JPH06337774A - Document reading-out device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the attachment to and detachment from an information processor, to incorporate the document reading-out device in even a small-sized information processor, to make the device small sized and lightweight and enable its portage, and to display its document reading-out function even by the device itself. CONSTITUTION:Document data are transferred to a RAM 4 for storage from a personal computer, etc., which is not shown in the figure, through an external interface 10. When the document reading-out device operates alone, a CPU 1 reads the document data out of the RAM 4 for storage, perform language processing for the document data to obtain a speech symbol sequence, and supplies it to a speech synthesizer to generate speech data. The speech data after being converted into an analog speech signal by a D/A converter 6 is outputted from an amplifier 8 to an earphone jack 9. At this time, working electric power is supplied from a battery 12. Consequently, this device functions as a document reading-out device by itself and this device is constituted into an IC card and made small-sized and lightweight, and attachable and detachable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a text-to-speech device, and more particularly to a text-to-speech device in the form of an IC card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A text-to-speech device that synthesizes a voice signal from a sentence created by word processing software or a text editor and reads the sentence directly synthesizes a natural voice signal from ordinary text data to generate various voice signals. Since the content of a sentence can be heard by ear, it has various uses. As shown in FIG. 4, a conventional text-to-speech device that realizes such a function is an ordinary personal computer (P
C) It was realized in the form of the text-to-speech board 100 mounted in the 50 expansion slots. That is, the text-reading board 100 connects the connector 101 to the personal computer 50.
It is mounted by being installed in the expansion slot of the personal computer 50, and the text data sent from the personal computer 50 side can be read aloud and the voice can be heard by the user through the earphone (or speaker) 102.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic operation of the conventional text-to-speech board 100 as described above. A text-to-speech board 1 in which text data (text data) 30 from the personal computer 50 is mounted in the expansion slot described above.
Sent to 00. In the sentence reading board 100, the language processing device 103 performs language processing for reading such as word division and accent information addition on the sent sentence data to obtain a phonetic symbol string (prosodic information and phoneme sequence). . This voice symbol string is input to the voice synthesizer 104, a voice unit is extracted here, and a voice signal is regularly synthesized based on this voice unit. The synthesized voice signal is amplified by the analog amplifier 105 and then output to the earphone (or speaker) 102, and the user listens to the text data read out as voice by the earphone 102.

However, in the above-mentioned text-to-speech device, the text-to-speech function cannot operate unless it is incorporated in the personal computer 50, and the text-to-speech device alone cannot be carried and used. Moreover, the conventional text-to-speech device has a drawback in that it needs to be incorporated into the personal computer 50 in an optional form, and it is not easy to attach / remove it. Furthermore, since the conventional text-to-speech device has the form of an option board, it has a drawback that it is large in size and cannot be incorporated in a small personal computer or the like. Of course, the above-mentioned sentence reading board 100 can be incorporated and used in a work station other than a personal computer or other information processing apparatus for digitizing and processing sentences, but there is a similar problem.

[0005]

Since the conventional text-to-speech device is in the form of an option board, the text-to-speech function does not operate unless it is installed in a personal computer or workstation, and the text-to-speech device alone can be carried. It had the drawback that it could not be used. Further, the conventional text-to-speech device has a drawback that it needs to be incorporated in a personal computer or a workstation in an optional form, and is not easily attached / removed. Further, since the conventional text-to-speech device has the option board shape as described above, it has a large size and cannot be incorporated in a small personal computer or the like.

Therefore, the present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, is easily attached to and detached from an information processing device, can be incorporated in a small information processing device, is small and lightweight, can be carried, and has a function of reading out a sentence by itself. The purpose is to provide a text-to-speech device that can read.

[0007]

A text-to-speech device of the present invention is connected to a separate information processing device to input the text data and operating power, and a text input from the input interface unit. A non-volatile memory for storing data, a reading means for reading text data from the non-volatile memory, a language processing section for performing language processing on the text data read by the reading means, and a language processing section. And a voice synthesizer for synthesizing voice data based on the result of the language processing by D, and D for converting the voice data synthesized by the voice synthesizer into an analog voice signal.
The I / A conversion unit and the output interface unit for outputting the audio signal output from the D / A conversion unit to the outside
It is arranged in the C card, and has a configuration including a battery unit for supplying operating power to the device when power is not supplied from the input interface unit.

