JP6523654B2 - Speech information notification system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an utterance information notification system, and in particular, dynamically determines an information device that outputs predetermined utterance information in a predetermined area such as a home where a plurality of information devices exist, in accordance with a use situation or the like. Relates to an utterance information notification system that can

  Today, in homes and the like, many information devices having a function of outputting voice are used. By connecting these information devices to the network, various information provided from the external server can be notified to the user by voice from each information device.

  For example, when a television set installed in a home, an air conditioner, or a lighting fixture has an audio output function, a message such as bargain information distributed from a server is notified by voice from each of the television, the air conditioner, and the lighting fixture. can do.

  In addition, when a plurality of speech enabled devices such as audio devices are mounted in a vehicle, speech right adjustment that allows individual voices to be heard by the user in a situation where different speech enabled devices are trying to simultaneously output voice A system has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

  In this patent document 1, as a method of adjusting the right of speech, there is a method of adjusting to shift the speech time by transmitting and receiving a speech permission request etc. among the speech-enabled devices, and a speech necessity degree for each of the speech-enabled devices. There has been proposed a method of adjusting a speech time in such a manner that an apparatus capable of speech having a high degree of speech necessity preferentially acquires a speech right while setting and changing the degree of speech necessity.

JP, 2009-294310, A

There are generally two methods for each information device to acquire the utterance information present in the server: pull type and push type.
In the pull type, each information device can inquire the server at each timing and can obtain the utterance information present in the server. For example, the television and the air conditioner in the same room inquire the server at the same time, almost the same utterance If the information is acquired, messages of the same content may be uttered from the television and air conditioner at the same time.

Also in the push type, the same utterance information may be delivered to the television and the air conditioner automatically almost simultaneously from the server, and also in this case, the message of the same content is uttered simultaneously from the television and the air conditioner. There are times when
For a user in a room with a television and an air conditioner, if the same message is simultaneously output from a plurality of devices, voice may overlap and the message content may be difficult to hear or may be uncomfortable.

In addition, when the speech timing is adjusted between the devices so as not to be uttered from a plurality of devices at the same time, since the voice output does not overlap, it becomes easy to hear each utterance content. However, merely adjusting the speech time does not necessarily mean that the user can really hear the contents of the speech.
For example, when there is no one in a room where a television or the like having a speech function is installed, even if the speech information is voice-outputted, it is meaningless because no one can hear the message.
In addition, even if a person who does not want to notify information belonging to a particular category is notified of information belonging to a particular category, it may be meaningless.
For example, even if bargain information and cooking information for housewives are output by voice from an air conditioner installed in a child room, it is considered unlikely that a child in the child room will focus on that information.
Therefore, when notifying the user of the speech information provided from the server, in order to effectively utilize the speech information, not only adjustment of the speech timing among the plurality of information devices but also the presence or absence of the user, It is desirable to notify the necessary information from an appropriate information device at an appropriate timing in consideration of the use situation and the like.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and when there are a plurality of information devices capable of notifying utterance information, the contents of the utterance information, the use situation of the information devices, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide an utterance information notification system which determines an information device to which notification information is preferentially notified in consideration of the above.

The present invention is an utterance information notification system in which a plurality of information devices and a server storing utterance information are connected to a network, and the information device receives an utterance information from the server. An utterance right confirmation unit that confirms whether the received utterance information is information having the utterance right indicating that the user is permitted to speak, the self of the utterance information among the received utterance information A speech execution unit for outputting speech information having a right, and own speech right information including priority of the speech right to another information device, and receiving speech right information of the other information device from the other information device An utterance right update execution unit that compares the utterance right information communication unit with the current utterance right information of the user and the utterance right information received from another information device, and updates the utterance information for which the user has the utterance right ; Current speech rights of self And a storage unit for storing the speech authorization information, and priority of the self, and a speech attributes set speech information for permitting speech, the speech authorization check section, by the utterance information receiving unit When it is confirmed that the received utterance information is included in the utterance information in which the updated self has the utterance right and the information has the present utterance right, the utterance execution unit receives the received utterance information. And the speech right update execution unit compares the priority of its own speech right information stored in the storage unit with the priority included in the speech right information received from another information device, Setting the speech attribute of the self so that the speech information set in the speech attribute of the speech right information of the self is output when the priority of the is higher than the priority of the received, the self priority But received priority Utterance of one's own speech right information so that the speech information included in the speech attribute of the received speech right information and set in the speech attribute of the one's speech right information is not output when the level is lower than that. A speech information notification system characterized by changing an attribute is provided.
Further, the present invention is a speech information notification system in which a plurality of information devices and a server storing speech information are connected to a network, wherein the information device receives speech information from the server. A part, and a speech right confirmation part that confirms whether the received speech information is information having a speech right indicating that speech is permitted, the self of the received speech information The speech execution unit for outputting the speech information having the speech right, and the own speech right information including the priority of the speech right is transmitted to the other information device, and the speech right information of the other information device is transmitted from the other information device Utterance right update execution part which updates the speech information which oneself has the speech right by comparing the speech right information communication part to receive, the present speech right information of self, and the speech right information received from other information equipment And the said speech The utterance when the confirming unit confirms that the utterance information received by the utterance information receiving unit is included in the utterance information in which the updated self has the utterance right and is the information having the present utterance right. The execution unit outputs the received speech information, and the priority included in the speech right information of the information device is determined from the basic priority in which a numerical value different for each location where the information device is installed is preset. And the first priority employed when the user performs a predetermined operation on the information device, and the second priority employed during operations from when the information device starts a predetermined function to when it ends. At least one or more of the priority and the third priority employed when the current time is within a period from a predetermined start time to an end time may be set for each information device. Characteristics and There is provided a speech information broadcasting system that.

  In addition, the information device further includes a storage unit that stores current utterance right information of itself, and the utterance right information includes the priority of the self and the utterance attribute in which the utterance information for permitting the utterance is set. The speech right update execution unit compares the priority of the speech right information of the own stored in the storage unit with the priority included in the speech right information received from another information device, and determines the priority of the self. Sets its own speech attribute so that it outputs the speech information set in the speech attribute of its own speech right information when the level is higher than the received priority, and its own priority is received If the level is lower than the priority level, the user's own speech right is not output so that the speech information included in the speech attribute of the received speech right information and set in the speech attribute of the self speech right information is not output. Change the utterance attribute of information And wherein the Rukoto.

  In addition, the utterance right information communication unit transmits, as a response to the update request received from the other information device, the utterance right update request unit that transmits the update request including the utterance right information of the user to the other information device. And a speech right notification unit for transmitting a speech right notification including the speech right information.

  In addition, when the information device receives the update request from another information device, the speech right update execution unit is configured to receive the speech information including the speech information for which the user has the speech right in the received update request. After updating using, the speech right notification unit is characterized by transmitting a speech right notification including the speech right information of the self after the update.

  In addition, when the information device receives the utterance right notification from another information device, the utterance right update execution unit includes the utterance right included in the received utterance right notification that the self has the utterance right. It is characterized by updating using information.

  Further, the utterance execution unit is characterized by outputting the utterance information by using either one or both of a display unit for displaying the utterance information and an audio output unit for outputting the utterance information as a voice. .

  Further, the priority included in the speech right information of the information device itself is a basic priority in which different numerical values are set in advance for each place where the information device is installed, and the user further determines the information device with respect to the information device. The first priority to be adopted when the user performs the operation and the second priority to be adopted during the operation from when the information device starts the predetermined function to the end, and the current time is the predetermined start time , And at least one or more of the third priority levels adopted when being in the period from the end time to the end time are set for each information device.

  Further, the basic priority is initialized in advance to the priority included in the speech right information of the information device, and the first, second and third priorities are higher than the level of the basic priority. When an event occurs that is set high and adopts any one of the first, second, and third priorities, the priority included in the speech right information of the self has been generated from the basic priority. It is characterized by changing to the priority corresponding to the event.

  According to the present invention, the current utterance right information of the user including the priority of the utterance right is compared with the utterance right information received from the other information device to update the utterance information for which the user has the utterance right, When it is confirmed that the received speech information is the information having the present speech right based on the speech information that the updated self has the right to speak, the speech information is output, and so on. The information device that outputs the received utterance information is dynamically determined in consideration of the relationship with the utterance right of the information device, and the utterance information is increased to increase the possibility of being notified to a desired user. Output from an appropriate information device can increase the possibility of effectively utilizing speech information.

It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the speech information alerting | reporting system of this invention. It is a structure block diagram of one Example of the information apparatus of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the speech request information of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the speech request information of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the speech setting information of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the speech setting information of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the speech right information of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the information transmitted / received between the information equipment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram of Example 1 of the speech right update process of this invention. It is a sequence diagram of Example 2 of the speech right update process of this invention. It is a sequence diagram of Example 3 of the speech right update process of this invention. It is a sequence diagram of Example 4 of the speech right update process of this invention. It is a sequence diagram of Example 5 of the speech right update process of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the speech information alerting | reporting process in the information equipment of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the speech update process in the information equipment of this invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
The present invention is not limited by this.

<Speech information notification system>
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of a speech information notification system according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the speech information notification system of the present invention mainly comprises an information provider 300, a server 200, and an information device group 100, and a large number of information communication devices corresponding to these provide a network 400. Connected through.

  The information provider 300 is a group of information communication devices installed in a company or the like that generates and transmits speech information, and, for example, an information service terminal (PC) 301 owned by an information provider company, and a community association terminal owned by a community association. (PC) 302, a public organization terminal (PC) 303 owned by a government agency or a corporation providing public information, a corporate information terminal (PC) 304 owned by a general company or commercial facility, a portable terminal 305 owned by an individual user, etc. included.

The utterance information (hereinafter also referred to as a message) provided by the information provider 300 includes, for example, association association information provided by the association, weather forecast or emergency information provided by the Meteorological Agency, commercial facilities, etc. Information such as sale information provided by
Such speech information is transmitted from the personal computer (PC) of each information provider 300 to the server (SV) 200 as a message included in the speech request information A via the network 400.

