Remote control device for home audio system

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a remote control device for a home audio player, particularly a remote control device having a docking device with an audio player for downloading information to the remote control device.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

There are a variety of prior art remote controls capable of communicating with hosts of various controllers, including television, VCR and audio equipment. Depending on the application of the remote control device, there are some common functions, but on / off function, volume control function, for example, channel or music track selection function, fast forward, rewind, scan, etc. Functions can be used. In the case of a remote control device for an audio device, it is highly desirable to have a function of selecting according to the content from a collection of music housed in a jukebox type device. For example, such a device can be made in the form of a compact disc (CD ROM) player capable of accommodating multiple discs.

【0003】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, compact discs and other recording media have some significant drawbacks in their ability to access information about their content from a distance. One of the drawbacks is that with current recording technology, it is usually not possible to register the content of information stored on a recording medium before the player selects a song. That is, in order to obtain arbitrary information about the content of a particular music selected, such music selection must first be performed manually in advance by a player or remote control device. Alternatively, some music players can be manually programmed to play some song selections at the user's input, in which case the song selections can be done from a distance. ..

【0004】

In either case, music cannot be automatically searched and played by genre such as performer, music type, etc., unless the user has prior knowledge about music selection. The above knowledge must include, at a minimum, the exact location of the song selection on the recording medium, how to set the playing device at that position, and a searchable index for searching for the song selection and its position. Must be. Primarily due to limitations within the recording medium, many of these functions cannot be achieved at a better cost / performance of the performer, nor can they be performed efficiently. Moreover, it is not possible to do such a thing by remote control.

【0005】

The latest technological innovation in audio recording for users is a method of storing pre-recorded audio on a medium called a semiconductor music chip. The digital data stored on the music chip can be accessed by a semiconductor audio player having a digital signal processor that converts the stored digital data into an audio signal. Until recently, storing digital data for playing popular music albums on a single semiconductor chip was not feasible because it required a large amount of memory and the large amount of memory was expensive. .. However, advances in data compression technology have made it possible to store the entire album on a small semiconductor chip. Now that some selected music can be stored on a semiconductor music chip, the types of information that can be stored and the way in which such information is accessed have become extremely flexible. For example, information about the type of music and the content of each performer can be stored in the semiconductor music chip and can be accessed by the player, so that the user does not need to know in advance. General music selection can be performed. The ability to select songs from a distance based on general content information has greatly increased the appeal of solid-state music systems using semiconductor chip music storage media.

【0006】

Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a remote control device for an audio system that allows a user to easily access information about general content and selection from a recording medium from a distance. is there. Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote control device that can easily update information on music selection that can be used from a distance.

【0007】

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention relates to a remote control device for use with a home audio player. The audio player is designed to play pre-recorded music on a semiconductor music chip storage medium. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the remote control device is a battery-powered, portable device capable of selecting its own music by an audio player from a remote location. The normal notification distance of the remote control device is almost the same as the notification distance of the remote control of a commercially available standard television.

【0008】

The remote controller includes an LCD display, a set of control buttons and an infrared communication interface for transmitting data to and receiving data from the audio player. There is a docking port in the audio player for connecting to a remote controller to download information about the general content about each music chip that is stored in the audio player and that it is loading. It is installed in. The download procedure is started by pressing one or more predetermined buttons on the remote controller or audio player, and the information is transmitted through the interface using infrared energy.

【0009】

The processor in the remote controller gives commands to the user through a software routine with menus for selecting songs by the audio player. The user can scroll through various menus with the operation pointer. The soft keys of the remote controller perform various functions depending on their position in the software routine according to the menu. For example, the user can play individual music tracks according to the type of music, the performer, or a particular song. Other functions of the remote controller include playing, pausing, scanning (forward and reverse), fast scanning, and on / off and volume control.

【0010】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a remote control device used in conjunction with a solid state audio player that plays music recorded on a semiconductor music chip recording medium. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a solid state audio system 10 using the remote control device 30 of the present invention. One or more music chips 16 are connected to the audio player 12 by a music storage tray 20. The audio player 12 is powered by a digital signal processor (DSP) 14 for communicating through the music tray 20 to access information from the music chip.

