JP7096490B2 - Relay device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a relay device for relaying voice communication, and more particularly to an extension of a voice output destination.

A relay device that connects a radio, a premises broadcasting facility, an IP telephone system, or the like to transmit and receive audio signals to each other has been put into practical use (see Non-Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 1). According to this relay device, in addition to enabling communication between different types of radios, it is also possible to link the on-site broadcasting equipment with the radios and to communicate between the radios and the telephones. In addition, by using the mixing function, it is possible to communicate with three or more parties.

International Publication WO2016 / 00266 Gazette

"RoIP Gateway VE-PG3", [online], Icom Co., Ltd., [Search on September 11, 2018], Internet <URL: https://www.icom.co.jp/products/network/products/others / ve-pg3 />

Since the above relay device is a device whose main purpose is to relay a call from an IP telephone system to a radio device or to call an IP phone from a radio device.
I didn't have a connector for the microphone. Therefore, even when connecting a microphone, it is necessary to connect using a connector / cable for connecting a communication device, which is a complicated work. Also, when communicating with a handheld microphone with a speaker, the reply from the other party is output from the speaker of the handheld microphone, but the speaker attached to the handheld microphone is small and the output is small, even if you want many people to listen. , It was impossible to produce a volume that could be heard by anyone other than the handheld microphone user.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a relay device capable of enhancing the communication voice of the handheld microphone by inputting the voice signal output to the handheld microphone to the interface for on-site broadcasting.

The relay device of the present invention has an analog input terminal and an output terminal, has an audio equipment interface to which a broadcasting facility (public address system) is connected, and has an analog input terminal and an output terminal, and is a handheld microphone with a speaker. Multiple external device interfaces including a microphone / speaker interface to which is connected, and the audio signal input from the acoustic device interface is encoded into a digital signal, and the audio signal output to the acoustic device interface is decoded into an analog signal. The first codec includes a second codec that encodes the audio signal input from the microphone / speaker interface into a digital signal and decodes the audio signal output to the microphone / speaker interface into an analog signal, and includes from each external device interface. A codec string that encodes the input audio signal into a digital signal and decodes the audio signal output to each external device interface into an analog signal, and a codec string that is input from each external device interface and is encoded into a digital signal by the codec string. It is equipped with a digital mixing unit that mixes the audio signals in a predetermined combination and re-inputs them into the codec string, and further provides an analog mixer between the output terminal of the audio equipment interface and the first codec, and the second. It is characterized in that the output terminal of the codec and the analog mixer are connected via a switch for opening and closing an audio signal.

In the above invention, the microphone / speaker interface may include a connector (RJ-45) having an input terminal and an output terminal integrally.

The relay system of the present invention includes the relay device, broadcasting equipment connected to the audio equipment interface of the relay device, and a handheld microphone with a speaker connected to the microphone / speaker interface. Broadcasting equipment includes a broadcasting amplifier connected to an output terminal of an audio equipment interface, and a broadcasting speaker connected to the broadcasting amplifier.

According to the present invention, since the audio signal output to the handheld microphone is input to the audio equipment interface to which the on-site broadcasting equipment is connected, the communication voice of the handheld microphone can be enhanced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a voice communication system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the relay device. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing various tables provided in the relay device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a voice packet. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of mixing by a digital mixer.

The voice communication system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a voice communication system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the relay device 2.

The voice communication system 1 realizes voice communication between a plurality of communication terminals by relaying the relay device 2. The relay device 2 is installed in, for example, a company or a factory, and is also connected to the on-site broadcasting equipment 50. Therefore, it is also possible to connect the premises broadcasting equipment 50 and the communication terminal and send the audio signal transmitted from the communication terminal by the premises broadcasting. The communication terminals include a SIP telephone 20, an extension telephone 22, a WLAN transceiver 23, an LTE transceiver 24, an analog transceiver 26, a digital transceiver 28, and the like, which will be described later. These communication terminals are devices that transmit and receive voice signals in different forms, and the relay device 2 relays voice communication between these different types of communication terminals. Further, the on-site broadcasting equipment 50 includes a music playback device 51 that reproduces BGM such as ambient music, a high output amplifier 52 to which a large speaker 53 is connected, a handheld microphone with a speaker (hereinafter, simply referred to as a handheld microphone) 54, and the like. be.

In FIG. 1, the relay device 2 relays voice communication between a plurality of communication systems including an IP telephone system 13, a WLAN transceiver system 14, an LTE transceiver system 15, and a wireless communication system 16. Therefore, the relay device 2 has a telephone relay unit 3, a network communication relay unit 4, and a wireless communication relay unit 5.

