JP2019070855A - Display area automatic adjustment for reducing power consumption - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a device and a method for reducing power consumption.SOLUTION: A device comprises a display, and a processor for dividing a part of the display into discrete active areas and arranging so that a display area that encloses the discrete active areas is in a lower power mode than a power mode of the discrete active areas. The processor, while continuing to provide regular functions to the discrete active areas, reduces the luminance of the display enclosing the discrete active areas without turning the display enclosing the discrete active areas off, and arranges one or more active areas, out of the discrete active areas, near an edge of the display. The device further includes an area near an edge of the display that provides a light source.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments relate to computing devices, and more particularly, to power management of displays of such computing devices.

  Battery powered portable electronic devices, such as mobile form factor devices, are useful only as long as the battery is fully charged. However, device functions that are active, ie, running, can affect how long the battery remains charged. Some features may consume more battery power than others. If the ability to consume the battery is enabled, the battery may need to be recharged more often. However, if such functionality is not enabled, the user may lose the benefits of the portable electronic device. In order to avoid completely losing such benefits, users may frequently activate and deactivate certain device features.

  The displays of portable electronic devices are features that consume a lot of battery charge. This can be severe if the device display is relatively large compared to the overall device size. Since the user usually interacts with the portable electronic device through the interface displayed on the display screen, the user can not simply turn off the display and still uses other features of the portable electronic device. Thus, to conserve battery, the user may turn the display completely off or dim the light for the entire display. However, to use a portable electronic device, it may be necessary to turn on the display again, increase the intensity of the display light, or both.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a portable electronic device (PED) having a display in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram of another portable device having a display in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for performing automatic display adjustment, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a detailed method for automatically adjusting a display area, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a high level view of a method for performing automatic display adjustment, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram of a processor core in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram of functional components of one embodiment of a system. FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing how information may be displayed to a user of a compute node in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example system layer structure that may be used to implement the embodiments described herein.

  Embodiments of the portable electronic device can save power by switching from the original screen mode to the adjustment screen mode while in the normal operating mode. While in the adjustment screen mode, the device display may include at least one active display area and at least one inactive display area. Extracts from the user interface may be displayed in the active display area, and the adjustable display area may be adjusted to occupy a smaller area than the entire display screen. Thus, at least a portion of the boundary of the adjusted display area may be adjacent to the inactive display area which may extend up to the outer edge of the display screen. Thus, the inactive display area may fill a portion of the display screen that is not used to display an excerpt of the user interface in the adjustable display area. The inactive display area may use less power than the active area, such as an adjustable display area, or a full size display screen. Thus, while in the adjustment screen mode, the display may or may not be turned off completely to conserve power, thereby allowing the user to adjust within the adjusted display area. It is still possible to view and / or use at least a part of the original interface at.

  Embodiments may further be used to automatically determine the appropriate display area to control to enter a reduced power mode based on the content displayed. That is, during normal display of information on the display, some portions of the display are not associated with providing content or receiving user input. Thus, parts of such a display can be controlled such that the power supply is reduced, ie consumes less power. For example, on a desktop screen, only icons / shortcuts may be relevant, and background may be appropriately controlled to reduce power consumption. Embodiments may be used to automatically determine which display area is currently unused or less frequently used and to appropriately control such display area. Note that this automatic determination does not rely on power management indications or other information from the application requesting the display of the information. Instead, event registration associated with the display operation itself may be used to guide display power management, as described more fully below. In different embodiments, this control may include making these areas black or white (depending on the type of display device), reducing brightness and / or resolution, etc. Embodiments can automatically detect such areas and adjust the display area to conserve power without sacrificing functionality during normal use.

  Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, in one embodiment, an operating system (OS) function, referred to herein as display area auto-adjustment mode (DAAM). This automatic control can be performed using This mode may be triggered by an appropriate user selection. In DAAM, the OS automatically detects and adjusts some parts of the display to save power by dynamically analyzing the display based on the following principles. When there is no display / response-related event (eg, painting event, touch event, etc.) registered for a given display area, the OS turns the pixel off Alternatively, the display area can be directly controlled by adjusting the display area directly to save power. When controlling by turning off pixels to save power, a limited number of display / response events or background-related events (eg slides, etc.) registered for the display area If there is a long hold of the shortcut etc., then a predefined sub-area is allocated for such a function and the remaining part of the display area is controlled for power saving.

