Wireless communication system, receiving device

Abstract

To appropriately select and store audio data on the receiving device side.SOLUTION: The operation of storing a part of an audio signal is controlled by a control unit 34 on the basis of a control signal obtained by a demodulation unit 32. The audio signal is stored in two types of memory: a volatile memory 35 and a non-volatile memory 36. This operation is performed every time the demodulation unit 32 reads out one frame of data from the transmitted signal. When there is an audio signal, the control unit 34 reads out a control signal (flag) along with the audio signal, and causes the audio signal to be output from the audio output unit 33. When the flag that has been read out is then "1", the audio signal is stored in the non-volatile memory 36, and the operation for this frame is terminated. When the flag that has been read out is not "1", the audio signal is not stored, and the operation for this frame is terminated.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wireless communication system used for simultaneous broadcasting for disaster prevention and the like, and to a receiving device used at the end of the system. [Background technology]

[0002] One type of wireless communication system used for disaster prevention is a broadcast system. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of such a wireless communication system 9. In this wireless communication system 9, disaster prevention information, wide-area information on disasters, etc. are transmitted as voice data from a master station 70 installed in a local (prefecture, city, town, or village) office to end-user receivers (receiving devices) 90. This voice data is generated by an operation console 60 and transmitted by the master station 70. A large number of end-user receivers 90 are installed, for example, in ordinary homes, and output the voice data through speakers or the like. In the wireless communication from the master station 70 to the end-user receivers 90, a relay station 80 is also used, so that common voice data can be transmitted to all end-user receivers 90 in the same way at the same time.

[0003] Here, since the disaster prevention information, wide-area information, etc., which is the audio data, is extremely important information for the general public who are the users of the individual receivers 90, the individual receivers 90 are configured to be able to record (store) this audio data. This allows the users of the individual receivers 90 to check the contents again as necessary, further ensuring the safety of the general public.

[0004] However, since the parent station 70 may carry out a test broadcast, for example, not all of the audio data received by the home receiver 90 is necessarily important. Also, the audio data in one broadcast from the parent station 70 may contain substantially meaningless parts, such as alarm sounds and chimes before and after the actual broadcast. If the stored audio data contains many unnecessary parts and has a large data volume, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the non-volatile memory that stores the data, and the task of selecting and reading out the really important audio data later becomes cumbersome. For this reason, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a home receiver that allows the user to easily select the audio data to be stored from the received audio data. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-71821 A DISCLOSURE OF THEINVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the technology described in Patent Document 1, the selection of voice data (voice signals) to be stored is performed by the user of the individual receiver, and in this case, due to a mistake in the user's selection, there are cases where truly important information is not stored, or unnecessary voice data is stored. For this reason, there has been a demand for a wireless communication system in which the individual receiver can appropriately select and store voice data.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to solve the above problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention is a wireless communication system in which voice data created by an operator console is transmitted from a parent station to a terminal receiving device and the receiving device outputs the voice data, wherein the operator console divides the voice data into time segments and transmits a control signal to the parent station together with the voice data, specifying whether or not the voice signals for each segment are to be stored on the receiving device side, and the receiving device receives and recognizes the voice data and the control signal, and stores the voice signals for each segment in accordance with the control signal. The audio signal and the control signal for each section may be transmitted for each frame of a transmission signal used for wireless communication from the master station to the receiving device. The present invention is a receiving device that outputs and stores transmitted audio data, and when the audio data is divided by time, it receives an audio signal for each division and a control signal specifying whether or not to store the audio signal for each division, and stores the audio signal for each division in accordance with the control signal. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, the receiving device can appropriately select and store audio data. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an operator console and a master station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an individual receiver (receiving device) in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 5 is an example of the operation of a home receiver (receiving device) in the wireless communication system according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a wireless communication system for disaster prevention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Next, a wireless communication system as an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described. The basic configuration of the wireless communication system 1 used here is the same as that of the conventional wireless communication system 9 shown in FIG. 4, and the operation console 60, the master station 70, and the individual household receiver 90 in the wireless communication system 9 are replaced with an operation console 10, a master station 20, and an individual household receiver 30, which will be described later. This wireless communication system 1 is also used for disaster prevention broadcasts, etc., like the wireless communication system 9. Therefore, this wireless communication system 1 can be realized by simply making these replacements in the conventional wireless communication system 9. As a result, the necessity of storing the voice data stored on the individual household receiver 30 side is recognized for each part, and appropriate selection is made. The wireless communication system 1 operates in accordance with "Municipality Digital Broadcasting System TYPE2" and ARIB STD-T115.

[0012] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the operation console 10 and the master station 20 connected thereto. The operation console 10 can be configured with a normal computer, but only the components directly related to the present invention are described here, and the components of a general computer are omitted. As for the master station 20, only the components directly related to the present invention are described.

[0013] The operation console 10 is provided with an audio signal creation section 11 that creates audio data (audio signal) to be output on the home receiver 30 side. The audio signal created here can be, for example, an audio signal with a predetermined audio pattern (such as an alarm sound or a chime sound) added before and after the audio input by a microphone. Alternatively, audio created by a computer can be used. This audio data is output to the master station 20 side.

