output function on / off is that there are cases where the on / off setting of the OSF flag output function is used in addition to the mirroring function. Therefore, the user can arbitrarily set the OSF flag output function on / off as needed only when the mirroring function is off.

<< Engine switching operation in FAST mode >>
The operation related to the engine switching function in the FAST mode will be described. When the on / off setting of the engine switching function is set to ON and the mirroring mode is set to the FAST mode, the engine switching function by the FAST mode functions. In the following description of the operation, it is assumed that both the operation engine and the standby engine output the OSF flag.

《Operation check process in engine》
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a periodic operation check process performed by the engine control microcomputer 45 when the engine switching function in the FAST mode is on. This process is executed in both the operation system engine and the standby system engine.

  In step S5, the control microcomputer 45 checks predetermined abnormality requirements and determines whether the operation of the engine is abnormal or normal. The abnormal requirement “(1) power supply” is a process of checking whether the power source of the engine has been turned off due to factors such as being turned off by an operator, a power cable being disconnected, or a failure. Even if the main power is turned off, the control microcomputer of the network I / O 33 can operate. The abnormal requirement “(2) watchdog” is a check of whether or not the main CPU 30 of the engine is operating normally by the watchdog function. This requirement will not be checked if the watchdog function is turned off by the operator. Further, “(3) hardware” of the abnormality requirement is an error check of various hardware such as audio I / O 32, DSP 35, and hardware for communication between the CPU 30 and the control microcomputer 45 in the engine. Here, the checks (1) and (2) are processes performed by the control microcomputer 45. The check of (3) is a process of the CPU 30, but the check result is transmitted to the control microcomputer 45 and can be used by the control microcomputer 45. In addition, what was mentioned to step S5 as an abnormal requirement is an example, Comprising: An abnormal requirement is not limited to these.

  In step S6, the control microcomputer 45 determines that the engine state is abnormal if there is an abnormality in at least one of the abnormality requirements in step S5. Is determined to be normal. If the check result of the abnormal requirement is normal (“normal” in step S6), “normal” is set as the value of the OSF flag in step S7. If the check result of the abnormal requirement is abnormal (“abnormal” in step S6), “abnormal” is set to the value of the OSF flag in step S8.

  The frame processing unit 44 of the engine writes the value of the OSF flag set in step S7 or S8 in the CD area 101 of the transmission frame by the OSF writing process 84, and outputs the transmission frame. Thereby, the OSF flag corresponding to the operating state of the engine is transmitted to all the devices 1 to 6 in the audio network 7. All the devices 1 to 6 of the audio network 7 can know the operating state of the engine from the received OSF flag. The operation of the OSF writing process 84 corresponds to first state data writing means and second state data writing means.

<< Automatic switching according to OSF flag >>
The engine switching in the FAST mode can be automatically performed according to the value of the OSF flag, or can be performed according to the switching instruction by the manual operation of the operator. First, an operation related to automatic switching according to the OSF flag will be described.

<< Flag check process in output device >>
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of an OSF flag check process periodically performed by the control microcomputer 45 of the network I / Os 13 and 23 of the output devices 1, 4 and 5 when the FAST mode is set as the mirroring mode. is there. When the mirroring function is on, the OSF flag output function of the engines 2 and 3 is always on, and the regular processing of FIG. 12 is performed in each output device.

  In the network I / Os 13 and 23 of the output devices 1, 4 and 5, the frame processing unit 44 performs the OSF flag (first state data) of the operation engine from the CD area 101 of the transmission frame and the standby by the OSF capture processing 85 The OSF flag (second state data) of the system engine is fetched. This OSF acquisition process 85 corresponds to first state data reading means. In step S9, the control microcomputer 45 checks the OSF flag of the operational engine, and if the value of the OSF flag of the operational engine indicates “abnormal” (“abnormal” in step S9), the control microcomputer 45 performs the steps after step S10. By processing, the source of the output signal is switched from the current active engine to the current standby engine. In other words, the engine used in the mixing system is switched.

  In step S10, the control microcomputer 45 of the output device invalidates the patch settings of the patch units 55, 56, and 57, thereby muting the output signal currently output to the outside (the output signal of the operational engine). I do. The mute processing has been conventionally known, such as a process of gradually lowering the output level of the output signal, a process of holding normal sample waveform data output in the immediately preceding sampling period and outputting the held sample waveform data, and a combination thereof. Can be configured by appropriate processing. The mute process may be controlled by the main CPUs 10 and 20.

