CN212113218U

CN212113218U - Voice control apparatus and voice control system

Info

Publication number: CN212113218U
Application number: CN201921608157.7U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王涛
Original assignee: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
Current assignee: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-25
Filing date: 2019-09-25
Publication date: 2020-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2029-09-25

Abstract

The embodiment of the disclosure discloses voice control equipment and a voice control system, the charging device comprises: a plurality of voice input means for acquiring a sound signal, and at the same time, one of the plurality of voice input means converts the acquired sound signal into an electric signal and outputs the electric signal to an external device, wherein the plurality of voice input means are backup to each other; the first switching device is used for switching the currently operated voice input device to another voice input device in the plurality of voice input devices to operate when the electric signal output by the currently operated voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, and can be used for backing up the voice input device and automatically switching when the electric signal output by the voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, so that the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

Description

Voice control apparatus and voice control system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of electronic technology, and more particularly, to a voice control device and a voice control system.

Background

Currently, more and more devices can be controlled by voice. However, the voice control technique in the related art often causes a problem in terms of stability. Meanwhile, the stability of the voice control technology is of great importance in the fields of aerospace, industry, collection, petroleum, automobiles and the like. Therefore, how to improve the stability of the voice control technology becomes more and more important.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

To solve the problems in the related art, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a voice control apparatus and a voice control system.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a voice control apparatus, including:

a plurality of voice input means for acquiring a sound signal, and at the same time, one of the plurality of voice input means converts the acquired sound signal into an electric signal and outputs the electric signal to an external device, wherein the plurality of voice input means are backup to each other;

and a first switching unit for switching the currently operating voice input unit to another voice input unit among the plurality of voice input units to operate when the electric signal output from the currently operating voice input unit cannot be transmitted to the external device.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first implementation manner of the first aspect, the present disclosure further includes:

and the network connection devices are used for being connected with the voice input devices and the external equipment, and one of the network connection devices transmits the electric signal output by the currently operated voice input device to the external equipment at the same time, wherein the network connection devices are backup to each other.

With reference to the first aspect or the first implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second implementation manner of the first aspect, the currently operating network connection device sends a heartbeat signal to the currently operating voice input device, and the currently operating network connection device determines that the current voice input device is in a normal operation state according to a received reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device.

With reference to the second implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third implementation manner of the first aspect, the currently operating network connection device sends a first switching instruction to the first switching device according to that no reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device is received, so as to switch from the currently operating voice input device to another voice input device of the plurality of voice input devices for operation.

With reference to the third implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the first aspect, the present disclosure further includes:

and second switching means for switching the currently operating network connection means to another network connection means among the plurality of network connection means to operate according to the fact that the currently operating network connection means does not receive any reply of the heartbeat signal from the voice input means.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a speech control system, including:

a voice control apparatus, comprising:

a first switching means for switching from the currently operating voice input means to another voice input means among the plurality of voice input means to operate when the electric signal output from the currently operating voice input means cannot be transmitted to the external device;

and the external equipment is used for executing operation according to the received electric signal output by the currently operated voice input device.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first implementation manner of the second aspect, the present disclosure further includes:

With reference to the first implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second implementation manner of the second aspect, the currently operating network connection device sends a heartbeat signal to the currently operating voice input device, and the currently operating network connection device determines that the current voice input device is in a normal operation state according to a received reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device.

With reference to the second implementation manner of the second aspect, in a third implementation manner of the second aspect, the currently operating network connection device sends a first switching instruction to the first switching device according to that no reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device is received, so as to switch from the currently operating voice input device to another voice input device of the plurality of voice input devices to operate.

With reference to the third implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the second aspect, the present disclosure further includes:

With reference to the second aspect and any one of the first implementation manner to the fourth implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fifth implementation manner of the second aspect, the plurality of external devices includes at least one group of external devices, each group of external devices includes a plurality of devices that are backup to each other, and at most one device in the group of external devices performs an operation according to the received electric signal output by the currently operating voice input apparatus at the same time.

With reference to the fifth implementation manner of the second aspect, in a sixth implementation manner of the second aspect, the present disclosure further includes:

and the detecting and switching device is arranged corresponding to each group of external equipment and is used for detecting whether the external equipment currently running in the group of external equipment runs or not, detecting that the external equipment currently running in the group of external equipment does not run according to the detecting device arranged corresponding to the group of external equipment, and switching the external equipment currently running to another equipment in the group of external equipment to run.

