JPH08237341A - Adapter device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] An adapter device as a device that responds to interactive programs that expect a viewer's response via a telephone line. It is easy and time-consuming to make and receive calls. Be able to suppress the volume of the TV receiver. [Structure] The adapter device is composed of an adapter device body 22 and a remote commander 23. The adapter device main body 22 receives the interactive program related information input as sound from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21 to the microphone 22MC, and automatically responds to the corresponding telephone number to be responded to in response to the response operation on the remote commander 23. Dial. When the off-hook button 23a is pressed, the remote commander 23 sends an off-hook command OF from the light emitting unit 23SD.
Volume suppression command MUC for C and TV receiver 21
To send.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone adapter device used in an environment in which an audio output device such as a television receiver (hereinafter, television is referred to as a television) or a radio receiver is used. Regarding Further, the present invention relates to an adapter device as a device in which the viewer responds to an interactive program that expects the viewer's response via a telephone line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, as TV programs, quiz programs,
Interactive programs or viewer participation programs such as TV shopping and questionnaire surveys are being provided, but telephones and facsimiles are often used to respond to the response request.

As a method of this response, there is one using a telephone voting service. This telephone voting service, for example, is a program that allows viewers to participate, and the congestion of the telephone line caused by many viewers making calls to the telephone number of the respondent at the same time, or the burden of the line usage fee due to the oral response It is provided by the telephone company in order to eliminate the increase and is called a telegong.

In this telephone voting service, for example, in a questionnaire survey in a television or radio program or a quiz, a response destination telephone number for reception is assigned to each of a plurality of answers to one question, and individual responses are given. The number of incoming calls to the destination telephone number, that is, the number of responses from the viewer is summed up by each telephone station side of the calling side and notified to the broadcasting station side.

Explaining in a concrete example, for example, when conducting a questionnaire survey of a favorite baseball team during a television program, as shown in the television screen 1 of FIG. Set the response telephone number and broadcast.

Each viewer 2 refers to the TV screen 1 and dials the telephone number to which the baseball team responds, which he / she prefers.

[0007] Then, on the telephone station 3 side, the subscriber exchange station in the area of the viewer receives an incoming call to each response destination telephone number, sends a reception completion notice to the response person, and also receives each response destination telephone number. Primary count of the number of incoming calls to. Then, on the telephone station 3 side, the service network control station collects the number of incoming calls that have been primarily aggregated at subscriber exchange stations nationwide, and further aggregates at the management station. The management station notifies the computer 4a for notifying the call number of the television station 4 through the call number notifying line 3a of the total number of incoming calls for each answering destination telephone number.

The television station 4 broadcasts a screen such as a graph of the aggregation result as shown in the television screen 5 of FIG. 15, for example, in order to reflect the aggregation result notified from the telephone station 3 in the broadcast program.

In the telegon service, a request from a service contractor (TV station 4 in this example), the customer control computer 4 in the example of FIG.
In response to the request from b, the call of any responder is directly sent to the service contractor (in this example, the operator 4 of the TV station 4).
It is also made possible to make an incoming call to c). This service is called cut-through, and the connection notice is sent from the telephone station 3 to the responder who becomes the cut-through, and in this cut-through state, the responder is sent through the cut-through reception line 3c. Direct calls and data exchange with service contractors are possible. However, the number of lines for accepting this cut-through is limited in advance.

In the above-mentioned telephone voting service, the response of the viewer is substantially completed when the telephone call arrives at the telephone station, and the line can be disconnected to reduce the load on the telephone line. At the same time, the viewer can go on-hook immediately after receiving a call, which reduces the burden of line usage charges.

By the way, in the case of a viewer participation type program, information such as a telephone number to be answered is generally provided by a broadcast program. For example, in the case of television broadcasting, the answering telephone number is displayed on the screen for a certain period of time by using superimpose or the like, or the voice is provided by an announcement by the performer of the program.

[0012] However, when the answering telephone number is provided to the viewer by superimposing or announcement by the program host, if the telephone number is not recognized correctly by making a note of the telephone number, a wrong telephone call is induced. To do.

Therefore, interactive program-related information such as the telephone number of the response destination is stored in, for example, DTMF (Dual Tone M).
In the form of a multi frequency signal, the main broadcast audio signal is multiplexed and broadcast, and the receiving side separates the DTMF signal from the received broadcast audio signal, decodes it, reproduces the interactive program related information, and stores it in the memory. Then, when responding to the interactive program, a method of automatically dialing by using the response destination telephone number stored in the memory can be considered.

According to this method, the viewer does not need to write down or memorize the answering telephone number or the like on the receiving side, and can surely respond to the interactive program.

As described above, as a response device to an interactive program, the DTMF signal is received and decoded, the interactive program related information is reproduced, stored in the memory, and responded by a simple response operation of the viewer. At the same time, it is conceivable that the device for automatically dialing the answering telephone number is configured as a so-called hands-free telephone which allows the user to talk and receive without holding the handset.

Specifically, the adapter device as the response device is composed of an adapter device main body and a remote commander (hereinafter, referred to as a remote controller) which is separate from the adapter device main body. Microphone and speaker for reception, receiving the broadcast of interactive programs and other programs, for example, decoding the interactive program related information input as DTMF sound to the above microphone for transmission from the speaker of the television receiver, Receiving unit that stores the response destination telephone number, calling unit that automatically dials the response destination telephone number in response to the response operation on the remote control, and infrared remote command (hereinafter, remote command is referred to as remote control signal) from the remote control A light receiving section for the like is provided.

Further, the remote controller has buttons for off-hook operation and on-hook operation of the telephone, a ten-key button for dialing in a telephone number, and when these buttons are pressed, they correspond to the light receiving portion of the adapter device main body. A light-emitting unit that transmits an infrared remote control signal is provided.