  In various embodiments, the DAAM is not affected by any power mode. For example, if the system goes to sleep or if the system performs a reboot, this mode still works. In this way, the user can maintain power savings even after a system reboot or power state change. Optionally, additional functionality may be added to allow the user to change the active display area of a particular screen if the user thinks that the automatic filtering provided by the OS is not appropriate. Because the OS can store this change, the next time that particular screen is displayed, that particular screen will appear as if it were changed by the user. Also, the user can reset the mode to return to the automatic filtering again, if necessary. In DAAM, the OS can perform automatic filtering dynamically whenever the display changes. In some embodiments, an icon or status bar can be used to indicate to the user the presence of the DAAM mode. With the DAAM according to one embodiment of the invention, only relevant parts of the display can be powered. This control may then be performed automatically based on the current image being displayed. Also, because DAAM provides the capability of large display power savings, where only the required screen area is automatically displayed without significant user experience sacrifice, the battery lasts longer can do.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a portable electronic device (PED) 100 having a display 102 is shown. The PED 100 is a mobile phone (for example, a smartphone), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, an ultra book (registered trademark) computer, an electronic reader, a game system, a music player, a camera, a video recorder, a scanner, a printer, a tool It may be any type of portable electronic device such as (for example, a die cut machine or other machine or tool with an associated display screen) and the like. Similarly, display 102 may be any type of display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, and / or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, to name a few common examples. can do. Additionally, display 102 may include a touch screen that can detect both a single touch and two or more simultaneous touches. The touch screen may be any type such as resistive or capacitive (eg self-powered, reciprocal, projected), acoustic wave sensing and / or infrared (IR) sensing, or having a touch sensor It can be a touch screen of the type.

  As seen in FIG. 1, a lock screen image is presented. The lock screen may be displayed when the PED 100 is in a standby mode waiting for user input, such as by a slide gesture to allow further operation of the device. Using the embodiments of the present invention, in the DAAM mode, most of the display area of the display 102, ie the display area 110, can be automatically identified as an unused area, and the power supply is cut off accordingly. The power consumption of the display can be reduced since it can be controlled to be in state. Other areas of display 102, ie, display areas 104a-104e may be active. That is, these display areas may have events, such as display events or response events, registered for them. In particular, the display areas 104a-104d provide status information that can be viewed in the DAAM mode, while the display area 104e allows for user input such as through a touch screen superimposed on the display 102. Indicates the position. It should be noted that each image present in the active display area may be either text or graphics such as icons, tiles, buttons, menu items, photos and the like.

  The inactive display area 110 corresponds to the portion of the display screen that is not the active display area. The inactive display area 110 may be turned off at rest or may not otherwise be available for active use. In one example, in one embodiment, inactive display area 110 may be black. However, the actual appearance of the inactive display area 110 may depend on the display type (eg, LCD, OLED), display design, how the inactive display area 110 is created, and combinations thereof.

  For example, in one embodiment, the display 102 may include LCD technology, such as thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) technology and / or in-plane switching (IPS) LCD technology. Because the liquid crystal does not emit light, the LCD display 102 may include a light source such as a backlight or an edge light. The backlight may include one or more display lights or light emitting diodes (LEDs), such as lamps (eg, hot cathode fluorescent lamps or cold cathode fluorescent lamps). In one embodiment, the display light of the backlight can cover all (eg, a full array) or a portion (eg, a sparse array) of the back surface of the display screen. In one embodiment, one or more display lights may be placed at the edge of the display to generate edge lights. Edge lights may be used instead of or in addition to backlights.

  In general, at very high levels, the liquid crystal can prevent light from the display light from passing through the sub-pixels (eg, one sub-pixel is for red, green and blue respectively) Alternatively, it functions as a gate that can variably enable light from the display light to pass through the sub-pixels. Whether light passes through at-rest sub-pixels (e.g., no or little change in the charge applied to the sub-pixel transistors) may depend on the design of the LCD .

  In one embodiment, the pixels and / or sub-pixels in the non-active display area 110 may be in the inactive state, with little or no charge. Thus, the inactive display area 110 may be dark if light from the display light is blocked while the pixel / sub-pixel is inactive. Alternatively, if the light from the display light is not blocked while the sub-pixel is in the inactive state, the inactive display area 110 may be white or another color (depending on the amount of charge applied to the sub-pixel) Determined). Thus, embodiments should not be limited to the particular color of the inactive display area 110. For ease of reference, in FIG. 1, the inactive display area 110 is unfilled / white.

  Further, in one embodiment, the LCD display lights can be selectively dimmed or turned off to create or expand the inactive display area 110. Such darkening / turning off can affect the color of the inactive display area 110, making the inactive display area 110 appear dark or even black. For example, in one embodiment, the LCD display light can be a full array of LEDs or a scattered array of LEDs. The controller may selectively darken or selectively turn off the LEDs in proximity to the inactive display area 110 to make the inactive display area 110 darker than the active display areas 104a-104e. However, the LEDs in proximity to the active display area may have the same or similar intensities as in the non-power saving mode. Thus, if the display light adjacent to the pixels defining the inactive display area 110 is dimmed or turned off, the inactive display area even though the inactive pixels / subpixels do not block the light. 110 may be dark.