  In step S11, the control microcomputer 45 of the output device checks the OSF flag of the standby engine read by the frame processing unit 44 through the OSF fetch process 85, and the value of the OSF flag of the standby engine indicates “normal”. If so ("normal" in step S28), it is determined in step S12 whether to switch to the engine based on a predetermined switching condition. The OSF acquisition process 85 relating to the standby engine corresponds to the second state data reading means.

  The switching condition is a rule determined in advance, for example, checking the OSF flag of the operational engine in step S9 a plurality of times. As an example, if the switching condition is set so that the OSF flag of the operational engine is checked multiple times, for example, after the operation of the operational engine is temporarily determined to be abnormal for some reason, It is not necessary to perform useless engine switching processing when the operation engine immediately returns to normal operation.

  If the switching condition is not satisfied, step S13 is branched to “still”, and at this point, step S14 and the subsequent steps are not performed, and the current flag check process is terminated. That is, even if the OSF flag of the operational engine indicates an abnormality, if the switching condition is not satisfied, the engine is not switched at that time, and the next flag check processing is started at the next opportunity. Then, it is determined whether or not to switch the engine again.

  When the switching condition is satisfied and the engine is switched ("immediately" in step S13), information for specifying the standby engine as the switching destination is set in the register EX provided in the memory of the control microcomputer 45 ( Step S14). The engine set in the register EX becomes a new operational engine. The control microcomputer 45 assigns the source of the output signal (the reception channel set for each reception port of the network I / O 13, 23) to the switching destination engine (EX) set in the register EX in step S14. To a new area (transmission channel) (step S15). Here, as described above, it is only necessary to change one base channel. The engine switching result is notified to the CPUs 10 and 20 of the output device, and the CPUs 10 and 20 that have received the notification store the register EX in the RAM and the control device (console 1 or the like) as the destination. The engine switching result control data (Ethernet (registered trademark) frame) is formed, and the formed control data is written in the transmission FIFO 49 (step S16). The frame processing unit 44 acquires the write authority (token) by the E write process 82 and writes the control data in the Ethernet (registered trademark) data area 103 in the transmission frame.

  When the value of the OSF flag of the operational engine is “normal” (“normal” in step S9), the control microcomputer 45 of the output device enables the patch settings of the patch units 55, 56, and 57 in step S17. Thus, the process of canceling the mute of the output signal is performed. When the engine is switched by the previous flag check process, the OSF flag of the new operational engine is checked, and then the mute of the output signal performed in the previous process is canceled.

  As a result, each output device 1, 4 and 5 takes in the output signal written in the transmission frame by the engine (original standby system engine) newly set in the register EX, and outputs the taken out output signal to the outside. be able to. That is, by steps S9 to S15, the patch units 55 to 57 including the network I / Os 13 and 23 function as output signal reading means of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, when the signal processing main body is switched from the engine C to the engine D, each output device uses the output signal capture source as the acoustic signal area of the transmission frame. By changing from region C of region 102 to region D, the output signal output from each output device is switched from the output signal of engine C to the output signal of engine D. Therefore, as a result, the engine that is the main signal processor of the mixing system is switched.

  In the previous flag check process, as a result of the switching condition determination, it is determined that engine switching is not yet performed (“not yet” in step S13), and in this flag check process, the OSF flag of the active engine is determined. If the value returns to “normal”, the output mute is canceled and the external output of the output signal is resumed.

<Manual engine switching>
Next, an operation when the engine switching is instructed by an operator's manual operation when the FAST mode is set as the mirroring mode will be described.

<Processing in the console>
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process executed jointly by the CPU 10 of the console 1 and the control microcomputer 45 of the network I / O 13 when an operator performs an engine switching operation on the console. The operator performs an engine switching operation using a user interface including a display unit (P display) 15 and an operator (P operator) 16 of the console 1. The switching operation may be an operation for simply instructing the replacement of the active engine and the standby engine, or an operation for individually specifying the engine to be switched to. When the switching operation is detected, the main CPU 10 stores information indicating the operation in the RAM of the memory 11 and transmits the information to the control microcomputer 45.

  The control microcomputer 45 sets information specifying the engine designated as the switching destination by the switching operation in the register EX (step S18), and sets the OSF flag of the switching destination engine (EX) set in the register EX. The value is checked and the result is transmitted to the CPU 10 (step S19).