The server SV 200 is a management device that stores speech information, receives speech request information A transmitted from each information provider, and stores the speech request information A in a storage device such as a hard disk.
The utterance request information 201 stored is classified according to a predetermined category (residential association information, weather forecast, etc.) (MS01,... MS0n), and is automatically or periodically or at a preset time, or In response to a request from the information device group 100, it is transmitted to the predetermined information device group 100 as the speech request information B. The speech request information B includes speech information (message) provided by the information provider 300.

The speech request information B is transmitted for each information device group installed in a predetermined area. The predetermined area means, for example, one home, and the same utterance request information B is transmitted to all home devices (also referred to as information devices TE) installed in one home.
Here, if the home is defined as one building, the home device TE includes a plurality of electronic devices installed in the building.
In principle, the speech request information B provided from the server SV is transmitted in units of one home, and in the above case, one building is designated as a destination of the speech request information B and transmitted, and the speech request information B is , It can be received by a plurality of electronic devices in the building.
However, even when received by a plurality of electronic devices, whether to actually utter the received utterance information is, as will be described later, the current setting of each electronic device installed in the building. It is decided by the right to speak. Also, if the building is different, the right to speak is not adjusted.

Further, if the inside of a house is defined as one room, the speech request information B is sent with the one room designated as a destination, and is received by a plurality of electronic devices installed in the room.
In this case, the speech request information B is transmitted on a room-by-room basis, and it is determined based on the current speech right set in each electronic device installed in the room whether or not to actually speak.
That is, if the room is different, the right to speak is not adjusted, electronic devices installed in different rooms may have the same right to speak, and the same message may be simultaneously notified in different rooms.

The information device group 100 is an information processing device installed in a house such as a house or an office, and the information processing device 110 (in-home device, information device TE) installed in one house includes a plurality of electronic devices. . The in-home device TE corresponds to, for example, the television 101, the air conditioner 102, the lighting fixture 103, the refrigerator 104, and the like.
In the present invention, each information device TE in the home has a communication function capable of data communication with the server SV 200, and data communication can be performed with information devices installed in one home. A plurality of information devices installed in one home are connected to a home network such as a LAN to perform mutual data communication.

Each information device TE has a function of receiving the speech request information B from the server SV and outputting a message included in the speech request information B based on the speech right owned by the information device TE.
The output form of the message may be any form that the user (user) in the home can understand, for example, notification by voice, notification by display on a display screen using characters, figures, etc., or both It may be a notice using.

The utterance right of the information device TE means the right to utter the utterance information included in the utterance request information, and indicates that the information device is permitted to utter (output) the utterance information.
Moreover, in order to prevent the simultaneous output of the same message from a plurality of information devices installed in a predetermined area, when a plurality of information devices are installed in the same house, in principle, in the same house Of the information devices, only one information device has the right to speak the message.
Further, the right to speak is set for each of the installation position of the information device TE and the category of the message, and if the categories of the plurality of received messages are different, the information devices having the right to speak each to output each message are different.
For example, if the category of the message is sale information (bargain information) for housewives, it is considered effective when the housewife hears it, so the information equipment (air conditioner) installed in the living room where the housewife often exists is An information device (air conditioner) installed in a child's room, although having the right to speak a message, is set to have no right to speak the message.

Furthermore, based on the type of the information device, the installation position, the activation time, the presence or absence of the user operation, etc., the priority of the speech right of each information device is automatically set and changed.
For example, when the same information device is not operating, the priority of the speech right is set low, and when the user is operating or there is an input operation by the user, the user may be near the information device. As it is high, the setting is dynamically changed so as to increase the priority of the speech right.

The network 400 may use any network that can currently be used, for example, the Internet, a dedicated communication network, etc., and the communication method may use either wired communication or wireless communication. . Devices connected to the network transmit and receive data according to a common communication protocol in order to enable data communication with each other.
Further, the data communication between the information devices TE in the home is not particularly limited, and a network that can be currently used may be used. For example, as the home network, LAN, NFC, PLC (power line carrier communication), Bluetooth (registered trademark) or the like can be used, and either wired communication or wireless communication may be used.

<Configuration of Information Equipment (Home Equipment)>
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of the information apparatus (in-home apparatus) TE of the present invention.
The information device TE executes a specific function given to the device, performs data communication with the server SV 200, performs data communication between the respective information devices, and outputs speech information received from the server. It is an information processing apparatus having a function.
For example, a television is one of the information devices TE, has a specific function of receiving a television broadcast and displaying a video of a desired program on a display screen, and outputs a voice of a message received from the server SV.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information device TE mainly includes the control unit 11, the input unit 12, the speech output unit 13, the communication unit 16, the operation check unit 17, the set time check unit 18, the speech information reception unit 19, the speech right The confirmation unit 20, the speech execution unit 21, the speech right initialization unit 22, the speech right information communication unit 30, the speech right update execution unit 37, and the storage unit 40.
The speech right information communication unit 30 includes a participation request unit 31, a speech right update request unit 32, a speech right notification unit 33, a participation request reception unit 34, an update request reception unit 35, and a speech right notification reception unit 36.

The control unit 11 is a part that executes various functions of the information device of the present invention, and is mainly realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O controller, a timer, and the like.
Further, the CPU operates the hardware organically based on the program stored in the ROM or the like to execute the communication function, the speech right updating function, the speech function and the like of the present invention. In particular, the speech right confirmation unit 20, the speech right initialization unit 22, the speech right information communication unit 30, the speech right update execution unit 37, and the like are realized by arithmetic processing of a CPU based on a program.

The input unit 12 is a portion for performing operation by the user, function selection, and input of characters and the like, and a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a remote control, a switch, and the like are used.
As described later, when the user performs a predetermined input operation, it is considered that the user is present in the vicinity of the information device, and thus the priority of the speech right is changed.

The speech output unit 13 is a part that outputs the requested message (speech information), and may include, for example, at least one of the display unit 14 and the voice output unit 15, or both of them. .
The display unit 14 is a portion for displaying the content of the message on the display screen using characters, figures, and the like, and an LCD, a CRT, a PDP, an organic EL display, or the like is used.
The voice output unit 15 is a part that outputs a message as voice, and a speaker is used.

The communication unit 16 transmits and receives information via the network 400. For example, the communication unit 16 inquires the server SV about the presence or absence of speech information, and receives speech request information B transmitted from the server SV.
The operation confirmation unit 17 is a part for confirming the operation state of the information device. For example, the operation confirmation unit 17 checks whether or not a predetermined function is in operation, or that the predetermined function is activated from the stop state and It is a part to check that the opposite state change has occurred.
For example, when the information device is a refrigerator, a sensor that detects the opening and closing of the door is provided, and the opening and closing of the door is confirmed using a signal output from the sensor.
By this operation confirmation, the priority of the speech right is changed as described later.

  The set time confirmation unit 18 is a part that confirms whether or not the current time matches the time set in advance, or whether it is included in a predetermined time zone. The time set in advance is, for example, the start time of the desired function of the information device or the stop time of the function. By this time confirmation, as will be described later, the priority of the speech right is changed.

The speech information receiving unit 19 is a part that receives speech request information B including speech information transmitted from the server SV. The received speech request information is stored in the storage unit 40 as the speech request information 42.
The speech request information 42 is composed of text data and attribute information, or voice data and attribute information, as described later.
The speech right confirmation unit 20 is a part that confirms whether the speech information included in the received speech request information 42 is information having a speech right indicating that speech is permitted, and the information device It is a part to check whether the user has the right to output the message contained in the speech request information 42 at present.

The speech execution unit 21 is a part that outputs speech information that the self (the information device itself) has the right to speak, and the message (speech information) included in the speech request information 42 received by the speech information reception unit 19 is described above. It actually outputs using the speech output unit 13.
As described above, when the utterance right confirmation unit 20 confirms that the received message is the information that the user currently has the utterance right, the utterance execution unit 21 executes the utterance of the message. . Conversely, even if the user receives a message without the right to speak, it does not execute speech.

The speech right initialization unit 22 is a part that resets (resets) its own speech right to an initial value.
As described later, the speech setting information 41 is stored in advance in the storage unit 40 for each information device, but the speech attribute included in the present speech right information 43 is set to the speech setting information 41. Back to. The speech attribute is set with speech information for permitting speech.
For example, as will be described later, when an information device TE0 receives an update request from another information device TE1, the speech attribute of its own included in the current speech right information 43 of the information device TE0 is temporarily set to the initial value. The utterance attribute of certain utterance setting information 41 is set (reset).

The utterance right information communication unit 30 transmits the utterance right information of its own information device including the priority of the utterance right to the other information device, and receives the utterance right information of the other information device from the other information device It is.
As a part for transmitting own speech right information, there are a participation request unit 31, a speech right update request unit 32, and a speech right notification unit 33.
As a part for receiving the speech right information of other information devices, there is a participation request reception unit 34, an update request reception unit 35, and a speech right notification reception unit 36.

The participation request unit 31 is a part that transmits a participation request communicated between the information devices.
The participation request is subject to new adjustment of the right to speak when the information device is newly connected to the home network, or when the information device connected to the home network is powered on and activated. This data is transmitted from the information device when the information device is added.
In the following embodiment, it is assumed that the participation request is transmitted by so-called broadcast communication, and does not specify another information device as a destination. Here, the broadcast reachable range is a predetermined area such as a home.
The participation request includes the initial value (utterance attribute) of the user's speech right set in the speech setting information 41 and the basic priority.
The participation request reception unit 34 is a part that receives the above-described participation request.
The information device that has received the participation request compares the current speech right information of itself with the speech right information included in the participation request received from the other information device, and updates the speech right. Specifically, the speech information in which the user has the right to speak is updated.

The speech right update request unit 32 is a part that transmits an update request to be communicated between the information devices.
The update request is data including own speech right information, and is broadcasted and connected to the home network when a predetermined event in which it is desirable to change one's speech right occurs in one's information device. Data to be sent to all information devices.
For example, when the user performs a predetermined input operation on the information device, or when it is time to start a predetermined function of the information device, an update request is transmitted from the information device.
The update request includes a priority that is associated in advance with a predetermined event that has occurred, and an initial value (utterance attribute) of one's own speech right.

The update request receiving unit 35 is a part that receives the above-described update request.
The information device that has received the update request temporarily returns (resets) the current speech attribute to the initial value of its own speech right information. After that, the current speech right information is updated by comparing its own speech right information (priority, speech attribute) with the priority and speech attribute included in the received update request. This update request is also called for a reset request because it requests other information devices to initialize the speech right.

