JP4220368B2 - AV system automatic configuration system and AV system configuration method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for automatically configuring an AV system formed by a plurality of devices.

  As a technology for automatically configuring an AV system formed of a plurality of AV devices, information on the type of audio device is exchanged between the audio devices connected via a wireless network, and each audio device is autonomously operated. A technique for automatically setting a path between audio devices of an audio signal corresponding to the type of the audio device is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

  That is, in this technology, for example, an audio amplifier device connected to a wireless network checks the type of another device connected to the wireless network, and if the speaker device is connected to the wireless network, the speaker device is Set as the audio output destination of the audio amplifier device.

In this specification, the terms “AV system” and “AV device” are used as a general term for systems and devices that handle at least one of audio and visual.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-359200

According to the technique of Patent Document 1, the relationship between the type of audio device and the output destination of the audio output, that is, the relationship between the type of each audio device constituting the audio system and the configuration of the audio system is defined in advance for each audio device. Need to be.
For this reason, when new and old audio devices are mixed in the audio system, the old audio device is assigned a new audio device type that was later incorporated into the audio system and did not exist when the old audio device was manufactured. It cannot be recognized and the output destination of the audio output cannot be set appropriately.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to realize an automatic configuration of an AV system formed by a combination of arbitrary types of AV devices.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an AV system including a control device and a plurality of AV devices that handle at least one of audio and visual, and the control device accesses via a WAN (Wide Area Network). And the server is provided corresponding to each combination of the types of AV devices constituting the AV system, and is at least one of an audio signal and a visual signal between the AV devices in the combination. A database in which system configuration information defining AV signal paths is stored, and the AV device specified in the system configuration information notification request in response to a system configuration information notification request issued via the WAN from the control device The system configuration information corresponding to the combination of types is searched from the database, and System configuration information providing means for providing to the control device that issued the system configuration information notification request, and the control device includes AV device configuration collection means for collecting the types of each AV device incorporated in the AV system; A system for issuing a system configuration information notification request specifying a combination of AV device types collected by the AV device configuration collection means to the server via the WAN and acquiring system configuration information provided from the server The configuration of each AV device is set such that the AV signal is input / output between each AV device according to the path of the AV signal between the AV devices indicated by the configuration information acquisition unit and the system configuration information acquired by the system configuration information acquisition unit. System configuration means to perform.

  According to such an automatic configuration system of the AV system, the path of the AV signal between the AV devices according to the type of the AV device constituting the AV system is automatically set according to the system configuration information stored in the server. Can do. Accordingly, in accordance with the release of a new type of AV device, etc., if the system configuration information about the AV system composed of a plurality of AV devices including the new AV device is stored in the server, each AV system is stored. Appropriate automatic configuration of the AV system can be realized regardless of whether the AV equipment included in the system is new or old.

Here, the AV system may be an AV system mounted on an automobile, and in this case, the control device includes a wireless communication device for connecting to the WAN.
In this case, when a plurality of AV devices constituting the AV system include AV devices that handle audio, the database of the server includes system characteristic information provided for each vehicle type. You may make it accumulate. Here, the system characteristic information corresponding to each vehicle type includes a definition of the acoustic characteristic of each AV device in the combination provided corresponding to each combination of the types of AV devices constituting the AV system. In the system configuration information providing means of the server, a system corresponding to the vehicle type specified in the system characteristic information notification request in response to the system characteristic information notification request issued from the control device via the WAN Search the database for a definition of acoustic characteristics corresponding to the combination of the types of AV devices specified in the system characteristic information notification request included in the characteristic information, and the control of the issuer of the system characteristic information notification request In the system configuration information acquisition means of the control device, the combination of the AV device types acquired in the AV device configuration and the vehicle type of the automobile on which the AV system set in advance is designated are provided. A system characteristic information notification request is issued to the server via the WAN, In the system configuration means of the control device, the acoustic characteristics of the AV devices constituting the AV system are indicated by the system characteristic information acquired by the system configuration information acquisition means. You may make it set each AV apparatus so that it may become an acoustic characteristic according to the definition of the acoustic characteristic of AV apparatus.