  If the OSF flag of the switching destination engine (EX) is “normal” (“normal” in step S19), the CPU 10 of the console 1 instructs all the output devices in the mixing system to switch to the engine (EX). (Control data) is transmitted (step S20). That is, the frame processing unit 44 writes an instruction to switch to the engine (EX) destined for all output devices in the transmission frame by the E writing processing 82 and outputs the transmission frame. In step S20, the reason why the destination of the switching command is all output devices is that only the output device needs the switching command, and it is sufficient that the switching command reaches at least all the output devices. Therefore, the switching command may be transmitted using a broadcast address so that all the devices of the mixing system can receive the switching command.

  On the other hand, when the OSF flag of the switching destination engine (EX) is “abnormal” (“abnormal” in step S19), the CPU 10 of the console 1 performs predetermined error processing in step S21 and ends the processing. This is because the signal processing subject cannot be switched to the switching destination engine. The error process includes, for example, a process of performing a warning display on the display unit (P display) 15 to the effect that switching to the engine cannot be performed.

<Processing in output device>
In FIG. 14, when the output devices 1, 4 and 5 receive the switching command transmitted in step S21, the CPUs 10 and 20 of the output devices and the control microcomputer 45 of the network I / O 13 and 23 execute jointly. It is a flowchart which shows a process. The CPUs 10 and 20 that have received the switching command (control data) addressed to the output device immediately transmit the switching command to the control microcomputer 45.

  In step S22, the control microcomputer 45 of the output device checks the OSF flag of the switching destination engine (EX) designated by the received switching command. When the OSF flag of the switching destination engine (EX) is “normal” (“normal” in step S22), in step S23, the control microcomputer 45 of the output device designates the output signal capture source by the received switching command. Then, the area (transmission channel) assigned to the switching destination engine (EX) is changed. As a result, the frame processing unit 44 of the output device captures the output signal of the switching destination engine (EX) by the A capture processing 81. On the other hand, when the OSF flag output from the switching destination engine (EX) is “abnormal” (“abnormal” in step S22), the process proceeds to step S24.

  In step S24, the control microcomputer 45 notifies the processing results of the steps S23 and S24 to the CPUs 10 and 20, and the CPUs 10 and 20 respond to the received switching command based on the processing results (that is, the engine according to the switching command). Control data indicating whether or not switching has been completed) is transmitted to the console 1. When the console 1 receives the response from the output device, the console 1 presents the content of the received response to the operator by displaying it on the display unit (P display) 15 or the like. Therefore, if the engine cannot be switched, the operator can be notified of this and wait for the next action to be taken.

  As described above, according to the engine mirroring in the Fast mode, one or a plurality of necessary transmission channels are allocated to the first engine 2 and the second engine 3 in advance, Is writing audio signals (output signals) of one or a plurality of channels to one or a plurality of transmission channels of a transmission frame. The output signal written by the other is taken from the transmission frame and output. When the OSF flag of the operational engine indicates an abnormality, the output devices 1, 4 and 5 detect the abnormality of the operational engine using the OSF flag, and the output signal is fetched from the area of the operational engine to the standby engine. By switching to the area, the output signal written by the standby engine (the other of the engines 2 and 3) is taken from the transmission frame and output. Thereby, the engine is switched. In this way, the engine can be switched quickly only by changing the source of the output signal in the output devices 1, 4 and 5, so that the output signal is hardly interrupted (sound interruption is several milliseconds). Below) Mirroring function can be realized.

  In addition, by configuring the standby engine to output the OSF flag, the output devices 1, 4, and 5 can detect the abnormality of the standby engine. As a result, even if the engine should be switched (when the operating engine is abnormal or when the engine is instructed to be switched by the operator), the OSF flag of the standby engine indicates an abnormality. The output device can also stop outputting the output signal of the standby engine that is the switching destination. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an abnormal audio signal from being output.

  According to the FAST mode, it is possible to switch the engine (engine mirroring) with almost no interruption in the output signal (no sound interruption). For example, live performance venues, music festival venues, various event venues, etc. This is suitable for mounting a mirroring function in an acoustic signal processing system that is required to continue output of an acoustic signal such as a mixing system used in the above.