The speech right notification unit 33 is a part that transmits a speech right notification including the current speech right information to the other information device as a response to the request received from the other information device.
For example, when a request for participation is received, a speech right notification is broadcast to a home network as a response to the request for participation.
When an update request (reset request) is received, a speech right notification is broadcasted to the home network as a response to the update request.
The utterance right notification includes the current priority of the user and the current utterance right (utterance attribute).
The speech right notification reception unit 36 is a part that receives the above-described speech right notification.
The information device that has received the request for participation, the request for updating, or the notification of the right to speak updates the current right to speak of itself as needed based on the received information.
The information device that has received the speech right notification updates the current speech right by comparing its own present speech right information 43 with the information included in the received speech right notification. That is, it updates the speech information that the user has the right to speak. However, if it is not necessary to update, the current speech right is maintained as it is.

The speech right update execution unit 37 is a part that updates the current speech right information of its own information device.
As described above, when any of the request for participation, the request for updating, and the notification of the speech right is received, the speech right information 43 of its own to be described later is updated (re-set).
The update of the speech right information is performed by comparing the current speech right information 43 (priority, speech attribute) of the user with the speech attribute and the priority included in the speech right information received from the other information device. It does by making the speech information which has the speech right permitted as effective.
Specifically, first, the priority of the user's speech right information 43 stored in the storage unit 40 is compared with the priority included in the speech right information received from another information device, and the priority of the self is When the level is higher than the received priority, the user's speech attribute is set to output the speech information set in the speech attribute of the user's speech right information. In this case, the speech attribute of oneself is maintained as it is.
On the other hand, when the priority of the user is lower than the received priority, the speech information included in the speech attribute of the received speech right information and set in the speech attribute of the speech right information of the self is not output. As such, change the utterance attribute of the user's utterance right information.

The storage unit 40 is a part for storing information required to execute each function of the present invention and a program, and is a semiconductor storage device such as a ROM, a RAM, a flash memory, etc., a storage device such as an HDD, an SSD, etc. A storage medium is used.
The storage unit 40 stores, for example, speech setting information 41, speech request information 42, and speech right information 43. In addition, the participation request, the update request, and the speech right notification described above are also temporarily stored.

The speech setting information 41 is information including a basic priority and speech attributes preset for each information device. The basic priority order is mainly a type of information device or a numerical value different in advance for each place where the information device is installed.
The utterance setting information 41 is information fixedly set in advance before the start of use of the information device, such as when the information device is shipped or installed in a house, but except for partial data, the user etc. changes the setting It may be possible.
The speech request information 42 corresponds to the speech request information B sent from the server SV.
The speech right information 43 is information indicating the current speech right of the information device, and includes its own current priority and a speech attribute in which speech information for permitting speech is set, as described later.

<Description of information sent and received>
Hereinafter, an embodiment of information transmitted and received in the information providing source PC, the server SV, and the in-home information apparatus TE in the present invention will be described.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the speech request information.
As shown in FIG. 1, the speech request information 42 includes information transmitted / received between the PC and the SV (utterance request information A) and information transmitted / received between the SV and the TE (utterance request information B). .

  The speech request information (A, B) mainly includes text data or voice data corresponding to a message body, and attribute information. Either of the utterance request information (A, B) may be information of the same data format, but after the server SV receives the utterance request information A from the PC, the output form of the utterance output unit 13 of the information device is The data format may be changed to correspond to generate the speech request information B.

  For example, when the server receives the speech request information A including text data and attribute information, if the information device has the display unit 14, the information device transmits the speech request information B as it is, but the information device outputs the speech output unit 15. If it is known that it has only text data, the text data is changed to speech data and transmitted as speech request information B consisting of speech data and attribute information.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the attribute information of the speech request information requires that the user use the "category" in which the content of the message body is classified and all the information devices in the home that can speak. It is assumed that the information of “simultaneous speech” is included.
The case where simultaneous utterances are requested is, for example, a case where important information that needs to be notified urgently, such as emergency evacuation advisory, is output from a plurality of information devices.
When simultaneous utterances are set, important identical messages may be output at the same timing from a large number of information devices, but the output timing may be shifted and messages may be sequentially output at fixed time intervals. Also, when simultaneous speech is not required, simultaneous speech information may not be necessary.
Further, although not shown, the speech request information includes information of a transmission source and information for specifying a transmission destination (destination).

FIG. 3A1 shows an example of the speech request information including text data and attribute information.
Here, the information "Tomorrow is a day of oversized trash" in the text of the message is stored as characters, and in the attribute information, "1", which indicates that the message content is the self-association association information, is stored as a category. “No”, which indicates that the user does not do, indicates what is stored as simultaneous utterance information.

FIG. 3 (a2) shows an example of speech request information composed of speech data and attribute information.
As voice data, a message body "Tomorrow is rainy" is stored in a data format that can be changed to a predetermined voice.
In the attribute information, “16”, which indicates that the message is a weather forecast, is stored as a category, and “Yes”, which indicates that the message is uttered simultaneously, is stored as the uttered information.

FIG. 3B shows an example of attribute information consisting of categories and simultaneous utterances. The attribute information is not limited to that shown here, and other information may be defined in advance.
Here, for the category, the item name, the abbreviation, the numerical value (decimal number) and the numerical value (binary number) are shown. However, as data to be actually included in the speech request information, for example, only a numerical value (decimal number) may be included.
The abbreviations are shown to explain each item name in the following examples.

In FIG. 3B, for example, when the item name is "weather forecast", a decimal numeric value "16" is set in the speech request information.
Further, although FIG. 3B shows eight categories, each item name is specified by the position of a certain bit of “1” among eight bits of the binary number.
For example, if the category is “01000000” = 64, the utterance request information indicates that it is emergency information.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the speech request information specified by the attribute information shown in FIG. 3 (b).
For example, FIG. 4A shows an example of the self-governing body information, and this information is information which is not output simultaneously by all home devices. FIG. 4 (b) shows an example of the weather forecast, and this information is information for simultaneous speech output by all the home appliances. FIG. 4C shows an example of sale information for housewives.
When these pieces of information are received from the server SV, they are stored in the storage unit 40 as the speech request information 42.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the speech setting information.
FIG. 5A shows an example of the speech setting information 41 regarding the information device installed in a general home.
For one information device, the speech setting information 41 mainly includes an information device name, a basic priority, a device code, a place code, and speech attribute information. However, other information may be included.

In FIG. 5A, for example, in the storage unit 40 of the information device “TV (living)”, basic priority = “911”, device code = “10”, location code = “1”, speech attribute information = "255" (FFH) is stored in advance.
Although the information device name here indicates what consists of a common name of the information device and the installation place for explanation, it is not limited to this, and each item number, model name, serial number, etc. Information that can identify the device may be used.

The basic priority is an initial value of the priority of the speech right assigned to the information device.
In the following embodiment, the priority is represented by a three-digit number, and the smaller the number, the higher the priority level. That is, it is assumed that "000" has the highest priority level and "999" has the lowest priority level.

In FIG. 5A, the priority of "TV (living)" having the basic priority "911" is the highest, and the priority "wash" having the basic priority "959" is the lowest.
Therefore, for example, if the same weather forecast message is simultaneously sent to "TV (Living)", "Lighting (bedroom)" and "Washing machine", "TV (Living room (Living room)" with the highest basic priority ") Acquires the right to speak, and the message is notified only from the" television (living) "information device.
In this case, if only the basic priority is considered, even if the right to utter the weather forecast message is set, “lighting (bedroom)” and “washing” whose basic priority is lower than “television (living)” It is not notified from the "machine".

There is no particular limitation on the priority assignment criteria. For example, the manufacturer may set it at the time of shipment of the information device, or it may be assigned to the existing information device when the information device is installed in the house. The installer may set the priority different from the priority. Alternatively, the user of the device may be able to change at the time of relocation.
The device code is information indicating the type of the information device, and here, is represented by a two-digit number, and the type is identified by the digit of the tens digit. For example, "10" means television and "40" means refrigerator.
The place code is information indicating the installation place of the information device, and here, is represented by a single digit number. For example, "1" means that the installation place is "living", "2" means that the installation place is "bedroom", and "9" means that the installation place is not specified (general purpose Means).

Further, in FIG. 5A, the base priorities are all 100 in the hundreds, 9 are the device code, and 1 is the location code. Although four types of priorities are set in the embodiment to be described later, in each of the priorities, the rank of 100 indicates the type of priority.
If the tenth place of the priority indicates the device code and the one place indicates the location code, the device code and the location code need to be stored in the speech setting information 41 as independent items. Absent.

The utterance attribute is information in which the utterance information for permitting the utterance is set. In other words, the utterance attribute is information indicating the presence or absence of the utterance right for each category indicating the type of the utterance information (message).
In FIG. 5A, the utterance attribute indicates a numerical value and a category type. However, since the content of the category type can be uniquely identified by the numerical value, only the numerical value may be stored in the speech setting information 41 as the information indicating the speech attribute.
The numerical values are shown in decimal numbers, and in parentheses, hexadecimal numbers are also shown.

The category type of FIG. 5 (a) means a category that can have the right to speak, and indicates an abbreviation of the attribute information shown in FIG. 3 (b).
For example, for television (living), the category type corresponding to the value = "255" is "self, se, main, luck, heaven, hen, tight, etc.", but this is "television (living)" The information device means that it is possible to have the right to speak about the association association information, general sale information, housewife sale information, transportation information, weather forecast, message message, emergency message and other information. For example, in a situation where there is only "TV (Living)" in the house, if the message of the Association is sent from the server to "TV (Living)", the message is voiced from the speaker of "TV (Living)" It means that it can output.

In FIG. 5A, the utterance attribute of the information device "TV (bedroom)" has a numerical value of 88, and the category type is "Luck, Heaven, Tight". This indicates that the television installed in the bedroom can have the right to speak only for the three categories of transportation information, weather forecast, and emergency information.
That is, for example, if a message relating to “transport information” is sent to “TV (bedroom),” if there is no other information device, the message is output as an audio from the “TV (bedroom)” speaker Ru. However, even if a message regarding "general sale information" without the right to speak is sent to "TV (bedroom)", it means that the message is not output from "TV (bedroom)."

