JPH0676475A - Voice recorder and reproducer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve device operability at the time of recording by automatically recording identification data when a soundless state continues for more than fixed time. CONSTITUTION:A microcomputer 3 records digital voice data which is made into a frame in a memory 4 at every fixed time. When the soundless state continues for more than prescribed time at the time of recording voice, identification data expressing that the soundless state continues for more than prescribed time in the memory 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice recording / reproducing system for recording voice by recording digital voice data into a memory by framing it at regular intervals and reading the recorded digital voice data. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a voice recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing voice, during recording, an analog voice signal obtained from a sound collecting device such as a microphone is converted into a digital voice signal and recorded in a semiconductor memory such as an IC card. At the same time, during reproduction, there is one that converts a digital signal recorded in the semiconductor memory into an analog audio signal and outputs audio from an output device such as a speaker.

In this voice recording / reproducing apparatus, the digital voice signal is framed in a fixed format at regular time intervals, and the digital voice signal is recorded in frame units. Further, at the time of recording, for example, by inputting an end mark, which is identification data indicating a division of recording information for each sentence or phrase, at the time of reproduction, search reproduction can be performed from the position of the end mark.

Furthermore, when the silent state continues during recording,
The data in units of frames as described above is not recorded, but instead, the value of the number of frames corresponding to the duration of the silent state is recorded in the semiconductor memory. Then, when reproducing the silent portion, the time calculated from the time corresponding to one frame and the number of silent frames is reproduced as the silent time. This saves memory in recording silent portions.

[0005]

However, in the conventional voice recording / reproducing apparatus as described above, since the silent portion is reproduced in the length of the real time, there is a listening waiting time that the silent reproducing state continues for a while. Therefore, the usability of the device is poor when listening to the recorded contents. Further, there is a problem that the operation of keying the end mark each time is troublesome because the search reproduction is used when the silent state continues for a while.

Further, in the conventional voice recording / reproducing apparatus as described above, when this is used for recording the proceedings of the conference, for example, the voice of the entire conference is recorded by one microphone, so that the data is distinguished for each speaker. It was difficult to record.

The present invention has been conceived in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to automatically record identification data when a silent state continues for a certain time or longer. To improve usability during recording.

An object of the invention described in claim 2 is to enable identification of a source of recorded voice.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a memory in which digital audio data framed at fixed time intervals is recorded, and a silent state during sound recording continues for a predetermined time or longer. In the case where it is determined by the silence continuation determination means that the silence state has continued for a predetermined time or longer, identification data indicating that the silence state has continued for a predetermined time or longer is used instead of the digital voice data. And an identification data recording unit for recording in the memory.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a memory in which digital audio data framed at a fixed time is recorded and a sound generated from a plurality of sound sources located at different places are collected. A plurality of sound collecting means, a comparing means for comparing the levels of the sounds collected by each of the sound collecting means, and a sound generating source for specifying the source of the collected sound based on the comparison result of the comparing means. It is characterized by further comprising: specifying means; and identification data recording means for recording the identification data representing the identification result of the sound source identification means in the memory in association with the framed digital audio data.

[0011]

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, when the silent state continues for a predetermined time or more during voice recording, the silent continuation determining means determines that the silent state continues, and the identification data recording means operates. Record the identification data in memory. Therefore, when the recorded content is reproduced, the search reproduction function makes it possible to skip the unnecessary silent portion in which the identification data is recorded and reproduce it.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the voices are collected by the plurality of sound collecting means, and the levels of these voices are compared by the comparing means. Since the sound level of each sound collecting means differs depending on the location of the sound source, the sound source identifying means identifies the sound source based on the comparison result of the comparing means, and the identification data recording means stores the memory. The identification data is recorded in the memory in order to identify the generation source of the digital audio data recorded in. Therefore, when the recorded content is reproduced, it is possible to reproduce only the sound of the specific sound generation source by using the search reproduction function.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a voice recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment. The microphone 1 gives the collected voice to the A / D converter 2 as an analog voice signal. The A / D converter 2 converts the supplied analog audio signal into a digital audio signal and supplies it to the microcomputer 3.