[0008]

In the text reading apparatus of the present invention, the input interface unit provided in the IC card is connected to a separate information processing apparatus to input the text data and operating power. The non-volatile memory stores the text data input from the input interface unit. The reading means reads the text data from the non-volatile memory. The language processing section performs language processing on the text data read by the reading means. The voice synthesizing unit synthesizes voice data based on the language processing result by the language processing unit. The D / A converter converts the voice data synthesized by the voice synthesizer into an analog voice signal. The output interface unit outputs the audio signal output from the D / A conversion unit to the outside. The battery unit supplies operating power to the device when power is not supplied from the input interface unit.
Thus, the operating power supplied from the battery unit can read the text data stored in the non-volatile memory and convert it into a voice signal to read the text. Can be demonstrated. In this example as well, the sentence input from the input interface unit is directly subjected to language processing by the language processing unit, so that the sentence can be read aloud in a state where it is connected to a personal computer or the like as in the conventional case. Further, since the text-to-speech device is an IC card and the input interface unit conforms to the standard, it can be freely attached to and detached from a personal computer or the like, and can be easily incorporated in a small personal computer or the like. be able to.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a text-to-speech device of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is a CPU that performs various controls related to text reading control, and 2 is a ROM that stores programs and data for operating the CPU 1.
The program and data 21, the language processing dictionary data 22, and the speech synthesis speech unit data 23 are stored. Reference numeral 3 is a work RAM (DRAM) for temporarily storing various data necessary for the CPU 1 to process, 4 is a document data storage RAM (SRAM) for storing text data (text data) sent through the external interface 10,
Reference numeral 5 is a voice synthesizer for digitally processing the data sent from the CPU 1 to convert it into digital voice data, and 6 is a D / A converter for converting the digital voice data input from the voice synthesizer 5 into an analog voice signal. , 7 is a low-pass filter for removing unnecessary high frequency components contained in the analog audio signal, 8 is an amplifier for amplifying the analog audio signal, 9 is an earphone jack for outputting the analog audio signal to the outside, 10 is a document reading A standard external interface for connecting the device to an information processing device such as a personal computer, for example, JEIDA
Ver. It complies with 4 standards. Reference numeral 11 is an internal bus for transmitting various data, 12 is a button type battery, which supplies power to the device when the voice reading device is used alone, and RA for storing document data when the device is powered off.
Back up M4. Reference numeral 13 denotes a remote control interface for connecting a remote controller (not shown) that remotely operates the voice reading device when it is used alone. The CPU 1, the voice synthesizer 5, and the D / A converter 6 are one chip. It is an LSI, and further, each component that constitutes the above-mentioned voice reading device is built in one IC card.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of each component constituting the text reading device shown in FIG. 1 in the IC card. This IC card is, for example, JEIDA Ver. It is a standard card that complies with the four standards.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a remote controller 14 connected to the remote controller interface 13 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This remote controller 14
Includes a stop button 141, a playback button 142, a reading speed decrease button 143, and a reading speed increase button 14.
4, forward skip button 145, backward skip button 146, volume increase button 147, volume decrease button 14
8 are arranged. Reference numeral 149 is a connector for connecting to the remote controller interface 13.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, the operation when the text-to-speech device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is connected to a personal computer or workstation (not shown) via the external interface 10 will be described. In this case, the power for driving the text-to-speech device shown in FIG. 1 is supplied from the personal computer or workstation side through the external interface 10. The personal computer or workstation sends text data (text data) through the external interface 10. At this time, the CPU 1 operates in accordance with the program 21 in the ROM 2, and executes the language processing for reading the sent document data such as word division and accent information addition in the ROM.
This is performed with reference to the language processing dictionary data 22 in 2 to obtain a phonetic symbol string (prosodic information and phonological sequence) for the document data. The CPU 1 takes out a voice unit from this voice symbol string by referring to the voice unit data 23 in the ROM 2, extracts necessary parameters, and sends the extracted parameters to the voice synthesizer 5. The voice synthesizer 5 is the CPU 1
The parameters input from the above are subjected to digital signal processing to be converted into digital audio data, and this digital audio data is output to the D / A converter 6. The D / A converter 6 converts the input digital audio data into an analog audio signal, removes unnecessary high frequency components from the audio signal by the low pass filter 7, and outputs this to the amplifier 8.
The amplifier 8 amplifies the input audio signal and then outputs it to the earphone jack 9. If an earphone (not shown) is connected to the earphone jack 9, the user can listen to the read voice of the text data by using the earphone.