FIG. 5B shows the relationship between the numerical value of the utterance attribute information and the category type for “TV (bedroom)”.
The numerical value of "TV (bedroom)" is "88" in decimal and "58H" in hexadecimal. Here, the hexadecimal number “58H” is “01011000” when it is expressed by a binary number of 8 bits, but each bit of this binary number corresponds to each of the eight categories.
In FIG. 5 (b), the least significant bit corresponds to the utterance right of the association information, and the most significant bit corresponds to the utterance right of other information.

Also, if the value of each bit is "0", this means that there is no right to speak in the corresponding category, and even if a message belonging to the category of "0" is received, the message is It means not to output.
Conversely, if the value of each bit is "1", it means that the user has the right to speak in the corresponding category, and if a message belonging to the category of "1" is received, that information device It means that there is a possibility of outputting a message.

As shown in FIG. 5 (b), in the case of "TV (bedroom)", among the bits of the binary number corresponding to the numerical value "88", there are three bits "1" and "Emergency information""," Weather forecast ", corresponding to" transport information ".
That is, the information device "TV (bedroom)" has the right to speak for three categories "urgent information", "weather forecast" and "transport information", and a message belonging to these three categories is received. Can output the message.

On the other hand, even if a message belonging to the other five categories is received, the "TV (bedroom)" does not output the message because it does not have the right to speak.
However, in the following embodiment, “emergency information” is considered to be of great importance for notifying the user, and notification is made from any time and from any place, and the bit corresponding to the emergency information (the second bit from the top) is It shall be always set to "1".

  As described above, by appropriately setting the utterance attribute in advance for each information device in consideration of the type of each information device and the installation location thereof, the user hears the message belonging to a specific category. The notification can be made from an information device in a place where there is a high possibility of the user who desires.

  For example, assuming that a housewife is likely to be in the living room, the utterance attribute is such that the information device such as a television, air conditioner, and lighting installed in the living room has the right to speak sales information (abbreviation = main) for housewives. If you set up, the housewife can hear the sale info message for the housewife when you are in the living room.

On the other hand, in a children's room where it is highly likely that housewives do not go in so much and there are only children, it is considered unlikely that the message will be effectively used even if a message on sale information for housewives is broadcast.
Therefore, it is preferable to set the utterance attribute so that the information device such as a television, air conditioner, and lighting installed in the children's room does not have the right to speak the sale information for the housewife.

From this point of view, the utterance attribute of the information device installed in the children's room (1, 2) shown in FIG. 5A sets the bit corresponding to abbreviation = mainly to “0”, and sale information for housewives Exclude the right to speak.
Thus, by setting the speech attribute so as to increase the possibility of informing the particular user of a message of interest to the particular user, and less likely to inform other users who are not interested. The possibility of effectively using the informed message can be increased.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the speech setting information set for each information device.
Although only the basic priority is shown in FIG. 5 in order to explain the priority, the case where four priorities are set to enable dynamic change of the priority of the speech right will be described. Do. Here, the priority (operation) corresponds to the above-described first priority, the priority (during operation) corresponds to the above-described second priority, and the priority (time) corresponds to the above-described third priority. Do.
FIG. 6 illustrates an example of utterance setting information for four information devices such as a television (living room), a television (bedroom), a lighting (living room), and a refrigerator (living room).
Each utterance setting information 41 includes four priorities (L0, L1, L2, L3), an apparatus code, a place code, and an utterance attribute (numeric value). However, as described above, the device code and the location code may not be stored if they are included in the priority (basic).

The priority (basic) L0 is always set, but for the other three priorities (L1, L2, L3), only the necessary ones need to be set, and the priority is dynamically changed. It is not necessary to set in the information device which does not
In addition, regarding the numerical value of priority, the smaller number is higher in level and the larger number is lower in level.
Furthermore, in the case where two or more adoptable priorities are set in one information device, the higher priority of the levels is adopted.

The priority (basic) L0 is the basic priority shown in FIG. 5A, and is assumed to be the lowest level among the four priorities.
The priority (time) L1 is a priority to be employed when the current time coincides with a preset time or when the current time is within a period from a predetermined start time to an end time, It is assumed that the level is higher than the order (basic) L0.
For example, the priority (time) L1 of the television (bedroom) is "812", which is higher than "912" of the priority (basic) L0.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, in the priority (time) L1, a start time and an end time are set in advance as a time zone in which the priority is adopted.
In the television (bedroom), from 22:00 to 23:59 is set as a time zone in which the priority (time) L1 is adopted.
For this time zone, when the current time is 22 o'clock, it means that priority (time) = 812 is adopted as the current priority of the television (bedroom).
Also, from 22:00 to 23:59, the current priority is 812. However, after 23:59, the current priority is returned to priority (basic) = 912. .
The utterance attribute of the television (bedroom) is 88, and the categories with the right to speak are three, "Luck, Heaven, Tight". "812" is adopted as the priority for the right to speak of the messages belonging to the three categories of "Ten, Tsun".

The priority (in operation) L2 is a priority to be employed when the information device is in operation from the start to the end of the predetermined function, and the level is higher than the priority (time) L1. It shall be.
For example, the priority (in operation) of the television (living room) and the television (bedroom) is adopted when the television is turned on and a video is displayed and the program is being viewed.
On the other hand, if the television is no longer being viewed, the current priority of the television is returned to the priority (basic).
In addition, “131” of the priority (operating) of the lighting (living) means that it is the priority to be adopted when the lighting fixture installed in the living is turned on (ON), and When the power is turned off and turned off, the current priority shall return to the priority (basic).

The priority (operation) L3 is a priority to be employed when the user performs a predetermined input operation, start or stop operation with respect to the corresponding information device, and is the highest among the four priorities. The level is high.
For example, the priority (operation) of the refrigerator (living room) "041" is adopted when the door of the refrigerator is opened, and then, even if the door is closed, it takes 5 minutes from the time the door is opened. It means that priority (operation) is adopted. If five minutes have passed since the door was opened, it shall return to priority (basic).

Although FIG. 6 describes the case where four priorities are set, in one information device, the priorities to be adopted are determined based on the height of a predetermined level.
That is, when an event (time, in operation, or operation) occurs which employs any of three priorities (L1, L2, L3), the priority included in one's own speech right information is set to basic Change the priority to the priority corresponding to the event that occurred.
As described above, the levels of the four priority levels are set to basic L0 <time L1 <operating L2 <operation L3 in order from the low level. When setting the level height in this way, if these four priorities conflict, the highest priority (operation) will be adopted.
For example, for a television (bedroom), if the current time is 23:00 and the user is watching the television, the current priority of the television (bedroom) is “time” 811, “active” Both of the '112' can be employed, but with a higher level of 'active' priority (112).

In addition, when a message belonging to a certain category is received by a plurality of information devices having the right to speak, a device that actually acquires the right to speak is determined based on the current priority that each information device has.
For example, when a message related to transportation information is transmitted from the server SV to the four information devices (TE1 to TE4) shown in FIG. 6, any of the devices may have the right to speak from the content of the utterance attribute. At this time, assuming that the current priorities adopted by the four information devices are all priority (basic), the smallest numerical value among the four information devices (ie, the highest level) The right to speak is given to the "911" information device having the priority. That is, the message regarding the transportation information is notified from the television (living room).

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the speech right information stored in the storage unit 40. As shown in FIG.
The speech right information 43 is information on the speech right of the information device at the present time, and includes at least the current priority and the current speech right (speech attribute). In any information, numerical values as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are stored. The current speech right (speech attribute) is a set of speech information that permits speech at the present time.
The contents of the present speech right information 43 dynamically change according to the type and installation place of the information device connected to the network in the same house, the operation state and operation state of each information device, and the like.

FIG. 7A shows an example of the current speech right information 43 of the refrigerator (living room) shown in FIG. According to this, the current priority of the refrigerator (living room) is "941", and the current speech right (speech attribute) is "93 (= 5 DH)", and currently, "self, main, luck, It shows that you have the right to speak about the five categories of Heaven and Tight.
For example, in a state where only the refrigerator (living room) is connected to the home network for the first time, the storage unit 40 stores speech right information 43 as shown in FIG. When any of the messages belonging to the five categories is transmitted from the server SV, the refrigerator (living room) will notify.

FIG. 7B shows the speech right information 43 updated only when the two information devices, the refrigerator (living room) and the television (bedroom), are connected to the home network.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 9 described later, updating (adjustment) of the right to speak is performed between the two information devices, and the current right to speak of the refrigerator (living) becomes 69 (self, main, tight), It indicates that the current speech right of the television (bedroom) is 88 (luck, heaven, tightness).

In FIG. 7 (c), three information devices (refrigerator (living room), television (bedroom), television (living room)) are connected to the in-home network, and as shown in FIG. It shows the speech right information 43 after being sent.
According to FIG. 7 (c), the refrigerator (living room) and the television (bedroom) currently have the right to speak on the emergency information only, but the television (living) has the right to speak on all the messages of the eight categories. It is shown that.
In FIG. 7D, for the television (bedroom), since the current time is, for example, 22:00, the current priority is changed from "912" to "812", and the current speech right (speech attribute) is urgent It shows that it is only information.
Thus, for each information device, the current priority and the content of the current speech right can be changed according to various situations.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of three pieces of information (participation request, speech right update request, speech right notification) transmitted and received among the respective information devices. All pieces of information include the data name, priority, and utterance attribute. However, in addition to this, for example, information such as the notification means type of the speech output unit 13 may be included.
FIG. 8A shows an example of the participation request (referred to as SREQ). The participation request SREQ consists of a data name, a basic priority, and a basic utterance attribute.

Here, the basic priority order is the priority order L0 preset in the speech setting information 41 of the information device that transmits the participation request. The basic utterance attribute is an utterance attribute preset in the utterance setting information 41 of the information device that transmits the participation request.
For example, when the television (bedroom) TE2 in FIG. 6 is connected to the home network and transmits a participation request, the participation request consists of (SREQ, 912, 88) as shown in FIG. 8A. Information is included.