With reference to the first implementation manner of the second aspect, in a seventh implementation manner of the second aspect, the present disclosure further includes:

and the plurality of control devices are connected with the plurality of network connection devices, one of the plurality of control devices receives the electric signal output from the currently running voice input device at the same time, performs semantic recognition on the electric signal, converts the electric signal into a control signal for external equipment, and sends the control signal to the external equipment, wherein the plurality of control devices are backup for each other.

With reference to the seventh implementation manner of the second aspect, in an eighth implementation manner of the second aspect, the control device includes a third switching device, configured to switch from the currently-operating control device to another control device of the plurality of control devices to operate according to that the currently-operating control device is not normally connected to all external devices.

With reference to the fifth implementation manner of the second aspect, in a ninth implementation manner of the second aspect, the present disclosure further includes:

the control device comprises a plurality of control devices which are arranged corresponding to a group of external equipment, are connected with the network connection devices, receive an electric signal output from a currently operated voice input device at the same time, perform semantic recognition on the electric signal, convert the electric signal into a control signal for the currently operated external equipment in the group of external equipment, and send the control signal to the currently operated external equipment, wherein the control devices are backup to each other, and the control device comprises the detection and switching device.

With reference to the ninth implementation manner of the second aspect, in a tenth implementation manner of the second aspect, the control apparatus includes a third switching device configured to switch from the currently-operating control apparatus to another control apparatus of the plurality of control apparatuses to operate according to that the currently-operating control apparatus does not receive the heartbeat signal sent by any apparatus of the set of external apparatuses.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a voice control system, including:

a voice control apparatus, comprising:

the double backup voice input device comprises two voice input devices which are mutually backup and used for acquiring voice signals, and one voice input device converts the acquired voice signals into electric signals at the same time and outputs the electric signals to external equipment;

a first switching means for switching from the currently operating voice input means to the other of the two voice input means to operate when the electric signal output from the currently operating voice input means cannot be transmitted to the external device;

a plurality of external devices for performing an operation according to the received electric signal output from the currently operating voice input apparatus, wherein the plurality of external devices include:

the double backup lighting equipment comprises two lighting equipment which are backup to each other; and/or

The double backup display device comprises two display devices which are backup to each other.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can have the following beneficial effects:

