JPH01176143A - Data communication terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent fatigue of eyes due to conversation for a long time by providing a means applying voice synthesis to a transmission/reception character code selectively and outputting the result in addition to a function converting a character code into a font and displaying the font. CONSTITUTION:A user of a data communication terminal equipment displays a message received from an opposite party on a screen of a display device 3 and when the user desires output the message in voice, the user enters the command from a keyboard 2. A CPU 11 receiving the command converts the received character code string into a character font string and writes the result in a video RAM 17, and transfers the received character code sting into a voice synhesis circuit 24 in parallel. The voice synthesis circuit 24 synthesizes the relevant voice from the character code string from the CPU 11 into the unit of single phrase and supplies it to a voice input terminal of the display device. Thus, the reception message is outputted in voice from a speaker of the display device 3 attended therewith. Thus, it gives a rest to the eyes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a data communication terminal device used for personal computer communication, and more particularly to a data communication terminal device having a voice synthesis function.

(Industrial Application Fields) Recently, various data communication systems such as PC communication, e-mail, electronic bulletin board, etc., which communicate by displaying characters by sending and receiving character string messages between terminal devices via telephone lines and central stations, have been developed. is becoming popular.

In the terminal devices of such data communication systems, character codes such as kana characters entered from the keyboard are sent out over the telephone line in code format, and character codes received from the telephone line are converted into character fonts (dot pattern). ) and displayed on a display device such as a CRT. There is also a data communication terminal device that is added with a function of transmitting and receiving image data such as graphics input from an image scanner in a dot pattern.

Furthermore, some relatively high-end terminal devices have a function of transmitting and receiving the user's voice as a PCM signal by switching the transmission mode, in addition to the function of transmitting and receiving character codes.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Among the above-mentioned conventional data communication terminal devices, those having only the function of transmitting and receiving character codes and image data not only cause eyestrain due to long conversations (but do not require the use of the eyes, etc.). There is an inconvenience in that it is not possible to carry out a conversation in parallel with the work.

In addition, audio data can be converted to PCM by switching the transmission mode.
A terminal device that has the function of transmitting and receiving signals requires a PCM modulator and demodulator, which makes the device expensive, and it is inconvenient that the contents of the conversation cannot be saved as text messages. Another problem is that switching between text and voice transmission modes is cumbersome.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The data communication terminal device of the present invention includes, in addition to a display means for converting the character code to be sent and received into a character font and displaying it.
It is equipped with a means for selectively synthesizing and outputting the sent character code and the received character code, or one of them, and is configured so that conversation can be carried out by voice in addition to character display.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention will be explained in detail together with examples.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data communication terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a main body in which a personal computer and a modem (modulator/demodulator) are combined; The keyboard 3 is a display device that is also used as a television receiver or the like.

The main unit 1 includes a CPU II, a ROM 12 that stores programs executed by the CPU II, and an R for generating character fonts.
OM13, RAM14 for storing transmitted and received data, modem 15
, a keyboard interface 16, a video RAM 17 for holding display data, a modem interface 18,
A dialer 19 that sends out a calling telephone number when making a call;
R,G.

In addition to general-purpose components such as a B generation circuit 22 and a bus 23, a speech synthesis circuit 24 is provided.

A user of this data communication terminal device inputs a message to be sent to the other party's data communication terminal device from the keyboard 2 in the form of a hiragana character code string. CPUI 1 in main unit 1 is keyboard interface 1
6 and the character code via bus 23, the RAM
The stored character code string is stored in a transmission buffer area in the modem 14, and is transferred to the modem 15 each time the enter key or return key is input. This character code string is
The signal is converted into a transmission line signal by the modem 15, and sent out onto the telephone line via the modem interface 18 and network control device 20. In parallel with sending out the character code string, the CPU II converts the character code input from the keypad into a character font in the character font generation ROM 13, and writes this into the input data display area in the video RAM. .

When the CPUI 1 receives the character code string sent from the other party's data communication terminal device from the modem 15,
This is temporarily stored in the reception buffer area in the RAM 14. In parallel with the storage of the received character data, the CPU 1 reads character codes one by one from the character code string already stored in the RAM 14, and stores them in the ROM 13 for character font generation.
The text is converted into a character font and written to the video RAM 17.

The display control circuit 21 reads out the input data from the keyboard 2 written in the video RAM 17 and the character font string of the received data in a predetermined order and at a predetermined cycle, and outputs them to the R, G, B generation circuit 22. Transfer to. The R, C;, B generating circuit 22 converts the character font string received from the display control circuit 21 into R, G.

The signal is converted into a B video signal and supplied to the video signal input terminal of the display device 3, where it is displayed.

The user of this data communication terminal device not only displays the message received from the other party on the screen of the display device 3 (but also outputs it by voice), inputs a command to that effect from the keyboard 2. Upon receiving this command, the CPU II transfers the received character code string to the speech synthesis circuit 24 in parallel with the above-mentioned process of converting the received character code string into a character font string and writing it into the video RAM 17.Speech synthesis circuit At step 24, the corresponding voice is synthesized in units of single words from the character code string received from the CPU II and is supplied to the voice input terminal of the display device.Accompanyingly, the received message is outputted as voice from the speaker of the display device 3. .

When the user of this terminal device wishes to output not only the message received from the other party but also the message he intends to send to the other party, he inputs a command to that effect from the keyboard 2. The CPU II that received this command,
In parallel with sending the message of the character code string input from the keyboard, this character code string is sent to the speech synthesis circuit 24.
to perform audio output.

Although the case where messages are sent and received using hiragana character code strings has been exemplified above, the present invention can be similarly applied to cases where messages are sent and received using katakana and Roman characters.

Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to a data communication terminal device that sends and receives messages containing a mixture of kanji and kana by being equipped with a terminology dictionary, a kanji reading dictionary, and the like.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above in detail, the data communication terminal device of the present invention has a function of converting character codes into fonts and displaying the same, and a means of selectively synthesizing and outputting transmitted and received character codes into speech. This configuration has the advantage of avoiding eye strain caused by long conversations. In addition, it becomes possible to carry out a conversation in parallel with other tasks that use the eyes, which has the effect of greatly improving convenience.

Furthermore, by switching the transmission mode, audio data can be converted to PCM.
Unlike conventional data communication terminal devices that transmit and receive signals, P
It is inexpensive because it does not require a CM modulator/demodulator, and it is also possible to store the contents of the conversation in the form of text in a video RAM or hard copy, greatly improving convenience. . Furthermore, the complexity of mode switching between text transmission mode and voice transmission mode can be eliminated, and convenience can be greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data communication terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Main body part, 2... Keyboard, 3... Display device, 11... CPU, 12... ROM, 13...
Character font generation ROM, 14...RAM, 15.
...Modem, 16...Keyboard interface 1
7... Video RAM 118... Modem interface, 19... Dialer, 20... Network control device (N
CU), 21... Display control circuit, 22... R, G
, B generation circuit, 24... speech synthesis circuit. Patent applicant: NEC Home Electronics Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A display device that converts a sent character code and a received character code into a character font and displays the converted character font, and a device that selectively synthesizes and outputs the sent character code and the received character code, or one of them. A data communication terminal device characterized by: