Remote control wireless keyboard musical instrument

A remote control wireless keyboard musical instrument including means for providing reduced sensitivity to radiated impulse noise, comprising:

• a portable transmitter having a plurality of keys;
• a musical device remote from said transmitter for generating a separate musical sound corresponding to each of said keys;
• encoding means associated with said transmitter for generating a digital serial code corresponding to each of said keys, said code being transmitted as electromagnetic signals by said transmitter only when the corresponding key is actuated;
• said code including (i) a start bit, (ii) a stop bit, (iii) a parity bit, and (iv) a check bit, said start, stop and check bits having predetermined fixed values, said code further including a number of address bits defining the key corresponding to the code being transmitted, each of said bits occupying a predetermined time interval with respect to said start bit;
• a receiver responsive to the electromagnetic signals radiated by said transmitter for reconstructing said digital serial code;
• error detecting means associated with said receiver for detecting an error in said reconstructed code when (i) said check bit is of the wrong value, (ii) said stop bit is of the wrong value, (iii) said parity bit is of the wrong value, and (iv) a given set of address bits of said reconstructed code fails to be repeated within a predetermined time interval;
• decoding means associated with said receiver for generating a separate output signal corresponding to each of said separate musical sounds;
• signal gating means coupled to said error detecting means and said decoding means for precluding the generation of said output signal in response to an erroneous reconstructed code;
• and coupling means for causing said musical device to generate one of said separate musical sounds when the corresponding output signal is generated by said decoding means.

A remote control wireless keyboard musical instrument, comprising:

• a portable transmitter of electromagnetic carrier waves, said transmitter including means for modulating said waves in accordance with a predetermined digital code, said transmitter having a plurality of keys and a number of auxiliary switches;
• a keyboard musical device remote from said transmitter for generating musical sounds, said device having a keyboard comprising a plurality of keys and a corresponding number of auxiliary functions corresponding to the keys and auxiliary switches of said transmitter respectively;
• electronic switching means for scanning said transmitter keys and said auxiliary switches at a first relatively high rate of speed to ascertain which of said keys and switches are actuated, said switching means scanning less than all of said switches each time all of said keys are scanned, and scanning different switches on successive scans, so that more than one scan of all said keys corresponds to a single complete scan of all of said switches;
• scan inhibiting means for temporarily interrupting the operation of said scanning means when an actuated one of said transmitter keys and switches is detected by said scanning means;
• encoding means coupled to said scanning means and to said scan inhibiting means for generating a serial digital pulse train corresponding to a code identifying the actuated one of said transmitter keys and switches, and for causing said transmitter to modulate said carrier waves in accordance therewith, said pulse train being transmitted at a second relatively low rate of speed;
• signal control means associated with said encoding means for generating an end of transmission signal for resetting sand scan inhibiting means to enable said scanning means to resume operation when the transmission of said pulse train has been completed;
• a receiver for receiving, amplifying and demodulating the carrier waves radiated by said transmitter, said receiver including signal processing circuitry for reconstructing the pulse train generated by said encoding means;
• error detection circuitry associated with said receiver for generating an error signal when an error appears in the digital code represented by said reconstructed pulse train;
• decoding means coupled to said receiver for providing a plurality of output signals corresponding to said plurality of transmitter and musical device keys, and for providing a number of output signals corresponding to said number of transmitter switches and said number of musical device auxiliary functions;
• signal inhibiting means for precluding the appearance of any of said output signals when there is an error in the corresponding digital code, said signal inhibiting means being coupled in circuit with said error detection means and said decoding means;
• and
• means for coupling said output signals of said decoding means to the corresponding keys and auxiliary functions of said keyboard musical device, so that when a key of said transmitter is actuated, the corresponding key of said musical device is actuated to cause a corresponding musical sound to be generated thereby, and so that when an auxiliary switch of said transmitter is actuated, the corresponding auxiliary function of said musical device is brought into operation.