Radio Broadcasting System

Abstract

To provide a wireless broadcasting system capable of detecting abnormalities other than a phenomenon in which sound from a speaker cannot be heard at all. [Solution] The wireless broadcasting system 100 of the present invention comprises a transmitting unit 12 that transmits wireless broadcast information, a receiving unit 21 that receives the wireless broadcast information, an output unit 22 that outputs sound waves based on the wireless broadcast information, a recording unit 23 that records the sound waves output from the output unit, and a judgment unit 242 that compares the recording data recorded by the recording unit 23 with original data contained in the broadcast that should have been broadcast to judge whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to wireless broadcast systems. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, there has been a continuing increase in the number of large-scale disasters, and interest in disaster prevention radio systems has been growing as a means of accurately informing nearby residents of the disaster situation, evacuation information, and other emergency information when a disaster occurs.

[0003] In a disaster prevention radio system, emergency information transmitted from a master station is received by outdoor loudspeaker stations located in each area, and the emergency information about the disaster is then transmitted to residents via audio emitted from the loudspeakers of the outdoor loudspeaker stations.

[0004] However, even if the outdoor loudspeaker station receives emergency information as an electrical signal, if the loudspeaker installed in the outdoor loudspeaker station malfunctions or erroneously broadcasts content that is not intended, the information will not be transmitted to residents as audio, and the residents may be placed in a critical situation. In this case, the sender of the emergency information from the master station may mistakenly believe that the emergency information has been transmitted to the residents without a doubt because it is transmitted as an electrical signal, resulting in a significant discrepancy from the actual situation.

[0005] In particular, if an inspection of the disaster prevention radio system was conducted relatively shortly before a disaster occurred, but a malfunction occurred at the time the disaster occurred, this assumption could lead to the mistaken perception that "emergency information should have been transmitted," and measures to transmit the emergency information to residents by other means would not be taken, which could result in major damage.

[0006] Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a disaster prevention radio system in which a speaker vibration detector that detects the presence or absence of vibration is attached to a speaker, and if vibration of the speaker cannot be detected, a switch is turned off and a message is sent to the master station indicating that the speaker is not vibrating. With such a disaster prevention radio system, the master station, which is the source of the information, can determine whether emergency information in the event of a disaster is being transmitted as audio information from the outdoor loudspeaker slave station. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-195968 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The disaster prevention radio system in Patent Document 1 determines whether or not there is a malfunction by detecting whether or not the speaker is vibrating, so this is effective when the sound from the speaker can no longer be heard. However, if a malfunction occurs, for example, causing loud noise that makes it impossible to hear the broadcast content, the speaker will be vibrating and so the abnormality cannot be detected.

[0009] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has an object to provide a wireless broadcasting system that can detect abnormalities other than the phenomenon in which sound from a speaker becomes completely inaudible. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The present inventors have conducted intensive research to solve the above-mentioned problems. As a result, they have found that a wireless broadcasting system including a transmitting unit for transmitting wireless broadcast information, a receiving unit for receiving the wireless broadcast information, an output unit for outputting sound waves based on the wireless broadcast information, a recording unit for recording the sound waves output from the output unit, and a determining unit for comparing the sound data recorded by the recording unit with the original data included in the broadcast that should have been broadcast to determine whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal can detect abnormalities other than the phenomenon in which the sound from the speaker cannot be heard at all, and have completed the present invention. Specifically, the present invention provides the following.

[0011] (1) a transmitting unit for transmitting radio broadcast information; a receiving unit for receiving the wireless broadcast information; an output unit that outputs a sound wave based on the wireless broadcast information; a recording unit that records the sound waves output from the output unit; a determination unit that compares the recording data recorded by the recording unit with original data included in the broadcast that should be broadcast and determines whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal; Radio broadcasting system.

[0012] (2) A wireless broadcasting system as described in (1), wherein the judgment unit judges whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal based on the degree of frequency match between the recorded data and the original data at each time of a sampling period.

[0013] (3) A wireless broadcasting system as described in (1), wherein the judgment unit judges whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal based on whether the percentage of time during which the frequencies of the recorded data and the original data match during a sampling period is above or below a threshold value.

[0014] (4) A wireless broadcasting system according to (1) or (2), in which communication between the transmitting unit and the receiving unit is performed via an Internet line.

[0015] (5) A wireless broadcasting system according to (1) or (2), wherein the sound waves have a frequency of 20 Hz or more and 20 kHz or less.