The IP telephone system 13 is connected to the telephone relay unit 3. The IP telephone system 13 has a SIP telephone 20 connected to the network 10, a VoIP gateway 21, and an extension telephone 22 connected to the VoIP gateway 21. The VoIP gateway 21 has a PBX function and is also connected to a telephone line (outside line).

A network 10 having a wireless access point (not shown) and an LTE communication network 11 having a base station (not shown) are connected to the network communication relay unit 4. A WLAN transceiver system 14 is configured on the network 10, and an LTE transceiver system 15 is configured on the LTE communication network 11. The WLAN transceiver system 14 has a WLAN transceiver 23 that accesses the network 10 via a wireless access point. The LTE transceiver system 15 has an LTE transceiver 24 that accesses the LTE communication network 11 via a base station. The WLAN transceiver 23 and the LTE transceiver 24 may be collectively referred to as the IP transceivers 23 and 24 in the following description. The configuration and function of the network communication relay unit 4 are described in detail in the prior application of the present applicant, "International Publication WO 2015/068633".

As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless communication relay unit 5 has a plurality of external device interfaces 37, and the external device interface 37 includes an analog wireless transceiver (repeater) 25 and a digital wireless transceiver (repeater). 27, a music playback device 51, which is a premises broadcasting facility 50, a high output amplifier 52, and a handheld microphone 54 are connected. The analog repeater 25 communicates with the analog handheld radio transceiver (analog transceiver) 26 of the same type. The digital repeater 27 communicates with a handy radio transceiver (digital transceiver) 28 of the same type. The configuration and function of the wireless communication relay unit 5 are described in detail in "Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-087027" and "International Publication WO2016 / 00266", which are prior applications of the present applicant.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the relay device 2. The relay device 2 has a telephone relay unit 3, a network communication relay unit 4, and a wireless communication relay unit 5, which are mainly realized functionally (software-like). The relay device 2 has a control unit 30. The control unit 30 is composed of a computer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. The network connection unit 31 and the LTE connection unit 32 are connected to the control unit 30. Further, the signal processing unit 33 is connected as a part of the wireless communication relay unit 5. The network connection unit 31 is connected to the network 10. The LTE connection unit 32 is connected to the LTE communication network 11. Although FIG. 1 shows the networks 10 connected to the telephone relay unit 3 and the network communication relay unit 4 separately, they may all be the same network.

By the cooperation of the hardware including the control unit 30 and the software, the telephone relay unit 3, the network communication relay unit 4, and the wireless communication relay unit 5 are functionally realized. The telephone relay unit 3 has an interface 3A for transmitting and receiving voice signals and the like with the network communication relay unit 4. The network communication relay unit 4 has an interface 4A for transmitting and receiving audio signals and the like with the wireless communication relay unit 5. The wireless communication relay unit 5 is connected to the signal processing unit 33, and transmits / receives audio signals to / from devices such as the wireless transceivers 26 and 28 via the signal processing unit 33.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless communication relay unit 5 has an analog interface (TRX) 37-2 to which an analog wireless transceiver (repeater) 25 is connected as an external device interface 37, and a digital wireless transceiver (repeater). A digital interface (DTRX) 37-1 to which 27 is connected, an analog device interface (EXT) 37-3 to which a music playback device 51 and a high output amplifier 52, which are on-site broadcasting equipment 50, are connected, and a handheld microphone 54 are connected. It has a microphone / speaker interface (MIC / SP) 37-4. The analog interface 37-2, the audio equipment interface 37-3, the microphone / speaker interface 37-4, and the volume circuit 40, the analog mixer 41, and the speaker output switch 42, which will be described later, are in the analog circuit area inside the signal processing unit 33. It is an analog circuit provided in 33A.

The analog interface 37-2 and the audio equipment interface 37-3 have a 4-pole quick connector for both input and output, and are connected to the repeater 25 by a cable with a quick plug. The microphone / speaker interface 37-4 has a modular jack (RJ-45) and is connected to the handheld microphone 54 by a cable with a modular plug. In FIG. 2, the digital interface 37-1 and the repeater 27 are drawn as if they are directly connected, but in reality, the digital interface 37-1 and the repeater 27 are connected to the digital interface 37-1 and the repeater 27 via the network connection portion 31 and the network 10. Are interconnected by. The digital interface 37-1 may be provided with a dedicated physical layer including a modular jack, and may be connected to the repeater 27 by peer-to-peer.

