JPH0561638A - Digital information transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a general user to easily and accurately select objective information and transfer the selected information to a player by reading out hierarchically selected voice information from a storage means registering the voice information and outputting the read information as voice. CONSTITUTION:An output part consists of a transfer control circuit 19 for rapidly transferring information to the player 6, a reproducing circuit 20 for listening the contents of digital information and a voice output part 21 for outputting voice information. The circuit 19 rapidly transfers selected information from a buffer memory 18 to the player 6. The circuit 20 is constituted of a low pass filter, a D/A converter and an analog amplifier, converts the digital information into a voice signal from a position specified by an address counter 17 and outputs the voice signal from a voice output part 21 only for a fixed time. Consequently a user can listen objective voice information at the time of transferring digital data, easily and accurately selects the objective voice information and transfers the selected information to the player.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital information transfer device, and more particularly to a digital information transfer device in the form of an electric signal for selling or providing digital data of specified audio information to an unspecified person. Information transfer device

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of commercializing information and the like, there have been newspapers and magazines for printing characters and the like on paper for sale for a long time. In addition, instead of the print medium, there is an example in which various software and the like are sold through a storage medium such as a floppy disk or an IC card. Also, recently
News and broadcast programs are also provided to specific persons who have contracted via communication means such as cable television and satellite broadcasting. However, in this information provision,
Since information is sold only to specific contractors, it is necessary to have a high degree of specialized knowledge or to have the assistance of a person who has such knowledge when transferring the information. There was a problem.

On the other hand, as an example of providing information to an unspecified person, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-61391 discloses that the content of information is converted into an electric signal and stored in a storage medium, and the information is transferred via a memory card. The method of providing desired information to the general public is described. In order to realize this, digital information for transferring digital data of audio information registered in the first storage unit to a player device (hereinafter, referred to as a player) having both the second storage unit and the reproduction unit. There is a delivery device.

[0004]

In the above prior art, the information transfer device is installed in a street corner, a convenience store, a station store, etc., like an automatic vending machine for cigarettes and juice.
The consideration when using it by an unspecified large number of general users is insufficient, and therefore various troubles that occur due to being unfamiliar or lacking expertise, such as purchasing incorrect information or title of information. There was a problem that dissatisfaction and the like occurred due to the difference between the display and the expected information content.

An object of the present invention is to provide a digital information delivery device capable of delivering information after confirming the content of the information when delivering the information to the player, that is, when the user purchases the information. To do.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the present invention uses a data selection screen when a hierarchically structured digital data selection screen is displayed in a digital information transfer device. All or part of the hierarchically selected voice information is read from the storage means in which the voice information is registered, the read voice information is reproduced, and output as voice.

Further, the present invention is provided with a means for visually notifying the user of the output of the sound.

[0008]

With the above arrangement, the user can listen to the intended voice information when handing over the digital data.

In order to realize this trial listening, a trial listening sequence for confirming the contents of information is provided in the information passing operation,
The head address data of the portion that best represents the characteristics of the information is stored in the specified area of the information.
Also, in order to visually inform that the voice is being output,
At the beginning of the sequence for controlling the reproduction circuit for previewing, a previewing display control step for displaying the playback is in progress, and at the end of the previewing control sequence, a screen erasing control step for erasing the previewing display screen. And are inserted.

As described above, the address data indicating the beginning of the portion that most clearly shows the characteristics of the information for each type of information is the start address when the information data stored in the first storage means is read for the trial listening. Can be used for. This makes it possible to reproduce the most noticeable part of the information that is different for each information, or a well-known part, such as headlines and topics in news, and important phrases such as well-known phrases in music. This makes it possible to confirm the selection information in a short time and to motivate the purchase.

Also, inserted in the audition control sequence,
The during-listening display control step and the screen erasing control step display an indication that the most characteristic part of the selected data is being reproduced for trial listening only during the playback operation for trial listening. To do. As a result, the surroundings are noisy and you cannot hear it, or the speaker output is cut off,
Even if the volume is turned down and nothing is heard, the operator can grasp the state of the device and can deal with it by operating the switch or the volume.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of a digital information transfer device according to the present invention.
It is composed of a liquid crystal display 2 with a touch switch, a player insertion slot 3 into which a player 6 is inserted, a transfer confirmation switch 4, and a monitor speaker 5. A user who wants to receive information is standing in front of the information providing apparatus main body 1 and
A predetermined operation is performed according to the instruction displayed on the liquid crystal display 2 with a touch switch. At that time, when the liquid crystal display 2 with a touch switch is operated so as to listen to the information content, the monitor speaker 5 outputs audio information for a certain period of time. When receiving the provision of information, the player 6 is inserted into the player insertion slot 3 and the transfer confirmation switch 4 is operated, whereby the delivery of information is completed in a short time. Figure 1
FIG. 5 shows an external view of the player used in this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of the information providing device.
Display / operation panel 10, microcomputer 11, hard disk memory 12, line interface 13, analog input interface 14, digital input interface 15,
A / D conversion circuit 16, address counter 17, buffer memory 18, transfer control circuit 19, reproduction circuit 2 for monitoring
0, and a voice output unit 21.