《Engine switching by ECONOMY mode》
Next, an operation related to the engine switching function in the ECONOMY mode will be described. When the on / off setting of the engine switching function is set to on and the mirroring mode is set to the ECONOMY mode, the engine switching function in the ECONOMY mode functions. In the following description of the operation, it is assumed that both the operation engine and the standby engine output the OSF flag.

《Operation check process in engine》
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of a periodic operation check process performed by the engine control microcomputer 45 of the engine network I / O 33 when the ECONOMY mode is set. This regular processing is executed in both the operation engine and the standby engine.

  In the case of the “ECONOMY mode”, as shown in FIG. 15, the process up to checking the abnormality requirement and setting the value of the OSF flag according to the check result is the same as the process of steps S5 to S8 of FIG. (Steps S25 to S28).

  After setting the value of the OSF flag in step S27 or S28, the engine control microcomputer 45 performs different processing depending on whether the engine is an active engine or a standby engine. If the engine is an operational engine (“operational system” in step S29), in step S30, the engine control microcomputer 45 checks the value of the OSF flag set in step S27 or S28, and the OSF flag. Is “normal” (“normal” in step S 30), the audio signal is written to the frame processing unit 44 by enabling the setting relating to the transmission port among the patch settings of the output patch 54. Permit (denoted as “A write permission” in the figure) (step S31).

  When the value of the OSF flag is “abnormal” (“abnormal” in step S30), the engine control microcomputer 45 prohibits writing of an audio signal to the frame processing unit 44 (indicated as “A write prohibited” in the figure). Is set (step S32), and a process of releasing all transmission channel groups (areas in the acoustic signal area 102) secured by the engine is performed (step S33). When an abnormality occurs in the operation of the active engine in steps S32 and S33, the active engine stops the operation as the active engine and switches to the standby engine.

  When the engine that is executing the periodic process is a standby engine (“standby system” in step S29), the engine control microcomputer 45 sets the transmission port in the patch settings of the output patch 54 in step S34. Is disabled, the audio signal writing prohibition (“A writing prohibition”) is set to the frame processing unit 44. This is because, in the ECONOMY mode, the standby engine does not secure a transmission channel and does not output an audio signal (see, for example, FIGS. 8A and 8B).

<< Automatic switching according to OSF flag >>
The engine switching in the ECONOMY mode can be performed automatically according to the value of the OSF flag, or can be performed according to the switching instruction by the manual operation of the operator. Automatic switching of the engine according to the OSF flag is realized by flag check processing in the output device and the standby engine.

<< Flag check process in output device >>
FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an OSF flag check process periodically performed in each of the output devices 1, 4, and 5 when the ECONOMY mode is set. If the engine switching function (mirroring function) is on, the flag output functions of the engines 2 and 3 are always on, and the regular processing of FIG. 16 is performed in each output device.

  The frame processing unit 44 of the network I / Os 13 and 23 of the output device captures the OSF flag from the transmission frame by the OSF capture processing 85. The control microcomputer 45 of the network I / Os 13 and 23 of the output device checks the value of the OSF flag of the operational engine among the fetched OSF flags, and the OSF flag of the operational engine indicates normal (step S35). In step S36, the patch setting of the patch units 55, 56, and 57 is validated to perform the process of canceling the output mute of the output signal from the operational engine. On the other hand, if the OSF flag of the operational engine indicates an abnormality (“abnormal” in step S35), the output from the operational engine is disabled by invalidating the patch settings of the patch units 55, 56, and 57 in step S37. Mute the signal output. A configuration example of the mute processing is the same as that in step S10 in FIG.

<< Flag check process in standby engine >>
FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the OSF flag check process periodically performed by the control microcomputer of the standby engine when the ECONOMY mode is set.

  The frame processing unit 44 of the network I / O 33 of the standby engine captures the OSF flag from the transmission frame by the OSF capture processing 85. Then, in step S38, the control microcomputer 45 checks the OSF flag of the fetched operational engine. If the OSF flag of the operational engine is normal (“normal” in step S38), the process ends.

  If the OSF flag of the active engine indicates an abnormality (“abnormal” in step S38), the OSF flag of the engine is checked in step S39 to check whether it is operating normally. This is because the operation engine cannot be replaced if its own operation is not normal.