When such an adapter device is used as a response device for a two-way television program, the adapter device body is placed in the vicinity of the television receiver, and a DTMF sound is output from the speaker of the television receiver to the microphone of the adapter device body. The above-mentioned receiving unit receives the input interactive program related information, decodes it, stores the response destination telephone number, etc. in the memory, and the viewer responds to the question as a response operation to the question in the interactive program. The number of the option selected from the plurality of options set and broadcast is input using the ten-key button on the remote controller.

As a result, the remote control signal of the selected option number is transmitted from the remote control, and the adapter device main body
Upon receiving this, the response destination telephone number associated with the selected option number is read from the memory, and the telephone number is automatically dialed.

When making a call by using the adapter device as a hands-free telephone, the off-hook button of the remote controller is pressed and then the destination telephone number is dialed by the ten-key button. In addition, it is only necessary to press the off-hook button for the incoming call from the other party. In any case,
The voice from here is sent through the microphone of the main body of the adapter device, and the voice from the other party is heard from the speaker of the main body of the adapter device, so that the user can talk. When the call ends, the line can be released by pressing the on-hook button.

[0021]

As described above, when the main body of the adapter device is placed in the vicinity of the television receiver and the viewer is watching the interactive program or other programs on the television,
When an incoming call is received from any of the other parties to the adapter device main body, the viewer can talk with the other party by pressing the off-hook button of the remote controller of the adapter device.

On the other hand, when a person who is watching a two-way television program or another program on the television makes a call to the other party from the remote control of the adapter device, the off-hook of the remote control of the adapter device is performed. After pressing the button, it becomes possible to talk with the other party by dialing in the other party's telephone number with the ten-key button.

However, at this time, if the volume of the television receiver is not suppressed, the sound from the speaker of the television receiver is picked up by the microphone of the adapter if the adapter device body is placed near the television receiver. As a result, the call state becomes worse, and howling may occur in some cases.

Therefore, at this time, the viewer responds to the incoming call by pressing the off-hook button of the remote controller of the adapter device, or directly before or after making the outgoing call, and directly controls the volume control section of the television receiver. It is necessary to suppress the volume of the television receiver by operating the remote controller for the television receiver.

However, it is troublesome to perform these two operations one after the other, and especially when a telephone call suddenly occurs while watching a program, searching for a remote controller for a television receiver and a remote controller for an adapter device, It is troublesome for the viewer to operate each of them in sequence.

The remote controller of the adapter device is provided with an operation button for suppressing the volume of the television receiver. When this button is pressed, a remote controller signal for volume suppression is transmitted from the remote controller of the adapter device, and the television receiver receives it. If the volume is suppressed by controlling the volume, there is no need to search for and operate both the remote controller for the television receiver and the remote controller for the adapter device. However, even in that case, the volume suppression button and the off-hook button of the remote controller of the adapter device have to be pressed before and after, which makes the operation troublesome.

Therefore, the present invention provides a telephone adapter device used in an environment in which an audio output device such as a television receiver or a radio receiver is used, with a simple labor at the time of making and receiving a call. The volume of the audio output device can be suppressed by operation.

[0028]

According to the present invention, an operating means for off-hook operation of a telephone as an adapter device and an off-hook command is issued when the operating means is operated and a volume suppressing command is issued to a voice output device. And a control means for transmitting.

[0029]

In the adapter device of the present invention configured as described above, when the voice output device is outputting a voice, the call is made to respond to an incoming call from the other party or from this side. Therefore, when the operating means for off-hook operation is operated, the off-hook command is transmitted from the control means to put the line into the off-hook state, and the control means outputs the volume to the audio output device without any other operation. The suppression command is transmitted and the volume of the voice output device is suppressed, and it becomes possible to talk with the other party in a good communication state.

[0030]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention responds to an interactive program which expects a viewer's response via a telephone line as described above, and the interactive program related information including the telephone number of the response destination is D.
A specific example will be shown in the case of being applied to a response device that is broadcast as a TMF signal by being multiplexed with a main broadcast audio signal and that the above-described telegong service as an example of a telephone voting service is used as a response system.

[DTMF Signal] First, the DTMF signal will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. The DTMF signaling system is an audio band signaling system in which two tones of a low frequency group (low group) and another high frequency group (high group) are simultaneously sent. Each of these low and high frequency groups consists of tones of four audio band frequencies, no two of which are in articulatory relation.

The four frequencies in the low group are, for example, 697 Hz,
770Hz, 852Hz, 941Hz, high group 4
The frequencies are, for example, 1209 Hz, 1336 Hz, 14
It is set to 77 Hz and 1633 Hz. Then, one frequency each of the low group and the high group is combined, and each DTMF signal (each DTMF) formed of the combination is combined.
The signal will be referred to as a function signal hereinafter), as shown in FIG.
The push buttons [0] to [D] are arranged in 4 rows and 4 columns, respectively.

In telephone communication, only 12 out of 16 functional signals of DTMF signals are generally used for subscriber address (telephone number) signals. That is, the function signals of the above 12 combinations are made to correspond to the numbers [0] to [9] and the symbols [*] [#] used as the ten keys on the telephone. The function signals corresponding to the letters [A], [B], [C], and [D] shown by broken lines in FIG. 7 are not generally used in Japan, and are used for data transmission using the push button (PB) dial. It is only used.

When a line is selected by a telephone number using such a DTMF signal, the signal sending conditions are specified as shown in FIG.

Due to the combination of the two frequencies and the sending conditions as described above, the DTMF signal rarely occurs in the natural world and can be clearly distinguished from natural sounds such as human voice. It is possible to multiplex the broadcast audio signal and broadcast it, and separation on the receiving side is relatively easy.