The information providing device is roughly divided into an input unit,
It is composed of a storage unit and an output unit, and each circuit block is controlled by the microcomputer 11. The input unit is a line interface 13 compatible with a wide area digital communication line,
An analog input interface 14 for analog signals,
Compact disc (CD), digital audio,
It has a tape recorder (DAT), a digital input interface 15 for satellite broadcasting and the like. The analog input signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion circuit 16. The storage unit includes a 96 MB buffer memory 18 and a 250 MB hard disk memory 12 which is an external storage device.
Consists of. The digital signal received from the input section is added with header information such as bit length, stereo / monaural, and sampling rate, and then stored in the buffer memory 18 or the hard disk memory 12 according to the access priority. The output unit is a transfer control circuit 19 for transferring information to the player 6 at high speed, a reproduction circuit 20 for listening to the contents of digital information, and an audio output unit 21 (speaker or headphone. Then the speaker) and. The transfer control circuit 19 transfers the selected information from the buffer memory 18 to the player 6 at high speed. The reproduction circuit 20 includes a low pass filter (L
PF), a D / A converter, and an analog amplifier, the digital information is converted into a voice signal from a position designated by the address counter 17, and the voice signal is output from the voice output unit 21 for a fixed time. The information transfer operation is performed by the display / operation panel 10
Done in.

FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of the player 6, which includes a memory section 30, a digital filter 31, and a D / A converter 3.
2, an amplifier 33, and a control circuit 34 including a control LSI. This player receives digital information, converts it into an audio signal, and reproduces it. The digital information transferred to the memory unit 30 is removed by a digital filter 31 to remove an excessive frequency band, and a D / A converter 32 is used. The signal is converted into an analog signal, the volume is adjusted by the amplifier 33, and the signal is output. The control circuit 34 sets a reproduction mode and controls data transfer.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the information selection display screen. In the operation area 46 at the bottom of the screen, an up arrow switch 40, a down arrow switch 41, a decision switch 42, and a return switch 4 are shown.
3 is set. Up arrow switch 40 to select information
Or, operate the down arrow switch 41 to indicate the information item,
The decision switch 42 is operated to select the target information.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a trial listening / dubbing selection display screen. A trial listening switch 44, a dubbing switch 45, and a return switch 43 are set in the operation area 46 at the bottom of the screen. Each operation is performed by operating the audition switch 44 when confirming the content of the information and operating the dubbing switch 45 when transferring the information to the player. When wrong information is selected, the return switch 43 can be operated to return to the previous information selection screen.

FIG. 6 shows an operation flowchart when transferring information to the player. The operation is roughly divided into
(1) Initial setting inside the device (ST50), (2) Selection of target information (ST51), (3) Audition (ST52),
(4) player state check (ST53), (5) information transfer (ST54).

To explain each operation, in the initial setting (ST50) inside the apparatus, the audio information stored in the external hard disk memory 12, which is a large-capacity storage device, is shown in FIG.
The data is transferred to the internal buffer memory 18 according to the data registration table as shown in 0. Select next information (ST5
1) is to select one target information from the registered information, and the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 7. For selection, first, the genre of the target information is selected from the genre-specific selection menu display (ST60) (ST61). The selection is made by the touch switch according to the operation instruction on the display screen. That is, by operating the two touch switches of the up arrow switch 40 or the down arrow switch 41, the title bar moves up and down to select information, and the title of the selected information is displayed in black and white inversion. Then, when the decision switch 42 is operated, the selected genre-specific code is registered. Next, the data having the code is searched from the data registration table of FIG. 10 and displayed as a genre-specific menu (ST62-
64). From among them, as in the case of selecting a genre, two touch switches of the up arrow switch 40 or the down arrow switch 41 are operated to instruct desired information, and the decision switch 42 is operated to select individual information (ST65. ).

Next, the trial listening will be described. Audition (ST
52) is performed by operating the audition switch 44 shown in FIG. The audition sequence is a function of converting a portion that most expresses the characteristics of digital information into an audio signal and reproducing the audio signal for a certain period of time to confirm the information content. Since the provided information has value as a product, only the parts considered important, not all, are reproduced. The trial listening operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8. First, the screen of "playing" is displayed (ST70), and the playback time is set in the timer (ST71). Next, the header information (ID) recorded at the start address of the selected information shown in FIG. 14 is read (ST72), and the control mode such as bit length, sampling rate, stereo / monaural etc. is set according to the information (ST72). ST73). Further, the leading address of the trial listening information is read (ST74), the memory leading address obtained from the trial listening information is set in the address counter 17 which indicates the address of the buffer memory 18 (ST75), and the trial listening control circuit is activated (ST76). The digital information read from the memory is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter of the reproduction circuit 20, and then reproduced by the speaker or the headphone of the audio output unit 21 (ST77) to perform the stop operation (ST78). ), Or until the set time comes (S
T79) Continue. When the audition is completed, the "playing" screen is erased (ST80). As a result of the trial listening, if the selection is incorrect or if the contents are not desired, the return switch 43 can be operated to return to the previous information selection screen.

