JPH0365056B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an automatic tuning system for an in-vehicle radio receiver, and particularly relates to an in-vehicle radio receiver that automatically selects and receives broadcasts of desired stations by time zone. This invention relates to an automatic tuning system for radio receivers.

<Prior art> Conventionally, in-vehicle radio receivers use electronically tuned tuners, and when frequency data relating to one station is selected from preset frequency data, the receiving frequency is set to the frequency represented by the selected data. Control is performed so that the received frequency changes continuously from low to high upon receiving a search command, and control is performed so that the received frequency is fixedly tuned to the received frequency when a search stop command is received. I'm doing it.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of a conventional car radio receiver, in which the antenna 10 includes a front end, an IF
An electronically tuned tuner 12 including an amplifier, a detector circuit, etc. is connected. This electronically tuned tuner 12 is controlled by the control output of a receiving controller 14 composed of a microcomputer system.
It is designed to switch between AM and FM bands and to receive variable control of the reception frequency, and its output side is connected to an amplifier and speaker.

The reception controller 14 includes an operation unit 16 for inputting various keys necessary for tuning, and an operation unit 16 for storing tuning information (including frequency data and band data, for example) regarding a plurality of broadcast stations. A preset memory (frequency memory) 18 having a plurality of addresses is connected to a display section 20 that displays the operating status of the receiver.

Further, each part of the receiver is supplied with power from an on-vehicle battery 24 via a power switch 22 linked to the engine key. In addition, receiving controller 1
4. The preset memory 18 is directly connected to the vehicle battery 2.
4, and backup is performed even after the power switch 22 is turned off.

In the conventional car radio receiver configured as described above, when the engine key is turned on and the power switch 22 is turned on,
When the FM band scan command is given on the operation unit 16 after inputting the FM band, the reception controller 14
After outputting a control signal for FM band switching and switching the reception mode of the electronically tuned tuner 12 to FM, a control signal for changing the reception frequency from a low frequency to a high frequency of the FM band is output to perform a frequency search. At this time, receiving controller 1
4 causes the display unit 20 to display the reception frequency.
As a result, the broadcast can be heard from the speaker so that the received frequency matches the frequency of a broadcasting station, and when the desired station is determined from the broadcast content and frequency display, a scan stop command is given using the operation unit 16. The reception controller 14 controls the electronically tuned tuner 12 to fix the reception frequency at that time.

Separately, if you want to select a desired station with a single touch, select the desired station using the scan operation on the operation unit 16 as described above, then give a preset memory command and then specify the address of the preset memory 18. , the reception controller 14 stores tuning control data (tuning information) including the mode in which reception is in progress at that time and frequency data representing the reception frequency at a designated address in the memory 18.

After performing this operation on a plurality of addresses in the preset memory 18 in advance and presetting a plurality of desired stations in the preset memory 18, when a preset reception command is applied to the operation section 16 and an address is specified, the reception controller 14 performs the preset reception. Set memory 1
8, and controls the electronically tuned tuner 12 so that the mode and reception frequency indicated by the tuning control data are set. As a result, the desired station can be selected with a single touch.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> Conventionally, even if the engine key is turned off while receiving a certain broadcasting station, the reception controller 14 and preset memory 18 receive battery backup and the tuning control state up to that point is lost. It is starting to be retained. Therefore, the next time you turn on the engine, you can continue to receive the station you were listening to previously.

If you only leave your car for a short time, the broadcast content you listen to again tends to be the same as the one you listened to last time, and since you don't often change the station after turning on the engine, you may find that the broadcast content you listen to is the same as the one you listened to last time. There is no problem if the station is automatically re-received. However, after being away from your car for a long time, you often want to watch a different station from the one you were listening to before, and when the station you were listening to before is re-received, you end up listening to the broadcast content you didn't want. Therefore, there was a problem in that the station had to be changed using the operation section 16.

In particular, in countries such as the United States, where riding a car for commuting is a regular part of daily life, the time between car rides is long; The broadcast content you want changes depending on the time of day, such as a sports-based station when you go home in the evening, or a music-based station when you get home in the evening.
Every time I get into my car, I have to perform the troublesome operation of switching to the desired station by searching or preset reception using the operation unit 16 on the receiver that is re-receiving the previous receiving station. Also, even if the time zone is the same, if you give your car to someone else after listening to your desired station and then get back in the car, the other person will likely have changed the station, and you will have to listen to your desired station again. I had to start over.