  Not all displays use an external light source. For example, displays using organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology do not use backlight or edge light. OLEDs can be fluorescent, active matrix, phosphorescent, transmissive, and combinations thereof. Generally, at very high levels, OLED pixels emit photons in response to accepting charge. This is the reason why no external light source is required for the OLED display. Thus, in one embodiment, the non-active display area 110 may result from OLED pixels that are in the inactive state, with little or no charge. The appearance of the inactive display area 110 may be a function of what the display screen looks like when the OLED pixels are in the inactive state. If no photons are emitted, the inactive display area 110 may be dark. In one embodiment, the organic material can be a phosphorescent organic material (eg, PHOLED). PHOLED displays can consume less power than LCD displays, and can generate intense colors.

  To summarize the above, the display 102 can use less power, including battery power, when the PED 100 is in the DAAM than when in the normal normal use mode of operation . In addition, the degree to which power is saved may be more than one of display type (eg, LCD, OLED), external display light (eg, type, light distribution, selective use), size of inactive display area 110, etc. It may depend on the factor.

  In general, images or graphics rendered on display 102 may be display adapters, graphics adapters, graphics accelerators, graphics engines, graphics co-processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), central processors, graphics A graphics processing unit (GPU) and / or any other graphics hardware or graphics software, and combinations thereof may be processed. For example, a display adapter may include one or more GPUs and / or one or more controllers. A display adapter can process data for graphics rendering, and can convert rendering patterns (eg, bitmaps) into signals for a display screen. However, this is one high-level example of how an image can be rendered on a display screen, and embodiments are limited by how the image is rendered on display 102 It is not a thing.

  The display 102 may be switched to the DAAM in response to user commands, such as inputs received from a touch screen, an accelerometer, or a gyroscope. Switching to this mode may be in response to user input received from the keyboard, menu selections, mouse clicks, and the like.

  In one embodiment, the display 102 may also, for example, automatically trigger the DAAM when selected by the user as the default display mode, or in response to detecting that the battery has reached a predetermined threshold. Can be switched. For example, if the battery reaches a capacity that is less than or equal to a predetermined percentage of the total battery capacity (e.g., 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10%, 5%), the display 102 displays the remaining battery power. In order to save on, it can be automatically switched to DAAM. Additionally, the display 102 may be of a DAAM configuration (eg, reduced size display area and inactive display area size / arrangement) determined to provide the user with additional benefits and to use a minimal amount of battery. It can be controlled. In one embodiment, the display screen configuration in response to the low battery determination may be a default configuration or a configuration preset by the user. Additionally, the threshold battery level at which display 102 switches to DAAM may be a default value or a value specified by the user.

  Referring now to FIG. 2, a diagram of another portable device 200 for providing a display in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown in FIG. 2, computing device 200 may be a tablet computer or other portable electronic device having display 202.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, a desktop screen is presented that includes a plurality of active display areas 204a-204d. As shown, each of these active display areas corresponds to an icon that allows user selection of an application or other function. An additional display area 205 is used to present various selectable functions or user notifications. In addition, a display area 208 may be provided in the DAAM. This area is not that of a given user interface that would be visible in non-DAAM operations, but instead is generated in DAAM to provide certain functionality within the reduced display area. This increases the power saving opportunity.

  In the illustrated embodiment, the display area 208 allows the user to perform various background touch functions, for example, via the left move button 208a and the right move button 208b, and the shortcut command button 208c. Make it As described further herein, display area 208 is displayed in place of other content that may be placed on this portion or another portion of the display in non-DAAM operation. As a result, the remainder of the display 202, i.e., the inactive display area 210, may be maintained in a powered down or other state to reduce power consumption. Thus, if a limited amount of events have been registered for activity within a particular display area, this reduced sub-display area 208 actively alters the otherwise existing display information. By doing this, greater power savings may be possible.

  The inactive area 210 is turned off (adjusted to save power) and only the active display area will respond to touch operations. Thus, a display area 208 including several virtual buttons is provided (eg, by the OS) to replace conventional touch operations on the background. In this way, the OS can automatically adjust unused display areas or useless display areas to achieve significant power savings during normal use. It should also be noted that this automatic adjustment function is in addition to other functions of the OS (e.g. adjustment of lights, adjustment of sound volume, etc.).

  Referring now to FIG. 3, a flow diagram of a method for performing automatic display adjustment is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, method 300 may be performed using various hardware of the system. For example, a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) may be used to perform this method. More specifically, an operating system (OS) running on the CPU may perform some or all of the method 300.

  As shown, the method 300 begins by receiving (block 310) a user selection of a display area automatic adjustment mode (DAAM). This selection may be by user selection of configurable platform settings, which may be one of many different power management settings or display settings. Control then passes to block 320 and a display may be configured for this display mode. In one embodiment, this configuration may include setting a valid flag or other indicator in configuration storage that indicates that the display should operate according to this mode.

  Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, control then passes to block 330 where user interface information may be received at the OS. This user interface information may correspond to details regarding the information displayed on the display for a given user interface. Such interface information may include, for example, an indication of the information to be displayed, or a lock screen, a home screen, or another graphical user interface presented on the display. Further, this user interface information may include event registrations indicating display events, user response events, etc. As an example, such an event may be registered or called for the OS by software that causes a graphical user interface to be displayed. Various events such as touch events, painting events (refreshing the user interface), etc. may be registered. From these registered / invoked events, the OS can determine which one or more parts of the user interface are waiting for a response of a given type of event (eg touch input), Alternatively, the display can be refreshed for a given portion of the user interface.

  Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, control passes to block 340 where the display may be divided into multiple display areas. More specifically, different areas of the display may be identified based on the information presented in a given area. As shown in FIG. 3, the display may be one or more unused display areas where display (or user input) may not occur, background information or limited amounts of information to be displayed. All or a large area of the display area to be used to display content, or, for example, to enable the reception of user input via a touch screen configured on the display. A portion may be divided into one or more active display areas to be active. After dividing the display into three one or more different display areas, control passes to block 350 where unused display areas may be power managed according to a first technique. It should be noted that different techniques are possible, and the different techniques may be based on user selection of appropriate techniques to reduce power consumption. Examples of different technologies include, among other operations, de-energizing such unused display areas, reducing the brightness and / or resolution of such display areas. For purposes of explanation, it is assumed that the first technique is to turn off the power supply to the display area not being used. By power management of such unused display areas, significant power savings of the system may be realized.

  Control then passes to block 360 where the minimally used display area may be power managed according to this first or second technique. Again, it is assumed that the first technology is a technology to shut off the power supply. In this example, the second technique may include reducing the brightness and / or resolution of such a display area, or reducing the amount of information presented in such a display area. Finally, at block 370, the active display areas can remain fully powered so that the content in the active display areas remains completely visible to the user. Although shown at this high level in the embodiment of FIG. 3, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect.

  Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow diagram of a detailed method for automatically adjusting the display area is shown, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The method 400 of FIG. 4 may also be performed by the OS, as described above. As shown, method 400 begins at block 410 by receiving user interface information at an OS. This user interface information may be as described above.

  Then, at diamond 415, it may be determined whether additional display areas should be analyzed. This determination may be based on an implementation in which the display is divided into different display areas, for example based on various regular regions or irregular regions of the display. In some embodiments, this division may be based on grouping of display areas based on the content to be displayed. Control may then transfer to diamond 420 to determine if a display event and / or response event has been registered for this display area. The registration of the display event corresponds to an indication such as graphical or textual information, an icon or other user selection indicator that the content should be rendered in this display area. Registration of the response event corresponds to an indication that the touch screen or other human interface device can receive user input within this display area. If it is determined at diamond 420 that such an event is not registered for this display area, then control passes to block 425 where the display area may be directly adjusted. Depending on the particular mode selected, this direct control may be by turning off the power to this display area, reducing the brightness, resolution or other parameters of this display area It may be by doing.

  Otherwise, if one or more events are registered for this display area, control passes to diamond 430 to determine if one or more background events are registered for this display area. If one or more background events are not registered for this display area, control passes to diamond 435 where it is determined whether the number of display / response events for this display area is less than a given threshold. Ru. It should be noted that the threshold may be a predetermined number of events related to the display area, a predetermined portion of the display area, etc. If at diamond 435 it is determined that the number of display / response events for this display area is not less than a given threshold, then control passes to block 440 where the display area may be maintained powered. Most of this display area will be used to display content and / or to receive user input.

  Still referring to FIG. 4, at diamond 430 if one or more background events are determined to be registered for this display area, or at diamond 435, the number of display / response events for this display area Is determined to be less than a given threshold, control passes to diamond 450 to determine whether the automatic display adjustment mode is configured to de-energize the appropriate display area. If the automatic display adjustment mode is not configured to de-energize the appropriate display area, control passes to block 455 to control the resolution, brightness, and / or other such parameters of this display area. This display area can be adjusted directly, etc.

  Otherwise, if the automatic display adjustment mode is configured to de-energize the appropriate area, then control transfers to diamond 460 where the portion of this display area with valid events is greater than the threshold area. It is determined whether or not it is large. If the portion of this display area that has a valid event is larger than the threshold area, then control passes to block 440 where the display is allowed to be maintained. If the area with valid events is not larger than the threshold area, a sub-display area may be defined, otherwise a control panel allowing user selection resulting in the display of the information present is within this area. Can be maintained. Thus, here, the method functions to provide a sub-display of the selectable control panel and to maintain the remainder of the display area with the power off (block 465). Thus, the method functions to change the information that would otherwise be displayed in this display area in non-DAAM operations. Although illustrated at this high level in the embodiment of FIG. 4, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect.