according to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, a plurality of voice input devices are used for acquiring voice signals, and one of the voice input devices converts the acquired voice signals into electric signals and outputs the electric signals to external equipment at the same time, wherein the voice input devices are backup for each other; the first switching device is used for switching the currently operated voice input device to another voice input device in the plurality of voice input devices to operate when the electric signal output by the currently operated voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, and can be used for backing up the voice input device and automatically switching when the electric signal output by the voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, so that the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, a plurality of network connection devices are used for being connected with the plurality of voice input devices and the plurality of external equipment, and one of the plurality of network connection devices forwards the electric signal output by the currently running voice input device to the external equipment at the same time, wherein the plurality of network connection devices are backup for each other, the network connection devices can be backed up, and automatic switching is performed when the electric signal output by the network connection device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, so that the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the currently running network connection device sends a heartbeat signal to the currently running voice input device, the currently running network connection device determines that the current voice input device is in a normal running state according to the received reply of the currently running voice input device to the heartbeat signal, and the network connection device can be used for determining the state of the voice input device, so that the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the currently running network connection device sends the first switching instruction to the first switching device according to the condition that the currently running voice input device does not receive the reply of the heartbeat signal, so that the currently running voice input device is switched to another voice input device in the plurality of voice input devices to run, the voice input device with a problem in state can be switched to another voice input device to run, and the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the second switching device is used for switching the currently running network connection device to another network connection device in the plurality of network connection devices to run according to the condition that the currently running network connection device does not receive the reply of any voice input device to the heartbeat signal, and the network connection device with the problem in state can be switched to another network connection device to run, so that the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the voice control equipment comprises: a plurality of voice input means for acquiring a sound signal, and at the same time, one of the plurality of voice input means converts the acquired sound signal into an electric signal and outputs the electric signal to an external device, wherein the plurality of voice input means are backup to each other; a first switching means for switching from the currently operating voice input means to another voice input means among the plurality of voice input means to operate when the electric signal output from the currently operating voice input means cannot be transmitted to the external device; and the plurality of external devices are used for executing operation according to the received electric signals output by the currently running voice input device, backing up the voice input device and automatically switching when the electric signals output by the voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external devices, so that the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, a plurality of network connection devices are used for being connected with the plurality of voice input devices and the plurality of external equipment, and one of the plurality of network connection devices forwards the electric signal output by the currently running voice input device to the external equipment at the same time, wherein the plurality of network connection devices are mutually backup, the network connection devices can be backed up, and automatic switching can be performed when the electric signal output by the network connection device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, so that the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the currently running network connection device sends a heartbeat signal to the currently running voice input device, the currently running network connection device determines that the current voice input device is in a normal running state according to the received reply of the currently running voice input device to the heartbeat signal, and the network connection device can be used for determining the state of the voice input device, so that the stability of a voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the currently running network connection device sends the first switching instruction to the first switching device according to the condition that the currently running voice input device does not receive the reply of the heartbeat signal, so that the currently running voice input device is switched to another voice input device in the plurality of voice input devices to run, and the voice input device with a problem in state can be switched to another voice input device to run, thereby ensuring the stability of the voice control system.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the second switching device is used for switching the currently running network connection device to another network connection device in the plurality of network connection devices to run according to the condition that the currently running network connection device does not receive the reply of any voice input device to the heartbeat signal, and the network connection device with the problem in state can be switched to another network connection device to run, so that the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the plurality of external devices comprise at least one group of external devices, each group of external devices comprises a plurality of devices which are backup to each other, at the same time, at most one device in the group of external devices executes operation according to the received electric signal output by the currently running voice input device, so that the external devices can be backed up, and the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the detection and switching device which is arranged corresponding to each group of external equipment is used for detecting whether the external equipment which is currently operated in the group of external equipment is operated or not, and the detection device which is arranged corresponding to the group of external equipment detects that the external equipment which is currently operated in the group of external equipment is not operated, and the external equipment which is currently operated is switched to another piece of external equipment to operate, so that the external equipment can be backed up, and the external equipment with a problem in state can be switched to another piece of external equipment to operate, thereby ensuring the stability of the voice control system.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the plurality of control devices are connected with the plurality of network connection devices, one of the plurality of control devices receives an electric signal output from a currently running voice input device at the same time, performs semantic recognition on the electric signal, converts the electric signal into a control signal for external equipment, and sends the control signal to the external equipment, wherein the plurality of control devices are backup with each other, and the voice control on the external equipment can be realized by using the plurality of control devices which are backup with each other, so that the stability of a voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the control device comprises a third switching device, and the third switching device is used for switching from the currently running control device to another control device in the plurality of control devices to run according to the fact that the currently running control device cannot be normally connected with all external devices, so that voice control over the external devices can be realized by using the plurality of control devices which are mutually backup, and the control device with a problem in state can be switched to another control device to run, thereby ensuring the stability of a voice control system.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, a plurality of control devices which are correspondingly arranged with a group of external equipment are connected with a plurality of network connection devices, one of the plurality of control devices receives an electric signal output from a currently running voice input device at the same time, semantically identifies the electric signal, converts the electric signal into a control signal aiming at the currently running external equipment in the group of external equipment, and sends the control signal to the currently running external equipment, wherein the plurality of control devices are backup to each other, the control devices comprise the detection and switching devices, and the voice control on the external equipment can be realized by using the plurality of control devices which are backup to each other, so that the stability of a voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the control device comprises a third switching device, and the third switching device is used for switching the currently running control device to another control device of the plurality of control devices to run according to the condition that the currently running control device does not receive the heartbeat signal sent by any device of the group of external devices, so that the voice control on the external devices can be realized by using the plurality of control devices which are backups to each other, and the control device with a problem in state can be switched to another control device to run, thereby ensuring the stability of the voice control system.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the voice control equipment comprises: the double backup voice input device comprises two voice input devices which are mutually backup and used for acquiring voice signals, and one voice input device converts the acquired voice signals into electric signals at the same time and outputs the electric signals to external equipment; a first switching means for switching from the currently operating voice input means to the other of the two voice input means to operate when the electric signal output from the currently operating voice input means cannot be transmitted to the external device; a plurality of external devices for performing an operation according to the received electric signal output from the currently operating voice input apparatus, wherein the plurality of external devices include: the double backup lighting equipment comprises two lighting equipment which are backup to each other; and/or the double backup display equipment comprises two display equipment which are used for backing up each other, can back up the voice input device and the external equipment and automatically switch when the voice input device and the external equipment have problems, thereby ensuring the stability of the voice control system.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

Other labels, objects and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

fig. 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice-controlled device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice-controlled device according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a voice control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram of a voice control system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic block diagram of a voice control system according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic block diagram of a voice control system according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic block diagram of a voice control system according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control system according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of an application example of a voice-controlled device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of an example of a control device in a voice control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 shows a schematic diagram of an example of a dual backup lighting device as an external device in a voice control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a dual backup display device as an external device in a voice control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 shows a schematic diagram of a voice control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement them. Also, for the sake of clarity, parts not relevant to the description of the exemplary embodiments are omitted in the drawings.