By doing in this way, the sound of each AV device can be output in the AV system according to the in-vehicle acoustic space that is different for each vehicle type and the AV device that constitutes the AV system that is different for each vehicle. Characteristics can be automatically set appropriately.
In the above AV system automatic configuration system, each AV device constituting each AV system may be an in-vehicle AV device connected by a wireless network.
Further, in the above-described automatic configuration system of the AV system, the AV signal path between the AV devices and the definition of the setting of the AV device other than the acoustic characteristics of the AV device are defined from the server to the AV constituting the AV system. It may be provided to the control device in accordance with the combination of devices and the vehicle type on which the AV device is mounted, and each AV device may be set according to the definition provided in the control device.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an automatic configuration of an AV system formed by a combination of arbitrary types of AV devices.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described taking application to an in-vehicle AV system as an example.
FIG. 1 a shows the configuration of an AV system automatic configuration system according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the present embodiment is composed of an in-vehicle AV system 1 mounted in each automobile and a system information server 3 accessible via a WAN (Wide Area Network) 2 to which the in-vehicle system is connected by wireless communication. The
Each in-vehicle AV system 1 is connected to a plurality of AV devices 11, a wireless station 12 to which the AV devices 11 are connected via wireless communication, and the wireless station 12, and the system configuration and system characteristics of the in-vehicle AV system 1 are determined. And a system controller 13 to be controlled.
Here, the wireless station 12 is a device that provides a LAN for the AV device and the system controller 13 to communicate with each other via wireless communication or wired communication, and data between each AV device 11 and the system controller 13. Relay.

  The AV device 11 receives a digital audio signal via a wireless network, for example, as shown in FIG. 1b, converts the received digital audio signal into an analog signal, and amplifies and outputs the analog signal to the speaker 112. Audio amplifier 111, CD player 113 that plays CD-DA, audio processor 114 that performs equalization processing and surround processing on audio signals, and user interface control device 115 that displays information to the user and accepts operations from the user And so on.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the system information server 3 includes a WAN interface 31 for connecting to the WAN 2, a system information providing unit 32, a system configuration database 33, and a system characteristic database 34.
In addition, the system controller 13 connects to a wireless communication device 131 such as a mobile telephone terminal for performing wireless communication with the WAN 2, a system configuration control unit 132, an AV data processing unit 133, and a LAN provided by the wireless station 12. LAN interface 134 is provided.

Each AV device 11 includes a wireless LAN interface 1101, a device control unit 1102, and an AV data processing unit 1103 for connecting to a LAN provided by the wireless station 12 via wireless communication.
Here, the AV data processing unit 133 of the system controller 13 and the AV data processing unit 1103 of the AV device 11 are functional units that perform processing of an AV signal that is a digital audio signal or a digital visual signal. The AV function unit is a function unit that converts a digital audio signal into an analog signal when the AV device 11 is an audio amplifier 111 and amplifies the signal to the speaker 112 and outputs the analog signal. The audio processor 114 is a functional unit that reproduces an audio signal, and the audio processor 114 is a functional unit that performs various acoustic processing such as equalization processing and surround processing on the digital audio signal.

  In such a configuration, the system configuration database 33 of the system information server 3 includes a combination of the AV devices 11 constituting the vehicle-mounted AV system 1 and a vehicle-mounted AV system 1 configuration recommended when the AV device 11 is combined. Stores system configuration information describing the correspondence of In the system characteristic database 34 of the system information server 3, it is recommended when the combination of the AV equipment 11 constituting the in-vehicle AV system 1 and the type of car on which the in-vehicle AV system 1 is mounted, and the combination of the AV equipment 11. The system acoustic characteristic information describing the correspondence with the acoustic characteristic of the in-vehicle AV system 1 is stored.

  That is, the system configuration information includes audio system configuration information and visual system configuration information, as shown in FIG. 3a. The audio system configuration information includes, for each device set, which is a combination of device identifiers representing the type / model number of the AV device 11, the AV device 11 of the audio signal when the in-vehicle AV system 1 is configured with the device set. The definition of the route between them is described as system configuration information. Further, the visual system configuration information includes, for each device set that is a combination of device identifiers indicating the type / model number of the AV device 11, the AV device 11 of the visual signal when the in-vehicle AV system 1 is configured with the device set. The definition of the route between them is described as system configuration information.