By the way, the DTMF signal is also used in a multi-functional telephone, and by operating a push-button telephone from outside the house, a message recorded on the telephone at home can be played back or an answering voice recording can be performed. You can record, play back, and delete the reply message.

[Outline of Interactive Program Broadcasting System] FIG.
Shows an outline of the interactive program broadcasting system of this example, and the broadcasting system comprises a broadcasting station system 10, a receiving device system 20, and a telephone station system 30.

In the broadcasting station system 10, the interactive program created in the studio 11 is transmitted from the broadcasting antenna 12 to the receiving device system 20 by the ground wave or via the artificial satellite 13. For example, in the case of interactive programs such as quiz programs and questionnaire surveys, the TV receiver 21
Question 21D or a plurality of options for the question are broadcast on the screen 21D of FIG. One or more questions are usually broadcast. At this time,
The interactive program related information is multiplexed with the main broadcast audio signal in the format of a DTMF signal whose format is defined as described later.

The receiving device system 20 includes an existing television receiver 21, an adapter device 25 which is an example of the adapter device of the present invention, and an external telephone 24.

The adapter device 25 is the adapter device body 2
The remote controller 2 and the remote commander 23 together form a so-called hands-free telephone.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the remote commander 23 is provided with an off-hook button 23a, an on-hook button 23b, a ten-key button 23K, and an entry button 23c, which will be described later, and a light emitting section 23SD for transmitting an infrared remote control signal. Is provided.

The adapter device body 22 is provided with a microphone 22MC and a speaker 22SP, and a light receiving portion 22PD for receiving an infrared remote control signal from the light emitting portion 23SD of the remote commander 23.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the adapter device main body 22 has a recess 2 for accommodating the remote commander 23.
2R is provided and the light emitting unit 23SD of the remote commander 23 faces the light receiving unit 22PD of the adapter device body 22 as shown in FIG.
Can be stored in the recess 22R.

Further, the adapter device main body 22 has an NCU as an interface with a telephone line as described later.
(Network control unit) system,
As shown in FIG.
1 is connected and the external telephone 24 is connected. In this example, the external telephone 24 can access the telephone line 31 via the adapter device main body 22 and can perform a normal telephone function.

When the adapter device 25 is used as a hands-free telephone, the remote commander 23 is removed from the adapter device body 22 and the light emitting portion 23SD of the remote commander 23 is attached to the adapter device as shown in FIG. It faces the light receiving portion 22PD of the main body 22.

When making a call in this state, after pressing the off-hook button 23a of the remote commander 23,
Use the ten-key button 23K to dial in the destination telephone number. Further, it is sufficient to press the off-hook button 23a for an incoming call from the other party. In either case, a voice can be talked by sending a voice from here through the microphone 22MC of the adapter device body 22 and listening to a voice from the other party from the speaker 22SP of the adapter device body 22. When the call ends, the line can be opened by pressing the on-hook button 23b.

The adapter device main body 22 also functions as a device for receiving and decoding the interactive program related information which is broadcast as a DTMF signal by being multiplexed with the main broadcast audio signal, and cooperates with the remote commander 23 to perform both operations. It also works as a response device for programs.

That is, in this example, the interactive program related information is mixed as the DTMF sound with the sound of the broadcast program and is emitted from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21,
As shown in FIG. 5, the adapter device body 22 picks up the sound from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21 with the above microphone 22MC. Then, the adapter device body 2
2 extracts only the DTMF sound from the collected sound and decodes the interactive program related information as described later.

Of the decoded interactive program related information, the adapter device main body 22 also uses the information necessary for the response, in this example, the telephone voting service, so at least the answering telephone number (telegon The information of the service telephone number) is reproduced, and the adapter device main body 2
It also has a function of storing in the memory built in 2.

The response operation to the question in this example is
This is done by inputting the number of the option selected by the responder from the plurality of options set and broadcast for the question using the ten-key button 23K of the remote commander 23.

When the option number is selected by the ten-key button 23K of the remote commander 23, the adapter device main body 22 receives the remote control signal and sets the response destination telephone number associated with the selected option number. It reads from the above memory and automatically dials the telephone number.

As shown in FIG. 5, the subscriber switching center 32 of the telephone station system 30 accepts this incoming call and counts the number of incoming calls for each incoming call to the same telephone number. Then, each subscriber exchange 32 notifies the telegon system 33 of the number of incoming calls to each telephone number counted by the exchange. The telegon system 33 is shown to perform the data collection and aggregation functions of the service network control station and management station described above.

The number of incoming calls for each option totaled in the telegon system 33 in this way is notified to the computer of the studio 11 of the broadcasting station system 10 through the telephone line 31 as the number of responders who have selected that option. The broadcasting station system 10 broadcasts this tabulation result to the viewer in the interactive program as described in FIG.

[Broadcasting of interactive program from broadcasting station] As described above, in this example, the broadcasting station broadcasts a question and a plurality of options for the question, and the content of the question and the content of the plurality of options. However, the viewer is informed by the screen 21D of the television receiver 21 and the announcement of the program host. At the same time, it is multiplexed with the main broadcast audio signal,
Numbers [9], [#] [*] and [A] [B] [C]
Interactive program related information in which a combination of symbols [D] is expressed by a DTMF signal is broadcast.

In this example, the interactive program-related information is mainly composed of question data, and also includes response control data such as response start and response end.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the data structure of question data. The question data is formed for each question.
At the beginning of the question data, a question data packet identification code for identifying that the data packet is the question data is inserted. Next to this question data packet identification code is a question number.

In the case of this example, two types of question data are defined according to the number of questions provided in the program. That is, in the case of question data when the number of questions is 10 or less, the question data packet identification code is [B].
The question number is represented by a single digit number [0] to [9]. When the number of questions exceeds 10, the question data packet identification code is [C] and the question number is a two-digit number [10].
It is represented by [99].