【0011】

In addition to the DSP 14 and music tray 20, a stereo coder / decoder (codec) 18, keypad 22, display 24, and remote control interface 26 are included as part of the main hardware architecture of the audio player. .. The remote control device 30 communicates with the audio player 12 by means of the remote control interface 26. The keypad, display and remote control interface are connected to the relevant interface logic in the form of an ASIC 27 and include a user interface that allows you to make your own song selection. The audio player 12 decodes the bitstream read from the selected music chip 16 and outputs the music through an output device such as a speaker or headphones.

【0012】

The music chip 16 used with the audio player 12 is essentially a memory device that has digital data stored on it that corresponds to pre-recorded music. The pre-recorded audio data is stored on the chip 16 in a compressed format by an audio coding algorithm. This algorithm reduces the amount of digital information that must be stored from the master recording, but when this data is read back, it can be reproduced with essentially the same sound quality. In order to store a sufficient amount of data to make the playing time of the music on chip 16 the same as the playing time of the current album, it is necessary to code using this algorithm. When the chip is mounted, other information about the musical content of the chip, including the type of music, the performer, and specific addressing information, is stored in a series of headers from which it is downloaded to the audio player. For a more detailed description of the data storage protocol associated with music chips, see the related US Patent Application No. 08/447321 entitled "Data Protocol for Music Chips" assigned to the assignee of the present invention. I want you to.

【0013】

FIG. 2, which is related to FIG. 1, shows an exemplary embodiment of an audio player 12 using the remote control device 30 of the present invention. The audio player 12 is a home / commercial quasi-stationary device that is intended to be incorporated into, connected to, and used by the user's current entertainment system. The audio player 12 includes a base 32 and a hierarchical top 34 that houses the music tray 20. The base contains DSP14, codec 18, and related logic that is the interface for the user. The remote control device 30 is also included in the system as part of the user interface so that the user can operate it from a distance. A docking port capable of accommodating the remote control device 30 is housed in the base, and music selection information is downloaded to the remote control device so that the user can perform intelligent song selection. A preferred embodiment of the remote control interface 26 of the present invention, which is installed in a docking port, uses an infrared communication method, in which information is optically transmitted through the remote control interface to the remote control device. It is transmitted from the remote control device. However, please understand that plug-in docking devices can be used as well. In this case, the remote controller and the audio player are physically connected to perform the download.

【0014】

FIG. 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the remote control device 30 of the present invention. Within this remote controller is an LCD display 40, a communication interface 42 and a series of select buttons. The select button includes an operating pointer 46, a volume / power control combination button 48 and a set of "soft" function keys 51-56, but may also include others. The operation pointer 46 controls the cursor 47 displayed on the LCD display 40, and the cursor moves in at least four different directions corresponding to the indicators on the operation pointer. Depending on the firmware routine used in the remote control device 30, multi-directional movement, that is, diagonal movement can also be performed. The function of the operating pointer 46 is similar to a joystick mechanism or mouse, allowing you to select a portion of the display after moving the cursor 47 there.

【0015】

Volume / power control can be performed by a combination switch 48 capable of producing three different outputs. In one preferred application, pressing the combination switch 48 on one side of the switch reduces the volume and pressing the switch on the opposite side increases the volume. When the combination switch 48 in the central portion 58 is pressed, the contacts on both sides of the switch come into contact to produce a third output that turns the audio player on and off. For a more detailed description of the combination switch, see U.S. Patent Application No. 08/447328 entitled "Button Interface for State Machines."

【0016】

The soft function keys 51-56 are used to select various functions encoded in the software from the menu of the remote controller. The individual keys perform different functions according to the menu on the LCD display 40. Figure 4 shows an example of how to use softkeys 51-56 when the LCD40 displays six commonly used remote control commands. Icons 61-66 indicating each command, namely forward feed 61, reverse feed 62, forward fast forward 63, reverse fast forward 64, play 655 and pause 66, are shown on the display 40, but individually. Softkeys 51-56 correspond to each command. Press the softkey to make the appropriate selection.

【0017】

FIG. 5 shows an example of a display screen in which the operation pointer can be used advantageously. The matrix on the display 40 corresponds to the music chips on one music storage tray. The text screen and / or graph screen 68 for each mounted chip is for each music chip housed in the tray 20. The operation pointer 46 is used to move the cursor 47 to a selected location in the matrix. For example, the selection can be made by clicking or pressing the operation pointer 46 to perform the selected function, much like "clicking" a button on the mouse of a peripheral device. The selection command causes the user to move to the next level of the menu display program in the remote controller 30 or to perform the selected function completely. Please understand that there is another way to display information in the form of a table, as an alternative to displaying the information in the form of a matrix. In this case, the user can use the operation pointer 46 to scroll the display. In addition, please understand that the button layout shown in Figure 3 is for illustration purposes only and those skilled in the art can choose other layouts to perform similar functions.