[0016] (6) A wireless broadcasting system as described in (1) or (2), wherein the sound waves have a frequency less than 20 Hz or greater than 20 kHz.

[0017] According to the present invention, it is possible to detect abnormalities other than the phenomenon where sound from a speaker cannot be heard at all. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic perspective view of a wireless broadcasting system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a schematic diagram showing the functional configuration of an information processing device included in the wireless broadcasting system according to the present embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 3] 11 is a diagram for explaining a method for checking the degree of match between recorded data and original data. FIG. [Figure 4] 11 is a diagram for explaining a method for checking the degree of match between recorded data and original data. FIG. [Diagram 5] 11 is a diagram for explaining a method for checking the degree of match between recorded data and original data. FIG. [Figure 6] 11 is a diagram for explaining a method for checking the degree of match between recorded data and original data. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] A specific embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as the present embodiment) will be described in detail below. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment, and can be modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0020] <Wireless broadcasting system> The wireless broadcasting system of this embodiment comprises a transmitting unit that transmits wireless broadcast information, a receiving unit that receives the wireless broadcast information, an output unit that outputs sound waves based on the wireless broadcast information, a recording unit that records the sound waves output from the output unit, and a judgment unit that compares the recording data recorded by the recording unit with basic data contained in the broadcast that should have been broadcast to judge whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal.

[0021] In the present invention, "wireless broadcast" includes broadcast via radio waves as well as broadcast via the Internet.

[0022] The wireless broadcasting system according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the wireless broadcasting system according to the present embodiment. Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing the functional configuration of an information processing device included in the wireless broadcasting system according to the present embodiment.

[0023] The master station 1 is provided with a master station operation console 11, which is used to operate the master station 1, such as recording and synthesizing audio, and selecting the broadcast time and content. In addition, an antenna is provided on the roof of the master station 1 as a transceiver unit 12 (used as a transmitter here), and wireless broadcast information is transmitted as an electrical signal via the transceiver unit 12.

[0024] The electrical signal thus transmitted from the transmitting unit 12 of the parent station 1 is received by an antenna serving as a transmitting / receiving unit 21 (used as a receiving unit here) in the child station 2 installed at a location away from the parent station. Note that, although an example has been shown above in which information is exchanged between the transmitting / receiving unit 12 and the transmitting / receiving unit 21 in the wireless broadcasting system 100 by radio waves, the means of communication is not particularly limited, and various communication means such as an Internet line can be used.

[0025] The electrical signal received by the transmitting / receiving unit 21 as described above is converted into sound waves (audio) by a speaker serving as the output unit 22 and output from there. The sound waves output from the output unit 22 are then recorded by the recording unit 23. The recording unit 23 is composed of a microphone (sound collector) and a recorder (recording device). Recorded data is obtained by the recording unit 23. The obtained recorded data is stored in the recording unit 241 of the information processing unit 24. The information processing unit 24 is composed of, for example, various computers, etc.

[0026] Thereafter, the recording data is compared with the original data contained in the broadcast that should have been broadcast by the judgment section 242 of the information processing section 24 to judge whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal.

[0027] A method for determining whether a broadcast is normal or abnormal, which is performed by the determination unit 242, will be specifically described below.

[0028] In one embodiment, the determination unit 242 determines whether a broadcast is normal or abnormal based on the degree of frequency agreement between the recorded data and the original data at each time during the sampling period.

[0029] Specifically, the broadcast is judged to be normal or abnormal depending on whether the proportion of time during which the frequencies of the recorded data and the original data match during a sampling period is above or below a threshold value.

[0030] Specifically, for example, the sampling period is set to 1 second, and that sampling period is divided into 100 parts, each 0.01 second. Every 0.01 second, a comparison is made to see whether the sound of the original data is being heard (matched) in the recorded data, and the percentage of matches is calculated. If that percentage is equal to or greater than a threshold value (or exceeds the threshold value), it can be determined that the sampled portion contains a sound similar to the original data. On the other hand, if it is less than the threshold value (or less than the threshold value), it can be determined that the portion does not contain a sound similar to the original data.

[0031] 3 to 6 are diagrams for explaining a method for checking whether the frequencies of the recorded data and the base data match. In FIGS. 3 to 6, the horizontal axis indicates the elapsed time from a reference time (for example, a start time described later), and the vertical axis indicates the frequency of the sound wave generated at that time. Each graph also shows three graphs. Of these, the graph shown in the upper left is an example of base data, which is usually written as "ping pong pan pong" and is an "ascending chime sound" with four notes that go up in pitch. This base data is common to all of FIGS. 3 to 6. The graph shown in the lower left is an example of recorded data, which is different in FIGS. 3 to 6.

