JPH0460377B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an announcement broadcasting system that performs various announcement broadcasts from a center side to subscriber terminals.

(Prior art) Conventionally, in the case of a notice broadcast system used in apartment complexes, etc., a notice broadcast transmitter installed on the center side is connected to a notice broadcast receiver installed on the subscriber side using, for example, a CATV line. , the center side broadcasts notices and the like to the previous terminals.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional announcement broadcasting system, depending on the time of broadcast, terminal subscribers may be away from home or may have turned down the volume on their receivers. However, there was a problem in that information could not be sufficiently transmitted through announcement broadcasts, and the operational effects of announcement broadcasts were not fully demonstrated.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and provides an announcement broadcasting system that enables terminal subscribers to reliably transmit the contents of announcement broadcasts. The purpose is to

In order to achieve this object, the present invention transmits broadcast start and end data from the center device to the terminal device along with the announcement broadcast, and on the terminal side, the data from the center device received by the terminal device is transmitted from the center device to the terminal device. Based on the broadcast start and end data, the broadcast received by the announcement broadcast receiver is recorded, and it is displayed that the broadcast is being recorded, and even if you are not present at the time of the broadcast or the volume is turned down, the broadcast ends. After knowing that a broadcast has been made through the recorded display, the user can listen to the announcement broadcast at any time by playing back the recorded content.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

First, to explain the configuration, 1 is a transmission line,
In this embodiment, a coaxial cable line of a CATV system is used, and therefore a head end 2 is provided on the center side, and the television signal is transmitted from the head end 2 to the terminal side.

A center device 3 is provided on the center side, which is the head end 2 side. The center device 3 is provided with a CPU 4 that performs data processing and data transmission control, and the CPU 4 is connected to a data modem (modulation/demodulation device) 5.
Transmission data is sent and received to and from the transmission line 1 via the transmission line 1. The data modem 5 transmits and receives data by analog modulation or analog demodulation of transmission data consisting of, for example, a pulse code. Also,
CPU 4 permanently stores the control program
It is equipped with a ROM 6 and a RAM 7 for temporarily storing processing data, and is further connected to external devices such as a CRT 9, a printer 10, and a keyboard 11 via an input/output device 8.

Further, the center device 3 is provided with an announcement broadcast transmitter 12 which modulates the audio signal from the microphone 13 and sends an announcement broadcast signal to the transmission line 1. Of course, in addition to the audio signal from the microphone 13, the announcement broadcast transmitter 12 can also send out a broadcast signal from an appropriate audio device such as a tape recorder.

The mutual relationship between the CPU 4 side that performs data transmission and the announcement broadcast transmitter 12 is that when the announcement broadcast mode is set for the CPU 4 by operating the keyboard 11 etc., an activation signal is given from the CPU 4 to the announcement broadcast transmitter 12. , the announcement broadcast transmitter 12 is
Under the control of the CPU 4, the broadcasting transmission operation state is entered. Further, the CPU 4 transmits broadcast start data including terminal address information and broadcast start information based on the terminal information to be broadcasted using the keyboard 11 or the like, prior to transmitting the notification broadcast signal. When the broadcast ends, a broadcast end code containing the terminal address and broadcast end information is sent.

Further, the output of the data modem 5 of the center device 3 and the output of the announcement broadcast transmitter 12 are connected to a coupler 14a,
14b to the transmission line 1.

A plurality of terminal devices 16 are connected to the terminal side of the transmission line 1 via branch terminals of a branching device 15.
Each of the terminal devices 16 has a device configuration representatively shown in the lower right corner.

