JPH08287660A - Audio system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an audio system improved in its starting after power input and its operability. CONSTITUTION: This audio system is composed of a main body system 10 and a plurality of connected devices 20 connectable to the main body system 10, including a radio part 20a, a tape deck 20b, a CD player 20C and a television set 20d. The main body system 10 selects the radio part 20a incorporated in the main body system 10 from the connected devices 20 in response to power input. A CPU 15 instructs the selected radio part 20a to start its operation and sequentially executes connection confirming operation for the connected devices 20 other than the radio part 20a after instruction to start the operation is given to the radio part 20a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an audio device having a main body device and a plurality of connecting devices connectable to the main body device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Normally, as an audio device for handling audio equipment, a plurality of connected equipments can be connected in the form of various options. Such an optional format means, for example, that the main unit of the audio device has a built-in radio function and tape function as a basic set, and the main unit is connected to a CD deck or a TV as a connecting device. Allows the CD deck and the TV to be controlled.

According to the audio apparatus adopting such an optional format, the main body apparatus grasps the connection status such as which connection device is connected at the stage after the main body apparatus is powered on. Need to be

As a method of grasping the connection status of the connected equipment connected to the main body apparatus, there are two methods as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional audio apparatus which employs a method of grasping a connection status via a control communication line.

In FIG. 6, the audio device is a main body device 30 and a plurality of connection devices 4 connectable to the main body device 30.
0 (40a, 40b).

The main body device 30 stores a display unit 31 for displaying and outputting various information, a key operation unit 32 for inputting various commands, and an R for storing connection information about each connected device 40.
AM 33 and the connection device 4 built in the main body device 30
It has a connection device 40c, which is one of 0, and a CPU 34 that controls the entire main body device 30.

The CPU 34 has a connection device 40c built in the main body device and a plurality of connection devices 40a, 40b connectable to the main body device via a control communication line 35.
And the connection status of each connected device 40 is confirmed via the control communication line 35. Although not shown, the CPU 34 selects one connection device from the plurality of connection devices 40 and outputs an output signal from the selected connection device from a speaker as a sound.

As a method of confirming the connection status of each connection device 40, the CPU 34 executes communication with each connection device 40 via the control communication line 35 after the power is turned on, and the response from the connection device 40 is sent. When the connection device 40 is detected, it is determined that the connection device 40 is connected, the connection information related to the connection is stored in the RAM 33, and if the response from the connection device 40 is not detected, the connection device 40 is not connected. The connection information relating to the non-connection is stored in the RAM 33.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of a conventional audio apparatus which employs a method of grasping the connection status via a connection confirmation dedicated line separate from the control communication line 35. It should be noted that the description of the configuration and the operation is omitted for those which are the same as those in FIG.

In FIG. 7, the CPU 34 grasps the connection status between each connection device 40 and the main body device 30 via a separate connection confirmation dedicated line 36 different from the control communication line 35.

However, according to the audio apparatus shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of connection confirmation dedicated lines 36 corresponding to the respective connection devices 40 are required, and the CPU 34 also has a port for connecting to the connection confirmation dedicated line 36. Since it is necessary to provide the above, there is a problem in terms of cost and space, and it is usually not used so much.

Therefore, the above-described audio device of FIG. 6 is widely adopted.

That is, according to the audio apparatus shown in FIG. 6, communication with each connected device 40 is executed via the control communication line 35 in response to power-on of the main body device 30, and all connected devices 40 are connected. Connection information related to the RAM
After storing in 33, the system operation is started.

After starting the system operation, that is, after storing the connection information about all the connected devices 40 connected to the audio device in the RAM 33, the connected device 40 that is not connected by the key operation unit 32. When is selected, the communication for confirming the connection is again performed to the connected device 40 related to the selected unconnected, via the control communication line 35.

Further, according to the audio device, as the time required to finish collecting the connection information of each connected device 40 after the power is turned on, the number of connected devices 40 that can be connected to the audio device; Connected device 4 connected to audio device
Number of 0; N Time required from connection confirmation request for response to connection information to response; Time required to determine unresponsiveness from connection confirmation request for Te connection information; Tn Acquisition of connection information for all connected devices 40 Time required until: Tx Tn ≧ Te, M ≧ N
The time Tx required to acquire the connection information related to
The following expression, that is, Tx = Te × N + Tn (M−
N).