[0032] In Figure 3, the graph of the base data shown in the upper right shows four sound waves between about 0.8 seconds and about 4.5 seconds, with four sounds whose frequency increases one tone at a time from about 250Hz to 500Hz and four sounds whose frequency increases one tone at a time from about 750Hz to about 1500Hz, and based on these sound waves, the frequency match between the recorded data and the base data is confirmed. In Figure 3, the graph of the recorded data shown in the lower left also shows four sound waves whose frequency increases one tone at a time from about 250Hz to 500Hz and four sounds whose frequency increases one tone at a time from about 750Hz to about 1500Hz, and it can be said that the rate of match with the base data is high.

[0033] On the other hand, in Figure 4, the graph of the recorded data shown in the lower left is recorded data of four sound waves (called "downward chime sounds") whose frequencies decrease by one tone each from approximately 500 Hz to 250 Hz and four sound waves whose frequencies decrease by one tone each from approximately 1500 Hz to approximately 750 Hz between approximately 0.8 seconds and approximately 4.5 seconds, and it can be said that this does not match the original data at all.

[0034] In addition, in Figure 5, the graph of recorded data shown in the lower left is an announcement made by a live voice, and it can be said that the percentage of agreement with the original data is low.

[0035] To align the start times of the sampling periods in the recorded data and the original data, for example, the following method may be used. First, record for a period longer than the sampling period. Next, move the start time of the recorded data forward or backward from the start time of the original data, and calculate the percentage of agreement between the recorded data and the original data for each, as described above. After that, use the start time of the recorded data that shows the highest percentage.

[0036] For example, the graph of the recorded data shown in the lower left of Fig. 6 is about 1.2 seconds earlier than the recorded data shown in the lower left of Fig. 3, and the recorded voice itself is the same, so if the rate of agreement between the recorded data and the original data is calculated in this state, the rate will be low (in this case, the degree of agreement is 0). Therefore, the waveform in the graph of the recorded data shown in the lower left of Fig. 6 is delayed by about 1.2 seconds (the start time is delayed by about 1.2 seconds) to adjust the rate of agreement between the recorded data and the original data to a high level, as shown in Fig. 3.

[0037] Since it is sufficient to compare only a portion of the recorded data and the original data that was broadcast, the sampling period may be, for example, 0.1 seconds or more. The sampling period may be 0.2 seconds or more, 0.5 seconds or more, or 1 second or more. Meanwhile, the sampling period may be 1 hour or less, 30 minutes or less, 20 minutes or less, 10 minutes or less, 5 minutes or less, 2 minutes or less, or 1 minute or less. The sampling period may be more than 1 hour.

[0038] The sampling frequency is preferably set by equally dividing the sampling period, for example, 50 times or more, 100 times or more, 150 times or more, or 200 times or more. On the other hand, the sampling frequency may be 100,000 times or less, 50,000 times or less, 10,000 times or less, or 5,000 times or less. The sampling frequency may be more than 100,000 times.

[0039] In comparing the recorded data and the base data, a human voice may be used, but sound waves such as music with a certain pitch are preferable so that they can be distinguished from background sounds.

[0040] In one embodiment, the frequency of the sound wave is not particularly limited, but may be 20 Hz to 20 kHz inclusive. Frequencies in this range are audible sounds (frequencies that humans can generally hear).

[0041] When using sound waves in this range to determine whether a broadcast is normal or abnormal, since the sound is audible, for example, an actual broadcast with content can be made, the content of the broadcast can be recorded, and the recorded data can be used.

[0042] Specifically, in the case of a local disaster prevention radio broadcasting system, many local governments play music during normal times, such as the announcement sound "ping pong pan pong" that is played before the content of the radio broadcast, the time signals that inform local residents that it is noon or evening, and music that encourages children to return home in the evening, known as "sunset chimes" or "sunset broadcasts." Such music may be used for comparison.

[0043] In addition, test broadcasts may be conducted to compare the recorded data and the base data, but such broadcasts often attract complaints from nearby residents. Therefore, sounds such as "beep", "pee", and "gar" that imitate speaker noise may be used for comparison.

[0044] In addition, in order to prevent complaints from neighbors, the sound waves do not have to be audible. In one embodiment, the frequency of the sound waves may be less than 20 Hz or greater than 20 kHz. Frequencies in this range are inaudible (frequencies that humans cannot generally hear).