  Next, the system characteristic information includes vehicle type system acoustic characteristic information provided for each vehicle type as shown in FIG. 3b. When each vehicle type system acoustic characteristic information is configured for each device set, which is a combination of device identifiers representing the type / model number of the AV device 11, in the vehicle of the corresponding vehicle type with the device set, the in-vehicle AV system 1 is configured. In addition, the definition of acoustic characteristics such as frequency characteristics set in each AV device 11 is described as acoustic characteristics data.

Hereinafter, the automatic configuration operation in the in-vehicle AV system 1 will be described.
FIG. 4 shows a procedure of system configuration processing performed by the system configuration control unit 132 of the system controller 13.
As shown in the figure, in this process, if the LAN interface 134 of the system controller 13 is connected to the LAN by a predetermined network connection process (step 402), first, the apparatus identifier is connected to each AV apparatus 11 via the wireless network. By issuing the request in, for example, a broadcast format, the device identifier of the AV device 11 is collected from each other AV device 11 (step 404). Here, the device control unit 1102 of each AV device 11 is connected to the LAN by a predetermined network connection process via the wireless LAN interface 1101 and receives a device identifier request from the system controller 13 via the LAN. A device identifier indicating the type / model number of the own AV device 11 is returned to the system controller 13.

  When the system configuration control unit 132 of the system controller 13 collects the device identifiers from the AV devices 11 connected to the LAN, the system configuration control unit 132 connects to the WAN 2 via the wireless communication device 131 and sends the AV information to the system information server 3. A system configuration information request including a notification of a set of a device identifier collected from the device 11 and a device identifier of the own system controller set in advance, and the set of the device identifier and a preset own system controller are installed. A system characteristic information request including a notification of the vehicle type identification information of the existing car is issued (step 406).

  Upon receiving the system configuration information request, the system information providing unit 32 of the system information server 3 obtains system configuration information corresponding to the device set notified in the system configuration information request from the audio system configuration information and the visual system in the system configuration database 33. It is extracted from the system configuration information and transmitted to the system configuration control unit 132 of the requesting system controller 13. When the system information providing unit 32 of the system information server 3 receives the system characteristic information request, the system information providing unit 32 obtains the system from the vehicle type system acoustic characteristic information of the vehicle type corresponding to the vehicle type identifier notified by the system characteristic information request in the system configuration database 33. The acoustic characteristic data corresponding to the device set notified by the characteristic information request is extracted and transmitted to the system configuration control unit 132 of the requesting system controller 13.

  The system configuration control unit 132 of the system controller 13 that has received the audio system configuration information, the visual system configuration information, and the acoustic characteristic data is a system according to the audio system configuration information and the visual system configuration information as follows. The configuration is set (step 408).

  That is, the audio to the AV device 11 is transmitted to each AV device 11 according to the audio signal and visual signal path of each AV device 11 defined by the audio system configuration information and the visual system configuration information via the LAN. The combination of the AV device 11 / system controller 13 that is the signal input source and the AV device 11 / system controller 13 that is the output destination of the audio signal from the AV device 11, and the input source of the visual signal to the AV device 11 The combination of the AV device 11 / system controller 13 that becomes the AV device 11 / system controller 13 that is the output destination of the visual signal from the AV device 11 is notified. If there are a plurality of paths through which the audio signal passes through the AV device 11, the AV device 11 / system controller 13 that is the input source of the audio signal and the AV device 11 / system controller 13 that is the output destination of the audio signal. There are also multiple combinations of. The same applies to visual signals.

  The system configuration control unit 132 then sends the AV data processing unit 133 to the system controller 13 according to the audio signal and visual signal paths of the AV device 11 defined by the audio system configuration information and the visual system configuration information. A combination of the AV device 11 that is the input source of the audio signal and the AV device 11 that is the output destination of the audio signal from the system controller 13, and the AV device 11 and the system controller that are the input source of the visual signal to the system controller 13 The combination with the AV device 11 that is the output destination of the visual signal from 13 is set.