FIG. 8B shows an example of a speech rights update request (KREQ; also called update request, reset request). The speech right update request KREQ is to request the other information device to update the speech right. KREQ contains the data name, its current priority of sending the update request, and its basic speech attribute.
For example, when the current time reaches 22 o'clock, the priority (time) is adopted as the current priority of the television (bedroom) TE2 of FIG. 6 and is changed from "912" to "812".
At this time, an utterance right update request (KREQ, 812, 88) as shown in FIG. 8B is transmitted from the television (bedroom) TE2.
In an information device that has received this update request from another information device, the speech right update execution unit 37 of the information device uses the speech right information included in the received update request for the speech information for which the user has the speech right. Update. Further, after the update, the speech right notifier 33 transmits a speech right notice including the updated speech right information.

FIG. 8C shows an example of the speech right notification (SANS or KANS) corresponding to the participation response or the reset response. This speech right notification is information transmitted from the information device that has received the participation request SREQ or the information device that has received the speech right update request KREQ, and the data name (SANS or KANS) and the information that transmits the speech right notification The device's own update priority and its own update utterance attribute are included.
For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the participation response SANS in FIG. 8C is a speech right notification transmitted by the refrigerator (living room), and includes information consisting of (SANS, 941 and 69).
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the reset response KANS shown in FIG. 8C is a speech right notification transmitted by the refrigerator (living room), and includes information consisting of (KANS, 941, 64).
In an information device that has received a speech right notification from another information device, the speech right update execution unit 37 of the information device uses the speech right information included in the received speech right notification that is the speech information that the user has a speech right To update.

<Example of Utterance Right Update Process>
FIGS. 9 to 13 show a sequence diagram of one embodiment of the speech right update process, and FIGS. 14 and 15 show flowcharts of one embodiment of speech information notification process and speech update process for one information device. Show.

The sequence diagrams of FIG. 9 to FIG. 13 show information transmitted / received between three information devices installed in one house and an update state of the speech right information 43 of each information device.
Even when four or more information devices are installed in one home, transmission and reception of information according to these sequences are performed, and the speech right information 43 of each information device is updated.

Example 1
FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of the speech rights update process when an information device is newly added to the home network as the first embodiment. Here, if nothing is connected to the home network, the refrigerator (living room) is connected first to the home network, then the television (bedroom) is connected, and finally the television (living) is connected. Shall be
Alternatively, it is assumed that three information devices are connected to the home network, but in the above order, the power is turned on and activated.

In the refrigerator (living room), as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that 941 is set as the basic priority of the speech setting information 41 and 93 (self, main, luck, heaven, tightness) is set as the speech attribute .
In this case, 941 is stored in the utterance right information 43 of the refrigerator (living room) as an initial value of the current priority, and 93 is stored as an initial value of the current utterance attribute.
Hereinafter, the speech right information 43 is indicated by (current priority, current speech attribute).

In step S101, when the refrigerator (living room) is connected to the home network, the control unit 1 of the refrigerator (living room) causes the participation request unit 31 to transmit a participation request SREQ. Here, the participation request SREQ includes 941 as the current priority and 93 as the current utterance attribute.
The participation request SREQ is to be broadcasted to the home network.
If there is no connected information device other than the refrigerator (living room), the response will not come back. Since no response is sent back after a certain period of time, we maintain our right to speak. That is, the current speech right information 43 is left as (941, 93). When the refrigerator (living room) receives a message belonging to five categories (self, main, luck, heaven, tightness), it broadcasts the message.

If, in the above state, the refrigerator (living room) receives, for example, the association association information, since it has the right to speak the association association information, the message received from the speaker of the refrigerator (living) is It is output.
However, even if the general sale information is received, the general sale information message is not output since the user does not have the right to speak.

  Next, in step S102, it is assumed that the television (bedroom) is connected to the home network, and the participation request unit 31 of the television (bedroom) transmits the participation request SREQ. The present speech right information 43 of the television (bedroom) is (912, 88). The request for participation includes the basic priority (912) of the television (bedroom) shown in FIG. 6 and the utterance attribute (88). Of these utterance attributes, the utterance right is set in three categories (Luck, Heaven, Tight).

In step S103, the participation request SREQ transmitted from the television (bedroom) is received by the participation request reception unit 34 of the refrigerator (living room). The speaking right update execution unit 37 of the refrigerator (living room) updates the present speaking right information 43 by using the information (912, 88) included in the received participation request SREQ.
First, while the current priority of the speaking right information 43 of the refrigerator (living) is 941, the priority of the received participation request is 912. Since the priority of the two is 941> 912, the television (bedroom) that has sent the request for participation has a higher priority level.

Therefore, with regard to the three categories (Luck, Heaven, Tung) set in the television (bedroom), the right of speech is transferred to the higher priority television (bedroom).
However, as described above, with regard to emergency information, assuming that all the information devices always have the right to speak, both have the right to speak.
As a result, the refrigerator (living room) originally had the right to speak about five categories (self, main, luck, heaven, tightness), but it was transferred to the television (bedroom) (lucky, heaven) 2 Delete one speech right and change the current speech attribute to the remaining three (self, main, close).

At this time, the numerical value of the current utterance attribute of the refrigerator (living room) is updated to 69 (= 45H) where the bit of (self, main, tight) is 1.
Thereafter, the utterance right notification unit 33 of the refrigerator (living room) transmits an utterance right notification including the updated current utterance right information 43 of the user. The speech right notification is a participation response SANS to the participation request SREQ transmitted from the television (bedroom), and is information including (941, 69).

In step S104, the utterance right notification receiving unit 36 of the television (bedroom) receives the utterance right notification (participation response). The utterance right update execution unit 37 of the television (bedroom) compares the current priority (912) of itself with the priority (941) included in the received participation response.
Since 912 <941 and the priority of the user is higher, the current speech right information 43 is maintained and is not updated.
Therefore, the speech right information 43 of the television (bedroom) remains the information (912, 88) when connected to the home network.
As described above, when the refrigerator (living room) and the television (bedroom) are connected to the home network, the refrigerator (living room) has the right to speak about (self, main, tight) and the television (bedroom) He has the right to speak about (luck, heaven, tightness).

In step S105, when the television (living) is connected to the home network, a participation request SREQ is transmitted from the television (living). Assuming that the present speech right information 43 of the television (living) includes the present priority 911 and the present speech attribute 255 as shown in FIG. 255) is included.
Since the participation request SREQ is broadcasted, it is received by the participation request receiving unit 34 of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (bedroom) in steps S106 and S107.

  In steps S106 and S107, the speech right update execution unit 37 updates the speech right information 43. The priority (911) included in the participation request sent from the television (living) is higher than any current priority (941, 912) for the refrigerator (living) and the television (bedroom), so it is urgent The seven categories of speech rights of television (living) excluding information are transferred to television (living).

For example, in step S106, the television (bedroom) had the right to speak in three categories (Luck, Heaven, Tight), but the utterances in the other two categories (Luck, Heaven) except emergency information In order to transfer the right to the television (living room), the (right, heaven) speech right is deleted from the current speech right information 43.
That is, for the current value of the utterance attribute, the bit corresponding to (Luck, Heaven) is set to 0, and only the bit corresponding to "Tung" is set to 1. As a result, the current speech attribute of the television (bedroom) is 64 (= 40H). Therefore, the current speech right information 43 of the television (bedroom) is updated to (912, 64).

  Also in step S107, the same updating process is executed, the refrigerator (living room) has a speaking right only for the emergency information, and the current speaking right information 43 of the refrigerator (living) is updated to (941, 64). Ru.

  In step S108, the speech right notifier 33 of the television (bedroom) whose speech right has been updated transmits a speech right notice (participation response). The speech right notification (participation response) includes the current speech right information (912, 64) of the user.

In steps S109 and S110, the speaking right notice receiving unit 36 of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (living room) receives the speaking right notice.
In step S109, on the television (living room), the current priority (911) of the user is higher than the priority (912) included in the received notification of the speech right, so the current speech right information 43 Maintain.
That is, the television (living room) has a speech right for all eight categories because the current speech attribute is 255 (= FFH).

In step S110, in the refrigerator (living), since the current priority (941) of the user is lower than the received priority (912), it is necessary to transfer the speech right to the television (bedroom).
However, since the current speech attribute of the refrigerator (living room) has only the right to speak the emergency information, there is no transfer right to be transferred, so the speech right information 43 is maintained as it is.

  In step S111, the utterance right notification (participation response) is also transmitted from the utterance right notification unit 33 of the refrigerator (living room). The speech right notification (participation response) includes the current speech right information (941, 64) of the user.

In steps S112 and S113, the television (bedroom) and television (living) utterance right notification reception unit 36 receives this utterance right notification.
Both the television (bedroom) and the television (living) maintain the current speech right information 43, since their current priority is higher than the priority 941 included in the received speech right notification, Do not update.

With the above processing, in the state where the above three information devices are connected to the home network, the refrigerator (living room) and the television (bedroom) have the right to speak only for the emergency information, and the television (living room) The speech right information 43 is updated so as to have speech rights for all eight categories.
For example, when emergency information is transmitted from the server after the above three information devices are connected and their participation responses are transmitted and received, a message of emergency information is broadcast from all three information devices.
Moreover, when the message of seven categories other than emergency information is transmitted from a server, the message is alert | reported from television (living).

(Utterance attribute update processing using bit operation)
As described above, the current utterance attribute of the utterance right information 43 of the information device is updated using the priority and the utterance attribute included in the participation request and the like. The following bit operations can be performed.
Let PA be the current priority of the information device A that is about to update the speech right, and SA be the current speech attribute of the information device A.
On the other hand, the priority included in the request for participation and the notification of the right to speak received from another information device B is PB, and the utterance attribute is SB.

  Here, when the level of the current priority PA is lower than the level of the received priority PB, that is, when the relationship of the numerical value of PA> the numerical value of PB holds, the bit operation shown in the following equation should be performed. The current utterance attribute SA of the information device A is converted into a new utterance attribute SA ′.

New utterance attribute SA '= (SA and ~ SB) or 01000000
Here, it is assumed that “1” of the second bit from the upper side indicated by 01000000 is a bit corresponding to emergency information that always requests speech. Moreover, in ~ SB, "-" is an operator which shows bit inversion.
For example, it is assumed that the following numerical values are set for the above PA, SA, PB, and SB. The television (living room) is an apparatus for updating the speech right information, and the television (bedroom) is an apparatus for transmitting the update request.
PA = Current priority of TV (Living) = 911,
SA = current speech attribute of television (living) = 11111111 (= 255),
PB = priority received from TV (bedroom) = 112,
SB = Speech attribute received from television (bedroom) = 01011000 (= 88).