In the present disclosure, it is to be understood that terms such as "including" or "having," etc., are intended to indicate the presence of labels, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof disclosed in the present specification, and are not intended to preclude the possibility that one or more other labels, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof are present or added.

It should be further noted that the embodiments and labels in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be combined with each other without conflict. The present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with embodiments.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the voice input devices are used for acquiring voice signals, and one of the voice input devices converts the acquired voice signals into electric signals and outputs the electric signals to the external equipment at the same time, wherein the voice input devices are backup to each other; the first switching device is used for switching the currently operated voice input device to another voice input device in the plurality of voice input devices to operate when the electric signal output by the currently operated voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, can backup the voice input device and automatically switch when the electric signal output by the voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, and therefore stability of the voice control equipment is guaranteed.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a voice control apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the voice control apparatus 100 includes a plurality of voice input devices 110 and a first switching device 120.

The plurality of voice input apparatuses 110 are used to acquire a sound signal, and one of the plurality of voice input apparatuses 110 converts the acquired sound signal into an electrical signal and outputs the electrical signal to an external device at the same time, wherein the plurality of voice input apparatuses 110 are backup to each other.

The first switching unit 120 is used to switch the currently operating voice input unit to another voice input unit among the plurality of voice input units 110 to operate when the electric signal output from the currently operating voice input unit cannot be transmitted to the external device.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of voice input devices 110 may be identical voice input devices or different types of voice input devices that operate in the same manner. The specific implementation manner of the voice input device can be implemented by using voice acquisition technology, signal conversion technology, signal transmission technology, etc. known in the related art, and the present disclosure does not limit this.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of voice input devices 110 may be mutually hot-backed up or cold-backed up. Regardless of whether the plurality of voice input apparatuses 110 are in a hot backup or a cold backup, one of the plurality of voice input apparatuses 110 converts the acquired sound signal into an electrical signal at the same time and outputs the electrical signal to an external device.

In the present disclosure, the hot backup refers to that the backup device is in an online state with the currently operating external device, and the current application system transmits data to the currently operating external device in real time and also transmits the data to the backup device, so as to keep the data synchronization between the backup device and the currently operating external device. Once the abnormal condition that the backup equipment needs to be switched occurs, the backup equipment does not need to be supplemented or only needs to be supplemented with a little isolated data, and can quickly take over the operation of the currently-operated external equipment.

In the present disclosure, cold backup refers to a backup device that is not installed or configured to the same or similar operating environment as the currently used device, and application system data is not loaded into the backup device in a timely manner. Once the abnormal condition that the backup equipment needs to be switched occurs, the operation environment needed by configuration needs to be installed, the application data is recovered, and then the backup equipment is switched to recover the operation of the service. For example, the backup device in the case of cold backup may not be powered on, and the backup device to be switched to needs to be powered on when switching is performed again.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first switching device may be implemented by using a switching means in the related art.

Another example of the voice control apparatus of the embodiment of the present disclosure is explained below with reference to fig. 2.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control apparatus 200 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 2, the voice control apparatus 200 is different from the voice control apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1 in that the voice control apparatus 200 further includes a plurality of network connection devices 210.