[0017]

However, according to the conventional audio device described above, it is possible to connect to the audio device, as can be understood from the formula for calculating the time required to acquire the connection information about all the connected devices. Number of devices;
The more M, or the number of devices actually connected to the audio device; the smaller N, the longer the time required to acquire the connection information about all the connected devices.

As a result, according to the audio device,
The system operation is started after collecting the connection information of all the connected devices that can be connected to the main unit, but it is determined which function mode, that is, which connected device to start, and the display. There is a first problem that the time required to display and output and the time from the determination of the operation to the actual output of the sound are delayed and the operational feeling is impaired.

Further, according to the audio device, the connection is actually confirmed via the control communication line each time the selection key corresponding to each function mode, that is, each connected device is input during the system operation. , Even if an unconnected connection device is selected, communication is performed with respect to the unconnected connection device for confirmation, and the operation feeling is impaired because there is communication time for the confirmation. If the selection key is not for each connected device,
The second one is that the operation feeling is more significantly impaired when switching and selecting each connected device with one key.
There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned first problem, and a first object thereof is to provide an audio device having a good start-up and a feeling of operation after power-on. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned second problem. A second object of the present invention is to provide an audio apparatus which has a good operation feeling when selecting a connected device after the start of system operation. To provide.

[0022]

In order to achieve the above first object, an audio device of the present invention is an audio device having a main body device and a plurality of connection devices connectable to the main body device. The main body device selects a predetermined connection device from the connection devices in response to power-on of the main body device, and a device selection unit that instructs the selected predetermined connection device to start operation, and the operation start instruction. And a connection confirmation unit that sequentially executes connection confirmation processing for other connected devices later.

In order to achieve the second object, the audio device of the present invention is an audio device having a main body device and a plurality of connecting devices connectable to the main body device, wherein the main body device is An operation unit for switching and selecting a plurality of connectable devices, a connection confirmation unit for sequentially executing connection confirmation processing for the plurality of connection devices, and connection information of each connection device obtained by the connection confirmation process. Based on the connection information stored in the storage means, the presence or absence of connection to the main body device for the storage means for storing and the connection equipment switched and selected by the operation means is determined, and the connection equipment determined to have the connection is displayed. It has a selection control means for selecting.

[0024]

According to the first configuration, according to the audio apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of connected devices are incorporated into a predetermined connected device, for example, the main device, in accordance with the power-on of the main device by the device selection means. After selecting a connected device, instructing the selected predetermined connected device to start operation, and after confirming the operation start by the connection confirmation means, sequentially perform connection confirmation processing for other connected devices other than the predetermined connected device. Since it is executed in step 1, it is possible to improve the feeling of operation without delaying the rise time after the power is turned on.

According to the audio apparatus of the present invention having the second configuration, the connection confirmation means sequentially executes the connection confirmation processing for a plurality of connected devices, and the respective connection obtained by the connection confirmation processing. The connection information of the device is stored in the storage means, and whether or not the connection device switched and selected by the selection control means by the operation means is connected to the main body device is determined based on the connection information stored in the storage means. Since the connected device determined to be connected is selected, even if the unconnected device is selected by the operating means, it is not necessary to perform confirmation communication with the unconnected connected device, that is, Since communication time for confirmation is not required, it is possible to improve the operational feeling when selecting the connected device after the system operation starts.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an audio device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of the audio apparatus of this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the audio device has the main body device 10 and a plurality of connecting devices 20 connectable to the main body device 10.

The main body device 10 includes a display unit 11 for displaying and outputting various information, a key operation unit 12 for inputting various commands, a RAM 13 for storing connection information regarding each connection device 20 described later, and The radio unit 20a, which is one of the connected devices built in the main body device 10, and the radio unit 2
0a or a changeover switch 14 for changing over and selecting an output signal of the connection device 20, and a C for controlling the main body device 10 as a whole.
It has PU15.

Connected device 2 connectable to the main body device 10
0 indicates a tape deck 20b and a CD player 20c
There is a TV 20d.

The CPU 15 controls the radio unit 20a, the tape deck 20b, the CD player 20c and the television 20d, which are the connection devices 20, via the control communication line 16, and also connects the connection devices via the control communication line 16. By executing communication with the connection device 20, connection information regarding each connection device 20 is obtained.

In the key operation unit 12, the function mode, that is, the key for selecting the connected device 20 is executed by one switching selection key, and the CPU 15 selects the connected device by the switching selection key. Then, the changeover control signal is sent to the changeover switch 14 in accordance with the selection.