  If the standby engine OSF flag is normal (“normal” in step S39), the standby engine control microcomputer 45 waits for the release of the transmission channel of the active engine in step S33 of FIG. All the transmission channels are secured (step S40), and the setting relating to the transmission port among the patch settings of the output patch 54 is validated, so that the audio signal for the secured transmission channel is transmitted to the frame processing unit 44. (Waveform data) Write permission (A write permission) is set (step S41). In steps S40 and S41, the original standby engine starts outputting an output signal and switches to a new operational engine.

  In step S42, the control microcomputer 45 notifies the CPU 30 that the result of the above processing, that is, the engine has been automatically switched from the standby system to the active system, and the CPU 30 performs automatic switching information (control) indicating the automatic switching. Data) is formed and transmitted to the control device (console 1) using the frame processing unit 44. If the OSF flag of the engine indicates an abnormality (“abnormal” in step S39), the engine cannot be switched, so the CPU 30 proceeds to step S42 without performing any processing, Switch failure information (control data) indicating that the engine could not be switched is transmitted to the console 1. In step S40, if the transmission channel is not released by the active engine within a predetermined time, it is determined as an error, the process of FIG. 17 is stopped, and the error is notified to the control device (console 1). What should I do?

  15 to 17, the engine is automatically switched according to the OSF flag. That is, when an abnormality occurs in the operational engine, the operational engine outputs an OSF flag indicating the abnormality (step S28 in FIG. 15) and stops writing the output signal (waveform data) to the transmission frame. The transmission channel is released (steps S32 and S33 in FIG. 15). The output devices 1, 4, and 5 can detect an abnormality in the operation of the operation engine based on the value of the OSF flag of the operation engine by the processing of FIG. 16. The output of the operation engine output signal is temporarily stopped. The standby engine can detect an abnormality in the operational engine based on the value of the OSF flag of the operational engine. When an abnormality occurs in the operational engine, the standby engine acquires a transmission channel and acquires the acquired transmission. Writing of the output signal (waveform data) to the channel (output signal output) is started (steps S40 and S41 in FIG. 17). Thus, when the original standby engine is switched to the new operational engine, each output device 1, 4 and 5 cancels the mute of the output signal in accordance with the normal OSF flag output from the new operational engine. (Step S38 in FIG. 16). As a result, an output signal of a new operational engine is output from each output device 1, 4, 5.

<Manual engine switching>
Next, an operation when the engine switching is instructed by an operator's manual operation when the ECONOMY mode is set as the mirroring mode will be described.

<Processing in the console>
FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process jointly executed by the CPU 10 of the console 1 and the control microcomputer 45 of the network I / O 13 when the operator performs an engine switching operation on the console. In response to the operator's switching operation, the CPU 10 notifies the detected operation to the control microcomputer 45, and the control microcomputer 45 sets information specifying the switching destination engine in the register EX (step S43). The processing up to the point where the value of the OSF flag output from the previous engine (EX) is checked (step S44) is the same as the processing in the FAST mode shown in FIG.

  If the OSF flag of the switching destination engine (EX) is “normal” (“normal” in step S44), the engine that is not the switching destination engine (EX) of the two engines (the current operational engine) An A write prohibition command (control data) for prohibiting writing of an audio signal to the transmission frame is transmitted (step S45), and the audio to the transmission frame is transmitted to the current standby engine (switching destination engine (EX)). An A write permission command (control data) permitting signal writing is transmitted (step S46). That is, the frame processing unit 44 of the console 1 acquires the write authority (token), and issues an A write prohibition instruction addressed to the active engine and an A write permission instruction addressed to the standby engine to the transmission frame. Write and output the transmission frame.

  If the OSF flag of the switching destination engine (EX) is “abnormal”, the engine cannot be switched, so that a predetermined error process is performed (step S47) and the process is terminated. The error processing includes, for example, displaying on the display unit 15 that the engine cannot be switched.

《Operation engine processing》
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed jointly by the CPU 30 of the operational engine and the control microcomputer 45 when the frame write unit 44 of the operational engine receives the A write prohibition command. The CPU 30 notifies the received A write command (control data) to the control microcomputer 45 of the operational engine, and in step S48, the control microcomputer 45 sets the value of the OSF flag output from the other engine (standby system engine). If the OSF flag indicates normal (“normal” in step S48), the setting relating to the transmission port in the patch setting of the output patch 54 is invalidated in step S49. Audio signal (output signal) write prohibition (A write prohibition) is set to the frame processor 44 of the active engine, and all transmission channel groups (acoustics) secured by the active engine in step S50. The processing for releasing the area in the signal area 102 is performed. The processes in steps S49 and S50 are the same as steps S32 and S33 in FIG. In steps S49 and S50, the engine stops its operation as an active engine and becomes a standby engine. Then, the CPU 30 stops outputting the output signal (waveform data), forms a response (control data) indicating that all the transmission channels reserved by itself are released, and uses the frame processing unit 44. The console 1 is notified (step S51).