Next, a case where the text-to-speech device functions as a single unit in a state where it is not connected to a personal computer or a workstation will be described. In such a case, the CPU 1 stores the document data input from the external interface 10 in the storage RAM 4 when the external interface 10 is connected to a personal computer or a workstation. At this time, in response to an operation instruction from a personal computer or the like connected to the document reading device, the CPU 1 stores a plurality of sentences in the storage RAM 4 or erases already stored sentences from the storage RAM 4. Alternatively, processing for rearranging the order is performed.

After that, when the document reading device is detached from the personal computer and becomes a stand-alone device, the remote controller 14 shown in FIG. 3 is connected to the remote controller interface 13, and then the reproduction button 142 of the remote controller 14 is pressed. , CPU 1 performs a document reading operation as described below. At this time, the battery 12
It is assumed that the device operates by the power supplied from the device, and the storage RAM 4 is backed up by the power from the battery 12 even when the device is powered off.

Play button 1 of the remote controller 14
When 42 is pressed, the power of the device shown in FIG. 1 is turned on, and the operating power is supplied from the battery 12 to each part. CP
U1 reads the document data from the storage RAM 4 after initializing each unit, performs language processing on the read document data to obtain a speech symbol string, and further extracts speech units from this speech symbol string to obtain the necessary data. The parameters are extracted and sent to the voice synthesizer 5. Subsequent operations are the same as in the case where the above-mentioned device is connected to a personal computer or the like, and eventually a reading voice signal corresponding to the document data read from the storage RAM 4 is output from the earphone jack 9. By the way, the CPU 1 has a memory R
The position where the document is read from the AM 4 is a specific address, which is stored in the document storage RAM 4 in advance. However,
When the CPU 1 first reads the document data from the storage RAM 4, it is assumed that the position is initialized to the beginning. In this example, when nothing is connected to the earphone jack 9, the CPU 1 is controlled so that the power of the apparatus is not turned on even if the reproduction button 142 of the remote controller 14 is pressed.

When the stop button 141 of the remote controller 14 is pressed during the reading operation of the document as described above, the CPU 1 detects this, and at that time, the address of the position where the document data is read out from the document storage RAM 4 is read. After writing to another area in the RAM 4 as a specific address, the power of the device is turned off. Therefore, after that, when the reproduction button 142 of the remote controller 14 is pressed again to resume reading the document, the CPU 1 causes the storage RAM 4
The reading is started from the document data of the specific address in the above, and the above-mentioned document reading processing is performed. Even if the earphone is removed from the earphone jack 9 or the remote controller 14 is removed from the remote control interface 13 during the document reading operation, the CPU 1 performs the same operation as described above and then turns off the power of the apparatus. .

Here, the remote control operation by the remote controller 14 will be described. When the button reading speed increase button 144 of the remote controller 14 is pressed, the CPU 1 detects this and increases the reading speed, and when the reading speed decrease button 143 is pressed, the reading speed is decreased. When the backward read skip button 146 of the remote controller 14 is pressed once within a certain time during the reading operation, the CPU 1 detects this operation and skips the reading position of the document data by a predetermined amount in the document and reads the reading position. Put off. When the backward read skip button 146 is continuously pressed for a certain period of time or more, the CPU 1 detects this and skips the reading position to the beginning of the sentence next to the sentence currently being read.
Similarly, when the forward read skip button 145 of the remote controller 14 is pressed once within a fixed time, the CPU 1 detects this operation and skips the reading position of the document data forward by a fixed amount in the document to change the reading position. Put it back.
Further, when the forward read skip button 145 is continuously pressed for a certain time or longer, the CPU 1 detects this and performs an operation of returning the reading position to the beginning of the sentence before the sentence currently being read. Further, when the volume increase button 147 of the remote controller 14 is pressed during the reading operation, the CPU 1
Detects the operation and raises the gain of the amplifier 8 to increase the reading volume, and when the volume down button 148 is pressed, the gain of the amplifier 8 is reduced to reduce the reading volume.