The external device interfaces 37-1 to 37-14 are connected to the corresponding codecs (CODEC) 36-1 to 4, respectively. The four codecs 36-1 to 4 are collectively referred to as the codec sequence 36. Each codec 36-1 to 4 encodes an analog audio signal or a digital bitstream audio signal into encoded digital data. The codecs 36-1 to 4 of this embodiment transmit the audio signal to G.I. Encode in 711 format. Further, the codecs 36-1 to 4 decode the encoded audio signal input from the digital mixer 35 into an analog signal or a digital bitstream signal.

A volume circuit 40, an analog mixer 41, and a speaker output switch 42 are provided between the audio equipment interface 37-3 and the microphone / speaker interface 37-4 and the codecs 36-3 and 4. The analog mixer 41 is a circuit for mixing a plurality of audio signals and inputting them to a high output amplifier 52 connected to an output terminal (OUT) of the audio equipment interface 37-3. The three input terminals of the analog mixer 41 include an output terminal (decoding side) of the codec 36-3, an output terminal (decoding side) of the codec 36-4 via the speaker output switch 42, and a volume circuit 40. The input terminals (IN) of the audio equipment interface 37-3 are connected to each other via the input terminal (IN). The audio signal sent from the codec 36-3 to the analog mixer 41 from another communication terminal via the network communication relay unit 4 or the digital mixer 35 to the premises broadcasting equipment 50 is input. An audio signal sent from another communication terminal to the handheld microphone 54 is input from the codec 36-4 to the analog mixer 41 via the network communication relay unit 4 or the digital mixer 35. Further, the music reproduced by the music reproduction device 51 of the premises broadcasting equipment 50 is input as an analog signal from the input terminal of the audio equipment interface 37-3 to the analog mixer 41. The music playback device 51 is, for example, a CD player, a set-top box, or the like, and reproduces a BGM or the like that is broadcast on the premises. As a result, the music played by the music playback device 51 can be input to the high output amplifier 52 as an analog signal as it is without being converted into a digital signal having a narrow frequency band, and can be emitted from the speaker 53 in a wide band. , BGM can be played with high sound quality.

A volume circuit 40 is inserted between the input terminal of the audio equipment interface 37-3 and the analog mixer 41, and the volume (volume) of the audio signal (music) input from the audio equipment interface 37-3 is adjusted. Will be done. For example, when communication voice is input from the codec 36-3, control such as lowering the volume is performed. The control of the volume circuit 40 may be automatically performed by the control unit 30, or may be performed by a user's operation or a command from the outside.

The speaker output switch 42 is inserted into the line connected to the analog mixer 41 from the output terminal (on the decoding side) of the codec 36-4. When the speaker output switch 42 is turned on, the audio signal output from the codec 36-4 toward the microphone / speaker interface 37-4 is also input to the analog mixer 41. When communicating with another communication terminal using the handheld microphone 54, the voice signal of the communication partner is input to the microphone / speaker interface 37-4 from the codec 36-4 and emitted from the speaker built in the handheld microphone 54. To. However, since the built-in speaker of the handheld microphone 54 is small and the output is small, only the user can hear it. Therefore, when it is desired to make the received voice heard by a large number of people at a loud volume, the speaker output switch 42 is turned on, and the voice signal of the communication partner output from the codec 36-4 is input to the high output amplifier 52. To do so. As a result, the voice of the communication partner is emitted from the high output speaker 53.

If the speaker output switch 42 is turned on when the handheld microphone 54 is performing full-duplex communication, the sound emitted from the speaker 53 may wrap around the handheld microphone 54 and become an echo. In order to prevent this, an echo canceller may be inserted between the input terminal (IN) of the microphone / speaker interface 37-4 and the codec 36-4.

The digital mixer 35 mixes the audio signals (audio signals digitally encoded by the codecs 36-1 to 4) input from the external device interfaces 37-1 to 4 and the designated codecs 36-1 to 4 or Output to any of the packet processing units 34. The combination of mixing and the designation of the output destination may be performed by the control unit 30. As a result, the mutual communication of the communication terminals (analog transceiver 26, the digital transceiver 28, the handheld microphone 54) connected to the wireless communication relay unit 5, and the mutual communication between these communication terminals and the IP transceivers 23, 24 and the telephones 20, 22 Will be possible.

The packet processing unit 34 has a G.I. The 711 encoded voice signal is converted into an RTP packet (voice packet). The packetized audio signal is input to the network communication relay unit 4 via the interface 4A. The network communication relay unit 4 further mixes this voice signal with the voice signals of the IP transceivers 23 and 24 and the telephones 20 and 22, and transmits the voice signal to the communication partner.