  In FIG. 19, if the OSF flag of another engine (standby engine) is abnormal (“abnormal” in step S48), the CPU 30 does not perform steps S49 and S50, but in step S51, the CPU 30 indicates ( That is, a response (control data) indicating that the operation of the operational engine is to be continued is formed and notified to the console 1 using the frame processing unit 44. However, a configuration without the branching step of step S48 may be used. That is. Regardless of the value of the OSF flag of the other engine (standby engine), the output signal output stop in step S49 and the transmission channel release in step S50 may be performed.

《Standby engine processing》
FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed jointly by the CPU 30 of the standby engine and the control microcomputer 45 when the frame processing unit 44 of the standby engine receives an A write permission command. The CPU 30 notifies the received A write permission instruction to the control microcomputer 45 of the standby engine, and in step S52, the control microcomputer 45 checks the value of the OSF flag of the engine and confirms that the OSF flag is normal. If it is shown (“normal” in step S52), the active engine executes step S50 in FIG. 19 to wait for the transmission channel to be released, and after securing the released transmission channel (step S53) By enabling the setting relating to the transmission port among the patch settings of the output patch 54, the audio signal (waveform data) writing permission (A writing permission) for the secured transmission channel is set to the frame processing unit 44. (Step S54). In steps S53 and S54, the original standby engine starts outputting an output signal and switches to a new operational engine. Then, the CPU 30 secures a necessary transmission channel and forms a response (control data) indicating that output of an output signal (waveform data) is started, and uses the frame processing unit 44 to use the console 1 (Step S55).

  When the OSF flag of the standby engine indicates an abnormality (“abnormal” in step S52), the standby engine does not perform steps S53 and S54, and the CPU 30 does not switch the engine due to the abnormality of the engine. A response (control data) indicating this is formed and notified to the console 1 using the frame processing unit 44 (step S55).

  18 to 20, the operation engine and the standby engine are switched in accordance with the operation performed by the operator on the console 1 to switch the engine.

  As described above, according to engine mirroring in the ECONOMY mode, one or a plurality of transmission channels are allocated to only one of the first engine 2 and the second engine 3 for operation. When an abnormality occurs in the system engine, all the assigned transmission channels are released and reassigned to the standby system engine, thereby switching the engine. That is, since the transmission channel is assigned only to one of the two engines (the active engine at that time), the mirroring function can be realized without wasting the transmission channel.

  In addition, since the standby engine is configured to detect an abnormality in the active engine according to the OSF flag, a method of detecting an abnormality in the active engine in a device other than the standby engine and notifying the standby engine of the abnormality. Compared to the above, it is possible to save time and processing steps required for the engine switching process.

  In addition, by configuring the standby engine to output the OSF flag, the output devices 1, 4, and 5 can detect the abnormality of the standby engine. As a result, even if the engine should be switched (when the operating engine is abnormal or when the engine is instructed to be switched by the operator), the OSF flag of the standby engine indicates an abnormality. The output device can also stop outputting the output signal of the standby engine that is the switching destination. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an abnormal audio signal from being output.

  Also, according to the ECONOMY mode, a mirroring function can be realized without wasting a transmission channel, but output is performed in the process of switching the engine (while performing processing such as release / allocation of the transmission channel). Since the devices 1, 4 and 5 stop outputting the output signal, the output of the acoustic signal is interrupted (sound interruption of several seconds to several tens of seconds occurs). For this reason, the ECONOMY mode is suitable for implementing a mirroring function in an acoustic signal processing system that can tolerate even if the output of an acoustic signal is accidentally interrupted, such as a private broadcast or a voice guidance system.

  In FIG. 7A, an example in which the area C on the head side of the acoustic signal area 102 is assigned to the active engine C and the area D on the tail side of the acoustic signal area 102 is assigned to the standby engine D is shown. However, the position of the area allocated to the active engine C and the standby engine is not limited to the illustrated example. As long as the same amount of area can be secured, the acoustic signal area 102 may be secured anywhere. Similarly, in the ECONOMY mode shown in FIGS. 8A and 8C, the area allocated to the operational engine is not limited to the head side of the acoustic signal area 102.