The plurality of network connection devices 210 are used for connecting with the plurality of voice input devices 110 and a plurality of external devices, and one of the plurality of network connection devices 210 forwards the electric signal output by the currently operating voice input device to the external device at the same time, wherein the plurality of network connection devices 210 are backup to each other.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the network connection devices are used for being connected with the voice input devices and the external equipment, and one of the network connection devices forwards the electric signal output by the currently running voice input device to the external equipment at the same time, wherein the network connection devices are mutually backup, the network connection devices can be backed up, and automatic switching can be performed when the electric signal output by the network connection device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, so that the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of network connection devices 210 may be mutually hot-backed up or cold-backed up. Whether the plurality of network connection devices 210 are in a hot backup or a cold backup, one of the plurality of network connection devices 210 forwards the electric signal output by the currently operating voice input device to the external device at the same time.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the network connection device may be a network connection device in the related art, and may be a wired network connection device or a wireless network connection device. For example, the wired network connection device may adopt connection modes such as cables and optical fibers, and the wireless network connection device may adopt various connection modes such as GSM, CDMA-2000, TD-LTE, WIFI, 4G, and 5G.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the currently operating network connection device sends a heartbeat signal to the currently operating voice input device, and the currently operating network connection device determines that the current voice input device is in a normal operation state according to the received reply of the currently operating voice input device to the heartbeat signal.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the heartbeat signal is sent to the currently running voice input device through the currently running network connection device, the currently running network connection device determines that the current voice input device is in a normal running state according to the received reply of the heartbeat signal from the currently running voice input device, and the state of the voice input device can be determined by utilizing the network connection device, so that the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the heartbeat signal is a very small data packet sent from the currently operating voice input device to the currently operating network connection device connected thereto at intervals, and the currently operating network connection device determines whether the communication link between the two interconnected parties has been disconnected according to the reply condition of the currently operating voice input device. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the network connection device includes a heartbeat communication circuit for sending a heartbeat signal to the voice input device and detecting a reply. In the present disclosure, the heartbeat communication circuit may be implemented using techniques known in the related art.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the currently operating network connection device sends a first switching instruction to the first switching device to switch from the currently operating voice input device to another voice input device of the plurality of voice input devices to operate according to not receiving a reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the currently-operating network connection device sends the first switching instruction to the first switching device according to the condition that the currently-operating voice input device does not receive the reply of the heartbeat signal, so that the currently-operating voice input device is switched to another voice input device in the plurality of voice input devices to operate, the voice input device with a problem in state can be switched to another voice input device to operate, and the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

A further example of the voice control apparatus of the embodiment of the present disclosure is explained below with reference to fig. 3.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a voice control apparatus 300 according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 3, the voice control apparatus 300 is different from the voice control apparatus 200 shown in fig. 2 in that the voice control apparatus 300 further includes a second switching device 310.

The second switching device 310 is used for switching the currently operating network connection device to another network connection device in the plurality of network connection devices 210 to operate according to the fact that the currently operating network connection device does not receive any reply of the heartbeat signal from the voice input device.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the second switching device is used for switching the currently running network connection device to another network connection device in the plurality of network connection devices to run according to the condition that the currently running network connection device does not receive the reply of any voice input device to the heartbeat signal, and the network connection device with the problem state can be switched to another network connection device to run, so that the stability of the voice control equipment is ensured.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, in a case where the currently operating network connection device does not receive any reply of the voice input device to the heartbeat signal, that is, in a case where all the voice input devices fail to connect to the currently operating network connection device, it is considered that the currently operating network connection device may have a problem, and thus the currently operating network connection device is switched to another network connection device. After switching to another network connection device, the other network connection device sends a heartbeat signal to the currently running voice input device, receives a reply sent by the currently running voice input device, and thereby establishes a heartbeat communication link.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the detection of heartbeat communication by the network connection device may be performed by means of a warm start and/or a cold start.

A speech control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to fig. 4.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control system 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 4, the voice control system 400 includes the voice control apparatus 100 and a plurality of external apparatuses 410, and the voice control apparatus 100 shown in fig. 4 is the same as the voice control apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 4, the voice control apparatus 100 includes a plurality of voice input devices 110 and a first switching device 120.

As shown in fig. 4, a plurality of external devices 410 are used to perform operations according to the received electric signals output from the currently operating voice input apparatus.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the voice control equipment comprises: a plurality of voice input means for acquiring a sound signal, and converting the acquired sound signal into an electric signal and outputting the electric signal to an external device at the same time by one of the plurality of voice input means, wherein the plurality of voice input means are backup each other; a first switching means for switching from the currently operating voice input means to another voice input means among the plurality of voice input means to operate when the electric signal output from the currently operating voice input means cannot be transmitted to the external device; and the plurality of external devices are used for executing operation according to the received electric signals output by the currently running voice input device, backing up the voice input device and automatically switching when the electric signals output by the voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external devices, so that the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the external device refers to a device that is desired to be controlled using a sound signal input to the voice input apparatus, for example, a lighting device, a display device, a mobile device, and the like. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the external device may be any device that can be controlled by an electric signal. In addition, the plurality of external devices 410 shown in fig. 4 may include a plurality of external devices different from each other.