Here, since PA> PB, SA ′ is calculated by the following equation.
SA '= (SA and ~ SB) or 01000000
= (11111111 and ~ (01011000)) or 01000000
= (11111111 and 10100111) or 01000000
= 10100111 or 01000000
= 11100111
= E7 H = 231

In this case, the current speech attribute of the television (living room) is updated from 11111111 (= 255) to 11100111 (= 231).
In other words, in the original utterance attribute (= 255) of the television (living), all eight categories (self, se, main, luck, heaven, hen, tight, etc.) have the right to speak However, as a result of receiving an update request from a television (bedroom) having a higher level of priority, the current speech attribute of the television (living room) is changed to 231, (self, se, main, Only the six categories (Medical, Tight, etc.) have been updated to have the right to speak.

(Example 2)
In FIG. 10, in the state where three information devices are connected to the home network as the second embodiment, the sequence of the speech right update process when the current time coincides with the start time set as the priority (time) Figure shows.
Here, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that 22 o'clock is set as the start time of the priority (time) of the television (bedroom), and the current time becomes 22 o'clock. That is, it is assumed that an event occurs that employs time priority.
Further, as a premise, as shown in FIG. 10, it is assumed that 64 is set in the utterance attributes of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (bedroom), and only the emergency information has the speech right now.
It is assumed that 255 is set as the speech attribute of the television (living), and all eight categories currently have a speech right.
Furthermore, it is assumed that the basic priorities of the three information devices are set as the current priorities.

In step S121, when the set time check unit 18 confirms that the current time has reached 22:00 of the start time set as the priority (time), an event occurs that adopts the time priority, Based on the speech setting information 41 shown in FIG. 6, the current priority of the television (bedroom) is changed from 912 to 812 (priority (time)).
At this time, in the television (bedroom), the speech right initialization unit 22 initializes the current speech attribute in the speech right information 43.
Assuming that the utterance attribute set in the utterance setting information 41 of the television (bedroom) is 88, the current utterance attribute is set to 88. At this point, the television (bedroom) will have three categories of speech rights: (Luck, Heaven, Tung).

In step S122, since the set start time has come and the speech attribute has been changed, the speech right update request unit 32 of the television (bedroom) transmits an update request (reset request).
The update request includes the current priority 812 of the television (bedroom) and the current speech attribute 88. Since the update request is broadcasted, it is received by the update request receiver 35 of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (living room).

In step S123, in the refrigerator (living room) that has received the update request, the speech right initialization unit 22 first initializes the speech attribute of the speech right information 43 of its own.
As a result, the current speech attribute is changed from 64 to 93, and the refrigerator (living room) has a speech right for five categories (self, main, luck, heaven, tightness).
After that, the speech right update execution unit 37 updates the current speech right information 43 in consideration of the information (812, 88) included in the received update request.
Since the current priority (941) of the refrigerator (living) is lower in level than the received priority (812), it is self-evaluated to delete the speech right of the category indicated by the received speech attribute (88). Update the utterance attribute of.
This updating process may be performed by converting the current numerical value 93 of the speech attribute of itself and the numerical value 88 of the received speech attribute into a binary number and performing the bit operation as described above.

By this bit operation, the utterance attribute of the refrigerator (living room) becomes 69 (= 45H).
That is, the right to speak of the refrigerator (living) is divided into three categories (self, main, tight) by deleting (luck, heaven) from (self, main, luck, heaven, tight).

Similarly, in the television (living room) that has received the update request in step S124, the user's own speech right information 43 is first initialized, and then the update process is performed.
Since the current priority (911) of the television (living) is lower in level than the received priority (812), the speech right update execution unit 37 performs its own speech attribute by bit operation as described above. Update.
That is, the speech attribute of the television (living) is changed from 255 to 231 (= E7H) by bit operation of the current numerical value 255 of the speech attribute of its own and the numerical value 88 of the received speech attribute.
As a result, the television (living room) has the right to speak for the six categories (self, se, main, hen, tight, etc.).

In step S125, in the television (living room), since the speech right has been updated, the speech right notifier 33 transmits a speech right notice as a response to the update request.
The notice of the speech right includes current speech right information (911, 231) of the television (living room).

In steps S126 and S127, the utterance right notification is received by the utterance right notification receiving unit 36 of the television (bedroom) and the refrigerator (living room).
In step S126, the priority (911) included in the received speech right notification is lower in level than the current self priority (812), so the speech right of the television (bedroom) is not updated, and the current speech Speech right information (812, 88) is maintained.

In step S127, the priority (911) included in the received notification of the speech right is higher than the current priority (941) of the refrigerator (living room), so the speech right update execution unit 37 The bit operation as described above is performed, and the speech right is updated.
As a result, in the refrigerator (living room), the current speech attribute is changed to 64, and only the emergency information has the speech right.

In step S128, in the refrigerator (living room), the speech right notifier 33 transmits a speech right notice as a response to the update request.
The utterance right notification includes current utterance right information (941, 64) of the refrigerator (living room).
In steps S129 and S130, the utterance right notification transmitted from the refrigerator (living room) is received by the utterance right notification receiving unit 36 of the television (bedroom) and the television (living room).
The priority (941) included in the received speech right notification is lower than the respective priorities (812, 911) of the television (bedroom) and the television (living room), so the television (bedroom) and the television (TV) In any of the living rooms, the speech right is not updated, and the current speech right information 43 is maintained.

As described above, when the start time set in the priority (time) of the television (bedroom) comes, the current priority and the utterance attribute of the television (bedroom) are changed, The utterance attribute of the information device is also changed.
In the case of FIG. 10, it is considered that there is a possibility that the user may be in the bedroom by the arrival of the preset start time on the television in the bedroom, so the level of the speech right of the television in the bedroom is increased. It was done.

Further, in the priority (time) of the television (bedroom) shown in FIG. 6, the end time (23:59) is set together with the start time (22:00).
If the current time has passed the end time (23:59), the time zone for adopting the priority (time) has passed, so the television (bedroom) priority is returned from 812 to the basic priority 912. Be
As the priority of the television (bedroom) is changed, the update process is performed and an update request including (912, 88) is transmitted from the television (bedroom) as shown in FIG. . In the information device that has received the update request, the speech right information is updated.

(Example 3)
FIG. 11 shows a sequence diagram of the speech rights update process when one information device is in operation in a state where three information devices are connected to the home network as a third embodiment.
Here, the case where the user turns on the television in the bedroom and starts watching a television program will be described. That is, the case where the event which adopts the priority in operation occurs will be described.
In FIG. 11, 64 is set in the current speech attribute of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (bedroom), 255 is set in the current speech attribute of the television (living room), and the current priority of each information device is Each basic priority is assumed to be set.

In step S141, when it is detected by the operation check unit 17 that viewing of the television in the bedroom has been started, the current priority of the television (bedroom) shown in FIG. Be changed.
In step S142, since the operation of the television in the bedroom is started and the current priority is changed, the utterance right initialization unit 22 of the television (bedroom) initializes the utterance attribute.
Here, the current speech attribute of the speech right information 43 is changed to 88.
That is, the television (bedroom) has the right to speak for three categories (Luck, Heaven, Tung).
Thereafter, the utterance right update request unit 32 of the television (bedroom) transmits an update request. This update request includes the current speech right information (112, 88) of its own.

  In steps S143 and S144, the update request receiving unit 35 of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (living room) first initializes its own speech right information 43, and then the speech right update execution unit 37 receives the update request received. The speech right information 43 is updated using the information (112, 88).

In step S143, the refrigerator (living room) receives an update request having a priority (112) higher than its own priority (941), so the speech right information 43 is updated, and the present speech attribute is , Is changed to 69. Thus, the refrigerator (living room) has the right to speak for the three categories (self, main, tight).
Also in step S144, since the television (living room) receives the update request having the priority (112) higher than its own priority (911), the speech right information 43 is updated, and the present speech attribute is updated. Is changed from 255 to 231.
As a result, the television (living room) has the right to speak for the six categories (self, se, main, music, tight, etc.).

In step S145, the speech right notifier 33 of the television (living) transmits a speech right notice as a response to the update request. The notice of the speech right includes current speech right information (911, 231).
In step S146, when the television (bedroom) receives the speech right notification, the lower priority (911) than the current priority (112) of its own has been received, so the speech right is not updated. The current speech right information (112, 88) is maintained.
In step S147, when the refrigerator (living room) receives the speech right notification, the priority (911) higher in level than the current priority (941) of its own is received, so that the speech right is updated. In this case, the current speech attribute is changed from 69 (= 45H) to 64 (= 40H). As a result, the refrigerator (living room) has the right to speak only for the emergency information.

In step S148, the utterance right notification unit 33 of the refrigerator (living room) transmits an utterance right notification as a response to the update request. The speech right notification includes current speech right information (941, 64).
In steps S149 and S150, the television (bedroom) and television (living) utterance right notification reception unit 36 receives the utterance right notifications (941, 64).
The priority (941) included in the received speech right notification is lower in level than the current priority (112, 911) of either the television (bedroom) or the television (living).
Therefore, the television (bedroom) and television (living) utterance right information 43 is maintained without being updated.

As described above, when the television in the bedroom is turned on and viewing of the television is started, there is a high possibility that the user is in the bedroom. Therefore, the television in the bedroom is prioritized to make the speech right Update.
As a result, the message received from the server can be notified from the information device in the place where the user is likely to be present, and the possibility of the user listening to the message can be increased.

In addition, when the user turns off the television in the bedroom and stops watching, the television is not in operation, so the current priority is returned to the basic priority (912).
At this time, an update request including (912, 88) is transmitted from the television (bedroom). Since this lowers the priority of the television (bedroom), the right to speak of messages belonging to some categories is transferred to other information devices, and the category to which the right to speak is reduced in the television (bedroom) It will be.