  Receiving the setting, the AV data processing unit 133 performs processing on the audio signal received via the LAN from the AV device 11 set as the input source for each combination set for the audio signal, The data is output via the LAN to the AV device 11 set as the output destination in the combination. Further, for each combination set for the visual signal, processing is performed on the visual signal received via the LAN from the AV device 11 set as the input source in the combination, and the AV set as the output destination in the combination is set. Output to the device 11 via the LAN.

  Further, the device control unit 1102 of each AV device 11 that has received the notification of the combination from the system controller 13 sets the notified combination in the AV data processing unit 1103. Upon receiving the setting, the AV data processing unit 1103 converts, for each combination set for the audio signal, the audio signal received via the LAN from the AV device 11 / system controller 13 set as the input source in the combination. Processing is performed for the AV device 11 / system controller 13 set as an output destination in the combination and output via the LAN. For each combination set for the visual signal, the visual signal received via the LAN from the AV device 11 / system controller 13 set as the input source in the combination is processed, and the combination is used as the output destination. The data is output to the set AV device 11 / system controller 13 via the LAN.

  Finally, the system configuration control unit 132 of the system controller 13 transmits the acoustic characteristics of each AV device 11 indicated by the acoustic property data received from the system information providing unit 32 of the system information server 3 to each AV device 11 via the LAN. At the same time, the acoustic characteristic of the own system controller indicated by the acoustic characteristic data is set in the AV data processing unit 133 (step 410), and the process ends. Thereafter, the AV data processing unit 133 processes the audio signal with the set acoustic characteristics. In addition, the device control unit 1102 of each AV device 11 notified of the acoustic characteristics sets the notified acoustic characteristics in the AV data processing unit 1103, and the AV data processing unit 1103 that has received the acoustic characteristics settings thereafter The audio signal is processed with the set acoustic characteristics.

The system configuration process performed by the system configuration control unit 132 of the system controller 13 has been described above.
Here, an example of automatic configuration of the in-vehicle AV system 1 by the above system configuration processing will be shown.
FIG. 5 a shows that, in addition to the system controller 13 in which an audio processing function simpler than that of the audio processor 114 is incorporated in the AV data processing unit 133, a CD player 113, a user interface control device 115, and an audio amplifier 111 are used as the AV equipment 11. An example of automatic configuration when incorporated in the in-vehicle AV system 1 is shown. In addition, as audio system configuration information in the system configuration database 33 of the system information server 3 in advance, a set of device identifiers of the system controller 13, CD player 113, user interface control device 115, and audio amplifier 111 is used as a CD player 113-. This is for a case where a route through which an audio signal passes is defined in the order of the system controller 13-the audio amplifier 111. An audio signal path as indicated by an arrow in the figure is automatically set, an audio signal reproduced by the CD player 113 is sent to the system controller 13, and predetermined audio processing is performed by the AV data processing unit 133 of the system controller 13. Is applied, the automatic configuration of the in-vehicle AV system 1 that is sent to the audio amplifier 111 and output from the speaker 112 is realized.