  Referring now to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a flow diagram of a high level view of a method for performing automatic display adjustment, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, method 470 may be implemented in a processor or other hardware, for example, in response to an OS instruction. The method 470 may begin at block 475 by receiving user input to enter DAAM mode. In one embodiment, this selection may be, for example, by user selection of a DAAM mode button as part of a control panel or other configuration menu. Accordingly, control passes to block 480 where an unused display area may be detected based on registered events. That is, as described above for a given display screen, such as a user interface, the OS or other logic may specify display events (eg, painting events), response events (eg, touch events), or An unused display area can be detected based on the absence of registered events, such as any other such events, indicating an operation within the display area of the. In one embodiment, a display driver or other interface mechanism provides such event registration to the OS, which can then generate a display area table that includes multiple entries. Here, each entry of the plurality of entries is an identification of the particular display area on the display and, as mentioned above, this display area is either active or minimally used. And an indication whether it is a display area that is not used or is not used.

  Control then passes to block 485 where the unused display area may be adjusted to save power. This adjustment may be by shutting off the power supply to such a display area or by other controls to reduce power consumption. Depending on the type of display area, such as a minimally used display area or an unused display area, the logic further optionally assigns a specific sub-display area within this display area and then to further information on the display For access, a function summary may be provided, for example by a control panel that allows user input.

  Note that the method 470 repeats between block 480 and block 485 as a different user interface or other display screen is selected for display. In addition, if the user is to choose to exit the DAAM mode, control is transferred to block 490 where user input to exit this mode may be received again by selection of configuration settings or other menu settings. In response, method 470 ends and the user interface and other display screens can be presented on the display without power savings in their unedited, original form.

  FIG. 6 shows a processor core 500 according to one embodiment. Processor core 500 may be a core for any type of processor such as a microprocessor, embedded processor, digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or other device executing code. Although only one processor core 500 is shown in FIG. 6, the processing elements may alternatively include more than one processor core 500 shown in FIG. Processor core 500 may be a single-threaded core, but in at least one embodiment, processor core 500 includes two or more hardware thread contexts (i.e., "logical processors") per core. It may be multi-threaded which may be included.

  FIG. 6 also shows memory 570 connected to processor 500. Memory 570 may be any of various memories (including various layers of memory hierarchy) known to or otherwise available to those skilled in the art. Memory 570 may include one or more code instructions 513 executed by processor 500. Processor core 500 follows the program sequence of instructions indicated by code 513. Each instruction is input to the front end unit 510 and processed by one or more decoders 520. The decoder can produce as its output micro-operations, such as fixed-width micro-operations of a predetermined format, or other instructions, micro-instructions, or control signals reflecting the original code instruction Can be generated. The front end 510 also includes register renaming logic 525 and scheduling logic 510 that queue operations generally corresponding to conversion instructions that allocate resources and are executed.

  Processor 500 is illustrated as including execution logic 550 having a set of execution units 555-1 through 555-N. Some embodiments may include multiple execution units dedicated to a particular function or set of functions. Other embodiments may include only one execution unit capable of performing a particular function. Execution logic 550 performs the operation specified by the code instruction.

  After completion of execution of the operation specified by the code instruction, back end logic 560 retires the instruction of code 513. In one embodiment, processor core 500 allows out of order execution of instructions but requires in order retirement of instructions. Recovery logic 565 may take various forms known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such as a re-order buffer or the like. In this manner, processor core 500 is at least as concerned with outputs generated by the decoder, hardware registers and tables used by register renaming logic 525, and registers (not shown) modified by execution logic 550. , Is converted during execution of the code 513.

  Although not shown in FIG. 6, the processing elements may include other elements on the chip with the processor core 500. For example, the processing element may include memory control logic with processor core 500. The processing elements may include I / O control logic and / or may include I / O control logic integrated with memory control logic. Processing elements may also include one or more caches.

  Embodiments may be implemented by many different system types. Referring now to FIG. 7, a block diagram of a system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown in FIG. 7, multiprocessor system 600 is a point-to-point interconnect system and includes a first processor 670 and a second processor 680 connected via point-to-point interconnect 650. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the processors 670 and 680 includes a multi-core including a first processor core and a second processor core (ie, processor cores 674a and 674b, and processor cores 684a and 684b). It may be a processor, but potentially more cores may be present in the processor. Each of the processors may execute an OS or other logic to perform the DAAM operations described herein.

  Still referring to FIG. 7, the first processor 670 further includes a memory controller hub (MCH) 672 and point-to-point (PP) interfaces 676 and 678. Similarly, the second processor 680 includes an MCH 682 and PP interfaces 686 and 688. As shown in FIG. 7, MCHs 672 and 682 connect the processor to their respective memories, memory 632 and memory 634. These memories may be part of a system memory (e.g., DRAM) locally attached to each processor. First processor 670 and second processor 680 may be connected to chipset 690 via PP interconnects 662 and 664, respectively. As shown in FIG. 7, chipset 690 includes PP interfaces 694 and 698.