【0018】

As described in FIG. 2, information about the content from the music player is downloaded to the remote controller 30 when the remote controller is connected to the docking port 38 of the audio player 12. A series of button operations or a series of command inputs is performed according to the audio player 12 to start the download. Another way to start the download is to use one or more keys on the remote controller.

【0019】

Information about what is downloaded to the remote controller is stored in individual music chips 16 within a series of headers. A portion of the memory of each music chip inserted in the audio player is allocated for the table of contents. How the tracks are selected on the music chip is recorded in each header as part of the table of contents above. This table of contents contains information about playing times, song titles, music types and performers. With this information, the music chip 16 self-registers when mounted in the containment tray 20 of the audio player 12, so that the user first obtains information about the content of the individual music. Eliminates the need to access the chip.

【0020】

FIG. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of the individual headers 80 corresponding to one track on one music chip 16. Each header contains the type of music the track is recording, such as classical, jazz, country, rock, and so on. The individual header 80 also includes a performer field 84 that displays the performer and addressing information 86 that details the start and end addresses of each selected track. The individual header information is self-registered in the RAM on the audio player when the music chip 16 is inserted and powered.

【0021】

The idea of using separate headers allows the user to make music selections by music type or performer, which further improves the overall flexibility of the system. For example, a user can randomly listen to country western all night long, or listen to a song by a particular performer, such as Billy Joel. Music can be played randomly or sequentially, or only specific music can be listened to at the request of the user. The header information is downloaded from the music chip to the audio player, eg, the memory associated with each individual containment tray. Then, when the connection is made and the download command is executed, the same information, or the corresponding information, is sent to the remote controller. By transferring information about content selection, the user can intelligently select general or specific content with a remote controller without looking at the display on the audio player.

【0022】

FIG. 7, which is related to FIG. 1, shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the remote control device 30 of the present invention. As described in FIG. 3, the remote controller includes an LCD 40 and a button 44 for entering user commands. The LCD and buttons are connected to processor 90 by logic interface 92. The bidirectional bus 94 is connected from the processor 90 to the infrared transmission / reception circuit 96 in the communication interface 42. The transmit / receive circuit 96 converts the digital bitstream from the remote controller 30 and receives the corresponding infrared energy in a known manner and by the infrared transmit / receive circuit of the remote control interface 26 of the audio player 12. Send at a frequency that allows. The remote controller interface receives infrared energy and reconverts this information into a digital signal, which is processed by processor 14 of the audio player 12. In a similar manner, the transmit / receive circuit 96 receives infrared communications from the audio player when the remote control device 30 is connected. This information is digitally converted and processed by the remote control device. The infrared transmission method is an advantageous method. This is because the transmission can be performed with relatively low power consumption. As you can see, the power to the remote controller 30 is powered by a commercially available standard size battery. The firmware routine stored in the memory of the remote controller executes the selection routine by the menu. Please understand that the selection ability of the remote controller 30 depends on the selection information downloaded during the connection.

【0023】

From the above description, the examples shown in the drawings and described in the specification are for illustration purposes only, and those skilled in the art will appreciate various illustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Please understand that you can change it to and fix it. For example, as an alternative to the illustrated bidirectional infrared transmission method, a plug-in device can be used to physically connect the remote control device to the audio player for download. The data is then transferred between the audio player's connection leads and the remote controller. However, remote control commands continue to be transmitted using infrared energy. All of the above modifications and amendments are included in the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a solid state audio player for use with the remote control device of the present invention.

[Figure 2]

It is a preferred embodiment of a solid state home audio player including the remote control device of the present invention.

[Fig. 3]

It is a top view of the remote control device of the audio player of this invention.

[Fig. 4]

It is an example of a software screen display for a remote control device of the present invention in which an operation pointer can be used for scrolling.

[Fig. 5]

It is a second example of a screen display showing how to use the softkey function.

[Fig. 6]

This is an example of individual headers stored in a music chip.

[Fig. 7]

It is a block diagram of a preferable embodiment of the remote control device of this invention.