A speech control system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with reference to fig. 5.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 5, the voice control system 500 is different from the voice control apparatus 400 shown in fig. 4 in that it includes the voice control apparatus 200, and the voice control apparatus 200 shown in fig. 5 is the same as the voice control apparatus 200 shown in fig. 2.

As shown in fig. 5, the voice control apparatus 200 is different from the voice control apparatus 100 shown in fig. 4 in that the voice control apparatus 200 further includes a plurality of network connection devices 210.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the network connection devices are used for being connected with the voice input devices and the external equipment, and one of the network connection devices forwards the electric signal output by the currently running voice input device to the external equipment at the same time, wherein the network connection devices are mutually backup, the network connection devices can be backed up, and automatic switching can be performed when the electric signal output by the network connection device cannot be transmitted to the external equipment, so that the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the heartbeat signal is sent to the currently running voice input device through the currently running network connection device, the currently running network connection device determines that the current voice input device is in a normal running state according to the received reply of the heartbeat signal from the currently running voice input device, and the state of the voice input device can be determined by utilizing the network connection device, so that the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the currently-operating network connection device sends the first switching instruction to the first switching device according to the condition that the currently-operating voice input device does not receive the reply of the heartbeat signal, so that the currently-operating voice input device is switched to another voice input device in the plurality of voice input devices to operate, the voice input device with a problem in state can be switched to another voice input device to operate, and the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

A speech control system according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to fig. 6.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control system 600 according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 6, the voice control system 600 includes the voice control apparatus 300 and a plurality of external apparatuses 410, and the voice control apparatus 300 shown in fig. 6 is the same as the voice control apparatus 300 shown in fig. 3.

As shown in fig. 6, the second switching device 310 is used for switching to the operation of another network connection device in the plurality of network connection devices 210 from the currently operating network connection device according to the fact that the currently operating network connection device does not receive any reply from the voice input device to the heartbeat signal.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the second switching device is used for switching the currently running network connection device to another network connection device in the plurality of network connection devices to run according to the condition that the currently running network connection device does not receive the reply of any voice input device to the heartbeat signal, and the network connection device with the problem state can be switched to another network connection device to run, so that the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

A speech control system according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to fig. 7.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control system 700 according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 7, the voice control system 700 includes the voice control apparatus 100 and a plurality of

external apparatuses

710, 730, and the plurality of

external apparatuses

710, 730 includes at least one set of external apparatuses.

As shown in fig. 7, the plurality of external devices are divided into two groups of external devices, one group of external devices including a plurality of external devices 710, and the other group of external devices including a plurality of external devices 730. Each group of external equipment comprises a plurality of equipment which are backup to each other, and at most one of the equipment in the group of external equipment executes operation according to the received electric signal output by the currently operated voice input device at the same time.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the plurality of external devices comprise at least one group of external devices, each group of external devices comprises a plurality of devices which are backup to each other, at most one device in the group of external devices executes operation according to the received electric signal output by the currently running voice input device at the same time, and the external devices can be backed up, so that the stability of the voice control system is ensured.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the plurality of external devices are divided into a plurality of groups of external devices, one group of external devices may be different from another group of external devices, for example, one group of external devices is an illumination device and another group of external devices is a display device. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each external device in a group of external devices may be the same external device, or may be external devices having substantially the same operating mode, as long as the condition of mutual backup is satisfied.

In one embodiment shown in fig. 7, the voice control system 700 includes the voice control apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1, but may also include the voice control apparatus 200 shown in fig. 2 and the voice control apparatus 300 shown in fig. 3.

In one embodiment shown in fig. 7, the voice control system 700 further includes a detecting and switching device provided corresponding to each set of external devices. For example, the detecting and switching unit 720 corresponds to the first group of external devices 710, and the detecting and switching unit 740 corresponds to the first group of external devices 730.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the detecting and switching device may include circuitry used in the related art to detect system operating conditions, such as watchdog detection circuitry. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the switching is performed in the set of external devices when the detecting and switching means detects that the currently operating external device in the set of external devices is not operating. The watchdog detection circuit can be realized by means recorded in the related art, and the disclosure is not repeated herein.