The network communication relay unit 4 relays communication between WLAN transceivers 23, communication between LTE transceivers 24, and communication between WLAN transceivers 23 and LTE transceivers 24. The network communication unit 4 also communicates with the SIP telephone 20 or the extension telephone 22 (hereinafter referred to as telephones 20 and 22) and the WLAN transceiver 23 or the LTE transceiver 24 in response to the call from the telephone relay unit 3. , The communication between the telephones 20 and 22 and the wireless transceivers 26 and 28 is relayed. Further, the network communication relay unit 4 has a digital mixer (mixing engine), and for all the audio signals of the above-mentioned communication terminal and the premises broadcasting equipment 50, the output destinations can be switched in a patch bay manner, and a plurality of audio signals can be obtained. Can be mixed and output to one or more output destinations.

The telephone relay unit 3 receives a call from the SIP telephone 20 or the extension telephone 22, determines the communication device (destination radio) of the communication partner to which the call is made, and determines the information of the destination radio and the telephone 20. The voice signal received from 22 is input to the network communication relay unit 4.

Hereinafter, communication between communication terminals relayed by the relay device 2 will be described. The relay device 2 has a terminal table 60 and a mixing table 61 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B for relaying communication. Each communication terminal is registered in the terminal table 60 shown in FIG. 3A. A user who intends to start communication calls a communication terminal of a communication partner with a communication terminal possessed by the user. This call operation generates a call message and sends it to the relay device 2. When the call message is received by the relay device 2, the relay device 2 registers the communication session in the mixing table 61 shown in FIG. 3 (B) (establishes the communication session), and calls the communication terminal of the communication partner. As a result, communication between communication terminals is started.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a terminal table 60. The terminal table 60 stores information on communication terminals and groups registered in the voice communication system 1. A plurality of communication terminals belong to a group (including the whole), and when the group is called, the plurality of communication terminals to which the group belongs are called all at once. An identification number (ID), address information for accessing the communication terminal, and a participation session number indicating a participating communication session are stored in association with each communication terminal. For each group, the identification number of the communication terminal belonging to this group is stored.

The communication type is information indicating which form of communication is executed when this ID is called. "Individual" communication is communication between individual communication terminals on a one-to-one basis. "Group" communication is communication in which a plurality of communication terminals (generally three or more) exchange voice signals with each other. The "whole" communication is a communication in which all communicable communication terminals connected to the network 10, the LTE communication network 11 and the external device interface 37 exchange voice signals with each other.

When the communication terminal calls another communication terminal, the communication terminal transmits an RTP packet (voice packet) in which the identification number (destination ID) of the called communication terminal is written to the relay device 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an RTP packet used in this voice communication system. The RTP packet has a header and a data body (payload), and a destination address and a source address are described in the header. The data body contains voice signals and session information for voice communication. The session information is information about a communication session registered in the mixing table 61 of FIG. 3B, and is written to identify which communication session the RTP packet belongs to. The session information includes a session number, a destination ID and a call ID. In the case of the call packet, which is the first voice packet to be transmitted when the communication is started, the communication session for this voice packet has not been established yet (the communication session is not registered in the mixing table 61). The session number is blank.

FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a mixing table 61. In the mixing table 61, the established and executed communication session is registered. The relay device 2 transfers the audio signal received from the communication terminal participating in the communication session to another communication terminal participating in the communication session. When a plurality of audio signals are input at the same time, they are mixed and transmitted to the communication terminal. Even when the relay device 2 mixes the audio signal and transmits it to each communication terminal, the relay device 2 performs echo cancel mixing and transmission for each communication terminal so that the audio signal transmitted by a certain communication terminal does not return to the communication terminal.

The mixing table 61 is provided with columns for a session number, a calling ID, a destination ID, a participating terminal, an excluded terminal, and a holding time timer (TS) for each communication session. The session number is a number that identifies this communication session, and is serially assigned in the order of establishment (registration order) of the communication session. The identification number of the communication terminal that made the call (sent the call packet) is stored in the call ID column. In the destination ID field, the identification number of the communication terminal or group called by the call packet is stored.

The identification number of the communication terminal participating in this communication session is registered in the column of the participating terminal. Also, in the column of excluded terminals, the communication terminal that is called (belongs to) in this communication session, but is not participating in this communication session because it is communicating by participating in another communication session. The identification number is registered. When a voice signal is transmitted from the communication terminal (participating terminal) in which the identification number is registered in the field of the participating terminal, the control unit 30 transfers the voice signal to another participating terminal.

In the case of a group communication session, the identification number of the calling terminal and the identification number of the communication terminal belonging to the group designated as the communication partner are registered in the column of the participating terminal. However, a communication terminal that belongs to that group but participates in another communication session cannot participate in this group communication session, so that communication terminal is excluded from the participating terminals and the identification number is registered in the excluded terminal column. Will be done. Also, if the calling terminal is a communication terminal that does not belong to this group, that is, if the calling terminal calls a group other than the group to which it belongs, the identification number of the calling terminal is also a participating terminal. It is registered in the column of. In the case of a whole communication session, all communication terminals that can communicate are registered as participating terminals.