[0014] The console 10 is also provided with a control signal generator 12 that generates a control signal separate from the audio signal. This control signal is a flag signal that specifies for each frame whether or not the audio signal is to be stored in the individual receiver 30, and unlike the audio signal, such a simple determination flag signal is expressed with a small number of bits. The control signal generator 12 can set this flag as appropriate, for example, according to the elapsed time in the audio output. For this purpose, the user can perform this setting using, for example, the operation keys on the keyboard.

[0015] The configuration of the master station 20 is not significantly different from that of the conventional master station 70, and basically includes a modulation unit 21 that creates a digitally modulated signal conforming to ARIB STD-T115 from the input audio signal, and a transmission unit 22 that amplifies this signal and outputs it wirelessly.

[0016] Here, the voice signal is packetized according to time division, and is stored in a communication channel for each frame of the signal and transmitted. At this time, the control signal (flag) can also be stored in a portion of the signal to be transmitted that is separate from the voice signal (for example, the header portion of this channel) and transmitted at the same time. In this case, for example, if the voice signal stored in this frame is not to be stored, this control signal (flag) can be set to "0", and if it is to be stored, this control signal (flag) can be set to "1", so that the voice signal is not stored by default, that is, the control signal can be set when it is to be stored. In this case, this control signal can be a 1-bit signal, and the voice signal for each frame can be made to correspond to the flag for this voice signal. For this reason, in FIG. 1, the voice signal and the control signal are shown separately for convenience, but in reality, the master station 20 can superimpose the voice data (voice signal) to be output by the home receiver 30 and the flag (control signal) and transmit them to the relay station 80 and the home receiver 30 for each frame.

[0017] 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a home receiver (receiving device) 30 that receives such a signal. The wirelessly transmitted signal is received by a receiving section 31 that includes an antenna, and then demodulated by a demodulating section 32 to obtain an audio signal and the above-mentioned flag for each frame. Of these, the audio signal is output by an audio output section 33 that includes a speaker, etc., and a portion of the audio signal is also stored within the home receiver 30. The audio output section 33 can output the audio signal in almost real time when it is received. This makes it possible to use the home receiver 30 to broadcast disaster prevention broadcasts in emergencies, for example.

[0018] The operation of storing a part of the audio signal is controlled by the control unit 34 based on the control signal obtained by the demodulation unit 32. The audio signal is stored in two types of memory: a volatile memory 35 composed of DRAM, SRAM, etc., and a non-volatile memory 36 composed of a flash memory, hard disk, etc. This operation will be described later. In addition to storing such non-audio data, the volatile memory 35 and non-volatile memory 36 are used as appropriate for temporary and permanent storage of data required for the operation of this home receiver 30.

[0019] Also provided is an operation unit 37 equipped with switches, a touch panel display, etc. for the user to operate the entire household receiver 30. The user can output (play) the stored audio signal again from the audio output unit 33 by operating the operation unit 37. At this time, if multiple pieces of audio data are distributed from the parent station 20 (operation console 10), the audio signal is stored for each distribution, and it is possible to play it for each distribution.

[0020] Here, there are two types of storage destinations for audio signals: a volatile memory 35 and a non-volatile memory 36. There are two types of operations for storing audio signals in the non-volatile memory 36: one in which all audio data (audio signals) obtained in one broadcast (distribution) from the parent station 20 side is output from the audio output unit 33 at the time of reception, and a portion of the data is selected and stored in the non-volatile memory 36 at approximately the same time; and one in which all audio signals obtained in one broadcast (distribution) from the parent station 20 side are stored in the volatile memory 35 at the time of reception (broadcast), and then a portion of the audio signals is selected and stored again in the non-volatile memory 36 later.

[0021] Here, a case will be described where an audio signal is stored in non-volatile memory 36 at approximately the same time as it is output by audio output unit 33 upon reception. Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation performed by control unit 34 in this case. This operation is performed every time demodulation unit 32 reads one frame of data from the transmitted signal (S1). Control unit 34 determines whether or not there is an audio signal in a specific channel in this data (S2), and if there is not (S2: No), the operation for this frame ends.

[0022] If an audio signal is present (S2: Yes), the control unit 34 reads out a control signal (flag) together with the audio signal (S3), and causes the audio signal to be output from the audio output unit 33 (S4). At this time, the output timing is appropriately controlled so that the audio output is continuous without causing a time lag between the audio output in the immediately preceding frame.

[0023] Thereafter, if the read flag is "1" (S5: Yes), the audio signal is stored in the non-volatile memory 36 (S6), and the operation for this frame ends. If the read flag is not "1" (S5: No), the audio signal is not stored, and the operation for this frame ends.

[0024] By the above operation, the received voice data can be output on the home receiver 30 side, and only the necessary parts can be stored in the non-volatile memory 36. This allows the non-volatile memory 36 to be used efficiently, and also makes it easy for the user to select and play back the content he or she desires after storage (recording).

