JPH1115498A - Telephone device with vocal mimicry - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to communicate even with a habitual speaker with a fresh mind and to provide a pleasant communication among people by adding a vocal mimicry function to a telephone device. SOLUTION: A transmission means sends out a transmitter's speech signal to an appropriate transmission path. Voice color data of a plurality of utterers are stored in a voice color data storage part 40. An appropriate utterer is selected and designated from a group of utterers of whom voice color data are stored in the storage part. The voice data of the selected utterer are read from the voice data storage part 40. And, a voice transformation means processes the read voice color data and transmitter's speech signal as necessary, thereby transforming the transmitter's voice color into the selected utterer's voice color, and supplying the transformed voice signal to the transmission means. Namely, it becomes possible to pleasantly communicate between the transmitter and receiver by transforming and transmitted or received speech into that of another person and outputting it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone device such as a telephone or a transceiver, and more particularly, to a vocal cord copying function for converting a transmitted or received voice into a different person's voice and outputting the converted voice. The present invention relates to an attached telephone device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Telephone devices such as telephones and transceivers modulate a voice signal input from a microphone appropriately, such as amplitude modulation and frequency modulation, in order to transmit and receive voice between a transmitter and a receiver. And a receiving function of demodulating a received modulated signal and outputting a voice signal of the other party from a speaker or the like.

As described above, the telephone device is mainly used for voice communication. However, in a world where people are less likely to talk face-to-face directly, telephone devices are not only used merely for communication purposes, but are also essential devices for smooth communication between people. Has been used as. For this reason, various devices have been devised so that the user can use the telephone device more enjoyably. For example, in a telephone or the like, a plurality of incoming call bells, messages on hold, messages of answering machine, etc. are prepared in one telephone. And they try to make the phone call fresh by changing the bell sound etc. according to the mood of the day.

[0004]

The number of parties to talk on the telephone is limited to some extent. Especially for private calls, at most about a dozen people. Therefore, even if the sound of the ringing bell is changed, the actual call still talks with the voice of an ordinary person. Even if you are close friends, you will get bored quickly if the topic is not boring, and your calls will be painful. In such a case, I expect not a little to receive a call from a different person. However, talking on a phone with an estranged person is immediately talked about and the conversation becomes boring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone device that enables a person to talk with a person who usually talks on the telephone with a fresh feeling, and to have fun communication between people. .

[0006]

A transmitting means for transmitting a voice signal of a speaker to an appropriate communication path, a voice data storing section storing voice data of a plurality of speakers, and the storing section User interface means for selecting and specifying an appropriate speaker from a group of speakers in which the voice data is registered, and reading the voice data of the speaker selected by the means from the voice data storage unit. Means for converting the voice of the sender into the voice of the selected speaker by appropriately processing the voice data read by the means and the voice signal of the sender. A telephone device with a vocal cord copying function, comprising a voice conversion means for providing a voice signal to the transmitting means.

[0007] Alternatively, in correspondence with the telephone device of the receiver, the voice of the other party is converted into the voice of the selected speaker, and the voice signal of the other party is received via an appropriate communication path, and the voice is received. Receiving means for outputting to a speaker, the voice data storage section, the user interface means, means for reading the voice data of the selected speaker from the voice data storage section, and reading by the means. Voice processing for appropriately converting the voice data of the call partner and the voice signal of the call partner to convert the voice color of the call partner to the voice of the selected speaker, and outputting the converted voice signal to the speaker. And a telephone device with a vocal cord copying function.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment according to the present invention, a personal handy phone system (PHS) terminal is assumed as a telephone device. The PHS terminal becomes a wireless telephone by connecting to a public telephone line through the PHS. further,
By registering two or more PHS terminals in one parent device as a child device, the PHS terminals can be used as transceivers.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a PHS terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. A central control unit 10 including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM sends out a control signal to each of the peripheral components via a bus 100, and controls the PHS terminal 1.
Further, an operation panel 80 for performing a call operation and various application operations, and a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) 7 for displaying a dialed number display, an operation state, and the like.
0 performs data input / output with the central control unit 10 via the input / output interface unit 21 coupled to the bus 100.

The transmission / reception operation of the PHS terminal 1 is performed through the following route. First, the operation during receiving will be described. Antenna 20
The PHS communication radio wave received at (1) is input to the receiving unit (18) via the antenna switch (19). The antenna unit 20 is used for both transmission and reception, and is switched between transmission and reception by the antenna switch 19. The receiver 18 mainly performs amplification and frequency tuning of the received radio wave. The frequency for frequency tuning is generated by the oscillation unit 22. The oscillating unit 22 includes a crystal oscillator, a frequency divider, etc., generates a local frequency and supplies a clock pulse to the central control unit 10. The modulated signal extracted through the receiving unit 18 is
7 Here, QPSK demodulation and demultiplexing are performed to extract a digital audio signal by ADPCM. This digital audio signal is converted into an analog audio signal by the D / A converter 16 and output to the speaker 15.

On the other hand, the transmitting operation is performed in a procedure reverse to the receiving operation. That is, the A / D converter 12 converts the analog audio signal from the microphone 11 into a digital signal by the ADPCM, and the modulation unit 13 performs time-division multiple access and QP
Perform SK modulation. This QPSK modulated signal is converted to a transmission frequency by the transmission unit 14 and signal amplified. Then, it is transmitted from the antenna section 20 via the antenna switch 19.

The PHS terminal 1 according to the present invention has a vocal cord copying function in addition to the above-mentioned conventional calling function. This vocal cord copying function is a function of converting the voice of the sender or the other party into the voice of a different person. Hereinafter, this function will be described.

The voice data storage unit 40 is a storage medium such as an EPROM, and stores a plurality of voice data of a speaker. The timbre data is obtained by sampling a voice uttered by a human, analyzing the spectrum, and describing spectrum information characterizing the timbre in a predetermined data format.

The digital signal processor (DSP) 30
It is a main component of the vocal cord copying function, and appropriately processes the ADPCM digital audio signal to convert the voice of the caller into the voice of the speaker, and outputs the ADPCM digital audio signal.

The operation panel 80 and the LCD 70 function as a user interface unit in the vocal cord copying function in addition to the operation input and the operation display in the normal call function. The vocal cord copying function of the PHS terminal 1 converts the voice of the sender. Convert the voice of the other party. There are the above two operation modes. As an example, a signal processing path in the operation mode will be described.

When central control unit 10 receives an activation input of vocal cord copying function (mode) from operation panel 80, central control unit 10 executes DS.
Activate P30. Then, the input switching unit 50 is set to A / D
The signal path is switched so that the digital audio signal from the converter 12 is output to the modulation unit 13 via the DSP 30. At the same time, the signal from the demodulation unit 17 is D / A
The switching control of the output switching unit 60 is performed so as to be input straight to the converter 16. Next, the voice data of the appropriate speaker is read from the voice data storage unit 40, and D
Transfer to SP30. The DSP 30 outputs a digital audio signal obtained by converting the voice of the sender into the voice of the speaker based on the input voice data and the digital voice signal.

When the vocal cord copying function is operated at the time of reception (mode), the path is opposite to that of the mode signal processing. That is, upon receiving the mode start input,
The central control unit 10 activates the DSP 30, and the output switching unit 6
0 is changed so that the digital audio signal from the demodulation unit 17 is output to the D / A converter 16 via the DSP 30 so that the signal from the A / D converter 12 is directly input to the modulation unit 13. Input switching unit 5
0 is switched and controlled. As a result, a digital voice signal obtained by converting the voice of the other party into the voice of the speaker is input to the D / A converter 16 and the voice is output from the speaker 15.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the internal structure of the DSP 30. The operation of the DSP 30 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the operation of the mode will be described as an example. The digital voice signal of the sender input from the A / D converter 12 is input to the fundamental frequency extracting unit 31. Here, the fundamental frequency of the speaker is sequentially extracted. This fundamental frequency is a frequency component in the vocal cord wave that determines the pitch of the sender. Then, the call status extracting unit 32 extracts the call status such as the strength of the voice of the sender.

The voice synthesizer 33 has a fundamental frequency that matches the frequency extracted by the fundamental frequency extractor 31, an amplitude change corresponding to the analysis result of the singing situation extractor 32, and a spectral characteristic according to the timbre data. Generate audio data. This synthesized voice data is output as a digital voice signal of the sender.

FIG. 3 shows an external view of the PHS terminal 1. Antenna 2 on the top of the case as well as an ordinary PHS terminal
0 protrudes integrally. The microphone 11, the speaker 15, the LCD 70, and the operation panel 80 are arranged on the surface of the case. The setting of the vocal cord copying function in the PHS terminal 1 includes the setting of the volume and the ring tone.
The setting is performed by a user interface similar to the setting of various applications provided in the S terminal 1. That is, by continuing to press the function key 81 or pressing the arrow key 82 following the key 81, the application setting screens registered on the LCD 70 are called one after another in descending or ascending order according to a predetermined order. This operation is repeated until the setting screen of the vocal cord copying function is displayed on the LCD 70. When the setting screen of the vocal cord copy function is called,
The function key 81 is pressed again. Then, a display prompting selection of the operation mode described above appears. Select the desired mode using the numeric keypad. Here, as an example, the mode is selected by pressing the numeric keypad “1”. Then, when the mode is determined by pressing the function key 81, a screen for specifying the speaker is displayed. Numeric keypad or arrow key 82
When the name of the desired speaker is called on the LCD 70 by using and the function key 81 is pressed, the setting is completed. Next, a screen asking whether to enable this setting (whether to make a call using the vocal cord copying function) is displayed on the LCD as "1: YES, 2: NO". Here "10" on the numeric keypad
After pressing, when the function key 81 is pressed, the vocal cord copying function is activated during a call. When a call is made in this state, the voice of the sender is converted into the voice of the selected speaker and output to the telephone port of the other party.

In this embodiment, a mode is provided for converting the timbre of each of the voices when transmitting and receiving. However, the digital voice signal of the sender and the digital voice of the other party are time-divisionally processed. The voice of the transmitted voice and the voice of the received voice may be converted into voice color.

Further, the voice data storage section may be structured so as to be detachable from the PHS terminal 1, and an appropriate connecting means for attaching the voice data storage section to the PHS terminal 1 may be provided. As a result, the voice data storage section can be appropriately replaced, and voice data of a larger number of speakers can be used. Alternatively, the voice data storage unit may be a rewritable storage medium such as a flash memory. Then, by providing the PHS terminal 1 with an appropriate interface means for performing data communication between the storage medium and the central control unit, the PHS terminal 1 is connected to an information processing device such as a computer externally installed to connect to the data in the voice data storage unit. May be changed so as to be appropriately rewritten.

Of course, the telephone device incorporating the vocal cord copying function is not limited to the PHS terminal, but may be any device such as another telephone such as an indoor telephone or a transceiver that can convert voice into an electric signal and transmit it.
Further, in a telephone device of a type that talks by analog signals, a similar vocal cord copying function can be achieved by incorporating a DSP to which an A / D converter and a D / A converter are added.

[0024]

According to the present invention, by adding a vocal cord copying function to a telephone device, a person who always talks on the telephone can talk with a fresh feeling, and a person can communicate with each other happily.

This vocal cord copying function may be provided in the telephone device on the transmitting side or in the device on the receiving side, so that both the transmitting party and the other party can talk happily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an internal configuration of a DSP in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a PHS terminal according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 PHS terminal 10 Central control unit 30 DSP 40 Voice data storage unit 70 LCD 80 Operation panel.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04M 1/00 H04M 1/00 M

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A voice transmitting means for transmitting a voice signal of a transmitter to an appropriate communication path, a voice data storage unit storing voice data of a plurality of speakers, and the voice data stored in the storage unit. User interface means for selecting and specifying an appropriate speaker from a group of registered speakers, and means for reading the voice data of the speaker selected by this means from the voice data storage unit. By appropriately processing the voice data read by the means and the voice signal of the sender, converting the voice of the sender into the voice of the selected speaker, and converting the converted voice signal to the voice of the selected speaker. A telephone device with a vocal cord copying function, comprising: voice conversion means for giving to a transmitting means. 2. A receiving means for receiving a voice signal of a communication partner via an appropriate communication path and outputting the voice to a speaker, a voice data storage unit storing voice data of a plurality of speakers, A user interface unit for selecting and specifying an appropriate speaker from a group of speakers whose voice data is registered in the storage unit; and storing the voice data of the speaker selected by this unit in the voice data. Means for reading from the unit, and converting the voice of the other party into the voice of the selected speaker by appropriately processing the voice data and the voice signal of the other party read by this means. And a voice conversion means for outputting a converted voice signal to the speaker.