It is conceivable to use a timer reservation method used in lick VTRs and the like to reduce the effort of the vehicle that receives such routine reception. In this method, it is necessary to input the program start and end times, desired station, etc., making the operation complicated, and in addition, a large CRT for displaying reservation details is required to prevent malfunctions. However, it is extremely difficult to arrange complex operation keys and CRTs in the limited panel space of an in-vehicle receiver set, and it is difficult to operate unless you are accustomed to timer reservation operations on VTRs, etc.
There was an inconvenience in that it was impossible to make reservations while driving because all attention was focused on driving itself.

The present invention has been developed in view of the drawbacks of the prior art, and it is possible to automatically select and receive a preset station according to the time of day each time a train gets on the train, and the reservation operation is simple, and it does not take up space on the receiver. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle radio receiver that is small in size.

<Means for Solving the Problems> FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle radio receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 30 is an antenna, 32 is an electronically tuned tuner, 34 is a reception controller, 36 is an operation unit including a reservation key 38, 40 is a reservation memory, 42 is a preset memory, 44 is a timer, and 46 is a power switch. It is.

<Function> The reservation memory 40 stores, for example, 3:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Four addresses that store data for each time zone, dividing the day into four parts: morning, noon, evening, and midnight, such as 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Contains.

Tuning control data for four different stations are stored in advance in four preset memories 42 and addresses, and following a preset reception command, the receiver can tune one station related to the specified address while receiving a broadcast. At noon, if the user wants to make the receiving station a reserved station for daytime, the reservation key 38 is pressed.

Then, the reception controller 34 presses the reservation key 38.
It is determined which of the four time periods the time when is pressed is included, and the reservation memory 4 corresponding to this time period is stored.
The address of the preset memory 42 corresponding to the station currently being received is written into address 0 as reservation data.

After that, after switching to another station and listening to it using preset reception, turn off the engine key and get out of the car.For example, at noon the next day, when the engine key is turned on and the power switch 46 is turned on, the reception controller 34 uses the timer to turn on the power switch 46. It recognizes the time at which the day occurred, determines which time zone this time is included in, and in this case, it is daytime, so this data is The tuning control data is read from the address of the preset memory 42 shown, the mode of the band electronically tuned tuner 32 represented by this tuning control data is switched, and the electronic tuning tuner 42 is controlled to tune to the reception frequency shown by the tuning control data.

As a result, the broadcast of the station that has been reserved in advance to be listened to during the daytime period is automatically selected, rather than the last station that was listened to during the previous ride.

<Example> Hereinafter, an in-vehicle radio receiver according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an in-vehicle FM/AM dual-use radio receiver.
An electronically tuned tuner 32 for both FM/AM is connected. This electronically tuned tuner 32 includes a front end, an IF amplifier, and a detector circuit as in the conventional case, and receives a band switching signal from a control signal input from a reception controller 34, which will be described later.
Change the FM or AM reception frequency. The output side of this electronically tuned tuner 32 is connected via an amplifier to a speaker placed at an appropriate position in the vehicle.

Connected to the electronically tuned tuner 32 is a reception controller 34 made up of a microcomputer including a PLL circuit. The reception controller 34 is configured such that a processor executes predetermined reception control processing in accordance with a system program stored in a memory, various interrupt programs, and the like.

The reception controller 34 includes a display section 48 that displays reception information, an operation section 36 that has a reservation key 38 and various operation keys for performing search tuning and preset tuning, and a display section 48 that displays reception information, an operation section 36 that has various operation keys for performing search tuning and preset tuning, and a display section 48 that displays reception information, an operation section 36 that has various operation keys for performing search tuning and preset tuning, and a display section 48 that displays reception information. A preset memory 42 that stores synchronization control data, a reservation memory 40 that stores reservation data for each time period, a timer 44 that measures the time, and an on-board battery 50 that turns on and off in conjunction with the on and off of the engine key. A power switch 46 that supplies power to the entire receiver is connected thereto. The reception controller 34, preset memory 42, reservation memory 40, and timer 44 are directly backed up from the vehicle battery 50, and continue to operate even after the engine key is turned off and the power switch 46 is turned off. There is.