(Example 4)
FIG. 12 shows a sequence diagram of the speech rights update process when the user performs an input operation on one information device while three information devices are connected to the home network as a fourth embodiment. .
Here, the case where the user opens the refrigerator door in the living room will be described. That is, the case where the event which adopts the priority of operation generate | occur | produces is demonstrated.
The operation confirmation unit 17 of the refrigerator detects that the refrigerator door is opened, for example, by an open / close sensor or a switch attached to the inside of the refrigerator.
Also in FIG. 12, the current speech attributes of the refrigerator (living room), the television (bedroom) and the television (living room) are set to 64, 64 and 255, respectively, as in FIG. 10 and FIG. Each basic priority is assumed to be set.

In step S161, when the door of the refrigerator is opened by the user, the operation check unit 17 of the refrigerator confirms that the operation has been performed by the user. When this user operation is confirmed, the current priority is changed from 941 to 041 (priority (operation)) using the utterance setting information 41 of the refrigerator (living room).
In step S162, the speech right initialization unit 22 initializes the current speech attribute. As a result, the current speech attribute is 64 to 93, and has the right to speak for five categories (self, main, luck, heaven, tightness).
Thereafter, the utterance right update request unit 32 of the refrigerator (living room) transmits an update request. The update request includes current speech right information (041, 93).

In steps S163 and S164, when the television (bedroom) and television (living) update request receiving unit 35 receives the update request (041, 93), first, the speech attribute is initialized and then the received update request , And update own speech right information 43 using the information contained in.
Since the priority 041 included in the update request is higher in level than the current priority of the television (bedroom) and the television (living), the above-described bit operation is performed by the speech right update execution unit 37, The current speech attributes are updated.
The current speech right information of the television (bedroom) is (912, 64), and the current speech right information of the television (living) is (911, 226).

In step S165, the speech right notifier 33 of the television (bedroom) transmits a speech right notice as a response to the update request. This speech right notification includes current speech right information (912, 64) of the television (bedroom).
In steps S166 and S167, the speaking right notice receiving unit 36 of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (living room) receives the speaking right notice.
However, the priority (912) included in the received speech right notification is lower in level than the current priority (041, 911) of either the refrigerator (living) or the television (living), so either information device Also, the current speech right information 43 is maintained.

In step S168, the speech right notifier 33 of the television (living) transmits a speech right notice as a response to the update request. The speech right notification includes current speech right information (911, 226) of the television (living room).
In step S169, the utterance right notification receiving unit 36 of the television (bedroom) receives the utterance right notification.
Since the priority (911) included in the received speech right notification is higher than the current priority 912 of the television (bedroom), the speech right is updated, but it is already the emergency information that has the speech right The right to speak will be maintained.
In step S170, when the refrigerator (living room) receives the speech right notification, the current speech right information 43 is not updated because the level of the current priority 041 is higher than the received priority 911. Maintained.

As described above, when the refrigerator door in the living room is opened, the user is very likely to be beside the living room refrigerator for a while thereafter.
Therefore, it is preferable to notify a predetermined message from the refrigerator of the living room from the viewpoint that the received message may be effectively used.
Therefore, the current utterance right information is updated by raising the priority of the information device (fridge) for which the user has performed a predetermined operation.
As a result, the category of the message notified from the information device that the user has operated can be increased, and the possibility of letting the user hear the message can be increased.

Also, in the case of a refrigerator, the user should open the door, put an item in or out, and then operate to close the door. Therefore, if it is detected that the user has closed the door, the user may leave the living room, so several minutes after the closing operation, the priority of the refrigerator (living) is set to the basic priority from 041 It may be returned to 941).
In this case, an update request including (941, 93) may be transmitted from the refrigerator (living room). As a result, the number of categories of utterance rights held by the refrigerator (living room) can be reduced to reduce the possibility that a message may be output from the refrigerator (living room) that may have left the user.

(Example 5)
FIG. 13 shows a sequence diagram in the case where processing for updating the right to speak is performed by periodical reset request as the fifth embodiment.
Also in FIG. 13, as in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, three information devices are connected to the home network, and the current utterance attributes of the refrigerator (living), the television (bedroom) and the television (living) are respectively The current priorities are set to 64, 64, and 255, respectively.
Here, in the television (bedroom), it is assumed that the reset timer Tm is started after being connected to the home network. At start-up, a counter value corresponding to a predetermined initial time (for example, 60 minutes) is set in the reset timer Tm, and it is counted down at fixed time intervals.

In step S181, the setting time check unit 18 of the television (bedroom) checks the reset timer Tm, and it is assumed that the reset timer Tm is zero. At this time, it is determined that it is time to perform periodic reset processing, and the speech right initialization unit 22 of the television (bedroom) initializes own speech right information.
Thus, the current priority of the television (bedroom) is 912, and the current speech attribute returns to 88.

In step S182, the utterance right update request unit 32 of the television (bedroom) transmits an update request (reset request). This update request includes (912, 88).
In steps S183 and S184, when the update request receiver 35 of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (living room) receives the update request, the information contained in the received update request is initialized after initializing its own speech right information (912, 88) is used to update the speech right information.

In step S183, since the current priority (941) of the refrigerator (living) is lower than the received priority (912), the speaking right information of the refrigerator (living) is updated, (941, 69) It becomes. Thus, the refrigerator (living room) has the right to speak for three categories (self, main, tight).
In step S184, since the current priority (911) of the television (living) is higher than the received priority, the speech right information of the television (living) is maintained.

In step S185, as a response to the update request, the television (living) transmits a speech right notification (reset response) including current speech right information (911, 255).
In steps S186 and S187, the utterance right notification receiving unit 36 of the television (bedroom) and the refrigerator (living room) receives the utterance right notification.
Since the priority 911 of the received speech right is higher than the current priority (941, 912) of the refrigerator (living room) and the television (bedroom), both speech attributes are updated by the bit operation as described above Be done.
In step S186, the current speech right information of the television (bedroom) is (912, 64).
In step S187, the current utterance right information of the refrigerator (living room) is (941, 64).

In step S188, the refrigerator (living room) transmits a speech right notification (reset response) including current speech right information (941, 64) as a response to the update request.
In steps S189 and S190, the television (bedroom) and television (living) utterance right notification reception unit 36 receives the utterance right notification.
The priority 941 included in the received speech right notification is lower in level than the current priority (912, 911) of either the television (bedroom) or the television (living), so no update request is made and the current priority Rights information is maintained.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, although there is substantially no change in the current speech right information, the information device is connected to the home network as shown in FIG. 9 by periodic reset processing. In the initial state, the speech right is initialized. As described above, even if the information device is disconnected from the network or an abnormality such as a failure occurs and a device that can not speak is generated by resetting the speech right by the periodic reset processing, it is optimal. Utterance is realized.

(Example 6)
FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of the utterance information notifying process in one information device.
In the sequences shown in the above-described first to fifth embodiments, the processing of each information device is executed based on this flowchart.
In step S1, when the information device is powered on, the control unit 11 activates a predetermined function and initializes various information.
In step S2, when it is detected that the information device is connected to the home network, a reset timer Tm is initialized.
For example, Tm = 3600 seconds (= 60 minutes) is set. Thereafter, counting of the reset timer Tm is started.
In step S3, the speech right information 43 and the like stored in the storage unit 40 are initialized.
For example, in the case of a television (living room), a basic priority 911 is set to the current priority of the speech right information 43, and 255 is set to the current speech attribute.

In step S4, the participation request unit 31 transmits a participation request to the home network. Since the participation request is broadcasted, it is received by all the information devices connected to the home network.
In step S5, the reset timer Tm is updated.
For example, if it takes 1 second to perform the processing from step S6 to S24, 1 second is subtracted (Tm = Tm-1).
In step S6, it is checked whether or not the reset timer Tm = 0.
That is, it is checked whether the reset timer Tm times out and a predetermined set time has elapsed.
In the case of Tm = 0, since time-out has occurred, the process proceeds to step S31, and in the case of Tm> 0, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, the input unit 12 and the operation check unit 17 check whether or not the user has performed an operation.
If it is confirmed that the operation by the user has been performed, the process proceeds to step S32, and if not, the process proceeds to step S8.
In step S8, the operation check unit 17 checks whether or not the operation of the predetermined function of the information device has been started.
If the operation has been started, the process proceeds to step S33, and if not, the process proceeds to step S9.
In step S9, the operation check unit 17 checks whether or not the operation of the predetermined function of the information device is ended.
If the operation is completed, the process proceeds to step S34. If not, the process proceeds to step S10.

In step S10, the setting time check unit 18 reads out the start time preset in the priority (time) L1 of the speech setting information 41, and checks whether the current time matches the start time.
If they match, the process proceeds to step S35. If not, the process proceeds to step S11.
In step S11, the set time check unit 18 reads the end time preset in the priority (time) L1 of the speech setting information 41, and checks whether the current time matches the end time.
If they match, the process proceeds to step S36. If not, the process proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, the update request receiving unit 35 checks whether an update request has been received from another information device.
If the update request has been received, the process proceeds to step S44. If not, the process proceeds to step S13.
In step S13, the participation request reception unit 34 checks whether a participation request has been received from another information device.
If the participation request has been received, the process proceeds to step S47. If not, the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S14, the speech right notice reception unit 36 checks whether a speech right notice has been received from another information device.
If the utterance right notification has been received, the process proceeds to step S49. If not, the process proceeds to step S21.
In step S21, the speech information receiving unit 19 checks whether the communication request unit 16 has received the speech request information transmitted from the server SV via the network 400.
If it has been received, the process proceeds to step S22. If not, the process proceeds to step S24.
The received speech request information 42 is stored in the storage unit 40.

In step S22, the speech right confirmation unit 20 confirms the contents of the received speech request information, and whether or not the own information device may utter the message for which the speech request is made, that is, whether or not it has the speech right Check
If the user has the right to speak, the process proceeds to step S23. If not, the process proceeds to step S24.
The received speech request information is, for example, the information as shown in FIG. 4, the category of the attribute information included in the speech request information and the current speech right of the speech right information 43 stored in the storage unit 40 In comparison with the category set in the speech attribute), it is checked whether or not the category of the received attribute information is included in the category for which the speech right is currently valid.