According to this embodiment, the text-to-speech device is converted into a standard IC card, and the external interface 10 is used.
By adopting the standard one as the above, the text-to-speech device can be attached to and detached from an information processing device such as a personal computer or a workstation. Further, since the IC card is formed into a small size, the text reading device can be easily incorporated in a small personal computer or the like. Further, by providing the text RAM 4 for storing the text data and the battery 12 which is the operating power source in the text reading device which is made into an IC card, even when the text reading device is detached from the information processing device to be a single unit, The function of reading out the document data in the document data storage RAM 4 and outputting it as voice can be exerted, and after transferring the document data from the personal computer, the user can bring the IC card-written sentence reading device to another place. The contents of the document data can be heard.
Further, at that time, since the remote controller 14 can be remotely controlled, the sentence can be read aloud and heard even in a crowded place such as a train, and the use range of the sentence reading device can be significantly expanded.

[0019]

As described above, according to the text-to-speech device of the present invention, it can be easily attached to and detached from an information processing device, can be incorporated in a small information processing device, and can be carried in a small size and light weight, and can be used alone. You can exercise the text-to-speech function.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a document reading device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an arrangement example in an IC card of each component which constitutes the text-to-speech device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an appearance of a remote controller connected to the remote controller interface 13 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method of using a conventional document reading device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a board on which a conventional document reading device is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU 2 ... ROM 3 ... Work ROM 4 ... Storage RAM 5 ... Voice synthesizer 6 ... D / A converter 7 ... Low-pass filter 8 ... Amplifier 9 ... Earphone jack 10 ... External interface 11 ... Bus 12 ... Battery 13 ... Remote control Interface for

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An input interface unit that is connected to a separate information processing device to input the text data and operating power, and a language processing unit that performs language processing on the text data input from the input interface unit. , A voice synthesizing section for synthesizing voice data based on the language processing result by the language processing section, a D / A converting section for converting the voice data synthesized by the voice synthesizing section into an analog voice signal, A text-to-speech device, characterized in that an output interface unit for outputting the audio signal output from the conversion unit to the outside is provided in the IC card. 2. An input interface unit which is connected to a separate information processing device to input the text data and operating power, a non-volatile memory which stores the text data input from the input interface unit, and the non-volatile memory. Reading means for reading text data from the memory, a language processing section for performing language processing on the text data read by the reading means, and voice data are synthesized based on the language processing result by the language processing section. A voice synthesizer, a D / A converter for converting the voice data synthesized by the voice synthesizer into an analog voice signal, and an output interface for outputting the voice signal output from the D / A converter to the outside. And a unit for arranging the unit in an IC card and supplying power to the device when power is not supplied from the input interface unit. A text-to-speech device, comprising: 3. The text-to-speech device according to claim 2, wherein the non-volatile memory is backed up by the battery unit while power is not being input from the input interface unit. 4. An input interface unit that is connected to a separate information processing device to input the text data and operating power, a non-volatile memory that stores the text data input from the input interface unit, and the non-volatile memory. Reading means for reading text data from the memory, a language processing section for performing language processing on the text data read by the reading means, and voice data are synthesized based on the language processing result by the language processing section. A voice synthesizer, a D / A converter for converting the voice data synthesized by the voice synthesizer into an analog voice signal, and an output interface for outputting the voice signal output from the D / A converter to the outside. Part, the interface part for remote control that inputs various commands from the remote controller, and this remote control A control means for controlling the text reading operation based on various commands input from the interface section is provided in the IC card, and operating power is supplied to the device when power is not supplied from the input interface section. A text-to-speech device comprising a battery unit for performing the reading.