The preset memory 42 has, for example, four addresses A ₀ to A ₃ , and to these addresses are tuned control data for four stations f 0 to A 3 associated with subscripts of 0 to 3 _.
f ₃ can be stored (see Figure 2).
On the other hand, the reservation memory 40 contains data from 3:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
morning hours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., evening hours from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and night hours from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. It has four addresses PA ₀ to PA ₃ corresponding to each time zone divided into four parts of the day (see Figure 3), and these addresses are associated with subscripts 0 to 3. Reservation selection data k ₀ to _{k 3} for each station are stored (see FIG. 4). In this embodiment, k ₀ to _{k 3} are address data of the preset memory 42. Furthermore, the preset memory 42
The tuning control data stored in Band B (AM,
FM) and reception frequency H, for example, as shown in Figure 5.

The reception controller 34 controls the tuning of the reserved station immediately after the engine key is turned on based on the tuning operation and reservation operation of the operation unit 36, and also controls the tuning of the reserved station when the tuning operation is performed during reception. Controls the selection of the station selected by operation and receives the desired broadcast.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 7 shows the main flow of the operation of the reception controller 34.

When the engine key is turned on and the power switch 46 is turned on, the power switch on routine (described in detail later) is entered, and the tuning control data (band, receiving frequency) reserved for the time period that includes the current time.
F(B,H) is read through the reservation memory 40 and preset memory 42.

Thereafter, the electronic tuning tuner 32 performs tuning based on the tuning control data F (B, H) (step 100), and tunes the band B based on the tuning control data F.
and the reception frequency H are displayed on the display unit 48.

Thereafter, if there is no search channel selection or preset channel selection operation, the reserved broadcast content will be received as time passes.

On the other hand, when a search command for the FM band is given using the operation unit 36 for performing search tuning in such a state, the reception controller 34 executes the search routine shown in FIG. 8 at regular intervals while the search command continues. An interrupt occurs and the control variable F=(FM,
The frequency H of H) is increased by a fixed amount h and the process returns to the main flow (step 200~
206). Then, the inflow steps in Figure 7
Each time the value returns to 100, the receiving controller 34 controls the electronically tuned tuner 32 based on the increased control variable F, so that the receiving frequency increases and changes.

If the search continues and a search stop command is given when the desired station is reached, the reception controller 34 no longer interrupts the routine of FIG. 8, so that the reception state at that point in time will continue. If you want to change the receiving station, including band switching, give a search command for the desired band again,
The search can be stopped when the desired station is found.

If you want to preset multiple desired stations, first select the desired station, such as AM,
After entering the 954 kHz reception state, when a preset memory command is given using the operating section 36, the reception controller 34 generates an interrupt to the preset memory routine shown in _FIG . , for example, if A ₀ is specified, then the tuning control data (AM,
Address A ₀ of preset memory 42 as f ₀ (see Figure 5).
(steps 300 to 302).

Similarly, the tuning control data of different stations are also stored in other addresses _A1 to _A3 of the preset memory 42.
For example, f ₁ = (AM, 1242kHz), f ₂ = (FM, 80M
Hz), f ₃ = (FM, 82.5MHz) (see Figure 5).

In this way, once you have preset a plurality of desired stations in the preset memory 42, all you have to do is
You can select the channel with one touch by pressing 6. That is, when a preset reception command is given through the operation section 36, the reception controller 34 generates an _interrupt to the preset reception routine shown in _FIG . 42, the tuning control data _f3 is read from the address indicated by _A3 , and the control variable F= _f3 is set (step
400-404).

Then, the reception controller 34 returns to the main routine and controls the electronic tuning type tuner 32 in accordance with F in step 102. As a result, the broadcast of the 82.5MHz station in the FM band is received, and the display unit 48
"FM" and "82.5MHz" are displayed.

When changing the receiving station, use the preset memory 42.
You can specify another address.

Next, if you make a reservation according to the time of day, first, for example, you can listen to an AM, 1242kHz news station by preset reception around 7 a.m., and you would like to listen to this news station every morning. When the operation unit 36
When the reservation key 38 is operated to issue a reservation command, the reception controller 34 interrupts the reservation input routine shown in FIG. In this routine, the receiving controller 34 first reads the current time t from the timer 44 and registers it in the time variable T (step 500).
502).