A speech control system according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to fig. 8.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control system 800 according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 8, the voice control system 800 includes the voice control apparatus 200, a plurality of control devices 810, and a plurality of external devices 410. The voice control apparatus 200 shown in fig. 8 is the same as the voice control apparatus 200 shown in fig. 2. In addition, the voice control system 800 shown in fig. 8 may include the voice control apparatus 300 instead of the voice control apparatus 200.

The plurality of control devices 810 are connected to the plurality of network connection devices 210, one of the plurality of control devices 810 receives an electric signal output from a currently operating voice input device at the same time, performs semantic recognition on the electric signal, converts the electric signal into a control signal for an external device, and transmits the control signal to the external device, wherein the plurality of control devices 810 are backup to each other.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, each control device may be a control device provided for all external apparatuses. That is, one control apparatus may transmit an electric signal for a specific external device to the specific external device. For example, when the plurality of external devices include a lighting device and a display device, the currently operating control device transmits an electric signal converted from a "light on" voice signal input to the voice input device to the currently operating lighting device.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device may be provided separately, may be mounted to an external device, or may be mounted to a voice control device.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control apparatus includes a third switching device (not shown in the figure) for switching from the currently operating control apparatus to another control apparatus of the plurality of control apparatuses to operate according to the failure of the currently operating control apparatus to be normally connected to all the external devices.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the control device comprises a third switching device, and the third switching device is used for switching the control device which operates at present to another control device in the plurality of control devices to operate according to the condition that the control device which operates at present cannot be normally connected with all external equipment, so that the voice control on the external equipment can be realized by using the plurality of control devices which are mutually backups, and the control device with a problem in state can be switched to another control device to operate, thereby ensuring the stability of a voice control system.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device may include a technical means such as a watchdog detection circuit to detect whether the currently operating control device and all external devices can be normally connected. For example, when a watchdog detection circuit in the control apparatus detects that the communication between the control apparatus and the external device has crashed, switching is made from the currently operating control apparatus to another control apparatus of the plurality of control apparatuses to operate.

A speech control system according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to fig. 9.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic structural diagram of a voice control system 900 according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 9, the voice control system 900 is different from the control system 800 shown in fig. 8 in that the external devices are divided into at least one group of external devices, each group of external devices having a plurality of control apparatuses corresponding to the group of external devices. As shown in fig. 9, the external devices are divided into a first group of external devices 920 and a second group of external devices 940. The plurality of control devices 910 correspond to a first group of external devices 920 and the plurality of control devices 930 correspond to a second group of external devices 940.

The control devices are connected with the network connection devices, receive the electric signals output by the currently running voice input device at the same time, perform semantic recognition on the electric signals, convert the electric signals into control signals for the currently running external devices in the group of external devices, and send the control signals to the currently running external devices, wherein the control devices are backups of each other, and the control devices comprise detection and switching devices.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, a plurality of control devices which are correspondingly arranged with a group of external equipment are connected with a plurality of network connection devices, one of the plurality of control devices receives an electric signal output from a currently running voice input device at the same time, performs semantic recognition on the electric signal, converts the electric signal into a control signal aiming at the currently running external equipment in the group of external equipment, and sends the control signal to the currently running external equipment, wherein the plurality of control devices are backup for each other, and the control devices comprise the detection and switching device, so that the voice control on the external equipment can be realized by utilizing the plurality of control devices which are backup for each other, and the stability of a voice control system is ensured.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of control devices 910 may be disposed together with or separately from the first group of external devices 920, and the plurality of control devices 930 may be disposed together with or separately from the second group of external devices 940.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control apparatus includes a third switching device (not shown in the figure) for switching from the currently operating control apparatus to another control apparatus of the plurality of control apparatuses to operate according to the currently operating control apparatus not receiving the heartbeat signal transmitted by any apparatus of the set of external apparatuses.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the voice control system in the embodiment described with reference to fig. 4 to 9 may include the voice control apparatus in the embodiment described with reference to fig. 1 to 3, so that the voice control system in the embodiment described with reference to fig. 4 to 9 has the technical effects achieved by the embodiment described with reference to fig. 1 to 3. For details, reference may be made to the description made above with reference to fig. 1 to 3, and details thereof are not repeated herein.

