JPH06230845A - Resuming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the resuming function of a device loaded with a dynamic element circuit by turning off a power supply after saving the internal state of a dynamic element circuit to a static element circuit at the time of setting up a stand-by state, and at the time of turning on the power supply, restoring the saved internal state to the original operating state with respect to a resuming system for saving the power consumption of a device. CONSTITUTION:The device power supply is divided into the static element circuit 1 and the dynamic element circuit 4, a stand-by status display register 22 for storing whether the circuit 4 is in a stand-by state or not is included and after saving the internal state of the circuit 4 in the circuit 1 in accordance with a transfer command to the stand-by state and setting up the register 22, power supply for the circuit 4 is disconnected and the circuit 1 is set up to the stand-by state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a resume system for saving power consumption of a device. 2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing device or the like, it is necessary to cut off the power supply of the device frequently when not in use to save power consumption. Generally, when the power of the device is turned on, processing such as initialization of the device is required, and it takes a considerable time before the device is actually ready for use.

In order to shorten the rise time when the power is turned on again, the state of the memory at that time is retained at the time of disconnection, and when the power is turned on again, the information retained at the time of disconnection is disconnected. There is a resume function that returns to the previous state. When this resume function is used, unlike normal power-on, processing such as device initialization is unnecessary, and the time required for startup can be considerably shortened. At this time, it is required to have a reasonable resume function when the device has a mixture of static elements and dynamic elements.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to realize a resume function in an information processing apparatus or the like, it is necessary to hold the internal state of a controller such as an MPU and the contents of memory in a manner that consumes less power. In order to retain the contents of the memory, if a static RAM, especially a C-MOS static element is used as the memory element, almost no current is consumed even when it is energized, and therefore the power is not normally cut off. Even when the internal state of the controller such as MPU is held, if a static structure element is used for the controller, current is hardly consumed if the input of the operation reference clock of the element is stopped.
There is no need to stop the clock and power off when the resume is disconnected.

As described above, in the apparatus having the static structure element inside, as shown in FIG. 5, the power supplied to the circuit when the power is cut off when the resume function is executed is actually cut off. Instead, it goes to sleep internally. Then, when the resume is restarted, the operation of the MPU that has been in the sleep state is restarted, so that the apparatus is restarted from the state before the power-off.

[0005]

However, among devices such as MPU, there are devices having a dynamic structure rather than a static structure. On the contrary, the power consumption of the dynamic structure element increases when the clock is stopped. Therefore,
When a device having a dynamic structure is used, the device cannot be put into a sleep state to save power, and thus there has been a problem that the resume function cannot be realized conventionally.

The present invention solves these problems.
When the power supply system of the dynamic element circuit and the static element circuit is separated and the internal state of the dynamic element circuit is saved to the static element circuit when the standby state is set, the power is cut off and the internal state saved when the power is turned on is restored. The purpose is to restore the original state and put it into an operating state, and to realize the resume function of the device equipped with the circuit of the dynamic element.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Means for solving the problems will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, a static element circuit 1 and a dynamic element circuit 4 are
It is a circuit divided to separately supply power to the device.

The standby state display register 22 stores whether or not the dynamic element circuit 4 is in a standby state.

[0009]

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the internal state of the dynamic element circuit 4 is saved in the static element circuit 1 and the standby state display register 22 is set in response to an instruction to shift to the standby state. After that, the power of the circuit 4 of the dynamic element is cut off, and the circuit 1 of the static element is set to the standby state.

In response to the operation instruction, the static element circuit 1 is activated, the dynamic element circuit 4 is powered on, and the static element circuit is set when the standby state display register 22 is set. The internal state saved in 1 is restored in the circuit 4 of the dynamic element to restart the processing, while the circuit 4 of the dynamic element is initialized to start the processing when it is reset. .

At this time, the circuit 4 of the dynamic element is MP
It is U, and the circuit 1 of the static element is used as a memory or a register. Therefore, the power supply system of the dynamic element circuit 4 and the static element circuit 1 is separated, and when the standby state is set, the internal state of the dynamic element circuit 4 is saved to the static element circuit 1 and then the power is turned off and the power is turned on. It is possible to realize the resume function of the device equipped with both the dynamic element circuit 4 and the static element circuit 1 by restoring the internal state that has been saved at times to the operating state.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the construction and operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a circuit 1 of a static element is a circuit of an element having a static structure, and is composed of an internal register 2 and a low power consumption data holding mechanism 3 here. Circuit 1 of this static element
A device (for example, a computer system) is divided in order to separately supply and disconnect power to a circuit of a static structure element and a circuit of a dynamic structure element.

The internal register 2 is a register made of a static structure element, and here, the MPU power control register 21 and the standby state display register 2 are used.
It is composed of 2 and the like.