Next, the address PA _N (=PA ₀ ) of the reservation memory 40 corresponding to the time period that includes T is determined, and then the address PA N (=PA 0 ) of the reservation memory 40 corresponding to the time period including T is determined, and then the address PA N (=PA 0 ) of the reservation memory 40 corresponding to the time period in which T is included is determined, and then the address PA N (=PA 0 ) of the reservation memory 40 is determined. The address A _N (=A ₁ ) of the memory 40 is written as reserved data k _N to the address P _N of the reserved memory 40 (step
504, 506).

Similarly, if you want to listen to the station that is currently being received at the same time every day during the day, evening, and night, you can operate the reservation key 38 to listen to the other addresses PA ₁ , PA ₂ in the reservation memory 40. , PA ₃ can also be written with reservation data (address data in preset memory) relating to desired stations during the day, evening, and night, respectively. For example, when a user starts a routine life on a work day, he or she may use the reservation key 3 while receiving a news station by preset reception on the way to work in the morning.
Press 8 and press reservation key 3 while receiving the sport station by preset reception when you get on the car and go out for lunch.
8, press the reservation key 38 while receiving a preset music station on your way home in the evening, and press the reservation key 38 when you want to receive the same music station when you go out to watch a movie in the evening. The reservation is completed.

As a result, for example, the address of the reserved memory 40
Address of preset memory 42 is set to PA ₀ to PA ₃ .
A ₁ , A ₀ , A ₃ , and A ₂ are written as reserved channel selection data k ₀ to k ₃ (see FIG. 6).

When the power switch 46 is turned on by operating the engine key while the tuning control data (reservation data) of the broadcast station desired to be listened to in each time period has been set, an interruption occurs to the power switch on routine shown in FIG. 12. As a result, when the power switch 46 is turned on, the receiving controller 34 reads the current time t from the timer 44 and registers it as a time variable T' (steps 602, 604), and then the receiving controller 34 reads _the current time t from the timer 44 and registers it as a time variable T' (steps 602, 604). (=PA ₀ ), read out the reservation data k _N (=A ₁ ) from the corresponding address in the reservation memory 40, and read out the tuning stored in the address A _N indicated by the reservation data k _N in the preset memory 42. Read the control data f _M (= f ₁ ), register f _M (= f ₁ ) as the control variable F in the built-in memory, and then return to the main flow (step
604-612).

At step 100, the reception controller 34 switches the electronically tuned tuner 32 to the AM band and tunes the reception frequency to 1242kHz. Further, in step 104, "AM" and "1242kHz" are displayed.

In this way, the news station will be automatically selected when the engine key is turned on in the morning. Similarly, when you go out for lunch in the afternoon, the sports station (AM, 954kHz) is automatically selected when you turn on the engine, and when you return home in the evening, when you turn on the engine, the music station ( FM, 80MHz), and when you go out for a drive at night, the music station (FM, 82.5MHz) is automatically selected. Therefore, when the user repeats a typical lifestyle pattern, the user is freed from the hassle of channel selection operations and can concentrate on driving.

Of course, if you want to change listening to another station while listening to a station that has been automatically reserved and selected as described above, follow the steps in Figure 8 or 10 by operating the operating section 36 as in the past. Search tuning or preset reception tuning can be performed, and when the engine key is turned off and the engine key is turned on again after leaving the vehicle, the original reserved tuning according to FIG. 12 is automatically performed. This is the same even if you lend your car to a third party and the receiving station is changed to a station other than the reserved station.When you get back in the car, it will automatically return to the reserved station, so you can tune to the desired station. This saves you the trouble of changing to

According to this embodiment, it is possible to input reservations by time slot extremely easily by operating one reservation key, and since there is no need to display timer reservation times like in a VTR, there is no space left on the operation panel of the receiver. It is possible to downsize the equipment configuration without placing any burden on the equipment.
Furthermore, once you have entered the reservation, you can listen to the desired station reserved in advance for each time zone without having to perform any channel selection operations every day during your routine life, and you can listen to the desired station reserved in advance for each time slot. I don't have time, so
There is no inconvenience that broadcast reception is forced to end when the end time comes. In addition, even if you listen to a desired station using search tuning or preset tuning when your daily life is unstable, such as on holidays, you can always use the tuning operation to return to the regular reserved tuning when you return to your regular life. The annoyance is minimized. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, since the address of the preset memory is written in each address of the reservation memory, the capacity of the reservation memory can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the time periods of the day are divided into four equal parts, but the time periods may be divided into four equal parts depending on the lifestyle pattern of using this system. For example, as shown in FIG. does not allocate a reserved memory address as undefined, and from 4:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
hours, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
4 addresses PA ₀ ' from 6pm to 9pm
It may also be applied to PA ₃ ′. Alternatively, the entire 24 hours may be divided into 1 hour units, and the reserved memory may have 24 addresses. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the address of the preset memory is written in each address of the reservation memory, but if the capacity of the reservation memory can be increased as shown in _FIG . Tuning control data applied to the station being received is reserved as tuning data.
_kN may be written. In this case, the time required for the channel selection operation can be shortened by the time required to search the preset memory, and the station selected by search channel selection can also be reserved. When writing the tuning control data itself to the reservation memory in this way, after step 504 in FIG _.
The tuning control data for the station currently receiving is sent to k _N
(step 508), and the tuning control data read from the reservation memory after step 608 in the flow of FIG. 12 for automatic reservation tuning is registered as a control variable F (step 616).