  Further, chipset 690 includes interface 692, which connects chipset 690 to high performance graphics engine 638 via PP interconnect 639. Similarly, chipset 690 may be connected to first bus 616 via interface 696. As shown in FIG. 7, various input / output (I / O) devices 614 are connected to the first bus 616, along with a bus bridge 618 that connects the first bus 616 to the second bus 620. obtain. For example, various devices including a keyboard / mouse 622, communication device 626, and a data storage unit 628 such as a disk drive or other mass storage device, which in one embodiment may include the code 630, have a second bus It may be connected to 620. Additionally, an audio I / O 624 may be connected to the second bus 620. Embodiments can be incorporated into other types of systems, including mobile devices such as smart cellular phones, tablet computers, netbooks, ultrabooks, and the like.

  The diagram of FIG. 8 shows the functional components of one embodiment of the system. In some cases, the components may be hardware components, software components, or a combination of hardware and software. Some of the components may be application level software, while other components may be operating system level components. In some cases, the connection of one component to another may be a close connection in which two or more components are operating on a single hardware platform. In other cases, the connection can be made via a long distance network connection. Each embodiment can use different hardware, software, and interconnect architectures to implement the described functionality.

As shown in FIG. 8, system 700 is implemented in various layers. At a high level, a user experience 710 is provided that allows the user to interface with various features of the system. For this purpose, a set of application frameworks ₇₁₅ 0 _{~715 n} is provided. Each of these application frameworks may correspond to an application that is optimized for a particular type of platform. For example, an application framework 715 _0, which is optimized for ultra book (registered trademark) system for, handset application framework 715 _1, has been optimized to the handset-based systems such as a smart phone The application framework 715 _n is optimized for other types of platforms, such as tablet computers or other types of systems. Of course, it should be understood that many other types of application frameworks may be provided.

An application programming interface (API) layer 720 is provided to enable interaction between these frameworks and the core OS 730. As seen in FIG. 8, core OS 730 includes various components 734 ₀ through 734 _n . Each of these components provides support for various features of the system. Reference will now be made specifically to graphics components that can implement DAAM in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As further shown in FIG. 8, hardware 740 is provided. The hardware 740 can configure the bare metal hardware of the platform, and at a high level, one or more processors, one or more memories (including volatile memory and non-volatile memory), mass storage, 1 These may include the display, user interface, and other typical system hardware. Although illustrated at this high level in the embodiment of FIG. 8, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram 800 showing how information may be displayed to a user of a compute node in one embodiment of the present invention. For example, operating system 856 may include a display manager 864 that can control information provided to display device 848 for display to the user, including performing DAAM operations described herein. . Graphical user interface 866 is another component of operating system 856 that interacts with display manager 864 to present information on display device 848. For example, graphical user interface 866 may provide display manager 864 with data characterizing the appearance and location of windows, icons, control elements, and similar types of user interface objects. Graphical user interface 866 may provide this information directly to display manager 864 or via window manager 868. Window manager 868 may control the display of windows in which data is presented to the user in accordance with the DAAM techniques described herein. Such data may be a document generated by application program 862 or may be content of file system 858, storage device 860, or both.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example system layer structure 900 that may be used to implement the embodiments described herein. However, other system layer implementations may be used. In some implementations, a UI engine, such as a user interface (UI) engine 902 or another UI engine that can create a three-dimensional user interface environment, operates at the application level, and an application program interface ( Implement the graphical functions and features available through the API) layer 904. Exemplary graphical functions and features include graphical processing supported by graphics API 910, image processing supported by imaging API 912, and video processing supported by video API 914. The API layer 904 also interfaces with the graphics library layer 906. The graphics library layer 904 may be implemented as a software interface to graphics hardware, such as an implementation of the OpenGL® specification, for example. The drivers / hardware layer 908 includes drivers such as graphics cards and associated drivers and associated graphics hardware.

  In one embodiment, the use of the term "control logic" includes hardware such as transistors, registers or other hardware such as programmable logic devices. Control logic may also include software or code that may be integrated with hardware, such as firmware or microcode. The processor or controller may include control logic intended to represent any of a variety of control logic known in the art, such as a microprocessor, microcontroller, field programmable gate, etc. It can be successfully implemented as an array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), and the like.

  The following examples relate to further embodiments. The details in the following examples can be used anywhere in one or more embodiments.

  In one example, the system is a processor for executing instructions, for configuring a display for a first mode in which the display is divided into a plurality of display areas, and for the first user interface displayed on the display At least one first display area is controlled to operate at the first power consumption level based on the event registration information, and at least one second display area is operated to operate at the second power consumption level A processor including logic for controlling The system further comprises a display that displays the first user interface and the HID associated with the display.