If there is no mistake in the selected information, the dubbing switch 45 shown in FIG. 5 is operated to perform the information transfer operation according to the flowchart of FIG. In the player status check (ST53) shown in FIG. 6, after detecting that the player has been inserted into the information providing device in FIG. 9 (ST90), electrical connection between the information providing device and the player, and a battery built in the player. Check (ST91),
If the player's battery voltage is lower than the set value,
This corresponds to displaying the battery error warning message (ST92).

Information transfer operation shown in FIG. 6 (ST54)
Is performed by an independent switch (that is, the transfer confirmation switch 4 shown in FIG. 1) instead of the touch switch on the display panel (ST93). This switch is a final transfer confirmation switch, and since it is separate from the operation switch on the panel, it also serves to prevent erroneous operations during data transfer operations. Data transfer from the information providing device to the player is performed in a short time of several seconds by high-speed transfer control with a 16-bit data bus width (ST94). Then, it is detected that the player has been taken out of the information providing device (ST95), and the process returns to the information selection (ST51).

11 to 13 show an example of the flow of operation screens of the information providing apparatus in this embodiment. When the power is turned on and the initial setting inside the device is completed, the information genre selection screen 100 is displayed. Therefore, the arrow switch set at the bottom of the screen is operated to select the desired information.
The selected item is highlighted in black and white. The screen 100 is a genre, and the screens 101 to 104 are individual information selection screens. When the individual information is selected, the preview / dubbing selection screen 105 is displayed. Then, by operating the trial listening switch, the selected information is reproduced and the screen display 106 is performed, and the contents can be confirmed. Further, by operating the dubbing switch, a sequence for transferring information to the player is started, and the player's insertion instruction screen 107 is displayed. On the screen 107, the figure of the player who is the operation target is displayed blinking. When it is detected that the player has been inserted into the information providing device, the voltage of the player built-in battery is checked. If the voltage is lower than the set voltage, the battery error warning message screen 109 is output, and if normal, the transfer confirmation switch is operated. The instruction screen 108 is output. On the screen 108, the figure of the transfer confirmation switch to be operated is displayed in blinking. Then, by operating the transfer confirmation switch, the information is transferred to the player in a short time, and then the end message screen 110 is output. Then, it is detected that the player has been taken out of the information providing apparatus, and the screen returns to the initial information selection screen 100.

According to this embodiment, the content of the information can be confirmed in a short time by converting the most characteristic part of the digital information into an audio signal and listening to the audio signal, and the intended information can be accurately delivered to the player. You can

[0026]

According to the present invention, in the digital information transfer device, the hierarchically selected voice information can be read out from the storage means in which the voice information is registered and output as voice. At that time, it becomes possible to audition. As a result, even a general person who does not have specialized knowledge can easily and accurately select desired information and deliver it to the player.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a digital information transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of a player used in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an information selection display screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a trial listening / dubbing selection display screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of information transfer in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an information selection sequence in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a trial listening control sequence in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an information transfer sequence in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a data registration table in the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a data selection operation screen display in the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen display in a trial listening mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen display in an information transfer mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of selected information in the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an external view of a player used in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Information providing device main body 2 ... Liquid crystal display with touch switch 3 ... Player insertion port 4 ... Transfer confirmation switch 5 ... Monitor speaker 6 ... Player 10 ... Display / operation panel 11 ... Microcomputer 12 ... Hard disk memory 13 ... Line interface 14 ... Analog input interface 15 ... Digital input interface 16 ... A / D conversion circuit 17 ... Address counter 18 ... Buffer memory 19 ... Transfer control circuit 20 ... Playback circuit 21 ... Audio output section

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Horiguchi 1-280 Higashi Koigokubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo Inside Hitachi Central Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Nobuo Hamamoto 1-280 Higashi Koikeku, Kokubunji, Tokyo Hitachi Ltd. Central Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Tadashi Onishi 1-280 Higashi Renegokubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo Hitachi Central Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Satoru Nagata 1-280 Higashi Renegakubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo Hitachi Central Research Institute ( 72) Inventor Hidehito Obayashi 1-280 Higashi Koikekubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo Inside Hitachi Central Research Laboratory

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A device for transferring digital data of audio information registered in a first storage device to a player device having both a second storage device and a reproduction device, the transfer having a hierarchical structure. In the digital information transfer device in which a display screen with a touch switch is displayed, a screen for selecting the converted data and a screen for instructing insertion and removal of the player device to and from the device are displayed on the display screen. It comprises: means for reading out all or part of the voice information hierarchically selected by using the first storage means, and means for reproducing the read voice information and outputting it as voice. Digital information passing device. 2. The digital information delivery device according to claim 1, further comprising means for visually notifying that a voice is being output. 3. The digital information transfer device according to claim 2, wherein the means for visually notifying is a device for displaying on a screen of a display with a touch switch.