The MPU power supply control register 21 is a register for setting that the power supply to the circuit 4 of the dynamic element is turned off / on. Standby status display register 22
Is a register for setting and storing a standby state when the power of the circuit 4 of the dynamic element is cut off. When the instruction to shift to the standby state is received, the standby state display register 22 is set to store that the internal state of the dynamic element circuit 4 has been saved.
When a power-off instruction is received by pressing the power switch 8, the standby state display register 22 is reset to store that the internal state of the dynamic element circuit 4 has not been saved.

The low power consumption data holding mechanism 3 is a mechanism for storing the internal state saved from the dynamic element circuit 4 with low power consumption, and is a memory made of, for example, a C-MOS, and in the standby state. The low power consumption mode is set in and the internal state is stored with an extremely small current.

The dynamic element circuit 4 is a circuit formed by an element having a dynamic structure.
U5 and the like. The dynamic element circuit 4 can control the supply / disconnection of power by the dynamic element system power supply line 10 separately from the static element circuit 1.

The MPU 5 is a microprocessor, which is a microprocessor made of elements having a dynamic structure, and here is an example of a circuit of a dynamic element whose internal state is saved in the standby state.

The power supply section 6 is for supplying power to or disconnecting power from the static element circuit 1 and the dynamic element circuit 4 which constitute the device. Bus 7
Is a bus (data bus, address bus, control signal line) for exchanging data with the static element circuit 1 and the dynamic element circuit 4.

The power switch 8 is a switch for turning on / off the power of the static element circuit 1 and the dynamic element circuit 4 which compose the apparatus. Here, since the circuit 1 of the static element has low power consumption, it is in the standby state in the low power consumption mode without turning off the power supply.

The power supply control line 9 notifies the power supply unit 6 when a flag for turning on the power supply of the dynamic element circuit 4 is set (or reset) in the MPU power supply control register 21, and notifies the power supply unit 6 accordingly. It is for supplying (or disconnecting) power from the power line 10.

The dynamic element system power supply line 10 is a power supply line for supplying power to the circuit 4 of the dynamic element. Next, the operation from the normal state to the standby state in the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described in detail according to the order shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 2, S1 receives a command for instructing the shift to the standby state. This is because the power supply unit 6 supplies power to both the static element circuit 1 and the dynamic element circuit 4 that compose the device of FIG. 1 and performs initialization to perform normal operation. Then, a command for instructing the transition to the standby state (for example, a command by pressing a transition instruction key for transitioning to the standby state from a keyboard (not shown)) is received.

In step S2, the internal state of the MPU is saved in the static element (memory). This corresponds to that the MPU 5 of FIG. 1 has received the command for instructing the transition of S1 to the standby state, and the MPU 5 of the dynamic element has the internal state of the circuit 1 of the static element. The data is stored in the memory of the data holding mechanism 3.

In S3, the flag of the standby state display register in the static element is set. This is S2
Then, after the internal state of the MPU 5 of the dynamic element is saved in the memory of the static element, it is set in the standby state display register 22 of the static element to store the saved information.

In step S4, the power supply of the dynamic element system is turned off. This is the standby state display register 22 in S3.
After storing the fact that the data has been saved, the power is set to the MPU power control register 21 to cut off the power supplied from the power supply unit 6 to the dynamic element circuit 4 by the dynamic element system power supply line 10.

In step S5, the static element is put in a standby state. This puts the static element circuit 1 in a standby state (that is, a low power consumption mode). As described above, the MPU of the circuit 4 of the dynamic element which constitutes the device
After the internal state 5 is saved in the memory of the static element circuit 1, the saved state is set and stored in the standby state display register 22, and then the power of the dynamic element circuit 4 is cut off.

Next, the operation from the standby state to the normal state of the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described in detail according to the order shown in the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 3, in S11, the power switch is pressed. This depresses the power switch 8 in FIG.

In step S12, the static element is returned from the standby state to the operating state. This returns the circuit 1 of the static element from the standby state (low power consumption mode) to the operating state in response to the pressing of the power switch 8 in S11.

In step S13, the power source of the dynamic element system is turned on. This turns the MPU power control register 21 on
Set to N, and power is supplied from the power supply section 6 to the MPU of the dynamic element circuit 4 by the dynamic element system power supply line 10.
5 to start the operation.

In S14, whether the flag of the standby state display register 22 in the static element is in the standby state,
Determine whether the power is off. If it is in the standby state, the internal state of the MPU 5 saved in the static element (memory) is restored in S15, and M is restored in S16.
The processing of PU5 is restarted. This eliminates the need for initialization of the MPU 5 and enables immediate restart of processing.

On the other hand, if the power is off in S14,
In S17, the MPU 5 cold starts to initialize and start the system. As described above, when the standby state display register 22 is set (set to the standby state) in response to pressing the power switch 8 of the device, the saved internal state is set in the dynamic element circuit 4. It is possible to restore to a certain MPU 5 and restart the processing immediately. On the other hand, when the standby state display register 22 is reset (not in the standby state but reset when the power is turned off), the dynamic element circuit 4
After initializing the MPU 5 which is the above, the processing is started.