  In addition, as audio system configuration information in the system configuration database 33 of the system information server 3 in advance, a set of device identifiers of the system controller 13, the CD player 113, the user interface control device 115, the audio amplifier 111, and the audio processor 114 is obtained. Assuming that the path through which the audio signal passes is defined in the order of the CD player 113, the audio processor 114, and the audio amplifier 111, a new AV device 11 as shown in FIG. When the audio processor 1114 is added by the user, the audio signal path as indicated by an arrow in the figure is automatically set when the first in-vehicle AV system 1 after the addition is started, and the CD player 113 Regeneration The audio signal thus transmitted is sent to the audio processor 114 and subjected to predetermined acoustic processing, and then sent to the audio amplifier 111 and output from the speaker 112. That is, the in-vehicle AV system 1 is automatically reconfigured, that is, the system controller 13 is simplified. It is possible to perform automatic configuration of the in-vehicle AV system 1 that performs advanced acoustic processing in the audio processor 114 instead of the acoustic processing.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
In the above, wireless communication is used for connection of each AV device 11 to the LAN, but each AV device 11 may be connected to the LAN by wired communication. Conversely, the system controller 13 may be connected to the LAN by wireless communication.
In the above description, the audio signal and visual signal paths between the AV devices 11 and the acoustic characteristics of the AV devices 11 are automatically set in the AV devices 11. However, in the present embodiment, the in-vehicle AV system 1 is used. The present invention can be similarly applied to a case where any characteristic or attribute of each AV device 11 is automatically set in accordance with at least the combination of types of AV devices 11 to be configured.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the audio and visual signal paths between the AV devices 11, the acoustic characteristics of the AV devices 11, the characteristics and attributes of the other AV devices 11 are set by the user. It can be automatically set according to the information stored in the system information providing server without bothering the user. Therefore, in accordance with the release of a new type of AV device 11, information on the in-vehicle AV system 1 including a plurality of AV devices 11 including the new AV device 11 is appropriately stored in the system information providing server. By doing so, it is possible to realize an appropriate automatic configuration of the in-vehicle AV system 1 regardless of the combination of the AV equipment 11 included in each in-vehicle AV system 1 or the old and new.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted AV system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the system information server which concerns on embodiment of this invention, a system controller, and AV apparatus. It is a figure which shows the system configuration information and system characteristic information which accumulate | store in the system information server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the automatic configuration process of the system controller which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of an automatic structure of the vehicle-mounted AV system which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Car-mounted AV system, 2 ... WAN, 3 ... System information server, 11 ... AV apparatus, 12 ... Wireless station, 13 ... System controller, 31 ... WAN interface, 32 ... System information provision part, 33 ... System configuration database, 34 ... System characteristic database, 131 ... Wireless communication device, 132 ... System configuration control unit, 133 ... AV data processing unit, 134 ... LAN interface, 1101 ... Wireless LAN interface, 1102 ... Device control unit, 1103 ... AV data processing unit.

Claims (4)

An AV system including a control device and a plurality of AV devices that handle at least one of audio and visual, and a server that the control device accesses via a WAN (Wide Area Network),
The plurality of AV devices constituting the AV system include AV devices that handle audio,
The server
A database storing system characteristic information defining the acoustic characteristics of each AV device in the combination provided corresponding to each combination of types of AV devices constituting the AV system;
In response to a system characteristic information notification request issued from the control device via the WAN, the system characteristic information corresponding to the combination of types of the AV devices specified in the system characteristic information notification request is searched from the database. System characteristic information providing means for providing to the control device that issued the system characteristic information notification request,
The controller is
AV device configuration collection means for collecting the type of each AV device incorporated in the AV system;
System characteristics for issuing a system characteristic information notification request specifying a combination of AV apparatus types collected by the AV apparatus configuration collecting means to the server via the WAN and acquiring system characteristic information provided by the server Information acquisition means;
The settings of each AV device are set so that the acoustic properties of the AV devices constituting the AV system are the acoustic properties according to the definition of the acoustic properties of each AV device indicated by the system property information acquired by the system property information acquisition means. And an AV system automatic configuration system. An automatic configuration system for an AV system according to claim 1,
The AV system is an AV system installed in an automobile,
An automatic configuration system of an AV system, wherein the control device includes a wireless communication device for connecting to the WAN. An automatic configuration system for an AV system according to claim 1 or 2,
Each AV device constituting each AV system is an in-vehicle AV device connected by a wireless network. An AV system automatic configuration method for automatically configuring an AV system including a control device and a plurality of AV devices that handle at least one of audio and visual,
Collecting the types of AV devices incorporated in the AV system in the control device;
Issuing the system characteristic information notification request designating a combination of collected AV device types in the control device to a server disposed on the WAN via a WAN (Wide Area Network);
In the server, from the database that stores the system characteristic information that defines the acoustic characteristics of each AV device in the combination provided for each combination of the types of AV devices that constitute the AV system, from the control device to the WAN Searching for system characteristic information corresponding to a combination of the types of the AV devices specified in the system characteristic information notification request issued via, and providing the system characteristic information to the control device that issued the system characteristic information notification request When,
In the control device, each AV device has an acoustic characteristic according to the definition of the acoustic characteristic of each AV device indicated by the system characteristic information provided from the server. An automatic configuration method for an AV system, comprising the steps of:

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