That is, the number of questions provided in the program is 10
In the following cases, only the question data of the packet identification code [B] is broadcast. If the number of questions exceeds 10,
For questions with question numbers [0] to [9], question data with packet identification code [B] is broadcast, and for questions with question numbers [10] and above, question data with packet identification code [C] is sent. , The packet identification code [B] is broadcast after the question data.

After the question number, option data for each of the plurality of options broadcast in the program for the question of the question number is inserted. A symbol [*], which is a separator (separation mark), is inserted between each option data.

In the case of this example, each option data is composed of the option number and the response destination telephone number (telegon service telephone number) assigned to the option. In this case, the options for one question are
Up to 100 items can be set, and therefore the option number is any of [00] to [99]. The option number may be a skip number instead of a continuous number.

Then, after the plurality of option data,
Check data for error detection is broadcast following the separator [*]. This check data is error detection data for all of the plurality of option data, and for example, simple parity such as checksum can be used.

After the check data, information on the response permission time range is broadcast. In the case of this example, 0 to 9 minutes can be determined as the response permission time range. The question data ends with the information of the response permission time range, and the packet end code [DD] is broadcast last.

In the case of this example, since the telegon service is used for the response, the response destination telephone number assigned to each option is [01800XXXXXXX] (X is an arbitrary number between 0 and 9). .

[Broadcasting procedure of interactive program-related information] FIG.
Shows a procedure on the broadcasting station side for broadcasting interactive program-related information. The double frame shows the in-program broadcasting performed by the broadcasting station accompanying the broadcasting of the interactive program related information, and other operations. FIG. 11 shows the flow of question data, which is interactive program-related information sent at this time.

As shown in FIG. 10, in order to start accepting a response on the broadcast station side, first, control data for starting a response is broadcast (step 101). In this example, the response start control data has the symbol [AA] as shown in FIG.
Of the DTMF signal.

After that, when the question is broadcast (S1) in the program viewed on the television receiver, the question data relating to the question broadcast in the program is multiplexed and broadcast as a DTMF signal on the main broadcast audio signal. (Step 102).
For this question, there was a response from the viewer within the response permission time range described above, and the number of incoming telephone numbers for each of the multiple options for the question was sent from the telegon system of the telephone station to the broadcasting station as a voting result. As notified, the broadcasting station receives this voting result (S2) and broadcasts this voting result in the program (S3).

Then, the above-mentioned processing is repeated until the broadcasting of the preset number of questions scheduled as the program program in advance is finished (step 103). When the broadcasting of the preset number of questions is finished, the broadcast of the question ending in the program is completed. Do (S
4).

After the question end is broadcast, the response end control data is broadcast (step 104). In this example,
The control data for ending the response is composed of the DTMF signal representing the symbol [AD] as shown in FIG.

[Structure of Adapter Device] FIG. 6 shows a specific structure example of the adapter device main body 22 of the receiving device system 20 shown in FIG.

As described above, in this example, the adapter device main body 22 has a function of sending a response to the interactive program through the telephone line 31, that is, a calling function to a telephone number corresponding to an option for a question, and a television set. The sound from the speaker 21SP of the receiver 21 is picked up and the DTM in the sound is collected.
It has a function of extracting only the F sound and decoding the interactive program related information, and a function of receiving an infrared remote control signal from the remote commander 23.

The adapter device body 22 of this example is
As described above, it also has a function as a hands-free phone that positively utilizes the function of sending a response to an interactive program via a telephone line. Therefore, first, an NCU (Network Control Unit) system for this telephone function will be described.

Between the modular jack 201 on the telephone line side and the modular jack 202 on the external telephone side,
Off-hook detection circuit 20 of external telephone 24 shown in FIG.
3 are connected. The off-hook detection circuit 203 detects the off-hook when the external telephone 24 connected to the modular jack 202 is off-hooked, and notifies the microcomputer 300 of the adapter device body 22 of the detected output. .

Modular jack 201 on the telephone line side
In addition, the surge protection circuit 204 and the ring detection circuit 20
5, polarity reversal detection circuit 206, dial switch 207
And the transformer 209 via the hook switch 208.
Connected to. Here, the line side and the microcomputer 300 side are insulated.

The ring detection circuit 205 detects a calling signal in which a voltage of 16 Hz and 75 V is intermittent when an incoming call is received through a telephone line, and notifies the microcomputer 300 of the detection output.

The polarity reversal detection circuit 206 detects that the polarity of the telephone line has been reversed, and outputs the detection output to the microcomputer 3
00 is notified. Accordingly, the microcomputer 300 recognizes that the line is connected, that is, that the incoming call is made for the outgoing call.

The dial switch 207 dials according to the line type and dial data sent from the microcomputer 300 through the dialer 210 at the time of calling. The line type is set by the user using a line type setting DIP switch (not shown). The microcomputer 300 is
If the setting is a dial line, the dial switch 207 is controlled via the dialer 210, and 10 pps / 2 is set.
Dial with a 0 pps pulse, and if the setting is push line, send amplifier 21 via dialer 210.
1 to send a PB signal (DTMF signal) to dial.

The dial data is stored in the adapter device main body 22.
When the remote commander 23 is used as a hands-free telephone, the microcomputer 300 receives a key operation for inputting the telephone number of the user, and the microcomputer 300 sends it out. When the adapter device body 22 and the remote commander 23 are used as response devices for interactive programs, the response destination telephone numbers stored in the memory of the microcomputer 300 (options sent from the broadcasting station as interactive program related information). Each telephone number) is read out and sent from the microcomputer 300 to be automatically dialed.

The hook switch 208 is the microcomputer 300.
The control from switches between on-hook (line open) and off-hook (DC loop closed). In the case of this example, the hook switch 208 is switched according to the operation of the on-hook button 23b and the off-hook button 23a shown in FIG. 1 of the remote commander 23.