The change-over switch 14 outputs the output signal of the connected device 20 selected according to the change-over control signal from the speaker 22 via the amplifier 21.

Now, the operation of the audio apparatus of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the only connected device actually connected to the main body device 10 is the radio unit 20a built in the main body device 10 and the television 20d externally connected.

First, the system operation when the power is turned on will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the CPU 15 in the system operation start processing in the audio device.

In FIG. 2, the CPU 15 has the RAM 1
It is determined whether or not there is connection information related to connection in 3 (step S11). If there is connection information related to the connection in the RAM 13, it is determined whether or not there is connection information related to the highest priority device in the RAM 13 (step S12). The highest priority device corresponds to the connection device required for the highest priority at this stage, that is, the radio unit 20a built in the main body device 10 in this embodiment.

If there is connection information of the highest priority device in step S12, the highest priority device is selected and determined (step S1).
3) Then, the system operation is started based on the selected and determined device (step S14). It should be noted that, when the system operation starts, for example, when the selected device is the radio unit 20a.
In this case, the display data relating to the radio function is output to the display unit 11 and started up.

After the system operation is started in step S14, the connection confirmation processing for the other connected devices 20 shown in FIG. 3 is executed (step S30), and the connection information for all the connected devices 20 connectable to the main body apparatus 10 is displayed. RAM
After being stored in 13, the accessible connection device 20 is set and grasped based on the connection information (step S15), and the system operation start process is ended. Incidentally, the CPU 1
When the device 5 determines the accessible connected device 20 in step S15, for example, the switching selection key in the key operation unit 12 is only the radio 20a and the television 20d connected to the main body device 10 in the case of the present embodiment. It is set not to accept the switching selection.

If there is no connection information of the highest priority device in step S12, it is determined that there is connection information of another connection device 20, and the other connection device 20 is set as the highest priority device (step S16), The process moves to S11.

Further, in step S11, the RAM 13 concerned
If there is no connection information relating to the presence of connection, the connection confirmation process for the highest priority device is executed (step S1).
7), start the response reception timer required for the connection confirmation processing (step S18), and control the communication line 16
It is determined whether or not there is a communication response via (step S19). If there is the communication response, the connection information of the connection device 20 related to the communication response is stored in the RAM 13 (step S20), and the connection device 2 related to the communication response is stored.
0 is selected and determined (step S21), and the process proceeds to step S14.

If there is no communication response in step S19, it is determined whether or not the response reception timer started in step S18 has timed out (step S2).
2). If the response reception timer has not timed out, the process proceeds to step S19. If the response reception timer has timed out, the corresponding device 2
0 Connection information relating to no connection is stored in the RAM 13 (step S23), and the process proceeds to step S11. still,
After step S23, the process proceeds to step S17 via step S11. At this time, step S17
The process in (1) is to execute the connection confirmation process for the other connected device 20, not for the highest priority device.

Incidentally, in the system operation start process, of course, that is
The radio unit 20a that is always connected to the main body device 10 is selected and determined as the highest priority device. However, since there may be a case in which the radio unit 20a should happen, the radio unit 20a is also described above. As such, various checks are performed.

Now, the connection confirmation processing for the other connection device 20 in step S30 shown in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the CPU 15 in the connection confirmation processing for the other connected device 20. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a management table stored in the CPU 15. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the connection information stored in the RAM 13. Note that FIG. 3 shows the processing operation after the system operation based on the radio function shown in FIG. 2 is started.

In FIG. 3, the CPU 15 sets the N value to “1” based on the management table shown in FIG. 4 (step S31), and executes the connection confirmation process for the Nth connected device 20 (step S31). S32), start the response reception timer required for the connection confirmation processing (step S
33), it is determined whether or not there is a communication response from the Nth connection device 20 (step S34). If there is the communication response, the connection information of the connection device 20 related to the communication response is stored in the RAM 13 as "1" as shown in FIG. 5 (step S35), and whether the current N value is "3". It is determined whether or not (step S36). If the current N value is "3", the connection response process for the other connected device 20 is terminated.

If the current N value is not "3" in step S36, the current N value is incremented by +1 (step S37), and the process proceeds to step S32.

If there is no communication response in step S34, it is determined whether or not the response reception timer started in step S33 has timed out (step S3).
8). If the response reception timer has not timed out, the process proceeds to step S34, and if the response reception timer has timed up, the connection information of the connection device 20 that has not received the communication response is set as shown in FIG. 0 "
Is stored in the RAM 13 (step S39), and the process proceeds to step S36.