The microcomputer 3 frames the digital audio signal given at the time of recording at regular time intervals and compresses it in each frame unit, and records the compressed frame data in the memory 4 which is, for example, an IC card. During reproduction, the microcomputer 3 reads out frame data from the memory 4 and expands it for each frame, and then supplies the expanded digital audio signal to the D / A converter 5. The D / A converter 5 converts the supplied digital audio signal into an analog audio signal and supplies it to the audio output device 6 including a speaker. The voice output device 6 converts the given analog voice signal into voice and outputs it.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a data recording processing procedure at the time of voice recording in the microcomputer 3. First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the digital audio data corresponding to one frame is silent. If it is silent, the process proceeds to step S2 to count the count value corresponding to the number of frames in which the silent state continues. To increment the silence counter for step S1
Return to. On the other hand, if there is no sound in step S1, the process proceeds to step S3, it is determined whether or not the immediately preceding frame is soundless, and if the previous frame is not soundless,
In step S4, the frame data is recorded in the memory 4.

On the other hand, if the previous frame is silent in step S3, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether or not the count value of the silence counter is equal to or more than a predetermined value (eg 500). However, here, the count value of 50
0 is a frame count value when the length of one frame is 200 milliseconds, and is a count value for determining a silent state corresponding to 10 seconds of real time.

If the count value is not equal to or more than the predetermined value in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6, the count value is recorded in the memory 4, and the process returns to step S1. on the other hand,
If the count value is equal to or larger than the predetermined value in step S5, the end mark, which is identification data indicating that the silent state has continued for the predetermined time or longer, is recorded in the memory 4, and the process returns to step S1.

In the above processing, if the digital voice data of the frame to be recorded at the time of recording the voice is in the voiced state, the frame data is directly recorded in the memory 4 as in step S4. If the digital audio data is in the silent state and the state is less than the predetermined time, the number of silent frames is recorded in the memory 4 as in step S6. If the digital audio data is in the silent state and the state continues for a predetermined time or longer, the end mark is recorded in the memory 4 as in step S7.

If such a process is performed during recording of voice, it is possible to skip and reproduce a silent portion which continues for a predetermined time or longer by search reproduction using the end mark when reproducing voice. For this reason, when the recorded contents such as the recording of the conference are reproduced, the time required for the reproduction can be shortened.

Second Embodiment FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a state at the time of recording using the voice recording / reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment. This voice recording / reproducing apparatus requires a plurality of microphones, and when there are three speakers as voice generation sources, two microphones 71 and 72 having directivity as shown in FIG. 3 are required. is there. As shown in FIG. 3, when the speaker B is located between the speaker A and the speaker C with an appropriate distance, the microphone 71 is directed toward the speaker A and the microphone 72 is directed toward the speaker C. Turn to.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of a voice recording / reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment. Microphone 71
The analog audio signal output from is amplified by the amplifier 81 and is given to the A / D converter 2 and the audio level comparison circuit 9. The analog audio signal output from the microphone 72 is amplified by the amplifier 82 and given to the A / D converter 2 and the audio level comparator 9. The respective analog voice signals given to the A / D converter 2 are converted into digital voice signals and given to the microcomputer 3.

In the audio level comparison circuit 9, the amplifier 8
The analog audio signal given from 1 becomes the non-inverting input a1 of the first comparator 91 as it is and is divided by the resistors 93, 93 connected in series to become the non-inverting input a2 of the second comparator 92. In addition, the amplifier 82
The analog audio signal given from the above becomes the inverting input b1 of the second comparator 92 as it is, and is divided by the resistors 94, 94 connected in series to become the inverting input b2 of the first comparator 91. Then, the output c of the first comparator 91 and the output d of the second comparator 92 are given to the microcomputer 3.