The speakerphone 212 is a speech path circuit for performing 2-line to 4-line conversion, and supplies the other party's voice (received voice) sent from the telephone line through the transformer 209 to the speaker 22SP via the speaker amplifier 213. , The microphone amplifier 2 picks up the sound with the microphone 22MC.
The voice through 14 (sending voice) is sent to the telephone line through the transformer 209.

The received voice from the transformer 209 is
It is supplied to the tone detection circuit 215. The tone detection circuit 215 detects various call progress tones such as a busy tone (busy tone), a ring back tone, and a dial tone, and notifies the microcomputer 300 of them.

Further, the DTMF receiver 217 extracts the DTMF signal from the input audio signal and outputs it as [0]-.
Numerical value of [9] and [#] [*] [A] [B] [C] [D]
Decode to information such as symbols. In the DTMF receiver 217, either the voice received through the transformer 209 or the voice picked up by the microphone 22MC and passed through the microphone amplifier 214 is supplied to the analog switch circuit 21.
6 is selected and input. The analog switch circuit 216 receives the switching signal from the microcomputer 300,
Switching is performed so that a voice signal from the microphone amplifier 214 is selected during a non-call and a received voice signal from the transformer 209 is selected during a call.

DTM from this DTMF receiver 217
The decode signal of the F signal is supplied to the microcomputer 300. The microcomputer 300 extracts the question data described above from the decoded signal of the DTMF signal and performs the processing according to the extracted question data. This processing will be described later.

The microcomputer 300 is constructed as a so-called one-chip microcomputer, and has a built-in CPU, a ROM storing a control program to be executed by the CPU and fixed data, and a nonvolatile RAM and a volatile RAM. In the case of this example, the ID memory 21 is provided outside the microcomputer 300.
8 are connected. The ID memory 218 is composed of an electrically erasable and writable ROM, and identification information unique to each device (hereinafter, the identification information is referred to as an ID) is set at the time of factory shipment, and user input settings are made. Thus, the user ID such as the user's telephone number is registered.

In this example, the microcomputer 300
When the tone detection circuit 215 obtains a busy tone (busy tone) detection signal and the line is not opened,
The hook switch 208 is controlled to open the line.

The display element 22LD is the adapter device body 2
2 power on / off status, DTM required for response
The status of receiving and decoding the F signal, the telephone number of the response destination, and the like are displayed. The microcomputer 300 controls lighting, turning off, and blinking.

The light receiving portion 22PD is a remote commander 23.
It receives the infrared remote control signal from and sends the remote control signal to the microcomputer 300. The microcomputer 300 has a built-in demodulator to decode this remote control signal.

The alarm buzzer 219 is used to inform the viewer that the response operation is inappropriate when the response operation is performed outside the time limit.
Controlled by 0.

The remote commander 23 includes a microcomputer 231 configured as a one-chip microcomputer, a button group 232 such as the off-hook button 23a, the on-hook button 23b, and the numeric keypad button 23K shown in FIG. 1, and a transmitting section 233 having a light emitting section 23SD. Consists of. As will be described in detail later, the microcomputer 231 uses the button group 2 at a constant cycle.
When 32 is scanned and a button press is detected, and when a button press is detected, a command corresponding to the pressed button is sent to the transmission unit 233. The transmitting unit 233 transmits the command as an infrared remote control signal from the light emitting unit 23SD.

[Use of Adapter Device as Hands-Free Telephone] When making a call using the adapter device 25 as a hands-free telephone, as described above, after pressing the off-hook button 23a of the remote commander 23, the other party is pressed by the ten-key button 23K. Dial in the destination phone number. The microcomputer 231 of the remote commander 23 detects this and displays the off-hook state by turning on the LED (light emitting diode) embedded in the off-hook button 23a, for example, and displays the information on the depression of the off-hook button 23a from the light emitting unit 23SD. The microcomputer 300 of the adapter device main body 22 is notified, and then the information of the input destination telephone number is notified.

The microcomputer 300 displays the destination telephone number on the display element 22LD and controls the above NCU system to dial the destination. Then, after waiting for the response of the other party, the DC loop is closed and the call is ready. In this call-enabled state, the user is
The transmitted voice is sent from C, and the received voice from the other party is heard from the speaker 22SP.

When the call ends, the on-hook button 23b is pressed. Then, the microcomputer 231 turns off the LED of the off-hook button 23a and turns on the LED embedded in the on-hook button 23b only while the on-hook button 23b is being pressed. Then, the remote commander 23 uses the on-hook button 23.
The information of the pressing of b is provided to the microcomputer 300 of the adapter device main body 22.
To notify. In response to this, the microcomputer 300 controls the hook switch 208 to open the line.

When answering an incoming call from the other party, the off-hook button 23a is pressed. The adapter device main body 22 receives a remote control signal for pressing the off-hook button 23a from the remote commander 23, closes the DC loop, and puts the telephone in a call-enabled state. After that, it is almost the same as when making a call.

[Reception of Interactive Program Related Information by Adapter Device and Response to Interactive Program] Adapter device 2
5, when receiving the interactive program related information from the television receiver and responding to the interactive program, the adapter device main body 22 is placed in the vicinity of the television receiver 21 as described in FIG.

In this case, when the off-hook button 23a or the on-hook button 23b of the remote commander 23 is not operated, the analog switch circuit 216 of the adapter device body 22 shown in FIG. 6 is switched to the microphone amplifier 214 side, and the DTMF receiver 217 is The DTMF sound included in the sound emitted from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21 is extracted. Then, the decoded signal of the DTMF signal from the DTMF receiver 217 is supplied to the microcomputer 300.