The retention time for each communication session is set to, for example, 30 seconds. The holding time timer (TS) of the mixing table 61 is a timer that counts down when no audio signal is transmitted from the participating terminals. The holding time timer TS is reset (30 seconds is set) and counted down in the communication session management process. When the timer TS times out without sending an audio signal for 30 seconds from the participating terminal, this communication session is canceled and the information of this communication session is deleted from the mixing table 61.

The relay device 2 transmits a voice packet (voice signal) input from the communication terminal via the network 10, the LTE communication network 11 and the external device interface 37, and further via the network 10, the LTE communication network 11 and the external device interface 37. Transfer to another communication terminal. In the case of group communication, an audio signal is transmitted to a plurality of communication terminals belonging to the group. Further, in the case of group communication, users of a plurality of communication terminals may speak at the same time, and voice packets may be transmitted from the plurality of communication terminals at the same time. In this case, the relay device 2 mixes the voice signals of the plurality of voice packets, edits a new voice packet, and transmits the new voice packet to each communication terminal. For communication terminals that do not transmit audio signals, all audio signals are mixed and transmitted, and for communication terminals that have transmitted audio signals, the audio signals transmitted by the communication terminals are removed. Then, the other audio signals are mixed and transmitted. This prevents the communication terminal that transmitted the audio signal from echoing the audio signal transmitted by the own device. Also, when performing communication in the form of overall communication, mixing is performed in the same form as group communication.

With the above procedure, mutual voice communication is executed by all the communication terminals (including the premises broadcasting equipment 50) connected to the relay device 2.

As described above, in FIG. 2, the audio signal of the music playback device 51 and the audio signal input to the handheld microphone 54 are input to the high output amplifier 52 by the analog mixer 41, but are input to the signal processing unit 33. When this is realized by the digital mixer 35, which is another mixer provided, the audio signal may be transmitted in the connection form as shown in FIG. Although the sound quality is reduced by digital coding, it is possible to mix audio signals even in this form. Further, when the same mixing is performed while communicating with another communication terminal (WLAN transceiver 23 or the like), the transmission in the form of FIG. 5 may be performed by the network communication relay unit 4.

Although the music playback device 51 is connected to the input terminal (IN) of the audio equipment interface 37-3 as the on-site broadcasting equipment 50, a microphone may be connected instead of the music playback device 51.

1 Voice communication system 2 Relay device 3 Telephone relay unit 4 Network communication relay unit 5 Wireless communication relay unit 36 Codec sequence 36-3 (corresponding to the acoustic device interface) Codec 36-4 (corresponding to the microphone / speaker interface) Codec 37 External device interface 37-3 Sound device interface 37-4 Microphone / speaker interface 40 (analog) Volume circuit 41 Analog mixer 42 Speaker output switch 50 On-site broadcasting equipment 51 Music playback device 52 High output amplifier 53 Speaker 54 Hand microphone with speaker (hand) Microphone)

Claims (3)

Multiple externals including an audio equipment interface with analog input and output terminals to which broadcasting equipment is connected, and a microphone / speaker interface with analog input and output terminals to which a handheld microphone with speakers is connected. Equipment interface and
A first codec that encodes an audio signal input from the acoustic device interface into a digital signal and decodes an audio signal output to the acoustic device interface into an analog signal, and is input from the microphone / speaker interface. It includes a second codec that encodes an audio signal into a digital signal and decodes the audio signal output to the microphone / speaker interface into an analog signal, and encodes the audio signal input from each external device interface into a digital signal. At the same time, a codec string that decodes the audio signal output to each external device interface into an analog signal,
A digital mixing unit that mixes audio signals input from each external device interface and encoded into digital signals by the codec string in a predetermined combination and re-inputs to the codec string.
It is a relay device equipped with
An analog mixer is provided between the output terminal of the audio equipment interface and the first codec.
A relay device in which the output terminal of the second codec and the analog mixer are connected via a switch for opening and closing an audio signal. The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the microphone / speaker interface includes a connector having the input terminal and the output terminal integrally. The relay device according to claim 1 or 2, the broadcasting equipment connected to the audio equipment interface, and the handheld microphone with a speaker connected to the microphone / speaker interface.
The broadcasting equipment is a relay system including a broadcasting amplifier connected to an output terminal of the audio equipment interface and a broadcasting speaker connected to the broadcasting amplifier.

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