  In one embodiment, the at least one first display area operates at the first power consumption level in the first mode and operates at the second power consumption level in the second mode, the first power The consumption level is lower than the second power consumption level. At the first power consumption level, the power supply to the at least one first display area may be cut off. At least one second display area includes an active display area, and at least one first display area includes an unused display area.

  In one embodiment, the logic maintains the control panel within the sub-display portion of the first display area and de-energizes the remaining portion of the first display area, the control panel comprising And a second selection button. The at least one first display area may be controlled to have at least one of reduced brightness and reduced resolution in the first mode.

  It should be noted that the processor may be implemented using various means.

  In one example, the processor comprises a system-on-chip (SoC) incorporated within a user equipment touch enabled device.

  In another example, the system comprises a display and a memory, and comprises one or more processors of the above examples.

  As another example, an apparatus for controlling a display may display display events or response events based on the means for receiving user interface information regarding a user interface displayed on the display and the user interface information. Means for determining whether the first display area is registered, and means for adjusting the first display area to reduce power consumption of the first display area.

  In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises means for determining whether a background related event is registered for the second display area of the display.

  In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises means for comparing the number of events in the second display area to a threshold.

  In one embodiment, the apparatus determines if the portion of the second display area having the event is larger than the threshold area, and if this portion is larger than the threshold area, sub-display of the second display area Further included is means for maintaining the control panel within the portion and for de-energizing the remaining portion of the second display area.

  As an example, the control panel may include at least a first selection button and a second selection button that allow the user to access further selected items.

  In different embodiments, adjusting the display area includes controlling the brightness of the first display area and / or reducing the power supply to the first display area.

  In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving a user selection of the display area adjustment mode and configuring the display for the display area adjustment mode in response to receiving the user selection of the display area adjustment mode.

  In one embodiment, the device divides the display into a first plurality of display areas and a second plurality of display areas based on, for example, user interface information, and enables the first plurality of display areas. And means for reducing power supply to the second plurality of display areas.

  Another example comprises receiving user interface information including an event registration for a user interface displayed on a display of the system in a first logic of the system, and at least one of the display based on the event registration. Dividing into one unused display area and at least one active display area, managing the power of the at least one unused display area, and keeping the at least one active display area fully powered And b.

  In one embodiment, the method comprises power management of at least one minimally used display area, wherein the at least one minimally used display area is at least one unused unused display area. It comprises different steps of power management.

  In one embodiment, the method comprises power management of the at least one minimally used display area by adjusting the brightness of the at least one minimally used display area.

  In one embodiment, the method manages power management of at least one minimally used display area by displaying the control panel within a first portion of the at least one minimally used display area. And reducing the power supply to the second portion of the at least one minimally used display area.

  In one embodiment, the method further includes receiving a user selection of the display area auto adjust mode and configuring the display for the display area auto adjust mode in response to receiving the user selection of the display area auto adjust mode .

  In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of: dividing the first display area into at least one unused display area if the display event is not registered for the first display area; And, if registered for the second display area, dividing the second display area into at least one minimally used display area.

  In one example, a machine readable medium includes code, and when the code is executed, the code causes the machine to perform the method of any of the above examples.

  In another example, the apparatus comprises means for performing the method of any of the above examples.

  In another example, at least one storage medium stores instructions, the instructions causing the system to receive user interface information regarding a user interface displayed on a display of the system, based on the user interface information To determine whether a display event or response event is registered for the first display area of the display, and to reduce power consumption of the first display area if the display event or response event is not registered To adjust the first display area.

  In one example, the at least one storage medium further includes instructions for determining whether a background related event is registered for a second display area of the display.

  In one example, the at least one storage medium further comprises instructions for comparing the number of events in the second display area to a threshold.

  In one example, the at least one storage medium determines whether the portion of the second display area having the event is larger than the threshold area, and if this portion is larger than the threshold area, the second display area It further includes instructions for maintaining the control panel within the sub-display portion and for de-energizing the remaining portion of the second display area.

  In one example, the at least one storage medium further receives an instruction to configure the display for the display area adjustment mode upon receiving a user selection of the display area adjustment mode and upon receipt of the user selection of the display area adjustment mode. Including.

  In one example, the at least one storage medium divides the display into a first plurality of display areas and a second plurality of display areas, validating the first plurality of display areas, and the second plurality Further including an instruction to lower power supply to the display area of

  In one example, the at least one storage medium further comprises instructions for dividing the display based on the user interface information.

  It should be understood that various combinations of the above examples are possible.

  Embodiments may be used in many different types of systems. For example, in one embodiment, a communication device may be configured to perform the various methods and techniques described herein. Of course, the scope of the invention is not limited to communication devices, but instead, other embodiments depend on other types of devices processing instructions or execution on a computing device. The computing device may also be directed to one or more machine readable media comprising instructions that cause the computing device to perform one or more of the methods and techniques described herein.