The microcomputer 3 includes a sound source identification unit 31 and an identification data recording unit 32. The microcomputer 3 frames the digital audio data supplied from the A / D converter 2 at regular time intervals and records it in the memory 4. Then, the sound source identification unit 31 determines, based on the signal levels of the outputs c and d of the sound level comparison circuit 9,
The source of the collected voice is identified, and based on the identification result, the identification data recording unit 32 digitally frames the classification mark data, which is identification data representing the identification result of the audio source identification unit 31, in the memory 4. Record in association with audio data.

Next, the operation of the audio level comparison circuit 9 will be described. FIG. 5 shows the first comparator 91 and the second comparator 91.
FIG. 6 is a logic diagram showing an input / output relationship of a comparator 92.
Referring to FIG. 5, when the signal level of the first comparator 91 is a1> b2 and the signal level of the second comparator 92 is a2> b1, the output c is high level (hereinafter referred to as H) and the output d is It becomes H (first state).
Further, the signal level in the first comparator 91 is a1.
> B2, the signal level of the second comparator 92 is a
When 2 <b1, the output c becomes H and the output d becomes low level (hereinafter referred to as L) (second state). Further, in the first comparator 91, the signal level is a1 <b2,
In the second comparator 92, the signal level is a2 <b1
Output c becomes L and output d becomes L (3rd
Status).

The first state is a case where the volume of the analog voice signal from the microphone 71 is high, and the speaker A
It can be determined that the sound is from In the third state, the volume of the analog voice signal from the microphone 71 and the volume of the analog voice signal from the microphone 72 are almost the same, and the speaker B located between the speaker A and the speaker C.
It can be determined that the sound is from The second state is a case where the volume of the analog voice signal from the microphone 72 is high, and it can be determined that the voice is from the speaker C.

In the microcomputer 3, the sound source identification unit 31 includes the sound level comparison circuit 9 as described above.
Of the digital voice data recorded in the memory 4 via the A / D converter 2, and the identification data recording section 32 converts the digital voice data into the digital voice data based on the result of the determination. The classification mark data is associated and recorded in the memory 4.

As described above, in the voice recording / reproducing apparatus of the second embodiment, the classification mark data is recorded in association with the digital voice data recorded during voice recording. For this reason, when the voice is reproduced, if the search reproduction is performed for each classification mark, the workability of the recording when the recorded contents are recorded for each voice generation source (speaker) is improved.

[0029]

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, if the silent state continues for a certain time or longer at the time of recording voice, the identification data is automatically recorded in the memory, which improves the usability of the apparatus.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the identification data for identifying the sound source is recorded corresponding to the digital sound data recorded at the time of recording the sound, the reproduction is performed by using this identification data. At times, it is possible to reproduce only the sound of a specific sound source, and it is possible to improve the efficiency of listening work during reproduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a voice recording / reproducing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a data recording processing procedure at the time of recording by the microcomputer.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a state at the time of recording using the voice recording / reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a voice recording / reproducing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a logic diagram showing a relationship between inputs and outputs of a first comparator and a second comparator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Microcomputer 4 Memory 9 Audio Level Comparison Circuit 31 Audio Source Identification Unit 32 Identification Data Recording Unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A memory for recording digital audio data framed at regular time intervals, a silence continuation determining means for determining that a silence state has continued for a predetermined time or more during voice recording, and the silence continuation determining means. When it is determined that the silent state has continued for a predetermined period of time or more, identification data recording means for recording identification data indicating that the silent state has continued for a predetermined period of time or more in the memory instead of digital voice data, Audio recording / playback device. 2. A memory for recording digital audio data framed at regular time intervals, a plurality of sound collecting means for collecting sounds generated from a plurality of audio sources located at different places, and Comparing means for comparing the levels of the sounds collected by the respective sound collecting means; sound source specifying means for specifying the sound source of the collected sounds based on the comparison result of the comparing means; and the sound generating source. Identification data recording means for recording the identification data representing the identification result of the identification means in the memory in association with the framed digital audio data,
Audio recording / playback device.