Upon receiving the response start information [AA] shown in FIG. 11, the microcomputer 300 receives the adapter device main body 22.
Is switched from the standby state to the packet data receivable state, and the internal memory and other necessary parts are initialized.

Then, in the packet data receivable state, the microcomputer 300 extracts the question data which is the interactive program related information, and executes the following processing.

That is, the microcomputer 300 extracts the question data from the decoded signal of the DTMF signal from the DTMF receiver 217, and stores the question number, the option number and the response destination telephone number shown in FIG. 9 in the internal memory. Completion of registration in the internal memory is performed by the light emitting element 2 shown in FIG.
The viewer is notified by turning on the light emitting element 22LDb shown in FIG. 1 in the 2LD.

After confirming that the light emitting element 22LDb is turned on, the viewer performs a response operation. This response operation is an operation of inputting one of a plurality of options given to the question broadcasted or a plurality of required numbers,
This is done by the ten key button 23K of the remote commander 23. The microcomputer 300 determines the response operation by taking in the remote control signal from the remote commander 23 via the light receiving unit 22PD.

The microcomputer 300 refers to the internal memory from the option number of the judgment result, reads out the response destination telephone number assigned to the option number, and automatically dials by the NCU system to issue a response. . At that time, the option number of the determination result and the telephone number of the answer destination are displayed by the light emitting element 22LDa shown in FIG. 1 in the light emitting element 22LD.

The microcomputer 300 also measures the time from when the question data is obtained, and determines whether or not a response operation is performed within the response permission time in the question data. And
When the response operation is performed when the response permission time is exceeded, the alarm buzzer 219 is driven to notify the responder that there is a response error, and the above-mentioned automatic dialing response is not issued.

Upon receiving the response end information [AD] shown in FIG. 11, the microcomputer 300 receives the adapter device main body 22.
From the packet data receivable state to the standby state.

In this way, the respondent can respond to the interactive program by selecting the option number for each question and operating the ten-key button 23K of the remote commander 23. It is not necessary to operate the off-hook button 23a or dial the telephone number.

In this example, since the response uses the telegong service as the telephone voting service, it ends when the incoming call to the subscriber exchange 32 of the telephone central office system 30 is completed, and the minimum call charge is required. In this case, the adapter device main body 22 automatically enters the on-hook state (line open state) in response to the line disconnection on the telephone office side.

The processing flow of the above microcomputer 300 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In the microcomputer 300, in the standby state, the DTMF receiver 217 sets the DTMF receiver DT at regular intervals.
It is checked whether MF sound is detected (step 40).
1).

In step 401, the DTMF receiver 217
When the DTMF sound is detected by the
The receiver 217 is caused to decode the DTMF signal (step 402), and then it is determined whether or not the data packet of the question data or the interactive program related information such as response start or response end (step 403). If it is not the interactive program related information, the process returns to step 401. If it is the interactive program related information, the process following FIG. 13 is performed, and then the process returns to step 401.

In step 401, the DTMF receiver 217
When it is determined that the DTMF sound is not detected, the process proceeds to step 404, and it is determined whether the response start information is received and is in the receivable state. If it is not in the receivable state, the process returns to step 401, and if it is in the receivable state, the process proceeds to step 405 to determine whether or not the remote control signal from the remote commander 23 is received. If the remote control signal is not received, the process returns to step 401,
When the remote control signal is received, the process following FIG. 14 is performed, and then the process returns to step 401.

When it is determined in step 403 that the DTMF signal is the interactive program-related information, it is next determined whether or not it is the response start information [AA] (step 411). If it is the response start information [AA], the process proceeds to step 412, the adapter device main body 22 shifts from the standby state to the receivable state, the internal memory is initialized, and the process returns to step 401.

When it is determined in step 411 that the interactive program-related information is not the response start information [AA], the process proceeds to step 413, and it is determined whether the interactive end program information is the response end information [AD]. If the response end information is [AD], the process proceeds to step 414, where the adapter device main body 22
Is shifted from the receivable state to the standby state, and the process returns to step 401.

When it is determined in step 413 that the interactive program related information is not the response end information [AD], the process proceeds to step 415 to determine whether it is question data. If it is question data, the question data is saved (step 416), the response completion flag is set off (step 417), the response permission time is further measured (step 418), and the process returns to step 401.

When it is determined in step 415 that the interactive program-related information is not question data, the process directly returns to step 401.

When it is determined in step 405 that the remote control signal is received, the process proceeds to step 421, and it is determined whether the received remote control signal is a response operation signal, that is, an option number signal. If it is not a response operation,
Processing other than the response operation is performed (step 422) and the process returns to step 401.

When it is determined in step 421 that the operation is a response operation, the process proceeds to step 423 to determine whether the question data has been received. If it has not been received,
The alarm buzzer 219 notifies the responder of the operation error (step 424), and the process returns to step 401.

If it is determined in step 423 that the question data has been received, the process proceeds to step 425 to determine whether the response to the question has already been completed. If the response to the question is completed, the alarm buzzer 219 notifies the responder of the operation error (step 42).
6) and returns to step 401. That is, in this example,
Only the first response is valid.

When it is determined in step 425 that the response to the question is not completed, the process proceeds to step 427,
It is determined whether the response is made within the response permission time. When the permission time is exceeded, the responder is notified by the alarm buzzer 219 that an operation error has occurred (step 428) and the process returns to step 401.

When it is determined in step 427 that the response has been made within the response permission time, the process proceeds to step 431, the response destination telephone number corresponding to the response option number is automatically dialed, and then proceeds to step 432, After confirming the incoming call to the other party, the on-hook state (line open state)
Then, the process proceeds to step 433, the response completion flag is turned on to end the response, and the process returns to step 401.