Application examples of the voice control apparatus and the voice control system are described below with reference to fig. 10 to 14.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of an application example of a voice control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic diagram of an example of a control device in a voice control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 shows a schematic diagram of an example of a dual backup lighting device as an external device in a voice control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example of a dual backup display device as an external device in a voice control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 10, the voice control apparatus 1000 includes dual backup

voice input devices

1010 and 1020, wherein the

voice input devices

1010 and 1020 are backup to each other. The voice control apparatus 1000 further includes a first switching device 1030, and the first switching device 1030 may be implemented as a dual backup switching circuit for switching from a currently operating voice input device to another voice input device among the plurality of voice input devices when an electric signal output from the currently operating voice input device cannot be transmitted to the external apparatus. The voice control apparatus 1000 further includes dual backup network connection means 1040 and 1050, wherein the network connection means 1040 and 1050 backup each other. The dual backup network connection means 1040 and 1050 are used to connect with the dual backup voice input means 1010 and 1020 and a plurality of external devices, and one of the dual backup network connection means 1040 and 1050 forwards an electric signal output from the currently operating voice input means to the external device at the same time.

As shown in fig. 11, the voice control system includes a control device 1100. The control apparatus 1100 may be provided together with or separately from the external device.

As shown in fig. 12, two lighting devices (not shown) that are backup to each other may be included in the dual backup lighting device 1200.

As shown in fig. 13, a dual backup display device 1300 may include two

display devices

1310 and 1320 that are backup to each other. For example, the control device may be disposed at the rear of the

display devices

1310 and 1320.

As shown in fig. 14, the voice control system 1400 may include the voice control apparatus 1000 shown in fig. 10, the dual backup lighting apparatus 1200 shown in fig. 12, and the dual backup display apparatus 1300 shown in fig. 13. The dual backup lighting apparatus 1200 and the dual backup display apparatus 1300 are controlled by inputting a sound signal to the voice control apparatus 1000.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a voice control system includes:

a voice control apparatus, comprising:

It is to be appreciated that the voice control system can include at least one of a dual backup lighting device and a dual backup display device.

Those skilled in the art can understand that the voice control system in the present embodiment may adopt the embodiment described with reference to fig. 1 to 9, so that the voice control system in the present embodiment has the technical effects achieved by the embodiment described with reference to fig. 1 to 9. For details, reference may be made to the description made above with reference to fig. 1 to 9, and details thereof are not repeated herein.

The foregoing description is only exemplary of the preferred embodiments of the disclosure and is illustrative of the principles of the technology employed. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific combination of the above-mentioned features, but also covers other embodiments formed by any combination of the above-mentioned features or their equivalents without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the above features and (but not limited to) the features disclosed in this disclosure having similar functions are replaced with each other to form the technical solution.

Claims

1. A voice control apparatus, comprising:

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the currently operating network connection device is configured to send a heartbeat signal to the currently operating voice input device, and the currently operating network connection device is further configured to determine that the currently operating voice input device is in a normal operation state according to the received reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the currently operating network connection device is further configured to send a first switching command to the first switching device to switch from the currently operating voice input device to another voice input device of the plurality of voice input devices to operate according to not receiving a reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising:

6. A voice control system, comprising:

a voice control apparatus, comprising:

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the currently operating network connection device is configured to send a heartbeat signal to the currently operating voice input device, and wherein the currently operating network connection device is further configured to determine that the currently operating voice input device is in a normal operating state based on a received reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the currently operating network connection device is further configured to send a first switching command to the first switching device to switch from the currently operating voice input device to another voice input device of the plurality of voice input devices to operate in response to not receiving a reply to the heartbeat signal from the currently operating voice input device.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

11. The system according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the plurality of external devices comprises at least one group of external devices, each group of external devices comprises a plurality of devices which are backup to each other, and at most one of the group of external devices performs an operation according to the received electric signal output by the currently operating voice input device at the same time.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

13. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the control means includes third switching means for switching from the currently operating control means to another one of the plurality of control means to operate in response to the currently operating control means not being normally connected to all of the external devices.

15. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

the control device comprises a plurality of control devices which are arranged corresponding to a group of external equipment, are connected with the network connection devices, receive an electric signal output from a currently operated voice input device at the same time, perform semantic recognition on the electric signal, convert the electric signal into a control signal for the currently operated external equipment in the group of external equipment, and send the control signal to the currently operated external equipment, wherein the control devices are backup to each other, and the control devices comprise detection and switching devices.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein said control means includes third switching means for switching from the currently operating control means to another one of said plurality of control means to operate in accordance with the absence of reception by the currently operating control means of the heartbeat signal transmitted by any of the set of external devices.

17. A voice control system, comprising:

a voice control apparatus, comprising: