A digital network dual backup conference system unit

Abstract

A digital network dual backup conference system unit relates to the technical field of conference systems, and solves the technical problems of the existing conference system unit in the case of dual backup, such as inconsistent power-on status and long switching time; the solution is as follows: the operational amplifier circuit is also connected to a network audio transmission module via a second switch circuit, and also includes an MCU that can independently control a first switch circuit and a second switch circuit; the network interface of the network audio transmission module is connected to a second power conversion circuit, and the second power conversion circuit provides the network POE power provided by a POE network switch to the power circuit after stepping down the voltage; a conference host connection status detection circuit is provided between the MCU and the power output end of the first power conversion circuit. Ultra-low latency power switching is achieved. The MCU is used to detect in real time whether it is connected to the conference host, and the synchronization problem during the switching process is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of conference systems, and in particular to an improvement in the circuit structure of conference system units in conference systems. Background Art

[0002] At present, in people's work, meetings play a huge role in communication between people. How to organize a stable and reliable local conference sound amplification system is becoming increasingly important.

[0003] Conference systems are audio equipment used in conferences, and generally have multiple functions such as conference speaking, listening, simultaneous interpretation, and electronic voting. Conference systems consist of a conference host and multiple conference system units connected to the conference host. The conference system units are used by all participants, and the conference host is operated and controlled by management personnel. In order to ensure the smoothness and integrity of conference audio signals, existing conference systems generally have dual backup solutions, and the commonly used dual backup solutions use digital-analog dual backup, or digital-digital dual backup. These dual backup solutions all have different degrees of poor power-on state synchronization, long switching process, and other technical problems. The switch of the analog circuit receives multiple signals at the same time for control, which increases the complexity of the system, invisibly increases the risk of product problems, and introduces new problems to the dual backup system. Summary of the invention

[0004] In summary, the present invention aims to solve the technical problems of the existing conference system units in the dual backup situation, such as inconsistent power-on status and long switching time, and proposes a digital network dual backup conference system unit.

[0005] In order to solve the technical problem proposed by the present invention, the technical solution adopted is:

[0006] A digital network dual backup conference system unit comprises a microphone pickup, an operational amplifier circuit connected to the microphone pickup, the operational amplifier circuit provides an analog audio signal to a conference host via a first switch circuit and a conference unit interface; the characteristic is that: the operational amplifier circuit is also connected to a network audio transmission module via a second switch circuit, the network audio transmission module converts the analog audio signal provided by the operational amplifier circuit into a digital audio signal, and converts it into a network signal that can be transmitted through a POE network switch; the unit also comprises an MCU that can independently control the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit, and the MCU is connected to a key circuit; the conference unit interface is connected to a first power conversion circuit, the first power conversion circuit is connected to a power circuit, the first power conversion circuit steps down the host power provided by the conference host and unidirectionally provides it to the power circuit, and the power circuit supplies power to the MCU and the network audio transmission module; the network interface of the network audio transmission module is connected to a second power conversion circuit, the second power conversion circuit steps down the network POE power provided by the POE network switch and provides it to the power circuit; a conference host connection state detection circuit is provided between the MCU and the power output end of the first power conversion circuit; the conference host connection state detection circuit provides the MCU with a control signal for automatically switching the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit.

[0007] The technical solutions for further limiting the present invention include:

[0008] The network audio transmission module includes an analog-to-digital chip, a Dante chip and a network interface; the analog-to-digital chip converts the analog audio signal provided by the operational amplifier circuit into a digital audio IIS signal and outputs it to the Dante chip; the Dante chip converts the digital audio IIS signal into a network signal and transmits it to the POE network switch via the network interface.

[0009] The MCU is connected to an LED light corresponding to the first switch circuit state, the second switch circuit state and the conference host connection state.

[0010] The first power conversion circuit and the second power conversion circuit respectively supply power to the power circuit in one direction through diode isolation.

[0011] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: the system stability of the dual backup conference system unit of the present invention is greatly improved compared with the existing digital-analog dual backup conference system unit. Digital audio has the advantages of strong anti-interference compared with traditional analog audio, and the sound quality will not be affected as the transmission lines increase. The beneficial effects are as follows:

[0012] (1) The internal power supply of the conference system unit of the present invention has real-time dual backup. After one power source is disconnected, the switching time is less than 1 microsecond, achieving ultra-low latency power switching and solving the problem of using dual backup power sources at the same time.

[0013] (2) The conference system unit of the present invention uses an MCU (single-chip microcomputer) to detect in real time whether it is connected to the conference host. The detection time is less than 100 microseconds, achieving ultra-low latency system switching; solving synchronization problems during the switching process, solving system fusion problems after dual backup of two different products, etc.

[0014] (3) The present invention uses the host detection signal method or the conference system unit of the present invention detects whether the conference host provides power as a sign to determine whether to enable dual backup. Each method has its own characteristics. In the actual test process, both methods can pass the test. During the switching process, the user can not subjectively feel that the entire system is switching, and the user experience is good.

[0015] (4) The conference system unit of the present invention independently controls two-way audio switches, thereby solving the problem of microphone asynchrony after the existing conference system unit is powered on. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 It is a functional logic diagram of the equipment system of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the network audio transmission module of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the power supply part of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 4 This is a flow chart of one of the method steps for testing whether the conference host is connected in the present invention;

[0020] Figure 5 This is another method step flow chart for testing whether the present invention is connected to the conference host. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and preferred specific embodiments of the present invention.

[0022] Reference Figures 1 to 3 As shown in the figure, the present invention discloses a digital network dual backup conference system unit, including a microphone pickup, an operational amplifier circuit connected to the microphone pickup, and the operational amplifier circuit provides an analog audio signal to the conference host via a first switch circuit and a conference unit interface; when the first switch circuit is turned on, the present invention is the same as a traditional conference system unit, the microphone pickup collects the speech of the participant, and after the audio signal is amplified by the operational amplifier circuit, it is provided to the conference host via the conference unit interface, and the conference host amplifies the sound through a local conference sound amplification system.

[0023] The operational amplifier circuit described in the present invention is also connected to a network audio transmission module via a second switch circuit. The network audio transmission module converts the analog audio signal provided by the operational amplifier circuit into a digital audio signal, and converts it into a network signal that can be transmitted through a POE network switch; that is, when the second switch circuit is turned on, the network audio transmission module performs audio signal backup output through the TCP / IP protocol. The network audio transmission module may specifically include an analog-to-digital chip, a Dante chip, and a network interface; the analog-to-digital chip converts the analog audio signal provided by the operational amplifier circuit into a digital audio IIS (serial digital audio bus protocol) signal and outputs it to the Dante chip; the Dante chip converts the digital audio IIS signal into a network signal, and transmits it to the POE network switch via the network interface. Among them, the Dante chip sampling clock is derived from the system clock of the entire Dante network, which can ensure synchronous transmission in the entire network and minimize audio delay.

[0024] In order to realize intelligent switching control of the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit, the present invention also includes an MCU that can independently control the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit, and the MCU is connected to a key circuit; the key circuit can provide the MCU with a control signal to turn on or off the microphone pickup at the same time, that is, to control the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit to switch on or off at the same time. As needed, multiple keys can also be used on the key circuit to manually control the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit to switch on or off separately. In order to intuitively display the working status of the present invention, the MCU is connected to an LED light that displays the corresponding status of the first switch circuit, the second switch circuit and the connection status of the conference host.

[0025] The power supply part of the conference system unit of the present invention adopts a solution of simultaneous power supply of the conference host and the POE network in order to improve the reliability of the product; as long as one of the power supply of the conference host and the POE network is normal, the normal operation of the conference system unit of the present invention can be satisfied; the specific implementation scheme is: the conference unit interface is connected to a first power conversion circuit, the first power conversion circuit is connected to a power circuit, the first power conversion circuit steps down the host power provided by the conference host and unidirectionally provides it to the power circuit, and the power circuit supplies power to the MCU and the network audio transmission module; the network interface of the network audio transmission module is connected to a second power conversion circuit, the second power conversion circuit steps down the network POE power provided by the POE network switch and provides it to the power circuit; a conference host connection status detection circuit is provided between the MCU and the power output end of the first power conversion circuit; the conference host connection status detection circuit provides the MCU with a control signal for automatically switching the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit.

[0026] Generally, the DC power supply provided by the conference host is a 24V DC power supply, and the first power conversion circuit is a DC-DC switching power supply that converts 24V to 5V; and the network POE power supply provided by the POE network switch is generally 44~57V, that is, the second power conversion circuit is a DC-DC switching power supply that converts 44~57V to 5V. In order to avoid mutual interference between the DC power supply provided by the conference host and the network POE power supply provided by the POE network switch, the first power conversion circuit and the second power conversion circuit are respectively isolated by diodes to supply power to the power circuit in one direction. The power circuit converts the 5V power supply to 3.3V to power the MCU. The power of the conference system unit of the present invention is about 3 watts, and the conference system unit of the present invention is powered by a network POE power supply, and the power supply power is above 14 watts, which can fully meet the power consumption problem of the conference system unit; compared with the existing conference system unit using digital and analog dual backup, its 48V phantom power supply part of the analog audio can only provide a maximum of 0.5W of power supply, and the power supply power is greatly limited.