That is, in the present embodiment, the CPU 15 has the radio section 20a and the television 20 as shown in FIG.
It is possible to judge that d is connected to the main body device 10, and it is judged that the tape deck 20b and the CD player 20c are not connected.

Therefore, according to the above embodiment, the CPU
15 selects a predetermined connection device from a plurality of connection devices 20 in response to power-on of the main body device 10, for example, the radio unit 20a that is the highest priority device built in the main body device 10, and selects the selected radio unit. 20a is instructed to start the system operation, and after the operation start instruction, the connection confirmation processing for the tape deck 20b, the CD player 20c, and the television 20d, which are other connected devices, is sequentially executed. It is possible to improve the feeling of operation without delaying the rise time.

Further, the CPU 15 has a plurality of connected devices 2
The connection confirmation processing for 0 is sequentially executed, and the connection information of each connected device 20 obtained by the connection confirmation processing is stored in the RAM.
13, the presence / absence of connection to the main body apparatus 10 with respect to the connected device switched and selected by the switching selection key of the key operation unit 12 is determined based on the connection information stored in the RAM 13, and it is determined that the connection is present. Since the selected connected device is selected, it is assumed that the connected device which is not connected by the switching selection key, for example, the tape deck 20b or C.
Even if the D player 20c is selected, it is not necessary to perform confirmation communication with the unconnected connection device, that is, communication time for the confirmation is not required. The feeling of operation can be improved.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the television 20d
In the case where the power is turned off during operation and the tape deck 20b is connected to the main body device 10 and then the power is turned on, the CPU 15 checks the connection information of the television 20d according to the power-on, and the television 20d. After starting the system operation related to the above, and after confirming the connection information for the tape deck 20b, the radio, tape deck and television can be selected by pressing the switch selection key.

In the above embodiment, the main unit 10
Although the number of the connecting devices 20 that can be connected to is set to four, it is needless to say that the number may be more than this, and in this case, the further effect can be enhanced.

[0051]

According to the audio apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, a plurality of connection devices are connected to a predetermined connection device, for example, the main device is built in the device selection means in response to power-on of the main device. Selected connection device, instructing operation start to the selected predetermined connection device, and connection confirmation processing to the connection device other than the predetermined connection device after the operation start instruction by the connection confirmation means Since the steps are sequentially executed, it is possible to improve the feeling of operation without delaying the rising time after the power is turned on.

According to the audio device of the present invention,
The connection confirmation means sequentially executes connection confirmation processing for a plurality of connected devices, stores the connection information of each connection device obtained by the connection confirmation processing in the storage means, and the selection control means performs switching selection by the operation means. Whether or not the connected device is connected to the main body device is determined based on the connection information stored in the storage unit, and the connected device that is determined to be connected is selected. Even if a connected device for connection is selected, it is not necessary to perform confirmation communication with the unconnected connected device, that is, communication time for the confirmation is not required. The feeling of operation can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment to which an audio device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the CPU in the system operation start processing of the audio apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the CPU in the connection confirmation processing for another connection device of the audio apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a management table stored in the CPU of the audio device of this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing connection information stored in a RAM in the audio device of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional audio device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional audio device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Main Unit 12 Key Operation Unit (Operating Means) 13 RAM (Storage Means) 15 CPU (Device Selection Means, Connection Confirmation Means, Selection Control Means) 20 Connected Equipment

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An audio device having a main body device and a plurality of connection devices connectable to the main body device, wherein the main body device is a predetermined connection device from the connection device in response to power-on of the main body device. And a connection confirmation unit that sequentially executes connection confirmation processing for other connected devices after the operation start instruction is issued. An audio device characterized by. 2. The audio device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined connection device selected by the device selection means is a connection device built in the main device. 3. The main body device has a storage unit for storing connection information of each connected device obtained by the connection confirmation processing of the connection confirmation unit, and the device selection unit has a connection stored in the storage unit. The audio device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined connection device is selected based on information. 4. An audio device having a main body device and a plurality of connection devices connectable to the main body device, wherein the main body device comprises an operation means for switching and selecting the plurality of connectable connection devices. Connection confirmation means for sequentially executing connection confirmation processing for a plurality of connection devices, storage means for storing connection information of each connection device obtained by the connection confirmation processing, and connection devices switch-selected by the operation means An audio device, comprising: a selection control unit that determines whether or not a connection is made to the main body device based on connection information stored in the storage unit, and that selects a connected device that is determined to have the connection.