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Single-Chip Voice Recording & Playback Device for Multiple 40- to 60-Second Messages
Page 3
Message Management
Message Management General Description
Playback and record operations are managed by on chip cir-
cuitry. There are several available messaging modes
depending upon desired operation. These message modes
determine message management style, message length, and
external parts count. Therefore, the designer must select the
appropriate operating mode
before
beginning the design.
Operating modes do
not
affect voice quality; for information
on factors affecting quality refer to the
Sampling Rate & Voice
Quality
section.
The device supports three message management modes
(defined by the MSEL1, MSEL2 and /M8_Option pins shown
in Figures 1 and 2):
Random access mode with 2, 4, or 8 fixed-duration mes-
sages
Tape mode, with multiple variable-duration messages, pro-
vides two options:
- Auto rewind
- Normal
Modes cannot be mixed. Switching of modes after the device
has recorded an initial message is not recommended. If
modes are switched after an initial recording has been made
some unpredictable message fragments from the previous
mode may remain present, and be audible on playback, in
the new mode. These fragments will disappear after a record
operation in the newly selected mode. Table 1 defines the
decoding necessary to choose the desired mode.
An important feature of the APR9600 message management
capabilities is the ability to audibly prompt the user to
changes in the device’s status through the use of “beeps”
superimposed on the device’s output. This feature is enabled
by asserting a logic high level on the BE pin.
Table 1
Random Access Mode
Random access mode supports 2, 4, or 8 messages seg-
ments of fixed duration. As suggested recording or playback
can be made randomly in any of the selected messages. The
length of each message segment is the total recording length
available (as defined by the selected sampling rate) divided
by the total number of segments enabled (as decoded in
Table1). Random access mode provides easy indexing to
message segments.
Functional Description of Recording in Random Access
Mode
On power up, the device is ready to record or play back, in
any of the enabled message segments. To record, /CE must
be set low to enable the device and /RE must be set low to
enable recording. You initiate recording by applying a low
level on the message trigger pin that represents the message
segment you intend to use. The message trigger pins are
labeled /M1_Message - /M8_Option on pins 1-9 (excluding
pin 7) for message segments 1-8 respectively.
Note:
Message trigger pins /M1_Message, /M2_Next,
/M7_END, and /M8_Option, have expanded names to
represent the different functionality that these pins
assume in the other modes. In random access mode
these pins should be considered purely message trig-
ger pins with the same functionality as /M3, /M4, /M5,
and /M6. For a more thorough explanation of the func-
tionality of device pins in different modes please refer
to the pin description table that appears later in this
document.
When actual recording begins the device responds with a sin-
gle beep (if the BE pin is high to enable the beep tone) at the
speaker outputs to indicate that it has started recording.
Recording continues as long as the message pin stays low.
The rising edge of the same message trigger pin during
record stops the recording operation (indicated with a single
beep).
If the message trigger pin is held low beyond the end of the
maximum allocated duration, recording stops automatically
(indicated with two beeps), regardless of the state of the mes-
sage trigger pin. The chip then enters low-power mode until
the message trigger pin returns high. After the message trig-
ger pin returns to high, the chip enters standby mode. Any
subsequent high to low transition on the same message trig-
ger pin will initiate recording from the beginning of the same
Mode
MSEL1
MSEL2
/M8_Option
Random Access 2 fixed duration messages
0
1
Pull this pin to VCC through 100K resistor
Random Access 4 fixed duration messages
1
0
Pull this pin to VCC through 100K resistor
Random Access 8 fixed duration messages
1
1
Becomes the /M8 message trigger input pin
Tape mode, Normal operation
0
0
0
Tape mode, Auto rewind operation
0
0
1
APR9600
APLUS