[0027] The function of the conference host connection status detection circuit is to test whether the conference system unit of the present invention is in a connected state with the conference host, so that the MCU (single-chip microcomputer) can select the corresponding working mode, thereby automatically switching the switch states of the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit.

[0028] Reference Figure 4 As shown in, the method for testing whether the conference system unit of the present invention is in a connected state with the conference host can be determined by the high and low level states of the IO1 port of the MCU to determine whether it is connected with the host, thereby selecting the working state mode to be the conference system mode or the free mode; when the IO1 state is high, it is determined that the conference host and the conference system unit of the present invention are in a connected state, and the conference mode is started, otherwise it is the free mode; the free mode means that the speaking state of each conference system unit of the conference system is not controlled by the conference host, but only controlled by the key circuit; in the speaking control of the conference system unit, the conference host control mode is given priority, and when the conference host fails, the control mode of the conference system unit of the present invention automatically switches to the free mode.

[0029] Reference Figure 5 As shown in, another way to test whether the conference system unit of the present invention is in a connected state with the conference host is to test the communication between the MCU and the conference host. The conference host sends a detection unit online signal every less than 1 millisecond. When the MCU receives the detection signal sent by the conference host within 1 millisecond, it enters the conference system mode, otherwise it enters the free mode.

[0030] The above two implementation methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Figure 4The method has a fast response speed and is relatively simple to implement in software. However, the disadvantage is that when there is a problem with the conference system line or the conference host, the conference host can still be powered normally and will still operate in the conference system mode. Figure 5 The implementation method overcomes the Figure 4 There are problems with the implementation method, and the disadvantage is that the software design is relatively complicated.

[0031] The present invention adopts separate control of two-way sound switches to perfectly solve the synchronization problem. Whether the network part supplies power first to open the switch circuit or the conference system opens the switch circuit first, uniform and unified control can completely solve the state synchronization problem. The conference system unit of the present invention can also be applied to other conference occasions. For example, the network sound part can perfectly solve the problem of sound interconnection in the conference system, and the conference system can perfectly solve the problem of local sound amplification and so on.

Claims

1. A digital network dual backup conference system unit, comprising a microphone pickup, an operational amplifier circuit connected to the microphone pickup, the operational amplifier circuit providing an analog audio signal to a conference host via a first switch circuit and a conference unit interface; characterized in that: The operational amplifier circuit is also connected to a network audio transmission module via a second switch circuit, and the network audio transmission module converts the analog audio signal provided by the operational amplifier circuit into a digital audio signal, and then converts it into a network signal that can be transmitted through a POE network switch; It also includes an MCU capable of independently controlling the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit, and the MCU is connected to a key circuit; The conference unit interface is connected to a first power conversion circuit, which is connected to a power circuit. The first power conversion circuit steps down the host power provided by the conference host and provides it to the power circuit in one direction. The power circuit supplies power to the MCU and the network audio transmission module. The network interface of the network audio transmission module is connected to a second power conversion circuit, and the second power conversion circuit steps down the network POE power provided by the POE network switch and then provides it to the power circuit; A conference host connection status detection circuit is provided between the MCU and the power output end of the first power conversion circuit; the conference host connection status detection circuit provides the MCU with a control signal for automatically switching the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit; the DC power supply provided by the conference host is a 24V DC power supply, and the first power conversion circuit is a DC-DC switching power supply that converts 24V to 5V; the second power conversion circuit is a DC-DC switching power supply that converts 44~57V to 5V; the first power conversion circuit and the second power conversion circuit respectively supply power to the power circuit in one direction through diode isolation; When the second switch circuit is turned on, the network audio transmission module performs audio signal backup output through the TCP / IP protocol; the network audio transmission module includes an analog-to-digital chip, a Dante chip and a network interface; the analog-to-digital chip converts the analog audio signal provided by the operational amplifier circuit into a digital audio IIS signal and outputs it to the Dante chip; the Dante chip converts the digital audio IIS signal into a network signal and transmits it to the POE network switch through the network interface; wherein the Dante chip sampling clock is derived from the system clock of the entire Dante network; The high and low level states of the MCU's IO1 port are used to determine whether it is connected to the host, thereby selecting whether the working mode is conference system mode or free mode; when the IO1 port state is high, it is determined that the conference host and the conference system unit are in a connected state, and the conference mode is started, otherwise it is free mode; if it is free mode, the speaking state of each conference system unit of the conference system is not controlled by the conference host, but only by the key circuit; in the speech control of the conference system unit, the conference host control mode is given priority, and when the conference host fails, the control mode of the conference system unit automatically switches to free mode.

2. A digital network dual backup conference system unit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The MCU is connected to an LED light corresponding to the first switch circuit state, the second switch circuit state and the conference host connection state.

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