Next, the state transition of the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Here, S21 and S indicating the state transition
24, S32 shows the state of the static element at the top,
The lower part shows the state of the dynamic element.

(1) When changing from the normal state to the power-off state: S21 is the normal state. In this normal state: static element → operating state ・ dynamic element → operating state.

In step S22, a power off instruction is issued. For this, the power switch 8 in FIG. 1 is pressed to instruct the power off. S2
In step 3, the hardware resets the standby state display register 22 in response to the power-off instruction in S22 (sets the power-off state instead of the standby state).

In step S24, after resetting the standby state display register 22 in step S23, the power is cut off to enter the power-off state. In this power-off state: static element → power-off state ・ dynamic element → power-off state. That is, both the static element circuit 1 and the dynamic element circuit 4 which compose the apparatus of FIG. 1 are stopped in the power-off state.

(2) When changing from the power-off state to the normal state: S24 is the power-off state. In this power-off state: static element → power-off state ・ dynamic element → power-off state.

In step S25, the power is turned on. For this, the power switch 8 in FIG. 1 is pressed to instruct the power-on. S26
Responds to the power-on instruction in S25, and confirms that the program is not set in the standby state display register 22 (not the standby state but the power-off state) and performs a cold start.

In S21, the cold start is performed in S26 and the normal state is set. In this normal state, as described above, the static element → the operating state, the dynamic element → the operating state.

(3) When changing from the normal state to the standby state: S21 is the normal state. In this normal state: static element → operating state ・ dynamic element → operating state.

In step S27, the resume cutting is performed. this is,
In FIG. 1, the operator presses a resume cut key on the keyboard (not shown) to instruct the resume cut. S28
Causes the program to save the internal state of the dynamic element. In accordance with the program, the MPU 5 of FIG. 1 saves the internal state of the MPU 5, which is the dynamic element circuit 4, in the memory of the static element circuit 1.

In S29, the program instructs the MPU power control register 21 to turn off the power. In S30, the hardware sets the standby state display register 22 (stores the fact that it is in the standby state).

In step S31, the standby state is set. In this standby state: static element → sleep state ・ dynamic element → power off state. That is, the circuit 1 of the static element and the circuit 4 of the dynamic element forming the device of FIG. 1 are in the sleep state with low power consumption and in the power-off state.

(4) When changing from the standby state to the normal state: S31 is the standby state. In this standby state: static element → sleep state ・ dynamic element → power off state.

In step S32, the resume restart is performed. This is because the operator presses a resume restart key on the keyboard (not shown) in FIG. 1 to instruct the restart of the resume. In S33, the hardware turns on the power of the dynamic element. This is because the power supply section 6 of FIG. 1 supplies power from the dynamic element system power supply line 10 to the dynamic element circuit 4.

In S34, the program confirms that the standby state display register 22 is set, and restores the saved internal state of the dynamic element. this is,
According to the program, the MPU 5 confirms that the standby state display register 22 is set, and retrieves and restores the internal state saved in the memory of the static element circuit 1.

At S21, the normal state is set. In this normal state: static element → operating state dynamic element → operating state.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Dynamic element circuit 4 and static element circuit 1
When the power supply system is separated and the standby state is entered, the internal state of the dynamic element circuit 4 is saved to the static element circuit 1 and then the power is turned off, and the internal state saved when the power is turned on is restored to the operating state. Since the configuration described above is adopted, it is possible to realize the resume function of a device equipped with both the dynamic element circuit 4 and the static element circuit 1. As a result, for example, in an information processing apparatus equipped with a dynamic element MPU or the like, a resume function can be realized, power consumption can be conservatively saved, and the internal state saved at restart can be restored. Immediate processing can be resumed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of a normal state to a standby state according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of a standby state to a normal state according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a state transition diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a state transition diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Circuit of static element 2: Internal register 21: MPU power control register 22: Standby status display register 3: Low power consumption data retention mechanism (memory etc.) 4: Dynamic element circuit 5: MPU 6: Power supply section 7: Bus 8: Power switch 9: Power control line 10: Dynamic element system power line

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a resume system for saving power consumption of a device, the power supply of the device is divided into a static element circuit (1) and a dynamic element circuit (4), and the dynamic element circuit (4) is in a standby state. A standby state display register (22) for storing whether or not the internal state of the dynamic element circuit (4) is saved in the static element circuit (1) in response to an instruction to shift to the standby state. After setting the standby state display register (22), the power supply of the dynamic element circuit (4) is cut off and the static element circuit (1) is set to the standby state. . 2. In response to an operation instruction, the circuit (1) of the static element is activated and the circuit (4) of the dynamic element is turned on to set the standby state display register (22). The internal state saved in the static element circuit (1) while being reset is restored to the dynamic element circuit (4) to restart the processing, while the dynamic element circuit is reset when being reset. A resume system characterized in that (4) is initialized and processing is started. 3. The circuit (4) of the dynamic element is MP
3. The resume system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the static element circuit (1) is a memory or a register.