That is, the terminal device 15 has a
A CPU 17 is provided, and the CPU 17 is connected to the transmission line 1 via the data modem 18, and the CPU 17 uses the FM modulation and demodulation method similarly to the center device 3 side.
Data is transmitted and received between the transmission line 7 and the transmission line 1. In addition, the CPU 17 permanently stores the control program.
ROM19 and RAM that temporarily stores control data
20, and information necessary for intensive monitoring by the center device 3, such as sensors, is input via an input/output device 21. On the other hand, the terminal device 15 is provided with an announcement broadcast receiver 22 , and the transmission line 1 side is input connected to the announcement broadcast receiver 22 via a coupler 23 provided at the input of the data modem 18 .
The modulated signal sent from the announcement broadcast transmitter 12 is received and reproduced, amplified by the audio amplifier 24, and the announcement broadcast is output from the speaker 25.

Furthermore, the terminal device 15 includes a speech synthesis unit 30.
A RAM 32 is provided for storing audio information generated by the audio synthesis unit 30. Speech synthesis unit 3
0 is given the control output of the CPU 17 via the input/output device 21, and when the CPU 17 receives broadcast start data from the center device 3, it instructs the voice synthesis unit 30 to perform a recording operation. The audio signal output of the announcement broadcast outputted from 22 is converted into recording data and stored in RAM 32 for recording processing. This process continues until the CPU 17 receives the recording end output.

Further, the external input/output device 21 includes a notification lamp 34 for notifying the recording status of the notification broadcast by the voice synthesis unit 30, a confirmation button 36 as a switch means for confirming reception of the notification broadcast, and
A playback button 38 serving as a switch means for causing the audio synthesis unit 30 to reproduce and output the audio data of the announcement broadcast outputted to the RAM 32 is connected.

The notification lamp 34 is driven to a lighting state while the notification broadcast is being recorded by the voice synthesis unit 38 by the CPU 17, and is switched to a blinking state when the reception recording of the notification broadcast is completed, and the confirmation button 3 is driven after the broadcast is finished.
When 6 is pressed, the light turns off. That is, the notification lamp 34 remains blinking unless reception of the notification broadcast is confirmed by operating the confirmation button 36. For example, if there is a notification broadcast while you are away, you can easily tell from the flashing state of the notification lamp 34 that the notification broadcast has occurred. can be known.

Also, based on the operation of the confirmation button 36, the CPU 17
sends confirmation data consisting of a terminal address and confirmation information to the center device 3.

Next, the announcement broadcasting process in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be explained.

Broadcasting processing in the center device 3 is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the CPU
A determination block 40 monitors whether the announcement broadcast mode has been set by operating the keyboard 11 or the like, and when the announcement broadcast mode is set by operating the keyboard 11, the process advances to block 42. block 42
In this case, the terminal address to which the announcement broadcast is to be made is specified. The address of the terminal to be broadcasted may be specified by setting and inputting the terminal code using the keyboard 11, or the terminals to be notified may be grouped in advance and the ROM may be specified.
Address information of broadcasting terminals may be stored in groups such as 6, and by specifying the group number with the keyboard 11, the address of the terminal to be broadcasted may be specified. Furthermore, when broadcasting an emergency notice such as in the case of a fire, the keyboard 11
If you enter the emergency broadcast mode settings,
All subscriber terminals may be automatically addressed as broadcast targets under program control by the CPU 4.

When the address designation of the broadcast terminal is completed in block 42, the CPU 4 sends broadcast start data via the data modem 5. As shown in FIG. 3, this broadcast start data has a frame structure consisting of address information AD, command information (broadcast start information) COM, and block check character code BCC.

When the transmission of the broadcast start data in block 44 is completed, the process proceeds to the next block 46, where the announcement broadcast transmitter 12 is caused to transmit an announcement broadcast.
Specifically, the CPU 4 gives an operation command to the announcement broadcast transmitter 12 via the input/output device 8, for example, by turning on the power of the announcement broadcast transmitter 12, a state where announcement broadcast is possible is created, and the audio signal from the microphone 13 is output. The modulated signal is sent to the terminal side via the transmission line 1.

When the voice announcement broadcast of block 46 ends, the end of the announcement broadcast can be controlled by, for example, operating the keyboard 11.
This is notified to the CPU 4, and broadcast end data shown in block 48 is sent out.

Next, the process advances to block 50, where the center device 3 performs processing to receive confirmation data from the terminal side. That is, since the confirmation button 36 is provided on the terminal device 15 side, when the terminal subscriber who has finished listening to the announcement broadcast presses the confirmation button 36, confirmation data is sent to the center device 3. , In response to this, the confirmation data is aggregated. It should be noted that the confirmation data reception process is carried out at fixed time intervals after the end of the broadcast. When the confirmation data reception processing time has elapsed, the process advances to decision block 52 and checks whether confirmation data for all the terminals targeted for broadcast specified in block 42 has been obtained. If so, the series of broadcast processing ends. On the other hand, if confirmation data for all terminals cannot be obtained, the process advances to block 54, where the number and addresses of unconfirmed terminals are displayed on the CRT 9, and the printer 1
0, etc., so that it can be seen to what extent the announcement broadcast has been transmitted to the terminal side. Furthermore, a series of broadcast processing is completed through a registration process in which data of unconfirmed terminals is stored in the RAM 7 at block 56.

Since the terminal has a recording function for announcement broadcasts, the information on the unconfirmed terminal registered in the RAM 7 in block 56 receives confirmation data when the terminal subscriber returns home and plays the recording and presses the confirmation button. It is used to remove unconfirmed terminal data from the registered unconfirmed terminal data.

In this way, the signal sent to the terminal side by the center broadcast processing shown in Fig. 2, for example, takes the case of signal transmission to a single terminal device, as shown in Fig. 3, first the broadcast start data is sent to the terminal side. is sent out, followed by the audio signal of the announcement broadcast, and after the broadcast ends, broadcast end data is sent out.

FIG. 4 shows the terminal device 15 in the embodiment shown in FIG.
This is a flowchart showing reception processing on the side.

First, the CPU 17 of the terminal device 15 blocks the block 62.
As shown in FIG. 3, the device is always in a state of receiving data from the center device 3 via the data modem 18, and when it receives broadcast start data from the center device 3, in the determination block 64, the address information included in the broadcast start data is Compare it with your own configuration address,
When an address match is obtained, the notification lamp 34 is turned on via the input/output device 21 as shown in block 66. At the same time, the CPU 17 instructs the speech synthesis unit 30 to start recording, and since the audio signal of the announcement broadcast is output from the center device 3 following the audio start data, the audio signal of the announcement broadcast received by the announcement broadcast receiver 22 is output. The voice synthesis unit 30 converts it into recorded data and stores it in the RAM 32 in real time.
Block 68 performs a broadcast recording to be written to. Of course, the output of the announcement broadcast receiver 15 is given to the speaker 25 via the audio amplifier 24.
A broadcast output is output simultaneously with the recording by the voice synthesis unit 30.

When a series of announcement broadcasts is completed, broadcast end data is sent from the center device 3. Based on this broadcast end data, the CPU 17 instructs the speech synthesis unit 30 to stop the recording operation, and also sends a broadcast end determination block. The process proceeds from block 70 to block 72, in which the notification lamp 34, which has been lit up to that point, is switched to a dimmed state.

If the terminal subscriber listens to the announcement broadcast, he or she will operate the confirmation button 36;
The operation is determined by the determination block 74, and the confirmation button 3 is pressed.
In response to the switch output 6, the CPU 17 turns off the notification lamp 34 in block 76, and releases confirmation data to the center device 3 in block 78, thereby completing the series of reception processing.

On the other hand, if the terminal subscriber is away or has turned down the volume, the confirmation button 36 will not be pressed, and the notification lamp 34 will blink, indicating that the notification broadcast is being recorded. maintain.

Therefore, the terminal subscriber who was unable to listen to the announcement broadcast will know from the flashing announcement lamp 34 that the announcement broadcast has been recorded, and will be able to record it in the RAM 32 by pressing the playback button 38. The recorded data can be played back and listened to by the voice synthesis unit 30.

That is, when the confirmation button 36 is off, the process proceeds from the determination block 74 to 80, where the operation of the playback button 38 is checked, and when the playback button 38 is pressed, the process proceeds to block 82, where recording and playback is performed, and after playback, the confirmation button is pressed. By pressing 36, the process advances to block 76, where the notification lamp 34 is turned off, and at the same time, confirmation data is sent to the center device 3 at block 78.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the CPU 1
7 controls the recording operation by the voice synthesis unit 30, but similarly, the announcement broadcast receiver 2
The second reception operation may be performed based on the reception processing of the broadcast start and end data by the CPU 17.

Further, although the above embodiment takes as an example a system configuration in which a coaxial cable line of a CATV system is used as the transmission line 1, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this, but can also be implemented using a signal line exclusively for announcement broadcasting. The same is true in the case of

Furthermore, although the case where data is transmitted between the center device and the terminal device under the communication control by the CPU has been taken as an example, the recording processing of the announcement broadcast on the terminal side in the present invention is performed on the center side. It is sufficient that the broadcast start signal and the broadcast end signal can be transmitted as a minimum from the broadcast start signal to the announcement broadcast transmitter 12 itself without using a dedicated data transmission device. After the broadcast ends, a broadcast end signal of a predetermined frequency is sent, and the broadcast end signal is sent to the notification broadcast receiver 15 of the terminal device.
It is also possible to make the recording control of the speech synthesis unit 30 performed by identifying the voice.

Furthermore, although the above embodiment is an example in which the center device specifies the terminal address to be broadcast by data transmission, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this. The method can also be applied as is to the case where an announcement is broadcast to all terminals at once without specifying the address.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, broadcast start and end data is sent to the terminal side in conjunction with the announcement broadcast from the center side, and the terminal side makes an announcement based on this broadcast start and end data. In addition to recording the broadcast, we also display the fact that it is being recorded after the broadcast ends, so even if you are away at the time of the broadcast or have turned down the volume, you can still play the recorded announcement broadcast. This allows you to know the contents of the broadcast with certainty.

In addition, because the notification lamp flashes to indicate that the announcement broadcast is being recorded, the recording status of the announcement broadcast will not be overlooked.
Information transmission through announcement broadcasting can be sufficiently spread, and operational efficiency of information transmission through announcement broadcasting can be greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of broadcast transmission processing by the center device in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of broadcast reception processing in the terminal device of FIG. 1. 1...Transmission line, 2...Head end, 3...
Center device, 4, 17... CPU, 5, 18...
Data modem, 6, 19...ROM, 7, 20,
32...RAM, 8, 21...I/O device, 9...
...CRT, 10 ... Printer, 11 ... Keyboard, 12 ... Announcement broadcast transmitter, 13 ... Microphone,
14, 23...Coupler, 15...Terminal device, 22
...Notification broadcast receiver, 24...Audio amplifier, 25...Speaker, 30...Speech synthesis unit, 34...Notification lamp, 34...Confirmation button, 38
...Play button.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A center device having at least a data transmission function related to announcement broadcasts and one or more terminal devices are connected via a signal line, and an announcement broadcast transmitter on the center side and an announcement broadcast reception on the terminal side are connected. and record the broadcast received by the announcement broadcast receiver on the terminal device side based on the broadcast start and end data transmitted in conjunction with the announcement broadcast from the center device. A recording means, a recording display means for displaying that the broadcast is being recorded on the recording means, and a confirmation means for transmitting confirmation data to the center device in response to a confirmation operation for broadcast reception. Features an announcement broadcasting system. 2. The announcement broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the recording display means is driven to turn on or blink when the announcement broadcast is recorded, and is turned off by a confirmation operation after playing back the recording.