[0025] In the above example, only the non-volatile memory 36 was used, and not the volatile memory 35. Therefore, when performing the above operations, the non-volatile memory 36 does not need to have a capacity large enough to store all of the voice data, and a low-capacity memory required for other operations of the home receiver 30 can be used.

[0026] On the other hand, the control unit 34 can output all of the acquired voice data from the voice output unit 33 and also temporarily store the data in the volatile memory 35. In this case, if the flag for each frame is also stored in the volatile memory 35 in association with this voice data, the control unit 34 can then apply the operation of Fig. 3 to the voice signal and flag for each frame, and in particular apply the determination according to the flag (S5) and the storage in the non-volatile memory 36 (S6) to the voice signal for each frame, and can similarly store the voice data in the non-volatile memory 36.

[0027] As described above, the control unit 34 outputs the voice data from the voice output unit 33 almost at the same time as receiving it, but if the control unit 34 simultaneously selects and stores the voice signals in the non-volatile memory 36 as described above, the load on the control unit 34 becomes large. In contrast, if all of the voice data and flags are temporarily stored in the volatile memory 35 in this way and then stored in the non-volatile memory 36 after the output from the voice output unit 33 has ended, the load on the control unit 34 becomes small. The voice data and flags stored in the volatile memory 35 remain stored in the volatile memory 35 unless they are erased or the power to the home receiver 30 is turned off, so this operation can be performed.

[0028] In the above example, the control signal for controlling whether or not to store the audio signal is a flag of "1" / "0" which means that the default is not to store, but this setting can be changed as appropriate. For example, the default ("0") is to store, and the same operation can be performed by setting it to "1" when not to store.

[0029] Alternatively, the voice data can be divided into sections by time, regardless of the frames, and the control signal can be, for example, a storage start time and a storage end time based on the start time of the voice output as information specifying which sections are to be stored (or not stored). In this case, this control signal can be set separately from the transmission of the voice signal for each frame from the operation console 10 side and transmitted to the individual receiver 30 side. Instead of the storage start time and storage end time, the start time of the operation not to store and the end time of the operation not to store can be transmitted in a similar manner. In addition, the control signal can be set appropriately so that the voice data can be divided by time and whether or not storage is required for each section can be identified.

[0030] In the above operation, the portion of the voice data that needs to be stored on the home receiver 30 side is identified on the operation console 10 side, which is the sender of the voice data. Therefore, there is no need for the user on the home receiver 30 side to select which voice signals to store. The user of the operation console 10 (the person responsible for transmission) can select and set the control signal (flag) after understanding the content of the voice data, so that the home receiver 30 can prevent necessary portions of the voice data from not being stored or unnecessary portions from being stored, and can store only the appropriate portions.

[0031] In the above example, there is no need for the individual receiver 30 to select the audio signals, but it is preferable that the individual receiver 30 be able to select whether to store only the selected audio signals in the non-volatile memory 36 (performing the operation of FIG. 3) or to store all of the audio signals received as one batch of audio data in the non-volatile memory 36 without selecting any of them. This allows the individual receiver 30 to carry out disaster prevention broadcasts and the like more effectively while keeping the load on the individual receiver 30 to an appropriate range.

[0032] 2, the form of the audio output unit 33 is arbitrary, and the audio output unit does not necessarily have to be built into the individual receiver (receiving device), or have a one-to-one correspondence with the individual receiver (receiving device). As described above, the wireless communication system 1 is used for disaster prevention broadcasts and the like, but the configuration of such a receiving device is appropriately set according to the purpose of the wireless communication system in which it is used. This allows the wireless communication system and receiving device to be used in a preferred form for purposes other than disaster prevention broadcasts.

[0033] The present invention has been described above based on the embodiment. This embodiment is merely an example, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of the respective components, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1, 9 Wireless communication systems 10, 60 operation console 11 Audio signal creation section 12 Control signal generator 20, 70 master station 21 Modulation section 22 Transmitter 30, 90 Household receivers (receiving devices) 31 Receiving section 32 Demodulation section 33 Audio output section 34 Control section 35 Volatile Memory 36 Non-volatile memory 37 Control section 80 Relay Station

Claims

1. A wireless communication system in which voice data created by an operator console is transmitted from a master station to a terminal receiving device, and the receiving device outputs the voice data, the console transmits to the master station, together with the audio data, a control signal that specifies whether or not the audio signal for each time division of the audio data is to be stored on the receiving device side; The wireless communication system is characterized in that the receiving device receives and recognizes the voice data and the control signal, and stores the voice signal for each of the sections in accordance with the control signal.

2. 2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein the voice signal and the control signal for each of the sections are transmitted for each frame of a transmission signal used for wireless communication from the master station to the receiving device.

3. A receiving device that outputs and stores transmitted voice data, receiving, for each of the time segments of the voice data, a voice signal for each of the time segments and a control signal specifying whether or not to store the voice signal; A receiving device characterized in that the audio signal for each of the sections is stored in accordance with the control signal.

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