  One embodiment may be implemented by program code or instructions. The program code or instructions may, for example, be a storage device and / or an associated machine readable or machine accessible medium (floppy disk, optical storage, solid state memory, hard drive, tape, flash memory, memory) · Volatilization of sticks, digital video discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc. but not limited to such, as well as more specialized media such as machine accessible biological state holding storage etc. Memory and / or non-volatile memory. A machine readable medium may include any mechanism for storing, transmitting or receiving information in a machine readable form, the machine readable medium being program code, such as an antenna, an optical fiber, a communication interface, etc. May include media through which it can pass. The program code may be sent in the form of packets, serial data, parallel data, etc., and may be used in a compressed or encrypted format.

  Although the invention has been described with reference to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations from these embodiments. The appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and variations that fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims (23)

A display,
While dividing a portion of the display into discrete active areas, the area of the display surrounding the discrete active areas has a lower power mode compared to the power mode of the discrete active areas A processor operable to
At least one active area of the discrete active areas is an image of an icon that allows user selection of the application;
The discrete active area is the area of the display that is maintained powered and consumes more power than the area of the display surrounding the discrete active area;
The processor continues to provide normal functionality in the discrete active area, but does not turn off the display surrounding the discrete active area, but does not turn off the display surrounding the discrete active area Reduce the brightness,
The processor places one or more active areas of the discrete active areas near an edge of the display.
A processor,
An area near the edge of the display providing a light source;
A device equipped with   The device of claim 1, wherein the display comprises an OLED.   The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an active area of one of the discrete active areas displays a clock.   The device of claim 1, wherein the display comprises a touch screen.   The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor reduces the resolution of the display surrounding the discrete active area without turning off the display surrounding the discrete active area.   The apparatus of claim 1, wherein only the discrete active areas respond to touch operations.   The processor divides a portion of the display into discrete active areas after restart of the device, and the area of the display surrounding the discrete active areas is the discrete active area The apparatus according to claim 1, maintaining maintaining in said lower power mode as compared to a power mode of.   The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the discrete active area comprises an area providing status information. Dividing a portion of the display into discrete active areas, and causing the area of the display surrounding the discrete active areas to be in a lower power mode, the discrete active An area is an area of the display that is maintained powered and consumes higher power than the area of the display surrounding the discrete active area;
Displaying an image of an icon allowing user selection of an application in at least one of the discrete active areas;
Reduce the brightness of the display surrounding the discrete active area without turning off the display surrounding the discrete active area while continuing to provide normal functionality in the discrete active area Step and
Placing one or more of the discrete active areas near an edge of the display;
Illuminating a region near the edge of the display, providing a light source;
Method including.   10. The method of claim 9, wherein the display comprises an OLED.   The method according to claim 9, wherein an active area of one of the discrete active areas displays a clock.   10. The method of claim 9, wherein the display comprises a touch screen.   A program causing a portable electronic device to perform the method according to any one of claims 9 to 12. A display having a region near an edge of the display, the display providing a light source;
A processor communicably connected to the display;
A memory storing instructions, the instructions being sent to the processor when the instructions are executed by the processor;
The operation of dividing a portion of the display into discrete active areas such that the area of the display surrounding the discrete active areas is in a lower power mode An active area is an area of the display that is maintained powered and consumes higher power than the area of the display surrounding the discrete active area;
Displaying in at least one of the discrete active areas an image of an icon allowing user selection of an application;
Reduce the brightness of the display surrounding the discrete active area without turning off the display surrounding the discrete active area while continuing to provide normal functionality in the discrete active area Operation,
Placing one or more of the discrete active areas close to an edge of the display;
Run the memory, and
A wireless interface that allows the processor to communicate with another device;
Device with.   15. The device of claim 14, wherein the display comprises an LCD.   15. The device of claim 14, wherein an active area of one of the discrete active areas displays a clock.   The device of claim 14, wherein the display comprises a touch screen.   Device comprising means for performing the method according to any one of claims 9 to 12. Display means,
Processing means operable to divide a portion of the display means into discrete active areas and to ensure that the area of the display means surrounding the discrete active areas is in a lower power mode And at least one of the discrete active areas is an image of an icon that allows user selection of an application, and the discrete active areas are powered up Processing means being an area of the display means maintained and consuming higher power than the area of the display means surrounding the discrete active area;
The brightness of the display means surrounding the discrete active area is maintained without turning off the display means surrounding the discrete active area while continuing to provide normal functionality in the discrete active area. Means to reduce
Means for placing one or more of the discrete active areas close to an edge of the display means;
Means for illuminating a region near the edge of the display means, providing a light source;
A device equipped with   20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the display means comprises an OLED.   20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein an active area of one of the discrete active areas displays a clock.   20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the display means comprises a touch screen.   A storage medium storing the program according to claim 13.

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