  In the FAST mode, in the description of FIG. 7A, the engines C and D have the same arrangement of transmission channels for writing a plurality of audio signals. However, if the same plurality of audio signals are written. The arrangement of the transmission channels is not necessarily the same. In that case, in the output devices A, B, and E that output the audio signal, a plurality of reception channels must be individually set when the engine is switched.

  In the FAST mode, the output devices A, B, and E set the transmission channels in the region C or the region D as reception channels in the same number of reception ports as the number of audio signals output by the devices. However, it is also possible to prepare reception ports that are twice that number, set transmission channels in regions C and D as reception channels, and extract audio signals in regions C and D in parallel. In that case, when the engine is switched, the audio signal output from each output device can be switched from the output signal of one engine to the output signal of the other engine by cross-fading.

  7 and 8 show an example in which a continuous area (transmission channel) in the acoustic signal area 102 is assigned to each device, but an area (transmission channel) assigned to each device is shown. ) May be discontinuous.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the OSF flags (first state data and second state data) of the active engine and the standby engine are stored in the CD area 101 is described. Other regions such as the acoustic signal region 102 may be used. Further, the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the OSF flags output by the two engines are stored in the common CD area 101, and the configuration may be such that each is stored in a separate area. For example, the transmission channel in the acoustic signal area 102 may be used one by one for writing the OSF flag of each engine.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 12, in the FAST mode, each output device is configured to perform engine switching when an abnormality of the OSF flag of the operating engine is confirmed a plurality of times (steps S12 and S13). However, the process may be configured to switch the engine upon the first detection of an abnormality in the OSF flag of the operational engine.

  In the above embodiment, the operational engine and the standby engine output the OSF flag (first state data and second state data), respectively. However, at least in both the FAST mode and the ECONOMY mode, If the active engine is configured to output the OSF flag, engine mirroring according to the OSF flag can be performed. In the configuration in which only the operational engine outputs the OSF flag, in the FAST mode, the processing of S11 to S13 is not performed in the periodic processing of the output device in FIG. The process proceeds. Further, in the manual switching operation of the FAST mode, S19 in FIG. 13 (checking the OSF flag in the console) and S22 in FIG. 14 (checking the OSF flag in the output device) are not performed. Further, in the ECONOMY mode, step S39 (check the own flag of the standby engine) in FIG. 17 is not performed. In manual switching of the ECONOMY mode, step S44 in FIG. 18 (checking the OSF flag in the console), step S48 in FIG. 19 (checking the OSF flag in the active engine), and step S52 in FIG. 20 (OSF flag in the standby engine). Do not check).

  Moreover, in the said Example, each apparatus 1-6 shows the structural example with which CPU10,20,30 and the control microcomputer 45 are provided, and each process of FIGS. 10-20 etc. is performed with main CPU10,20 or 30 and a control microcomputer. Although the structure which 45 performs jointly was demonstrated, it is set as the structure which does not comprise the control microcomputer 45 in each apparatus 1-6, and main CPU10, 20 or 30 performs each process of FIGS. 10-20 etc. independently. It may be.

  In the mixing system configuration example of FIG. 1, the two engines 2 and 3 are connected to each other. However, the connection order of the devices in the audio network 7 is not limited to the illustrated example, and the network 7 The engine switching operation according to the present embodiment can be performed regardless of which device is connected to which position.

  In this embodiment, the input device and the output device are configured by input / output devices (devices in which the input device and the output device are integrated) 4, 5, and 6 having an audio signal input function and an output function. However, the input device and the output device may be configured separately as hardware.

  The mixing system described in the above embodiment can be used for, for example, a concert venue, a theater, a music production studio, a local broadcasting, a voice guidance system, or the like. Further, the embodiment of the acoustic signal processing system according to the present invention is not limited to the mixing system described in the above example. For example, an intercom system that performs voice communication between a communication unit equipped with a microphone and a sound system, an effect adding system that adds effects such as compressor and distortion to the acoustic signals of guitars and vocals, and picks up the acoustic signals in the venue with a microphone The present invention can be applied to a reverberation support system that generates a sound signal for reverberation support and outputs the sound signal to the venue, or a multi-track recording / playback system that simultaneously records / plays back a plurality of sound signals.