[0045] A typical example of a speaker failure is a failure in which the volume of the speaker drops due to deterioration or the like. In the case of a failure in which the volume drops significantly, the frequency band cannot be detected from the recorded voice, and the rate of agreement with the original data drops. Therefore, the wireless broadcasting system 100 of this embodiment can also be used to detect a failure such as a drop in the volume of the speaker.

[0046] Also, the sound volume of the recorded data and the original data may be compared. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, after matching the frequency and time, if the upper limit or average value of the sound volume of the recorded data in the portion where the recorded data and the original data match is equal to or higher than a threshold (or exceeds the threshold), it is determined that the speaker is not broken, and if it is lower than the threshold (or is lower than the threshold), it is determined that the speaker is broken. Also, if the proportion of the sound volume of the recorded data that is equal to or higher than the threshold (or exceeds the threshold) in the portion where the recorded data and the original data match is equal to or higher than a threshold (or exceeds the threshold), it is determined that the speaker is not broken, and if the proportion of the sound volume of the recorded data that is equal to or higher than the threshold (or exceeds the threshold) is lower than the threshold (or is lower than the threshold), it is determined that the speaker is broken.

[0047] In the above specific example, the judgment unit 242 is provided in the slave station 2, i.e., the slave station 2 judges whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal. However, the physical location of the information processing device including the judgment unit is not particularly limited, and may be on the master station 1 side, or may be located in a server or the like that is neither the master station 1 nor the slave station 2.

[0048] Once it has been determined whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal as described above, the determination result is transmitted from the transmitting / receiving unit 21 (used here as a transmitting unit) to the parent station 1, where it is received by the transmitting / receiving unit 12 (used here as a receiving unit). The determination result received in this manner is displayed on the parent station operation console 11, and although the transmitting unit and the receiving unit have been shown above as one transmitting / receiving unit 12, 21, each may be separate. When the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are separated in this manner, the communication between the transmitting unit of the parent station 1 and the receiving unit of the child station 2, and the communication between the receiving unit of the parent station 1 and the transmitting unit of the child station 2 may be performed by a different communication method.

[0049] The above has mainly described an example in which the wireless broadcasting system 100 of this embodiment is used for disaster prevention radio, but the uses of the wireless broadcasting system of this embodiment are not limited to disaster prevention radio, and it can be used, for example, for broadcasts on train stations, sirens warning of tsunamis, announcements at tourist spots, security systems on premises, and guidance systems in parking lots.

[0050] The wireless broadcasting system 100 of this embodiment can detect failures that cause the speaker sound to be completely inaudible, as well as failures that cause the speaker volume to be lower than a specified value, failures that cause excessive noise that makes the broadcast content inaudible, and human error such as broadcasting audio different from the audio that should have been broadcast.

[0051] The wireless broadcasting system of this embodiment is not limited to the specific embodiment described above, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications as long as the effects of the wireless broadcasting system of this embodiment are not impaired. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 100 Radio Broadcasting System 1 Master station 11 Master station console 12 Transmitter / receiver 2 Slave Station 21 Transmitter / receiver 22 Output section 23 Recording Section 24 Information Processing Section 241 Recording Department 242 Judgment section

Claims

1. A transmitting unit for transmitting radio broadcast information; a receiving unit for receiving the wireless broadcast information; an output unit that outputs a sound wave based on the wireless broadcast information; a recording unit that records the sound waves output from the output unit; a determination unit that compares the sound recording data recorded by the sound recording unit with original data included in the broadcast that should have been broadcast, and determines whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal based on the degree of frequency agreement between the sound recording data and the original data at each time of a sampling period. Radio broadcasting system.

2. A transmitting unit for transmitting wireless broadcast information; a receiving unit for receiving the wireless broadcast information; an output unit that outputs a sound wave based on the wireless broadcast information; a recording unit that records the sound waves output from the output unit; a determination unit that compares the sound recording data recorded by the sound recording unit with original data included in the broadcast that should be broadcast, and determines whether the broadcast is normal or abnormal based on the percentage of the time during which the frequencies of the sound recording data and the original data match with each other during a sampling period above or below a threshold value. Radio broadcasting system.

3. The communication between the transmitting unit and the receiving unit is performed via an Internet line.

3. The radio broadcasting system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The sound waves have a frequency of 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

3. The radio broadcasting system according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The sound waves have a frequency below 20 Hz or above 20 kHz.

3. The radio broadcasting system according to claim 1 or 2.

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