For example, when the sale information for housewives shown in FIG. 4C is received from the server, if the current utterance attribute of the user's utterance right information 43 is 255, the category of the received attribute information is the utterance right information 43. Since the information device is included in the category set in the current utterance attribute of, it is determined that the information device has the right to utter the received message for the housewife sale information.
If the user has the right to speak, the process proceeds to step S23, and the received message is output.
On the other hand, if the user does not have the right to speak, the received speech request information 42 may be deleted without outputting the received message.

In step S23, the speech execution unit 21 causes the speech output unit 13 to output a message included in the received speech request information.
The speech output unit 13 includes the display unit 14 and the voice output unit 15. Depending on the data format of the received message or the hardware configuration provided in the information device, the voice output unit 13 may perform output by display or voice It may be determined whether the output according to or the output according to both display and audio is performed.
After the utterance is performed, the process proceeds to step S24.
In step S24, the control unit 11 checks whether to end the operation of the information device.
For example, when an input for stopping the speech function of the information device is made, it is determined that the operation of the device is to be ended, and the processing is ended.
On the other hand, if no input is made to end the device operation, the process returns to step S5.

In step S31, step S34 and step S36, since an event occurs to return the priority of the speech right to the initial value, its own current priority is initialized.
That is, the current priority is reset to the basic priority stored in the speech setting information 41.
In steps S32, S33 and S35, the current priority is changed to the priority stored in advance in the speech setting information 41 in association with the event that has occurred.
For example, in step S32, the current priority is changed to the priority (operation) associated with the user's operation, as shown in FIG.
Also, in this case, the reset timer Tm is reset to a fixed time (for example, 300 seconds) shorter than the initial value.
This is because when the user performs an operation, it is considered that the user is likely to be near his / her information device for a while after that.
Therefore, it is preferable to maintain the priority of the information device at a higher level of priority (operation) for a certain period of time after the user's operation is performed.

In step S33, since the device operation has been started, the current priority is changed to the priority (during operation).
In step S35, since the current time has reached the preset start time, the current priority is changed to the priority (time).
After performing one of the processes in steps S31 to S36, the process proceeds to step S41.
In step S41, the current speech attribute of the speech right information 43 is initialized.
This is preparation for performing the next utterance update process.
Step S44 also performs the same process as step S41.

In step S42, the speech right update execution unit 37 performs speech update processing.
Here, the process of updating one's own speech right information 43 is performed.
The specific content of the speech update process is shown in FIG. 15 described later.
The same utterance update process is performed in steps S45, S47, and S49.

In step S43, after the speech right information is updated in step S42, the speech right update request unit 32 transmits the update request to another information device via the home network.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S50.
In step S46, after the speech right information is updated in step S45, the speech right notifier 33 transmits a speech right notice to another information device as a response to the update request.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S50.
In step S48, after the speech right information is updated in step S47, the speech right notifier 33 transmits a speech right notice to another information device as a response to the participation request.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S50.
In step S50, as in step S7, whether or not the user's operation has been performed is checked. If the user's operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S24. If not, the process proceeds to step S51. move on.
In step S51, the reset timer Tm is returned to the initial value, and the process proceeds to step S24.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of the speech update process shown in FIG.
Here, the current priority of the information device whose speech right information is to be updated is "priority A", and the current speech attribute is "speech attribute A".
Also, the priority received from other information devices is "priority B", and the received speech attribute is "speech attribute B".
In step S71, the current priority A of the user and the current utterance attribute A are read out from the speech right information 43 stored in the storage unit 40.
In step S72, the received priority B and the utterance attribute B included in the participation request, the update request, or the utterance right notification are read out.

In step S73, the read priority A is compared with the priority B to check which level is higher.
As described above, the lower the numerical value indicating the priority, the higher the level.
Therefore, if the numerical value of priority A> the numerical value of priority B, priority B is higher in level.
In step S74, if priority A> priority B, that is, if the received priority B is higher in level, the process proceeds to step S75. If not, the process is ended without updating the speech attribute. .
In step S75, since the priority B of the other information equipment that has transmitted the update request and the like is higher than the current priority A of its own, using the received utterance attribute B, its own Change the current utterance attribute A.

From the category of the right to speak of the own information device, delete the category for which the right to speak is set in the utterance attribute B transmitted from the other information device with higher priority level, and Utterance attribute A is changed to have the right to speak for the category.
However, in the above-described embodiment, regarding the category of emergency information, the utterance attribute is changed on the assumption that all the information devices always have the utterance right.
In this case, the new utterance attribute A can be obtained by the bit operation as described above. When the speech attribute is represented by a numerical value as shown in FIG. 5, each bit when the numerical value is represented by a binary number corresponds to the category of the speech request information, so the bit value is "1". For the category corresponding to the bit in question, it has the right to speak.
By the above processing, the utterance right for each information device category is updated.

  However, if the priority order is changed due to the occurrence of a predetermined event in steps S31 to S36, there is no received priority order and speech attribute, and priority order B to be compared in step S74. There is no need to change the speech attribute as shown in step S75.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, the process of performing update adjustment of the speech right between the information devices connected to the home network is described, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the server SV manages all the speech setting information and the like stored in the storage unit 40 of each information device, and transmits from the information device to the server SV that the operation state of the information device and the input operation are performed. You may do so.
The server SV determines the speech right from the information transmitted from each information device and the information being managed, and transmits a message of a predetermined category to the information device having the determined speech right. Good.
Thereby, update control of the utterance right of each information device etc. can be centrally performed by the server SV.

11 control unit, 12 input unit, 13 speech output unit, 14 display unit, 15 voice output unit, 16 communication unit, 17 operation check unit, 18 set time check unit, 19 speech information reception unit, 20 speech right confirmation unit, 21 Utterance execution part, 22 speech right initialization part, 30 speech right information communication part, 31 participation request part, 32 speech right update request part, 33 speech right notification part, 34 participation request reception part, 35 update request reception part, 36 speech Rights notification reception unit, 37. Speech right update execution unit, 40 storage unit, 41 speech setting information, 42 speech request information, 43 speech right information, 100 information equipment group, 110 home equipment TE, 200 server SV, 300 information provider PC , 400 networks

Claims (7)

An utterance information notification system in which a plurality of information devices and a server storing utterance information are connected to a network,
A speech information receiving unit in which the information device receives speech information from the server;
A speech right confirmation unit that confirms whether the received speech information is information having a speech right indicating that speech is permitted;
A speech execution unit that outputs, among the received speech information, speech information for which the user has the speech right;
A speech right information communication unit that transmits own speech right information including priority of speech right to another information device and receives speech right information of the other information device from the other information device;
A speech right update execution unit that updates speech information for which the user has a speech right by comparing the current speech right information of the user with the speech right information received from another information device ;
And a storage unit for storing the current right of speech information of the user ;
The speech right information includes the priority of the self and a speech attribute in which speech information for permitting speech is set,
When the utterance right confirmation unit confirms that the utterance information received by the utterance information reception unit is information in which the updated self is included in the utterance information having the utterance right and has the current utterance right. Outputting the received speech information by the speech execution unit ;
The utterance right update execution unit compares the priority of the user's utterance right information stored in the storage unit with the priority included in the utterance right information received from the other information device, and the user's own priority is Setting the speech attribute of the self such that the speech information set in the speech attribute of the speech right information of the self is output when the level is higher than the received priority;
When the priority of the self is lower than the received priority, the speech information included in the speech attribute of the received speech right information and set in the speech attribute of the speech right information of the self is not output Thus, a speech information notification system characterized by changing the speech attribute of its own speech right information . An utterance information notification system in which a plurality of information devices and a server storing utterance information are connected to a network,
A speech information receiving unit in which the information device receives speech information from the server;
A speech right confirmation unit that confirms whether the received speech information is information having a speech right indicating that speech is permitted;
A speech execution unit that outputs, among the received speech information, speech information for which the user has the speech right;
A speech right information communication unit that transmits own speech right information including priority of speech right to another information device and receives speech right information of the other information device from the other information device;
And a speech right update execution unit that updates speech information for which the user has a speech right by comparing the current speech right information of the user with the speech right information received from another information device,
When the utterance right confirmation unit confirms that the utterance information received by the utterance information reception unit is information in which the updated self is included in the utterance information having the utterance right and has the current utterance right. Outputting the received speech information by the speech execution unit;
The priority included in the speech right information of the information device itself is a basic priority in which different numerical values are preset for each place where the information device is installed,
Furthermore, a first priority employed when the user performs a predetermined operation on the information device, and a second priority employed during an operation from when the information device starts a predetermined function until the operation is ended And at least one or more of the third priorities employed when the current time is within a period from a predetermined start time to an end time are set for each information device. utterance information notification system that. The information device further comprises a storage unit for storing its own present speech right information;
The speech right information includes the priority of the self and a speech attribute in which speech information for permitting speech is set,
The utterance right update execution unit compares the priority of the user's utterance right information stored in the storage unit with the priority included in the utterance right information received from the other information device, and the user's own priority is Setting the speech attribute of the self such that the speech information set in the speech attribute of the speech right information of the self is output when the level is higher than the received priority;
When the priority of the self is lower than the received priority, the speech information included in the speech attribute of the received speech right information and set in the speech attribute of the speech right information of the self is not output The speech information informing system according to claim 2 , wherein the speech attribute of the speech right information of oneself is changed. The utterance right update request unit transmits the update request including the utterance right information of the self to the other information device, and the utterance of the user itself as a response to the update request received from the other information device The speech information notification system according to claim 2 or 3 , further comprising: a speech right notification unit that transmits a speech right notification including right information. When the information device receives the update request from another information device, the speech right update execution unit uses the speech right information included in the received update request, the speech information for which the self has a speech right. 5. The speech information notification system according to claim 4 , wherein the speech right notification unit transmits a speech right notice including the speech right information of the self after updating. When the information device receives the utterance right notification from another information device, the utterance right update execution unit is configured to receive the utterance information including the utterance information for which the user has the utterance right. 6. The speech information notification system according to claim 5 , wherein the speech information is used and updated. The basic priority is initialized in advance to the priority included in the speech right information of the information device.
The first, second and third priorities are set higher than the basic priority level,
When an event occurs that employs any of the first, second and third priorities,
The speech information broadcast according to any one of claims 2 to 6 , wherein the priority included in the own speech right information is changed from the basic priority to a priority corresponding to the event that has occurred. system.

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