[Volume Suppression During Off-Hook by Remote Control of Adapter Device] As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the remote commander 23 has an off-hook button 23a, an on-hook button 23b, a ten-key button 23K, and an entry button 23c. , Microcomputer 231, amplifier 23AM,
And a light emitting unit 23SD. Further, the remote commander 23 is provided with a driving battery 234.

As shown in FIG. 3, the television receiver 21 is
The remote controller for the television receiver 21 has a light receiving portion 21PD for receiving an infrared remote control signal from the remote controller, and the remote controller for the television receiver 21 enables tuning, volume adjustment, and volume suppression. It

Then, the microcomputer 231 of the remote commander 23 shown in FIG. 2B of the adapter device 25 is configured as a so-called one-chip microcomputer, and includes a CPU, RO
In addition to incorporating M and non-volatile RAM and volatile RAM, the ROM stores a control program to be executed by the CPU, telephone commands such as off-hook and on-hook, and a manufacturer-specific command table for TV receivers. It

That is, in the ROM of the microcomputer 231,
When the adapter device 25 is shipped from the factory, various commands including a volume suppression command for each manufacturer of the television receiver are stored.

However, from the microcomputer 231, if the user does not perform the registration operation for each manufacturer, which will be described later,
When the off-hook button 23a is pressed, an off-hook command is obtained, and a volume suppression command for a television set manufactured by a specific manufacturer is obtained as a volume suppression command, and the user performs a registration operation for each manufacturer, which will be described later. In this case, when the off-hook button 23a is pressed, the off-hook command is obtained, and the volume suppression command for the television receiver manufactured by the manufacturer registered by the user as the volume suppression command is obtained.

Therefore, when the television receiver 21 for viewing an interactive program or another program is manufactured by a manufacturer other than a specific manufacturer, the user performs a registration operation for each manufacturer in advance, which will be described later. .

The entry button 23c is arranged in the recess to prevent erroneous operation and is difficult to press.

FIG. 4 shows a series of processes executed by the microcomputer 231. After starting the microcomputer 231, step 50
1, the button group 232 including the off-hook button 23a, the on-hook button 23b, the ten-key button 23K, and the entry button 23c is scanned at a constant cycle.

Next, in step 502, it is determined whether or not any button is pressed. If any button is pressed, the process proceeds to step 503 to check whether or not the entry button 23c is pressed. to decide.
When the entry button 23c is pressed, in step 504, the microcomputer 231 performs registration processing for each manufacturer based on the above-described registration operation for each manufacturer by the user.

That is, when the TV receiver 21 is manufactured by a manufacturer other than a specific manufacturer,
The user inputs the two-digit number determined according to the maker into the remote commander 23 by pressing the entry button 23c and then the ten-key button 23K. In step 504, the microcomputer 231 operates. Register the manufacturer of the television receiver 21 instructed by the user.

At step 503, the entry button 23c
When it is determined that any button other than the buttons is pressed, the microcomputer 231 selects a command corresponding to the pressed button in step 505, and transmits the infrared remote control signal from the light emitting unit 23SD in step 506. For example, when the off-hook button 23a is pressed at the time of making or receiving a call, an off-hook remote control signal is transmitted from the light emitting section 23SD, and the off-hook remote control signal is received by the light receiving section 22PD of the adapter device main body 22, and as described above. It goes off-hook.

After transmitting the remote control signal corresponding to the pressed button in this way, the microcomputer 231 proceeds to step 507, determines whether the pressed button is the off-hook button 23a, and presses it. When the button is the off-hook button 23a, the process further proceeds to step 508, and the user performs the above registration operation for each manufacturer of the television receiver 21, that is, for the specific manufacturer when the user does not perform the above registration operation. In the case of performing, the volume suppression command for the manufacturer registered in step 504 is read out, and in step 509, it is transmitted from the light emitting unit 23SD as a volume suppression remote control signal.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the adapter device main body 22 includes the speakers 21SP to D of the television receiver 21.
The interactive program related information obtained as TMF sound is placed in the vicinity of the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21 in order to be received by the DTMF receiver 217 shown in FIG. 6 via the microphone 22MC. Further, the remote commander 23 is detached from the adapter device main body 22 and placed at or near the viewer so that the viewer can watch the interactive program or other programs and respond to the interactive program. Own.

When a viewer receives an interactive program or another program in such a state and an incoming call is received from one of the other parties to the adapter device main body 22, the viewer receives a television image. The off-hook button 23a of the remote commander 23 may be pressed without operating the remote controller for the machine 21.

By pressing the off-hook button 23a, as described above and as shown in FIG. 3B, an off-hook remote control signal is sent from the light emitting portion 23SD of the remote commander 23 to the light receiving portion 22PD of the adapter device main body 22. The OFC is transmitted, the line goes off-hook, and the adapter device main body 22 enables communication with the other party, and the light emitting unit 23S of the remote commander 23
A volume-suppressing remote control signal MUC is transmitted from D to the light receiving portion 21PD of the television receiver 21, and the television receiver 2
The volume of 1 is suppressed. That is, the sound of the television receiver 21 is completely muted or lowered to a sufficiently low level.

Therefore, the viewer is the television receiver 21.
It does not require a troublesome operation such as pressing the off-hook button 23a of the remote commander 23 in order to respond to an incoming call from the other party by operating the remote control for the TV receiver 21 and suppressing the volume of the TV receiver 21. The volume of the television receiver 21 can be suppressed and a call can be made with the other party by a simple operation and time and effort required only by pressing the off-hook button 23a of the remote commander 23 once.

Further, by forgetting to operate the remote controller for the TV receiver 21 or not operating the remote controller for the TV receiver 21 because it is troublesome, the speaker 21SP of the TV receiver 21 is operated. Sound is not picked up by the microphone 22MC of the adapter device main body 22 to deteriorate the communication state or cause howling.