Apart from this, hardware and software are added to display that the tuning control data has been stored in the preset memory and that the reserved channel selection data has been stored in the reservation memory, and the main processing of the interrupt routine is It is also possible to incorporate it into a routine as desired within the scope of the present invention.

Also, by utilizing the fact that the receiver has a built-in timer, the display section may switch between displaying received information and time information. In this case, the main routine shown in FIG. 15 will be used instead of the main routine shown in FIG. 7. Use. That is, when the time display command is given from the operation diagram 36, the reception controller interrupts the time display routine of FIG. 16, and at step 700, CL=1.
Then return to the main routine and step 800.
It is determined that CL=1, and the current time t is input from the timer, registered in the display variable HT, and the time is displayed (steps 802 to 806).

Then, after setting CT=CT+1, CT>KK
(KK is a certain period of time). If not, return to the beginning and continue to display the time (steps 808 to 810). If YES, CL = 0, CT = 0.
The display ends the time display and switches to the display of received information (step 812).

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the automatic channel selection system of the in-vehicle radio receiver according to the present invention, one reservation is made when the desired station is being received during the desired time slot. Reservations can be entered extremely easily by simply operating the key, making it safe and easy to use even while driving.
Not only can it be operated reliably, there is little space burden on the operation panel, and furthermore, when the power is turned on to the radio receiver, the preset selection is automatically performed, making it ideal for routine radio use in daily routine rides. It saves you the trouble of selecting each channel when receiving.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle radio receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the memory arrangement of a preset memory, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of dividing time zones. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the memory arrangement of reserved memory, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing how the preset memory is actually preset, and FIG.
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing how reservations are actually made in the reservation memory, Figures 7 to 12 are flowcharts showing the operation of the reception controller in Figure 1, and Figure 13 is another example of time zone division. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the memory arrangement of the reserved memory, FIGS. 15 and 16 are flowcharts explaining the operation in a modified example of FIG. 1, and FIG. 17 is a conventional diagram. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle radio receiver. 30...Antenna, 32...Electronic tuning tuner, 34...Reception controller, 36...Operation unit, 38...Reservation key, 40...Reservation memory, 4
2...Preset memory, 44...Timer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an in-vehicle radio receiver that controls tuning of an electronically tuned tuner according to a tuning command given by operating a tuning operation section, reservation tuning information for each time period is provided. a reservation memory for recording the time, a timer for counting the time, a reservation key for inputting reservations, and a reservation key for inputting a reservation, when the reservation key is operated while receiving a tune by the tune selection operation section, a timer that corresponds to the time zone of the current time. The tuning information of the broadcasting station currently being received is written to the reservation memory as reservation tuning information, and when the power is turned on, the reservation tuning information for the current time zone input from the timer is read from the reservation memory. An automatic tuning system for a car radio receiver, comprising: a tuning control unit that controls tuning of an electronically tuned tuner. 2 The car radio receiver is preset to 1.
It includes a frequency memory that stores frequency data of the above-mentioned broadcasting stations, and the reservation tuning information written in the reservation memory is the address of the frequency data stored in the frequency memory, and the tuning control section uses the address read from the reservation memory. 2. An automatic tuning system for a vehicle-mounted radio receiver according to claim 1, wherein said frequency data is referenced and read out from a frequency memory to control tuning of an electronically tuned tuner. 3. The automatic tuning system for an in-vehicle radio receiver according to claim 1, wherein the reserved tuning information written in the reservation memory is frequency data.