1 console, 2, 3 mixing engine, 4, 5, 6 input / output device, 7 audio network, 12, 22, 32 audio I / O (input means, output means), 12 network I / O (input signal writing means, Output signal reading means), 22 network I / O (first and second reading means, first and second output signal writing means, first and second state data writing means), 33 network I / O (input signal writing) Means, output signal reading means), 35 DSP (first and second signal processing means), 40, 42 receiving section, 41, 43 transmitting section, 44 frame processing section, 45 control microcomputer, 100 preamble, 101 CD area, 102 Acoustic signal storage area, 103, Ethernet (registered trademark) data area, 104 ITP area, 1 05 Meter area, 106 NC area, 107 FCS area

Claims (3)

A transmission frame comprising a plurality of devices and an audio network connecting the plurality of devices and having a storage area for storing data to be transmitted / received between the plurality of devices is transmitted between the plurality of devices at predetermined intervals. In the acoustic signal processing system to be circulated, each of the plurality of devices is capable of reading data from and writing data to a specific area in the storage area of the transmission frame.
As the plurality of devices,
An input unit that inputs an acoustic signal from the outside; and an input device that includes an input signal writing unit that writes the acoustic signal input by the input unit to the first storage area of the transmission frame as an input signal to the acoustic signal processing system;
First reading means for reading an input signal from the first storage area, first signal processing means for performing signal processing on the input signal read by the first reading means, and input signals processed by the first signal processing means A first output signal writing means for writing to the second storage area of the transmission frame as a first output signal; and a first state data for writing first state data indicating whether its own state is normal or abnormal to the third storage area of the transmission frame A first signal processing device having state data writing means;
Second reading means for reading an input signal from the first storage area; second signal processing means for performing the same signal processing as the first signal processing means on the input signal read by the second reading means; and the second signal A second signal processing device having second output signal writing means for writing the input signal processed by the processing means as a second output signal in the fourth storage area of the transmission frame;
When the first state data reading means for reading the first state data from the third storage area and the first state data read by the first state data reading means indicate normal, the second storage When the first output signal is read from the area and the read first state data indicates an abnormality, the output signal reading means for reading the second output signal from the fourth storage area and the output signal reading means An acoustic signal processing system comprising at least an output device having output means for outputting a read output signal to the outside. The second signal processing device further includes second state data writing means for writing second state data indicating whether the state of the second signal processing device is normal or abnormal in the fifth storage area of the transmission frame,
The output device further includes second state data reading means for reading second state data from the fifth storage area, and even when the first state data indicates an abnormality, 5. The acoustic signal processing system according to claim 1, wherein the second output signal is not output to the outside if the second state data read from the five storage areas indicates an abnormality. A transmission frame comprising a plurality of devices and an audio network connecting the plurality of devices and having a storage area for storing data to be transmitted / received between the plurality of devices is transmitted between the plurality of devices at predetermined intervals. In the acoustic signal processing system to be circulated, each of the plurality of devices is capable of reading data from and writing data to a specific area in the storage area of the transmission frame.
As the plurality of devices,
An input unit that inputs an acoustic signal from the outside; and an input device that includes an input signal writing unit that writes the acoustic signal input by the input unit to the first storage area of the transmission frame as an input signal to the acoustic signal processing system;
First reading means for reading an input signal from the first storage area, first signal processing means for performing signal processing on the input signal read by the first reading means, and input signals processed by the first signal processing means A first signal processing device having first output signal writing means for writing to the second storage area of the transmission frame as a first output signal;
Second reading means for reading an input signal from the first storage area; second signal processing means for performing the same signal processing as the first signal processing means on the input signal read by the second reading means; and the second signal A second signal processing device having second output signal writing means for writing the input signal processed by the processing means as a second output signal in the third storage area of the transmission frame;
An instruction input means for an operator to input a switching instruction for the signal processing device; and a control apparatus having a switching instruction writing means for writing a switching instruction in accordance with the instruction input by the instruction input means in the fourth storage area of the transmission frame; ,
A switching command reading means for reading a switching command from the fourth storage area, and when there is no switching command, the first output signal is read from the second storage area, and when the switching command is given, the third An acoustic signal processing system comprising at least an output device having output signal reading means for reading a second output signal from a storage area and output means for outputting the output signal read by the output signal reading means to the outside.

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