Even when a person watching an interactive program or another program on the television receiver 21 makes a call from the remote commander 23, the remote commander 23 is operated without operating the remote controller for the television receiver 21. The off-hook button 23a may be pressed. However, in this case, after pressing the off-hook button 23a, the other party's telephone number is dialed by the ten-key button 23K.

By pressing the off-hook button 23a, the line goes off-hook and the volume of the television receiver 21 is suppressed, as in the case of an incoming call.
Therefore, the volume of the television receiver 21 can be suppressed by a simple operation and the trouble of only pressing the off-hook button 23a of the remote commander 23 once, and the other party's telephone number can be dialed thereafter to By making an off-hook response to the incoming call, it is possible to talk with the other party.

When it is determined in step 507 in FIG. 4 that the pressed button is not the off-hook button 23a, the microcomputer 231 proceeds to step 509 to determine whether the pressed button is the on-hook button 23b. When the pressed button is the on-hook button 23b, the process further proceeds to step 510, where a volume suppression command for each manufacturer of the television receiver 21 is read out, and in step 511, the light emitting section 23SD transmits the volume suppression remote control signal.

As described above, the volume suppression remote control signal MUC transmitted from the remote commander 23 by pressing the off-hook button 23a at the time of receiving or making a call.
The volume of the television receiver 21 whose volume has been suppressed by the on-hook button 23b is returned to the state immediately before the volume of the off-hook button 23a is pressed by the volume-suppressed remote control signal transmitted from the remote commander 23 again. .

[Other Embodiments] In the remote commander 23, in addition to the buttons shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a television receiver including an up / down button for channel selection and an up / down button for volume adjustment. 21 may be provided with operation buttons, and when these buttons are operated, a corresponding remote control signal may be transmitted to the light receiving unit 21PD of the television receiver 21.

The microcomputer 2 of the remote commander 23
A manufacturer-specific command table for the television receiver is prepared in 31. When the off-hook button 23a is pressed, a volume suppression command for the television receiver 21 is read from the manufacturer-specific command table, instead of the remote commander 23. A light receiving unit for receiving a volume suppressing remote control signal from the remote controller for the television receiver 21 is provided, and the user once transmits a volume suppressing remote control signal from the remote controller for the TV receiver 21 to the light receiving unit of the remote commander 23. , The microcomputer 231 of the remote commander 23 learns a volume suppression command for the television receiver 21 from the volume suppression remote control signal, and when the off-hook button 23a is subsequently pressed, the learned television receiver 21 is accompanied with the off-hook command.
It is also possible to send a volume suppression command for the.

In the above-mentioned example, as shown in FIG. 6, the adapter device body 22 has an NCU system and is directly connected to the telephone line. However, the adapter device body 22 is a microphone for transmission. 22MC and speaker 22 for receiving
Even if it has an SP, it also receives interactive program related information obtained as DTMF sound from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21, and automatically responds to the corresponding telephone number of the response destination in response to the response operation in the remote commander 23. Even for dialing, a cordless slave unit is configured together with the remote commander 23, and a master unit that has an NCU system and is connected to a telephone line is provided separately from the remote commander 23, and the cordless unit is connected between the master unit and the slave unit. You may make it communicate by. However, it does not matter whether or not the parent device has a handset and can directly make a call and receive an incoming call.

The interactive program-related information may be multiplexed with the main broadcast audio signal and broadcast in a format other than the DTMF signal as long as it can be separated from the main broadcast audio signal.

The present invention can also be applied when the interactive program is broadcast by satellite broadcasting or cable television broadcasting. Further, the interactive program broadcast or audio output device is not limited to the television broadcast or the television receiver, and may be a radio broadcast or a radio receiver.

[0143]

As described above, according to the present invention, the volume of the audio output device can be suppressed at the time of making a call and receiving a call with a simple labor and operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an appearance of an example of an adapter device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance and a circuit configuration of the remote controller of the example of FIG.

3 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the main body of the adapter device and the remote controller of the example of FIG. 1 and a television receiver.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the remote controller in the example of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an interactive program broadcasting system.

6 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of the adapter device main body of the example of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a DTMF signal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a DTMF signal.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of question data.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a broadcasting procedure in an interactive program.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data flow when broadcasting interactive program-related information.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a part of a procedure of receiving interactive program related information and responding to the interactive program by the adapter device body of the example of FIG. 6;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing another part of the procedure.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the rest of the procedure.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a telephone voting service.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 TV receiver (audio output device) 21SP speaker 21PD light receiving unit 22 adapter device body 22PD light receiving unit 22MC microphone 22SP speaker 217 DTMF receiver (receiving unit) 300 microcomputer (calling unit) 23 remote commander 23a off-hook button 23b on-hook button 23K numeric keypad Button 23SD Light emitting part 231 Microcomputer (control means) 25 Adapter device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An adapter device comprising: operating means for off-hook operation of a telephone; and control means for issuing an off-hook command and a volume suppression command to an audio output device when the operating means is operated. . 2. The adapter device according to claim 1, wherein the adapter device comprises an adapter device main body and a remote commander separate from the adapter device main body, and the remote commander, together with the operating means for the off-hook operation, It has an operating means for on-hook operation and an operating means for dialing a telephone number, and when each operating means is operated, a command corresponding to each is transmitted, and the adapter device body is the remote controller. An adapter device having a microphone for transmission and a speaker for reception together with a light receiving unit for receiving a command from a commander. 3. The adapter device according to claim 2, wherein the adapter device body is input as a sound from the audio output device to the microphone in an interactive program which expects a response of a viewer via a telephone line. , A receiving unit that receives interactive program related information including a response destination telephone number specified in the interactive program, and automatically dials a corresponding response destination telephone number in response to a response operation of the viewer on the remote commander. A calling device, and an adapter device.